I noticed an interesting quirk in Kazaa after using it for a couple of weeks. I turned off Kazaa so I could play Quake. After I connected, I noticed that my ping went from 150 to 230, and that my connection was getting intermittently lagged every few seconds.
I did a little sniffing around and noticed that even though Kazaa was off, lots... and I mean LOTS of people were trying to talk to the port that Kazaa was using. It took about a day for that to calm down.
I can't believe it, I was getting so many people trying to talk to Kazaa that it was affecting my connection! If that happened at work, the network manager would hunt me down. One thing that really sucks (at least where I work...) is that if the connection acts wacky, the bigwigs that sign my check think that it's a failure on my part. Go fig. For some reason I'm supposed to be able to fix the ISP's probs before they notice.
I'm not endorsing music trading being banned, but I do understand why a sysadmin would like to avoid use of such programs. That's before getting into the legality of it. Execs act like not being able to get their email is worse than their car not starting.
Piece of advice to those of you tempted to use Kazaa at work: There's a very good chance that the network admin will come to your desk and ask what you're doing. heh.:)
I'm curious if anybody has any insight into what's happening here and if it happens on other P2P progs.
"So you really think you should be able to receive every phone call, even in the movie theater?" -- Yes, that's why I bought a mobile phone. To be clear: That doesnt mean the phone should be allowed to audibly ring. I have no problem with turning sound off. There are idiots in this thread that think what I want is to chat during the movie, I'm not suggesting that at all.
"I'm not sure how you propose to receive only the important ones and not the unimportant ones, after all." -- Caller ID.
"This would not open up any special opportunities for pay phone companies". -- Actually, yes it will. If a mall, for example, were to implment this, then they'd be able to charge whatever they wanted for payphones. Most people would not prefer to walk outside the mall just to call and say "Im going to be late for dinner. Before you tell me I'm wrong, consider that people can easily decide not to use IE, yet MS still was ruled a monopoly for putting it into the OS. No, I'm not trying to draw a paralell between this and jamming cell phones. I'm saying that if you remove one competitor the other can screw the customer.
Yeah, I'd sue the airline for making me switch off the phone because obviously that's the exact same thing. I should be able to put people in physical danger so I can talk to my girlfriend on the flight. I should also be able to get into the cockpit, turn the plane around and land so I can go see her as quick as possible.
Getting back to reality here, suing would definitely be overreactive. That wasn't because I thought it'd be a surefire case, it's how I'd feel emotionally. You'd feel the same way too. "I could have been with my gf at the hospital over an hour ago if the fucking theater didnt, out of pettiness, block my signals."
"Or do you also think you should be allowed to keep your phone on in hospitals, on airplanes, and other places?" -- There's a little difference here: safety. A cell phone cannot put somebody's life in jeapordy when used in a movie theater.
You make a good point about private property.
"And if you have a medical condition that means you cannot be out of contact, then it's your responsibility to not be out of contact, not random public buildings to make sure you're in contact." -- Tell that to a pregnant woman, a man in a wheelchair, or an eldery person with a weak heart.
"Or do you also think that underground parking lots, say, should install cell phone boosters?" -- *sigh* People always come up with ridiculous extremes when trying to prove I'm wrong. Never mind that people never spend up to 90 minutes inside underground parking lots. If your gf was raped in an underground parking lot, wouldn't you wish they did have phone boosters?
That was definitely one of the most intelligent responses in this thread, thank you.
I have rebuttals to them, but I wanted to let you know I respect what you said and how you said it so you don't feel like I'm just being an argumentative jerk.:)
Payphones take up space. Payphone have actually been coming *OUT* of malls because of the explosion of cell phone use. -- Yeah, that's because it's too expensive to keep them there if nobody uses them. (I saw a story on the news about this a few months ago...) If the cell phones suddenly stopped working, they'd have to add payphones to meet demand.
"Law Enforcement and Security use radios and cell phones..." -- That's a good reason why nobody should use them. At least with a cell phone jammer, they could turn that off, or be discriminate. In this case, an over-reaching solution to the 'problem' would work against them. Good point.:)
"Cell phone calls can lead to sales. Not sure exactly what item someone wants when doing your Christmas shopping?" -- I see what you're saying, but I don't think the mall owners would worry about that. Their money comes from the stores paying rent. IF they installed payphones, they'd get money directly from people using them. They wouldn't notice any significant change in income from a surge in cell phone buying.
