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Cell Phone Jamming Devices Enjoy an Increase In Popularity
rullywowr writes "A story run by local new NBC10 of Philadelphia last Friday illuminated the fact that this particular rider of the pubilc bus system is packing a cell phone jammer and is not afraid to use it. Going by the name of 'Eric,' whenever he sees someone being 'rude' on the bus and talking loudly on their cell phone, he screws the antenna on and flips the power switch. Regardless of the steep civil penalites levied by the FCC (up to $16,000 USD), many (such as 'Eric') are still interested by these devices which can be bought on the internet for $40 to over $1000. Opponents of these devices say that not only do they interfere with mobile phones, they often can interfere with 'behind the scenes' communication, Wi-Fi, etc. Despite being illegal, TFA points out that they are readily available on the internet (what else is new?). Do you have an instance where you experienced the positive (or negative) effects of a cell phone jammer?"
This guy is my new hero, even though he later backed down and said he wasn't going to use it anymore. I for one am fed up with the constant assault of cell phone conversations from people who have no idea how to be considerate to those around them.
Yeah -- I mean, this is the problem. Like, frequently -- most of the time -- I sort of wish that talkers would, you know, die, but there's lots of unobtrusive usage that's nobody's business.
I'll tell you what I really think is going to happen: I think in 10 or 15 years, we're going to look back on this time period, and be sort of aghast at how people behaved with regards to their phones. I don't accept that things are moving in a more-talk-is-OK direction, I think that there's the possibility that this is a manners-haven't-caught-up-to-tech blip. There's going to be a certain amount of soul-searching as we deal with the driving issue, and I'm hoping that what will come out of that will be, 'Wait -- is what I have to say really important enough to need saying, now, in these circumstances?'
And I'm not generally optimistic about human nature. But cell phone usage, I just don't see how this can go on very much longer as it is -- I mean, it's raw uncut assholishness, all the time, and everyone KNOWS it, but for now, they all DO IT anyway.
My fingers are crossed for what alcoholics refer to as a 'moment of clarity'.
god is just pretend.
If you've got an issue with a particular person talking on her phone, sit down beside her and make snarky remarks until she shuts up or hits you. Don't interfere with everyone else in the area just for your personal convenience. Hey... that's what you're mad at baby mamma for doing isn't it?
It's public transit. Deal with it, or find private transportation - you don't have the right to a bitch-free ride on SEPTA. Anyone using a jammer is just being an asshat, not to mention breaking the law which exists for a good reason.
I ride the infamous A train in NYC and my jammer is a relief. I experience much the same - hellfire preachers, drunks pissing on the floor, and stoned thugs arguing about which court they're supposed to be in today. The train is held at the station about once a month for police to search it. My ride is nearly two hours and a jammer makes it a bit quieter. I don't even turn it on for most of the ride; why would I interfere with Words with Friends or a quiet phone call? But when someone starts screaming into their phone they discover there's no service anymore.
I mean, it's raw uncut assholishness, all the time, and everyone KNOWS it, but for now, they all DO IT anyway.
Actually, the point is that the assholes don't think what they're doing is assholish at all. This will never change.
If the caller is speaking too loud, you get up, go over to him, and politely ask him to tone it down. When I do that, the caller is inevitably embarrassed, apologizes, and more often than not, hangs up promptly thereafter.
Stop living in Nerdly Passive-Aggressive Panties-in-a-Wad Anxiety and join the Human Race.
You can't, or you won't?
I see...
really? you can't? hmm
Oh okay, I see what you're saying now.
If you could turn off all the B-grade hip hop music with the push of a button, you would.
If you could shut the panhandlers down with a jammer, you would.
In essence, if you could do something about X in practical anonymity with an easily concealed device with little to no chance of getting caught, you would.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling you chickenshit. Certainly it's much better to avoid conflict with the baby-momma and her posse by just letting her call drop instead of confronting her in person.
Unfortunately, however, it also means you're affecting the person just quietly talking, the person just doing some texting, the person just browsing the web, and - provided that the bus isn't a magic faraday cage for your outgoing jammer signal - anybody in the vicinity of the bus.
Not to mention that...
For another, what if you are the emergency? You're on the highway, you get a heart attack, you fall down, your jammer's still on - nobody can call it in.. they flag down another driver, their phone doesn't work either, they figure it must just be reception there, so (rather than asking another drive to call from somewhere where they can get a signal) they drive the bus further to get a signal again, but still nothing.
