Monday, July 23, 2007

God, I love my crappy old phone.

It won't take pictures. It doesn't have .mp3 ringtones. There's no organizer, no web browser, and it won't do email. If my car skids off an icy road into a gully and bursts into flame, there's no GPS chip to let the rescuers know where to pick up my charred remains...

...and it won't eavesdrop for The Man.

(H/T to Unc.)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it's time to put "Team America: World Police" on repeat and leave my phone in front of the tv for a while. A few hours of "Durka durka Muhamed jihad explosives 9/11 Michael Moore" should either get the FBI here or convince them to bugger off.

Either that, or they'll just keep listening and hope for a new movie to break up the monotony of listening to every other random schmuck.

Carteach said...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5053410

Where are you? Somebody can tell quite easily.

Lets market a signal blocking cell phone pouch for the paranoid amongst us. (I'll take three please).

Rob K said...

Two words: Faraday cage. Put your cell phone inside a copper or steel box. A steel ammo can would probably work. Take it out only when you want to use it.

Matt G said...

Yes, it will, Tam.

If it's as young as I am, a phone built to American specs can be remotely turned on to listen with.

7.62x54r said...

Yep, old news and it doesn't have to be one of the fancy new phones. The only recourse is to take the battery out, and I don't know that I'd even trust that. If they're listening in on my mine they've probably eaten the muzzle of their service weapon out of boredom by now.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and let's not even start about OnStar.

phlegmfatale said...

This technology, known as "legal intercept," creeps me smack the hell out. This crap's been afoot since the Reagan admin. See this wikipedia entry -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interception_of_Communications_Act_1985

Ever feel like Brer Rabbit?

7.62x54r said...

Re: OnStar.

I am pretty confident that they can't track the '86 Bronco, unless of course they've gotten in the garage and added something to it. I'll be driving it until the wheels fall off, and then getting new wheels.