Although there might be cases where they would. Like if 3 more tenants moved in to sell cell phones, they obviously would get more money. But if a store makes %10 more this month than last month, the mall won't see a difference.
Again, thanks for the thoughtful rebuttal. I'm sick of people taking pokes at me simply because I don't agree with them. Afterall, I must be a moron if my opinion is different.
"If your GF is in a car accident why the fuck doesnt she call 911? Is she mentally retarded? "
Yeah dumb fuck. I want to play Indiana Jones and go rescue her. I couldn't possibly have been talking about getting to the hospital as soon as I can to be with her.
"Just as Jesus was crucified to pay for the sins of all mankind, you and I, and other responsible cell phone users will have our phones forcibly shut off to pay for the sins of those who talk on the phone during a movie."
Amen.
I wonder how much trouble I'd get into if I alluded to the RIAA's attempt to force CD's to only play in CD players. You'd think some people would be sympathetic by saying "Well, the RIAA has the right to stop MP3 trading because it hurts legitimate sales." Instead, what people say is "Hold on, not everybody who puts a CD into a computer is doing anything illegal. There's no reason to use extremist measures to stop that."
Yet, when it comes to cell phone jamming, people are all for it: "Uh yah, jam the phones cos I think it'll improve my moviegoing experience."
Instead of saying: "Whoah, hold up, don't take extremist measures to block my phone. The vast majority of cell phones in theaters are off or don't ring at all."
"Even cell phones without a service package have to let you make a 911 call. No dice on your argument. "
My girlfriend has a condition where she gets migraines so powerful they can prevent her from walking. I don't call 911 when she has an attack like that, I'd have to call her specialist to find out what to do.
That's why you can't generalize on that type of thing. It's incredibly silly that a theater would even consider this.
"Personal freedoms like, say, watching a movie without people chatting away on their cell phones next to you?"
You have no Constitutional right to shut anybody else up. Ooops, I guess your over-simplification doesn't really work, does it?
I think it's very amusing that people are quick to argue against what I'm saying, but they're not giving me any reason why I should be for it. I concede on the 911 thing (nevermind 911 is not always the # you call. If you have debilitating migraines and you need to talk to your specialist...), but seriously, besides stopping those 'oh so annoying' phone calls, what benefit is there?
What happens when other places like the mall starts doing it? And trust me, they will right after installing more payphones.
"Those of us who are responsible enough and have common courtesy might be punished for it."
Yep, and worse, once it's acceptable in theaters, it'll be acceptable in other places too. First they'll do theaters. Then they'll move on to Libraries, afterall you must be quiet tehre. Soon you won't be able to use it in the mall. The mall will figure out that they can easily and legally jam the signals, and suddenly payphone usage will increase.
Yet, this is all acceptable when it means you can go to the theater and not hear an occasional phone beep.
Okay, if my objections are so stupid, tell me how they can justify jamming the signals totally. C'mon smart ass. "Oh phones ring in theaters" isnt a good answer. People talk in theaters. People cough in theaters. Babies cry in theaters. Watches beep. People get up to go to the bathroom.
Amazingly though, theaters don't put gags in people's mouthes, they don't do health checks when you enter, they don't ban babies, they don't make you remove your watch, and they don't lock the doors when the movie starts.
So please tell me how jamming the cell phone signal is even remotely acceptable?
You're absolutely right. Everybody in the world who uses a cell phone is a total goit. We better start jamming their signals right away! Afterall, those bloody Americans who care to keep in touch with their families are ruining my ability to watch shitty movies!
"I didn't know that the Constitution/Bill of Rights guarantees you the right to receive calls on your cellphone." -- The Constitution doesn't guarantee that you have the right to not be annoyed by other people. You have no right to take my personal freedoms away because of the occasional dumb-ass.
You don't have the right to say "I don't like it when somebody calls me at 6 in the morning, so telephone networks must be shut down from 11pm to 9 am.".
This is no different, public place or not. What the theater needs to do, if this is a serious problem (and it's not), is eject people who violate the rules. Otherwise, if they take this irresponsible and extreme action, then they'll have to do things like put ballgags in the customer's mouthes to prevent them from talking.
Blocking cellphone signals is overreactive, intrusive, and brings no benefit benefit.