I know, society survived without cellphones, I'm sure it will when somebody misses, or can't place, an important call just as well.
But please do choose your jamming moments wisely, and consider the unintended consequences - be that your own untimely demise (I <3 my contrived example!) or somebody's casual game of Wordfeud being cut short.
Good luck searching the train to find out who has the jammer.
Folks, this is Slashdot, so I expect some more consistency in in your positions. Here we are supposed to be proponents of network neutrality, ardent supporters of anti-censorship methods, and unrepetent voices in support of freedom of information all over the world. We don't like governments mucking with DNS servers, and we hate the publishing companies trying to tell us how we should and shouldn't use our media.
Yet, here is a guy who passes swift judgment on others and renders their expensive cell phones inoperable for the sole reason that a single individual personally annoys him. He does this anonymously in public spaces, and the victims of his jammer have no recourse to repair their device. The loud, obnoxious caller suffers the same fate that the quiet girl chatting to her mother from three seats back does: everyone is silenced indiscriminately.
For some bizarre reason, the hivemind of Slashdot holds this one-man censorship czar in high esteem, but they would probably object to a public school, library, or hospital prohibiting cell phone use via means of a jammer for the same reasons he uses.
I for one am fed up with the constant assault of cell phone conversations from people who have no idea how to be considerate to those around them.
While you're sitting there like a fat little smug antisocial nerd who thinks the world revolves around him and reading his Ayn Rand in peace and quiet, the psychologist three seats in front of you is desperately hoping that none of his patients are feeling suicidal at that particular moment.
I have friends who are doctors, some of them psychologists. They're on call a great deal of the time, and people don't call their psychologist to talk about the weather. They call with things like "I'm having suicidal thoughts."
I have a friend who is an eye surgeon. When she's on-call, she sometimes gets patients who have hours or less before they could permanently lose their eyesight from an injury or complications from an earlier surgery.
I'm not saying THEY are more important. I'm saying their PATIENTS are. You have not seen panic until you've seen a psychologist who has a private practice and discovers her cell phone ran out of battery at some point, and she's an hour from a charger...
I've actually seen a psych emergency unfold, too - the psychologist-friend working with 911 operators and the police and EMS to find the patient and get them to a hospital. That can't happen unless they can reach their doctor to ask for help. Too bad for them some fat asshole nerd is sitting there giggling with his cell phone jammer.
Please help metamoderate.
If there was an obvious emergency, the guy *should* just switch his jammer off.
FTFY. I don't trust that someone with that level of a superiority complex would be that considerate of others. Sure there might be some that will, but there will also be those that won't and it's those people that cause me concern.
/rant off
Besides, being annoying on a cell call is *not* a crime. Deciding what is law and what is not, passing judgement of guilt, then applying a sentence is not the job of one person alone. When did people start getting such thin skin? "OMG, this person is annoying/offending me - they must be silenced!". Seriously... people need to learn some toleration.
Seriously think that through. What happens if the tables are turned and the abuser is the one with the cellphone jammer? What happens if a person delusionally believes that they are entitled to extreme revenge over a minor slight? If you are going into a situation and want to prevent your target calling the police for any reason, you are on very, very dangerous ground.
Supporter of the +1 Over Dramatic mod option. In memory of apk.
You're also jamming the receipt of said important calls, which the jammer has no knowledge of. For instance, what if there's a doctor on the bus who doesn't get the call saying he's needed in emergency surgery, or there's an undercover cop on the bus watching for trouble (we have undercover cops in Boston for instance) who doesn't get a call saying that he's needed for something.
Why is the right answer to jam them and everyone around them? Why not walk up to them and ask them to bring the volume down? Why must we resort to under-handed/passive aggressive techniques that affect others that aren't violating the social rules?
And I'm sure that annoying cell phone user would tell you that if you want peace and quiet, stay home.
You're acting illegally, without regard to others because you're somewhat annoyed by the behaviour of a few people and going over and you don't "feel like" going over and telling them so. I take it back. You're WAY more selfish and inconsiderate than baby momma.
Someone else used the phrase "passive-agressive nerd rage." It fits you pretty well.
Secondhand smoke is clinically proven to increase the occurrence of lung cancer. A short cell phone call at a reasonable volume is not.
"A short cell phone call at a reasonable volume" is not the problem that people who use jammers are trying to solve.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black