December 25, 2005

• Anyone have the link handy for the site that cells RF proof bags to keep cell phones in. No signal in, no signal out. Santa might just need to make a second run to fulfill my wish list addendum. My quick google turns up mostly decorative bags and brain cancer radiation reducing miracle stickers. File under whinefilter: What the hell is wrong with this country? Next thing you know you'll need permission from the Department of the Interior to redecorate your living room. Gads!
• you need a Faraday Cage for your phone.
• ??? turn off phone - no signal in, no signal out.
• Tracking car movement is now being proposed too.
• Oh, and yes. I'd like a Faraday Cage for my phone and my car. I wonder if the place that is selling the phone version could scale the size up a bit.
• I don't own a cell phone 'cause I'm paranoid mostly 'cause I've seen reports of people who have had their whereabouts reconstructed after-the-fact using cell tower info (how long is that cell info kept, anyway?) and I like not being able to be reached 24-7.. I'm at work enough, thanks. But I do know that an increasingly large number of modern electrial equipment doesn't really shut off when you press that power button -- it just turns off the external lights and any motors it may have. Look at your DVD player for a likely example. If you can you turn it on and off from the remote then it is not really off. So not owning a cell phone I wonder, if your cell phone is switched off, is it really off?
• if your cell phone is switched off, is it really off On every cellphone I'm aware of.
• These things keep coming to light but where is the one who will stand up against this? I hear complaints but why is there not an organized effort to defeat this? Are we all such sheep?
• On every cellphone I'm aware of. WHY in the name of God then does my off cellphone use batteries. Wtf is up with that? I'm being tracked! *twitch* *destroys cellphone*
• In 24 (Season 4), when Jack Bauer wanted to make sure the terrorists weren't tracking someone via his cellphone, he instructed him to not only turn the phone off but to also remove the battery. But then, I think that season took place in the near future, so it doesn't necessarily reflect current technological reality. (No, I'm not being serious.)
• Do I really care? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to call 911 and not have to give precise instructions on where you are being killed (or where on I-80 is the guy in the car next to your is polishing off his second tall boy of Budwiser yes this happened to me).
• Gotta love the Verizon ad at the top of that page.
• Nice to be trackable to 911 in emergency situations, bad to be tracked every other moment of every day in every situation. One is handy, the other a draconian invasion of privacy. The phone I have will send 911 location info and I have to trust it's not sending it at other times. But the paranoid conspiracy theorist with schizophrenic leanings knows I'm being tracked.
• Argh: Support the ACLU.
• Uh, and that goes for everyone else as well. You all should support the ACLU.
• OK, here's a little experiment. Take the number of deaths in the only two remarkable terrorist incidents on US soil since WWII. (that would be about 3168) Divide by the ten years since Oklahoma City. You get 316 or so, right? So JUST using the heavily skewed statistics from the last decade, very basic probability says 300 or so Americans will die from terrorist attacks... Out of two MILLION or more total deaths a year. Six thousand or so people will die of AIDS. Eight thousand of homicide. Twenty-eight thousand of suicide. Ninety thousand of vehicular and other unintentional accident. And SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND of heart disease. (pulling these numbers from the NCHS surveys) So... we all think it's laughable and ridiculous to suggest that the government regulate the fast food industry or make them liable for people's gluttony... but we merrily hand over our civil rights and freedoms out of fear of being killed by "terr'ists." Do the math. There is NO excuse to hand over your liberties to the government. None. Short of an actual full-on war on American soil (you know, the kind of that involves fighting people rather than a feeling) your chances of dying by terrorist are only SLIGHTLY better than of dying by a lightning strike. OK? Are we clear now? Fear cars. Fear your neighbor. Fear cars and big macs and strange men with guns. Fear your government. But don't fear "terr'ists."
• I actually had a very hard time this evening explaining why the British are against the implementation of identity cards. Basically one of my friends had the firm opinion that the exchange of freedom for security or peace of mind was perfectly fine. I asked him point blank if he minded being locked up on pure suspicion for twenty years, because that is what our government can do absolutely legally. He shook his head and said that was an extreme situation. I think Bush would probably give up his soul over again to have citizens like my own countryfolk.
• Yawn. Track me. Please? I don't care. Not a single fed would care about my ramblings, my habits, my location. I'm tired of all this bitching about what this and what that, hey idiots, did you ever think that a single wiretap that the ACLU and the permanant whine mongers are boo hooing about could have POSSIBLY prevented another 9/11? No, never thought of that, but if it HAD happened, guess who would have been screaming "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP IT?"
• Then they coudl have gotten said wiretap, and gotten retroactive FISA approval. Wiretaps were available pre-9/11 the same way they are now. Even for emergencies. One word: "retroactive". Also, it's not nice to name-call.
• Lara: Also, it's not nice to name-call. I know. I also play with my food and ALWAYS swim right after I eat.
• Dumbass.
• monkeyhumper: I'm not sure what you're trying to say. There was nothing in the article that indicated that the ACLU was protesting, or that any of the commenters are members of the ACLU. The article didn't address wiretaps, just tracking one's location via your cell phone. I have to assume that you're a US citizen, and that you know that "ACLU" stands for "American Civil Liberties Union," and that their mission is to protect your rights ("civil liberties") as a citizen to the liberties guaranteed by the constitution and other laws. So, if they're just whiners, whould they protect your right to vcte, for example? They did do that during the Civil Rights movement when they achieved decisions that folks can't be discriminated against in many areas. If you're a member of the KKK, you still get to vote, though you'd be a small minority, to take an extreme position. And, yes, I think the ACLU could get involved in the tracking and wiretap issues. But, they'll only do that if a protesting group brings a rightous case to them that they can prosecute. They don't just jump out and whine. So, what are people complaining about? Partially, it's a that of fear of being watched in your everyday activities is an invasion of privicy. If you're not a suspect in a specific case, why could you be tracked without a warrant? Warrants are lovely things. They require that some probable cause was there to justify getting into your activities. And, just because you were someplace at a particular time, does that mean that you could be investigated for something you weren't involved in? Maybe even be arraigned for a crime that someone without a cellphone did, just becaue the evidence pointed to you? On the other hand, did you ever go buy a bag of weed (or any other infraction?) If the DEA could track your activities, and provide evidence to local agencies, and someone came to arrest you, you'd be well advised to go to the ACLU to have them help you protect your rights. So, anyway, I'm an old lady who pretty much only drives from my house to the grocery store and back. so I can't get into a snit over this on my own behalf, but I do understand the larger issues.
• u r all dum and i hope terrists pwn you haha hippies you'll be sucking bush then kthxbi
• Tangentially related: NSA inadvertently uses banned 'cookies' I mean, it's most likely accidental, but it just shows to me that the NSA really doesn't have privacy high in their list of priorities.
• You are WRONG Lara, and I imagine they will quite easily find you and kill you for saying that.
• And their tracking of my surfing habits will lead them right straight HERE! Ha! You're all on the list, now, you pinkos!
• I'm gonna have to stop calling people from the toilet. (No, Mom, it's just the rain you're hearing...)
• World Tracker turns anyone into a cellphone spy (via engadget)