"Oh, wait, no they wouldn't, somebody would locomote the fifty feet to the nearest landline."
...and since payphones have a monopoly inside a theater, they'd have to pull out $1.50 in quarters. It's similar to banning outside drinks from a theater.
If a theater jams cell phone signals, I'm going to stop going to it. They need to take extremist action. We're not little kids.
"There is no law requiring me to make sure your phone works in my establishment."
Perhaps not, but the problem with the movie theater example is that it gives the phone companies the ability to extort money out of people. "Well, we'll just raise the price of pay phones to $1.50." Before you tell me that won't happen, look at the cost of a Snicker's next time you see a movie.
They are intentionally blocking the signal, they are (in essence) jamming it. I don't like it when people talk in the theater, but I'd rather throw popcorn at them then not be able to recieve an important call.
If I *ever* leave a theater, check my voicemail, and find out my gf was in a car accident and had been in the hospital for an hour, you can bet I'd sue instantly.
BTW, it does have an LCD screen. They hint at it on the product page, but the PDF that goes into more detail says there specifically is an LCD Display.
It's easy to miss heh.
"In addition, when a live conversation is not necessary, text messages and alerts can be sent to the LCD screen on the Communications Badge."
Combine this technology with Open Source, and some very cool uses for it will appear.
It'd help if you used your imagination for a bit. Instead of looking at it like "What can I do with a cell phone to negate the use for this thing", look at it like this: "Interesting, what has nobody thought of yet?"
The immediate thought that comes to mind is that two buildings could have their communications systems linked together simply by using their internet connection. No more having to call the phone guy out!
Slashdot Mirror
I noticed an interesting quirk in Kazaa after using it for a couple of weeks. I turned off Kazaa so I could play Quake. After I connected, I noticed that my ping went from 150 to 230, and that my connection was getting intermittently lagged every few seconds.
:)
I did a little sniffing around and noticed that even though Kazaa was off, lots... and I mean LOTS of people were trying to talk to the port that Kazaa was using. It took about a day for that to calm down.
I can't believe it, I was getting so many people trying to talk to Kazaa that it was affecting my connection! If that happened at work, the network manager would hunt me down. One thing that really sucks (at least where I work...) is that if the connection acts wacky, the bigwigs that sign my check think that it's a failure on my part. Go fig. For some reason I'm supposed to be able to fix the ISP's probs before they notice.
I'm not endorsing music trading being banned, but I do understand why a sysadmin would like to avoid use of such programs. That's before getting into the legality of it. Execs act like not being able to get their email is worse than their car not starting.
Piece of advice to those of you tempted to use Kazaa at work: There's a very good chance that the network admin will come to your desk and ask what you're doing. heh.
I'm curious if anybody has any insight into what's happening here and if it happens on other P2P progs.
"No, because she's not exactly going to be able to make a call in the middle of being assaulted."
Heh you should have seen the dirty look my gf gave me when I showed her what you said.
Well, I disagree that the solution is to block the signal. However, I do understand your position and would like to agree to disagree.
:)
I would ike to thank you for the tactful response.
"So you really think you should be able to receive every phone call, even in the movie theater?" -- Yes, that's why I bought a mobile phone. To be clear: That doesnt mean the phone should be allowed to audibly ring. I have no problem with turning sound off. There are idiots in this thread that think what I want is to chat during the movie, I'm not suggesting that at all.
"I'm not sure how you propose to receive only the important ones and not the unimportant ones, after all." -- Caller ID.
"This would not open up any special opportunities for pay phone companies". -- Actually, yes it will. If a mall, for example, were to implment this, then they'd be able to charge whatever they wanted for payphones. Most people would not prefer to walk outside the mall just to call and say "Im going to be late for dinner. Before you tell me I'm wrong, consider that people can easily decide not to use IE, yet MS still was ruled a monopoly for putting it into the OS. No, I'm not trying to draw a paralell between this and jamming cell phones. I'm saying that if you remove one competitor the other can screw the customer.
Yeah, I'd sue the airline for making me switch off the phone because obviously that's the exact same thing. I should be able to put people in physical danger so I can talk to my girlfriend on the flight. I should also be able to get into the cockpit, turn the plane around and land so I can go see her as quick as possible.
