Why do we need a crazily complex scheme like this when a simple entry in your router's 'Deny' list (for the source IP of the spam) has the same end effect?
Given the spew pouring out of the IP space of China, LACNIC, and Russia, blocking in such a manner appears to be near-lossless compression.
FTA: "...In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals."
This explains why the city of Berkeley (California) shows up so bright on satellite photos taken at night. Way too many free radicals.
Check the site www.vetusware.com -- It's a site dedicated to archiving "abandonware," software from companies which either no longer exist or have long since discontinued a given product.
There's another site at www.bitsavers.org -- they may be of help as well, even if they don't have what you need listed. Drop 'em a note if they don't.
Well, you get the idea. Any wagers as to how long it'll take for this to hit the legal system? I'm sure the resultant flare-up will be most entertaining. Time to invest in popcorn futures.
A friend of mine is a senior hardware/software engineer for a Silicon Valley firm that makes fluoroptic temperature-sensing equipment for (among other things) the big high-voltage transformers found in power stations. Based on what he's described to me of the situation at the company (he's getting laid off -- after over 16 years! -- at the end of the month), this animosity you describe has good reason to exist.
Example: The company used to make process-control equipment (specifically, endpoint control) for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. They had, at one time, an extraordinarily popular and well-received product that, despite pleading from huge customers such as IBM and Intel, was abruptly discontinued because the CEO and board simply decided "We're not going to make those any more."
Essentially, they took a true "cash cow" for the company and killed it for no good reason. All the parts and subassemblies to make the thing were still available, the operating code was proven, and the thing was a big seller. Nope. Can't have success. Gone.
The same thing happened with a particular type of fluoroptic thermometer. These are devices that can (very accurately) measure temperature with a non-conductive fiber-optic probe. This is very important in transformers which may have hundreds of kilovolts coursing through them. The thing worked, it was wildly popular -- and the company dropped it for no good reason, despite all pleadings to the contrary from other customers.
From what my friend has told me, this all happened because the company ceased to value engineering as a skill, and decided to value marketing instead.
When Marketing wanted a product, they'd come to Engineering with a wish-list and ask how long it would take. Engineering (particularly my friend) would tell them that he couldn't give them an answer without doing some research first. Marketing and Corporate would not let the research happen. Ergo, Engineering couldn't give them anything. They didn't like this, but they also didn't seem to "get it" that you can't make something from nothing, and that (financial) risks and outlay are required to develop ANY new product.
Worse, they were in denial that they didn't "get it." Eventually, this turned into a vicious circle and, after a spate of failed acquisitions where the CEO simply tried to buy what he thought the company needed, rather than valuing the company's own PROVEN engineering department, the company went into a death spiral which triggered massive layoffs.
I doubt said company will even last past the end of this year, since they fired all the staff necessary to actually design and build things.
Now, granted the above sordid tale is only one example. However, I also see it as a symptom of a larger problem: "Big Business," as a culture, no longer values engineering beyond the absolute minimum to get a product out the door. Worse, we've been selling off our skills and abilities to actually manufacture things to the Pacific Rim countries for how many years?
How much "tribal knowledge" has gone out the door along with that manufacturing base? How long will it be until we literally forget how to actually MAKE things?
Do I even need to go into the sadder tale of what's happened to Tektronix? To HP? To how many other firms that were once leaders in their fields, thanks to being truly engineering-driven, and that are now pale husks of what they once were (or gone altogether)?
Given this -- Is it any wonder that there's considerable animosity between common-sense techies and engineers, and pie-in-the-sky bean-counting business? I will freely admit that I feel it as well. It's a big part of what drove me into civil service.
I'm surprised that, given all the posts in response to this story, I haven't found any which have pointed out one simple fact.
Yes, GPS is a fixed feature in most mobile phones. HOWEVER -- it IS possible, in every phone I've ever come across, to configure it such that it will only report your location when you dial 911.
This link provides only one example. My own phone, a Motorola W385, has the setting under 'Phone Settings' and 'Location.' You simply change it from 'Location On' to '911 Only.'
It often amazes me how much hype is given to a simple subject with a simpler answer.
There are a number of Heinlein's novels that were aimed at the young-adult-to-adult category. Some of my favorites are:
'Have Space Suit, Will Travel.' This is my top pick. Best of all, there's a full-cast audio edition available that's nothing short of a radio play. Outstanding stuff!
Some of my other favorites from Heinlein, though not necessarily available (yet) on audio, are: "Starman Jones," "Rocket Ship Galileo," "Space Cadet," "Between Planets," "Red Planet," "Farmer in the Sky," and "The Puppet Masters."
Others have suggested Anne McCaffrey's works. There are lots of good books from her, true, though I have to say I'm not fond of what I see as a downgrade in quality of writing from her over the last decade or so. If you're going after her stuff, I highly recommend the earlier works, notably the earlier 'Dragonriders' books. Of those, two of my all-time favorites are "The White Dragon" and "The Dolphins of Pern."
I would also strongly recommend the "Inheritance" trilogy from Chris Paolini. The first book in the series, "Eragon" (and the book, BTW, was orders of magnitude better than that horrid excuse for a movie which has, thankfully, faded to obscurity) lays the groundwork. The second, "Eldest," picks up where it leaves off. The third and final one in the series, "Brisingr," is coming Sep. 20th of this year.
There are a couple of lesser-known authors that I went bonkers over as a kid, and I still re-read them to this day. If you can find a book club edition of "The Roads of Heaven," by Melissa Scott, do so. If not, there are three books in her "Silence Leigh" series: "Five-Twelfths of Heaven," "Silence in Solitude," and "Empress of Earth."
If your youngsters are interested in the ocean and its inhabitants, at least one lesser-known author I would recommend is Carl Biemiller. He did a trilogy called "The Hydronaut Adventures" that I found to be a terrific read.
Yet another recommendation (I'm just full of them today) I'd make is the books of James Schmitz who, sadly, is no longer with us. However, he left us a marvelous legacy in the form of wonders like "The Witches of Karres" and the Telzey Amberdon stories.
One of my all-time favorites from Schmitz is a book called "The Demon Breed." Among its other endearing characters, it features a pair of oversize, sentient, mutant otters.
Oh! One more... If you can locate a copy of Edward Ormondroyd's "David and the Phoenix," grab it!
There's probably others I'll think of after I hit "submit," but I think you'll have a pretty good start with this. As for getting the books, many of which are out of print, you would do well to search Powell's Books, as well as abebooks.com, a wonderful site that links together literally thousands of new and used book dealers.
...that my mother was hooked on a particular soap opera, called "As The World Turns."
Perhaps that could now be brought back in the form of "As The World Screams."
BTW, don't tell the televangelists about this. They'll probably want to try and find some way to organize a choir of all the system's planets. Gad, talk about "Music of the Spheres..."
Now, where did I put my industrial-grade earmuffs...?
"And for privacy watchdogs, it's a duel threat..."
Yes, the Feds seem to be going out of their way to challenge anyone who cares about privacy to a duel.
And we all know what the weapons of choice will be, of course... 2D barcode scanners at ten paces, with RFID chip readers as backup, and NO TINFOIL ALLOWED!
What bothers me the most is that it looked like nearly every one of those complaint letters came from either a law enforcement officer or elected official -- the very people that should be UPHOLDING the rights to free speech!
You could also explain that spamming people is probably a violation of the Terms of Service he or she agreed to when they got the Internet pipe installed. I would suggest getting hold of a copy of that ToS document (should be readily available from your ISP's site), highlight the section prohibiting spamming, and let your boss read it.
If said boss is still determined to go through with this, explain that such behavior is very likely to get his company's IP address range entered into both local (as in at the target's) blocking list, and possibly that of larger anti-spam outfits such as Spamhaus.
If that should happen, it is very possible that further E-mail, no matter what its content, could end up not getting through to any recipient(s) who use an ISP that subscribes to Spamhaus's blocking service (and LOTS do!)
Proceeding along this train of thought -- If enough people complain to the ISP that your boss is getting his/her connectivity from, it is very possible that your connection could go down. Permanently and unexpectedly.
The RIGHT thing to do is file a formal complaint with the ISP that your competitor is getting connectivity from. It is very likely that said competitor violated said ISP's ToS, and could end up getting THEIR connection terminated. Your boss should be able to appreciate that.
The "hacking" of several Congressmens' computers, notably those that contained data on human rights and political dissidents, was in the news recently. The Chinese government has categorically denied any involvement despite the fact that the intrusions originated from Chinese IP address ranges.
Do you believe they're telling the truth? More specifically, do you believe they are as "unskilled" as they claim to be along these lines?
Back in the late 1980's, Data I/O Corp. first released their 'Unisite' line of memory/PLD programming hardware. At that time, they were deathly paranoid about having each and every customer pay their (probably exorbitant) fee of at least $1,400 per year for keeping the programmer's operating software up to date.