Getting back to reality here, suing would definitely be overreactive. That wasn't because I thought it'd be a surefire case, it's how I'd feel emotionally. You'd feel the same way too. "I could have been with my gf at the hospital over an hour ago if the fucking theater didnt, out of pettiness, block my signals."
"Or do you also think you should be allowed to keep your phone on in hospitals, on airplanes, and other places?" -- There's a little difference here: safety. A cell phone cannot put somebody's life in jeapordy when used in a movie theater.
You make a good point about private property.
"And if you have a medical condition that means you cannot be out of contact, then it's your responsibility to not be out of contact, not random public buildings to make sure you're in contact." -- Tell that to a pregnant woman, a man in a wheelchair, or an eldery person with a weak heart.
"Or do you also think that underground parking lots, say, should install cell phone boosters?" -- *sigh* People always come up with ridiculous extremes when trying to prove I'm wrong. Never mind that people never spend up to 90 minutes inside underground parking lots. If your gf was raped in an underground parking lot, wouldn't you wish they did have phone boosters?
"Get your yuppie ass off our website! "
:)
Nope! You'll have to interrupt my internet connection with wood. That's obviously the only way to solve your problem.
That was definitely one of the most intelligent responses in this thread, thank you.
:)
:)
I have rebuttals to them, but I wanted to let you know I respect what you said and how you said it so you don't feel like I'm just being an argumentative jerk.
Payphones take up space. Payphone have actually been coming *OUT* of malls because of the explosion of cell phone use. -- Yeah, that's because it's too expensive to keep them there if nobody uses them. (I saw a story on the news about this a few months ago...) If the cell phones suddenly stopped working, they'd have to add payphones to meet demand.
"Law Enforcement and Security use radios and cell phones..." -- That's a good reason why nobody should use them. At least with a cell phone jammer, they could turn that off, or be discriminate. In this case, an over-reaching solution to the 'problem' would work against them. Good point.
"Cell phone calls can lead to sales. Not sure exactly what item someone wants when doing your Christmas shopping?" -- I see what you're saying, but I don't think the mall owners would worry about that. Their money comes from the stores paying rent. IF they installed payphones, they'd get money directly from people using them. They wouldn't notice any significant change in income from a surge in cell phone buying.
Although there might be cases where they would. Like if 3 more tenants moved in to sell cell phones, they obviously would get more money. But if a store makes %10 more this month than last month, the mall won't see a difference.
Again, thanks for the thoughtful rebuttal. I'm sick of people taking pokes at me simply because I don't agree with them. Afterall, I must be a moron if my opinion is different.
"If your GF is in a car accident why the fuck doesnt she call 911? Is she mentally retarded? "
Yeah dumb fuck. I want to play Indiana Jones and go rescue her. I couldn't possibly have been talking about getting to the hospital as soon as I can to be with her.
So what you're really saying is that there is a much easier, less extreme solution then. Thank you. :)
"Just as Jesus was crucified to pay for the sins of all mankind, you and I, and other responsible cell phone users will have our phones forcibly shut off to pay for the sins of those who talk on the phone during a movie."
Amen.
I wonder how much trouble I'd get into if I alluded to the RIAA's attempt to force CD's to only play in CD players. You'd think some people would be sympathetic by saying "Well, the RIAA has the right to stop MP3 trading because it hurts legitimate sales." Instead, what people say is "Hold on, not everybody who puts a CD into a computer is doing anything illegal. There's no reason to use extremist measures to stop that."
Yet, when it comes to cell phone jamming, people are all for it: "Uh yah, jam the phones cos I think it'll improve my moviegoing experience."
Instead of saying: "Whoah, hold up, don't take extremist measures to block my phone. The vast majority of cell phones in theaters are off or don't ring at all."
Fun, eh?
"Even cell phones without a service package have to let you make a 911 call. No dice on your argument. "
My girlfriend has a condition where she gets migraines so powerful they can prevent her from walking. I don't call 911 when she has an attack like that, I'd have to call her specialist to find out what to do.
That's why you can't generalize on that type of thing. It's incredibly silly that a theater would even consider this.
"Personal freedoms like, say, watching a movie without people chatting away on their cell phones next to you?"
You have no Constitutional right to shut anybody else up. Ooops, I guess your over-simplification doesn't really work, does it?