The initial scheme to handle this, and lock a single copy of the operating software to a single programmer, was to send a preprogrammed PAL (Programmable Array Logic) device with each update kit. This PAL had the security fuse blown during initial programming at Data I/O's factory, so it was impossible to copy.
In order to update the programmer, you were required to install the boot floppy for the update, install the PAL in the Unisite's DIP socket, and fire everything up. The theory was that the software validated itself against the PAL's programming (it was, in effect, a hardware key), installed itself, and then literally fried the PAL chip to keep it from being used again.
This whole scheme was rife with problems, primarily because the PAL chips were highly ESD-sensitive and the person doing the upgrade at the customer's end didn't always take ESD precautions. Bad PAL? Gotta beg Data I/O to send you a replacement. And Lord help you if your programmer happened to be far enough out of calibration that it couldn't read the PAL, or if the DIP socket was intermittent.
Data I/O abandoned this crazy scheme barely two years later. The next thing they tried was a simple "lock the floppies to the programmer" thing by writing an encrypted hash of the programmer's hardware ID to the floppy boot sector, and having the operating software check for it. This caused massive problems with customers who had cause to try and use older device algorithms from previous disk sets, because said sets lacked the hash check.
That scheme faded quickly into oblivion as well, and Data I/O has, as far as I know, dropped copy protection on the software for the Unisite. I don't know if they still do it for their other programmer lines.
Every year, my lady and I go up to Canada for the 4th of July weekend to escape the annual (and mostly illegal, under local city codes) fireworks war-zone that infests our neighborhood. We've been doing this for several years, and in fact we both just got our NEXUS cards.
To help put this in context: I'm a ham radio operator, as well as a volunteer first-responder. I've had formal training, through our city's fire department, in disaster relief, emergency medical procedures, basic search-and-rescue, the whole bit.
Because of the above, our minivan is well-equipped for emergencies. I've installed multiple communication radios, a navigation computer, and I carry a medical trauma kit and various safety gear such as flares and a reflective vest. Besides the small antenna farm on the roof, I also have a light bar mounted on the back end (amber, red, clear... same as many tow trucks).
Every bit of it is legal under the road laws of every state except New York (I know, because I spent a couple of long nights going through said laws to make bloody sure!). Couple all that with the fact that I work for our state's police agency (non-commissioned, civil service).
Now, with all the above in mind -- Last year, we're coming back through on Sunday afternoon. I normally have the radios and navigation system on while driving, and this has never, in times past, been an issue.
Not this year. The border guard we drew seemed to be short on both sleep and temper, and rudely ordered me to turn EVERYthing off before he would even talk to us. One of the questions he asked, after that point, was who I worked for. When I told him, he said (snappily) that, for that reason alone, I should understand why he'd told me to turn everything off.
He let us move on at that point, but before I took off I told him, flat out, "No, I don't understand."
And it was the honest truth! If someone's going to try and set off something that goes bang via radio, or other wireless means, it strikes me that they're going to go to considerable effort to keep such activities hidden. They certainly would not do so in a hugely-long border-crossing line, where there was absolutely no way to move anywhere but through the guard posts, in a minivan that stands out like a solar flare and has ham radio callsign plates to boot!
I have no clear idea why this guard was so nasty, or what bizarre purpose his attitude served. I will say that it did indeed strike me as pure theater.
The only thing I can think of is that, perhaps, his sergeant or lieutenant was observing him at the time, and we didn't notice...?
Slashdot Mirror
Why do we need a crazily complex scheme like this when a simple entry in your router's 'Deny' list (for the source IP of the spam) has the same end effect?
Given the spew pouring out of the IP space of China, LACNIC, and Russia, blocking in such a manner appears to be near-lossless compression.
FTA: "...In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals."
This explains why the city of Berkeley (California) shows up so bright on satellite photos taken at night. Way too many free radicals.
(and I should know... I grew up there!)
Check the site www.vetusware.com -- It's a site dedicated to archiving "abandonware," software from companies which either no longer exist or have long since discontinued a given product.
There's another site at www.bitsavers.org -- they may be of help as well, even if they don't have what you need listed. Drop 'em a note if they don't.
Happy resurrecting.
In 5...4...3...2...
Well, you get the idea. Any wagers as to how long it'll take for this to hit the legal system? I'm sure the resultant flare-up will be most entertaining. Time to invest in popcorn futures.
Fast. Good. Cheap.
Pick any two.
"And telling us that a marketing team on crack came up with the name..."
There, fixed it for you. Just don't get too close to your screen when the new name displays, or you'll catch SyFyLys.
"and a new Facebook group called 'People Against the new Terms of Service'..."
Which, to my eyes, is merely a new way of saying that Facebook is PANTS.
And I'm not even British.
"Sounds like it will be easier than ever to WING the Wong number."
There, fixed it for you. Remember, two Wongs will not make it Wight, at least according to Fudd's First Law.
A friend of mine is a senior hardware/software engineer for a Silicon Valley firm that makes fluoroptic temperature-sensing equipment for (among other things) the big high-voltage transformers found in power stations. Based on what he's described to me of the situation at the company (he's getting laid off -- after over 16 years! -- at the end of the month), this animosity you describe has good reason to exist.
Example: The company used to make process-control equipment (specifically, endpoint control) for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. They had, at one time, an extraordinarily popular and well-received product that, despite pleading from huge customers such as IBM and Intel, was abruptly discontinued because the CEO and board simply decided "We're not going to make those any more."
Essentially, they took a true "cash cow" for the company and killed it for no good reason. All the parts and subassemblies to make the thing were still available, the operating code was proven, and the thing was a big seller. Nope. Can't have success. Gone.
The same thing happened with a particular type of fluoroptic thermometer. These are devices that can (very accurately) measure temperature with a non-conductive fiber-optic probe. This is very important in transformers which may have hundreds of kilovolts coursing through them. The thing worked, it was wildly popular -- and the company dropped it for no good reason, despite all pleadings to the contrary from other customers.
From what my friend has told me, this all happened because the company ceased to value engineering as a skill, and decided to value marketing instead.
When Marketing wanted a product, they'd come to Engineering with a wish-list and ask how long it would take. Engineering (particularly my friend) would tell them that he couldn't give them an answer without doing some research first. Marketing and Corporate would not let the research happen. Ergo, Engineering couldn't give them anything. They didn't like this, but they also didn't seem to "get it" that you can't make something from nothing, and that (financial) risks and outlay are required to develop ANY new product.
Worse, they were in denial that they didn't "get it." Eventually, this turned into a vicious circle and, after a spate of failed acquisitions where the CEO simply tried to buy what he thought the company needed, rather than valuing the company's own PROVEN engineering department, the company went into a death spiral which triggered massive layoffs.
I doubt said company will even last past the end of this year, since they fired all the staff necessary to actually design and build things.
Now, granted the above sordid tale is only one example. However, I also see it as a symptom of a larger problem: "Big Business," as a culture, no longer values engineering beyond the absolute minimum to get a product out the door. Worse, we've been selling off our skills and abilities to actually manufacture things to the Pacific Rim countries for how many years?
How much "tribal knowledge" has gone out the door along with that manufacturing base? How long will it be until we literally forget how to actually MAKE things?
Do I even need to go into the sadder tale of what's happened to Tektronix? To HP? To how many other firms that were once leaders in their fields, thanks to being truly engineering-driven, and that are now pale husks of what they once were (or gone altogether)?
Given this -- Is it any wonder that there's considerable animosity between common-sense techies and engineers, and pie-in-the-sky bean-counting business? I will freely admit that I feel it as well. It's a big part of what drove me into civil service.
Keep the peace(es).
I'm surprised that, given all the posts in response to this story, I haven't found any which have pointed out one simple fact.
Yes, GPS is a fixed feature in most mobile phones. HOWEVER -- it IS possible, in every phone I've ever come across, to configure it such that it will only report your location when you dial 911.
This link provides only one example. My own phone, a Motorola W385, has the setting under 'Phone Settings' and 'Location.' You simply change it from 'Location On' to '911 Only.'
It often amazes me how much hype is given to a simple subject with a simpler answer.
I'm sure that Real would prefer to pretend that SlySoft doesn't exist.
Better luck next time...
"...but it's like stealing cockroaches from my kitchen..."
Somebody saw a cockroach up on 12. Big one, too. Bite your head off.
There are a number of Heinlein's novels that were aimed at the young-adult-to-adult category. Some of my favorites are:
'Have Space Suit, Will Travel.' This is my top pick. Best of all, there's a full-cast audio edition available that's nothing short of a radio play. Outstanding stuff!