I think it's very amusing that people are quick to argue against what I'm saying, but they're not giving me any reason why I should be for it. I concede on the 911 thing (nevermind 911 is not always the # you call. If you have debilitating migraines and you need to talk to your specialist...), but seriously, besides stopping those 'oh so annoying' phone calls, what benefit is there?
What happens when other places like the mall starts doing it? And trust me, they will right after installing more payphones.
Heh, I know who you are. ;)
"Those of us who are responsible enough and have common courtesy might be punished for it."
Yep, and worse, once it's acceptable in theaters, it'll be acceptable in other places too. First they'll do theaters. Then they'll move on to Libraries, afterall you must be quiet tehre. Soon you won't be able to use it in the mall. The mall will figure out that they can easily and legally jam the signals, and suddenly payphone usage will increase.
Yet, this is all acceptable when it means you can go to the theater and not hear an occasional phone beep.
Okay, if my objections are so stupid, tell me how they can justify jamming the signals totally. C'mon smart ass. "Oh phones ring in theaters" isnt a good answer. People talk in theaters. People cough in theaters. Babies cry in theaters. Watches beep. People get up to go to the bathroom.
Amazingly though, theaters don't put gags in people's mouthes, they don't do health checks when you enter, they don't ban babies, they don't make you remove your watch, and they don't lock the doors when the movie starts.
So please tell me how jamming the cell phone signal is even remotely acceptable?
I've gone to 4 different movies in the last couple of months, I heard a phone ring once. Didn't bother anybody.
Boy that theater better start cell-proofing the theaters right away!
You're absolutely right. Everybody in the world who uses a cell phone is a total goit. We better start jamming their signals right away! Afterall, those bloody Americans who care to keep in touch with their families are ruining my ability to watch shitty movies!
"I didn't know that the Constitution/Bill of Rights guarantees you the right to receive calls on your cellphone." -- The Constitution doesn't guarantee that you have the right to not be annoyed by other people. You have no right to take my personal freedoms away because of the occasional dumb-ass.
You don't have the right to say "I don't like it when somebody calls me at 6 in the morning, so telephone networks must be shut down from 11pm to 9 am.".
This is no different, public place or not. What the theater needs to do, if this is a serious problem (and it's not), is eject people who violate the rules. Otherwise, if they take this irresponsible and extreme action, then they'll have to do things like put ballgags in the customer's mouthes to prevent them from talking.
Blocking cellphone signals is overreactive, intrusive, and brings no benefit benefit.
"This response is Extremely Lame" -- You mean the response you were writing? You're right.
One day, you'll have a girlfriend, and you'll understand.
" They need to take extremist action. We're not little kids. "
I mean to say " They don't need to take extremist action..."
Sorry, the submit and preview buttons are too close together. Heh.
"Oh, wait, no they wouldn't, somebody would locomote the fifty feet to the nearest landline."
...and since payphones have a monopoly inside a theater, they'd have to pull out $1.50 in quarters. It's similar to banning outside drinks from a theater.
If a theater jams cell phone signals, I'm going to stop going to it. They need to take extremist action. We're not little kids.
"There is no law requiring me to make sure your phone works in my establishment."
Perhaps not, but the problem with the movie theater example is that it gives the phone companies the ability to extort money out of people. "Well, we'll just raise the price of pay phones to $1.50." Before you tell me that won't happen, look at the cost of a Snicker's next time you see a movie.
They are intentionally blocking the signal, they are (in essence) jamming it. I don't like it when people talk in the theater, but I'd rather throw popcorn at them then not be able to recieve an important call.
If I *ever* leave a theater, check my voicemail, and find out my gf was in a car accident and had been in the hospital for an hour, you can bet I'd sue instantly.
BTW, it does have an LCD screen. They hint at it on the product page, but the PDF that goes into more detail says there specifically is an LCD Display.
It's easy to miss heh.
"In addition, when a live conversation is not necessary, text messages and alerts can be sent to the LCD screen on the Communications Badge."
Combine this technology with Open Source, and some very cool uses for it will appear.
"What would it possibly do with 10Mbits?"
It'd help if you used your imagination for a bit. Instead of looking at it like "What can I do with a cell phone to negate the use for this thing", look at it like this: "Interesting, what has nobody thought of yet?"
The immediate thought that comes to mind is that two buildings could have their communications systems linked together simply by using their internet connection. No more having to call the phone guy out!