Some of my other favorites from Heinlein, though not necessarily available (yet) on audio, are: "Starman Jones," "Rocket Ship Galileo," "Space Cadet," "Between Planets," "Red Planet," "Farmer in the Sky," and "The Puppet Masters."
Others have suggested Anne McCaffrey's works. There are lots of good books from her, true, though I have to say I'm not fond of what I see as a downgrade in quality of writing from her over the last decade or so. If you're going after her stuff, I highly recommend the earlier works, notably the earlier 'Dragonriders' books. Of those, two of my all-time favorites are "The White Dragon" and "The Dolphins of Pern."
I would also strongly recommend the "Inheritance" trilogy from Chris Paolini. The first book in the series, "Eragon" (and the book, BTW, was orders of magnitude better than that horrid excuse for a movie which has, thankfully, faded to obscurity) lays the groundwork. The second, "Eldest," picks up where it leaves off. The third and final one in the series, "Brisingr," is coming Sep. 20th of this year.
There are a couple of lesser-known authors that I went bonkers over as a kid, and I still re-read them to this day. If you can find a book club edition of "The Roads of Heaven," by Melissa Scott, do so. If not, there are three books in her "Silence Leigh" series: "Five-Twelfths of Heaven," "Silence in Solitude," and "Empress of Earth."
If your youngsters are interested in the ocean and its inhabitants, at least one lesser-known author I would recommend is Carl Biemiller. He did a trilogy called "The Hydronaut Adventures" that I found to be a terrific read.
Yet another recommendation (I'm just full of them today) I'd make is the books of James Schmitz who, sadly, is no longer with us. However, he left us a marvelous legacy in the form of wonders like "The Witches of Karres" and the Telzey Amberdon stories.
One of my all-time favorites from Schmitz is a book called "The Demon Breed." Among its other endearing characters, it features a pair of oversize, sentient, mutant otters.
Oh! One more... If you can locate a copy of Edward Ormondroyd's "David and the Phoenix," grab it!
There's probably others I'll think of after I hit "submit," but I think you'll have a pretty good start with this. As for getting the books, many of which are out of print, you would do well to search Powell's Books, as well as abebooks.com, a wonderful site that links together literally thousands of new and used book dealers.
Happy reading!
Or, to put it another way -- Mice got loose in the laundry room.
Weather due to change within 24 hours! Sun expected to rise in east!! Horny dolphins shock whale-watchers with aquatic orgy!!!
@Slashdot editors: Slow news day?
...that my mother was hooked on a particular soap opera, called "As The World Turns."
Perhaps that could now be brought back in the form of "As The World Screams."
BTW, don't tell the televangelists about this. They'll probably want to try and find some way to organize a choir of all the system's planets. Gad, talk about "Music of the Spheres..."
Now, where did I put my industrial-grade earmuffs...?
Fsck the lasers and Ninjas... Where the blazes is my FLYING CAR?!
"And for privacy watchdogs, it's a duel threat..."
Yes, the Feds seem to be going out of their way to challenge anyone who cares about privacy to a duel.
And we all know what the weapons of choice will be, of course... 2D barcode scanners at ten paces, with RFID chip readers as backup, and NO TINFOIL ALLOWED!
Keep the peace(es).
Amusing indeed, and very creative in many cases.
What bothers me the most is that it looked like nearly every one of those complaint letters came from either a law enforcement officer or elected official -- the very people that should be UPHOLDING the rights to free speech!
Sad... very sad.
Keep the peace(es).
You could also explain that spamming people is probably a violation of the Terms of Service he or she agreed to when they got the Internet pipe installed. I would suggest getting hold of a copy of that ToS document (should be readily available from your ISP's site), highlight the section prohibiting spamming, and let your boss read it.
If said boss is still determined to go through with this, explain that such behavior is very likely to get his company's IP address range entered into both local (as in at the target's) blocking list, and possibly that of larger anti-spam outfits such as Spamhaus.
If that should happen, it is very possible that further E-mail, no matter what its content, could end up not getting through to any recipient(s) who use an ISP that subscribes to Spamhaus's blocking service (and LOTS do!)
Proceeding along this train of thought -- If enough people complain to the ISP that your boss is getting his/her connectivity from, it is very possible that your connection could go down. Permanently and unexpectedly.
The RIGHT thing to do is file a formal complaint with the ISP that your competitor is getting connectivity from. It is very likely that said competitor violated said ISP's ToS, and could end up getting THEIR connection terminated. Your boss should be able to appreciate that.
Good luck.
The "hacking" of several Congressmens' computers, notably those that contained data on human rights and political dissidents, was in the news recently. The Chinese government has categorically denied any involvement despite the fact that the intrusions originated from Chinese IP address ranges.
Do you believe they're telling the truth? More specifically, do you believe they are as "unskilled" as they claim to be along these lines?
Not carrying a flare GUN. Just regular road flares.
But to answer... One of the other posters was correct. Red flashers are not legal in NY unless you really are a commissioned officer or firefighter.
I believe this was, in fact, the Blaine crossing. Just south of Aldergrove, in any case.
I think I'll take us home through the Peace Arch crossing for the next trip.
Keep the peace(es).
Back in the late 1980's, Data I/O Corp. first released their 'Unisite' line of memory/PLD programming hardware. At that time, they were deathly paranoid about having each and every customer pay their (probably exorbitant) fee of at least $1,400 per year for keeping the programmer's operating software up to date.
The initial scheme to handle this, and lock a single copy of the operating software to a single programmer, was to send a preprogrammed PAL (Programmable Array Logic) device with each update kit. This PAL had the security fuse blown during initial programming at Data I/O's factory, so it was impossible to copy.
In order to update the programmer, you were required to install the boot floppy for the update, install the PAL in the Unisite's DIP socket, and fire everything up. The theory was that the software validated itself against the PAL's programming (it was, in effect, a hardware key), installed itself, and then literally fried the PAL chip to keep it from being used again.
This whole scheme was rife with problems, primarily because the PAL chips were highly ESD-sensitive and the person doing the upgrade at the customer's end didn't always take ESD precautions. Bad PAL? Gotta beg Data I/O to send you a replacement. And Lord help you if your programmer happened to be far enough out of calibration that it couldn't read the PAL, or if the DIP socket was intermittent.
Data I/O abandoned this crazy scheme barely two years later. The next thing they tried was a simple "lock the floppies to the programmer" thing by writing an encrypted hash of the programmer's hardware ID to the floppy boot sector, and having the operating software check for it. This caused massive problems with customers who had cause to try and use older device algorithms from previous disk sets, because said sets lacked the hash check.
That scheme faded quickly into oblivion as well, and Data I/O has, as far as I know, dropped copy protection on the software for the Unisite. I don't know if they still do it for their other programmer lines.
Happy tweaking.
Every year, my lady and I go up to Canada for the 4th of July weekend to escape the annual (and mostly illegal, under local city codes) fireworks war-zone that infests our neighborhood. We've been doing this for several years, and in fact we both just got our NEXUS cards.
To help put this in context: I'm a ham radio operator, as well as a volunteer first-responder. I've had formal training, through our city's fire department, in disaster relief, emergency medical procedures, basic search-and-rescue, the whole bit.
Because of the above, our minivan is well-equipped for emergencies. I've installed multiple communication radios, a navigation computer, and I carry a medical trauma kit and various safety gear such as flares and a reflective vest. Besides the small antenna farm on the roof, I also have a light bar mounted on the back end (amber, red, clear... same as many tow trucks).
Every bit of it is legal under the road laws of every state except New York (I know, because I spent a couple of long nights going through said laws to make bloody sure!). Couple all that with the fact that I work for our state's police agency (non-commissioned, civil service).
Now, with all the above in mind -- Last year, we're coming back through on Sunday afternoon. I normally have the radios and navigation system on while driving, and this has never, in times past, been an issue.
Not this year. The border guard we drew seemed to be short on both sleep and temper, and rudely ordered me to turn EVERYthing off before he would even talk to us. One of the questions he asked, after that point, was who I worked for. When I told him, he said (snappily) that, for that reason alone, I should understand why he'd told me to turn everything off.
He let us move on at that point, but before I took off I told him, flat out, "No, I don't understand."
And it was the honest truth! If someone's going to try and set off something that goes bang via radio, or other wireless means, it strikes me that they're going to go to considerable effort to keep such activities hidden. They certainly would not do so in a hugely-long border-crossing line, where there was absolutely no way to move anywhere but through the guard posts, in a minivan that stands out like a solar flare and has ham radio callsign plates to boot!
I have no clear idea why this guard was so nasty, or what bizarre purpose his attitude served. I will say that it did indeed strike me as pure theater.
The only thing I can think of is that, perhaps, his sergeant or lieutenant was observing him at the time, and we didn't notice...?
Keep the peace(es).