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June, 2004 |
I dislike when people receive calls on their cell phones in inappropriate places. I am an advocate for Cell Phone Jammers, devices which block cell phone frequencies and prevent cell phones from receiving calls in certain areas. This page is about the ethical convictions behind allowing such Cell Phone Jammers into the US, where they are currently illegal.
| Added 10/18/04: Churches Wage High-Tech War on
Cell Phones Part II "Those who bring cell phones to church are not committed to God," Escobedo said. "It's very distracting to be praying and suddenly hear birds chirping or techno music." |
| Added 9/23/04: Churches Wage High-Tech War on
Cell Phones Question: Why is this in the "Oddly Enough" section? |
| Added 5/07/04: Los Angeles I was invited to participate on a show called the Debate Project in Hollywood. Not passing up the chance for adventure, I accepted this offer and flew down to Los Angeles, CA this weekend where I participated in what appeared to be a reality-talk-show type thing that is going to be broadcast on MTV. The experience was not as intellectual as I had previously thought. What I believe is that everything except for me and the other young panelist was fake. But I did not realize this while I was participating in the show. If it sounds interesting to you, feel free to check it out when it comes out on MTV. I'll post the air time on this page when I know it. Here are the note cards that I used to study for the debate. Notecards1 Notecards2 Here are some other pics from my trip, you may or may
not find these interesting. |
| Update!!! Added 4/18/04: Finally, a real update! I was interviewed about cell phone jamming for a show on Minnesota Public Radio. Keep an eye on http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/ . This news item will be updated when the actual story is posted. Update!!! Added 4/19/04: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/2004/04/19.shtml#000347 is a permanent link to the Future Tense story in which I am interviewed about Cell Phone Jammers. This story was aired on Minnesota Public Radio today. |
| New instance: Added 1/16/04:
mattplln.chaosnet.org gives this month's Big Jackass
award to:
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| New instance: Added 3/7/03: Tom De
Luca is a hypnotist who is the college campus entertainer
of the year. He takes a group of students onstage and
hypnotizes them. It's always an awesome show, gets better
every year. This year I was worried though, because
somebody's cell phone went off loudly with musical tones
in the front row... twice. While the performer was trying
to hypnotize the volunteers. This phone was not answered,
either. And then ANOTHER person's cell phone went off 5 minutes later. Had I been one of the ones chosen to be hypnotized, I would have arisen from my trance with the urge to [edited] become upset. |
Why am I opposed to immature cell phone use? Because you are forcing the public to listen to your private conversation. You are taking your head out of the interaction with the world around you and putting it in someone's living room. Treat the people around you on the street, on the bus, anywhere with respect. None of them want to hear anything you have to say about what you're cooking for dinner tonight or what the Bengals are going to do to the Rams this weekend. And I am just speaking generally so far, I haven't even touched people who talk on their phones while driving, which has been PROVEN TO BE MORE DANGEROUS THAN DRIVING DRUNK. That's right, drunk drivers take up to a third of a second to react to a danger stimulus in the road ahead; people in a cell phone conversation will take up to half a second (source: the Transport Research Laboratory in England). And the law that was passed in New York and other states that only allows hands-free systems to be used is just a whiff. It's not where your hands are, it's where your head is. (for more about "hands free doesn't matter", see the Allstate report later down the page)
I have a lot to say about this topic. The cellular phone has degenerated American society as a whole. Cell phone ads on television now rival car ads in frequency and obnoxiousness. It's no longer worth it to make funny gestures at people who talk on their phones while they drive because it seems like more than half the people out there are doing it.
| 1/11/2003: Cell
Phone Ettiquette I went to a workshop on the aforementioned subject given by John Marshall, DePauw '93. Read all about the proper ettiquette for talking on cell phones here, especially in the business world. |
And it's funny when cell phone users talk about their 'rights.' They don't have any. The sidewalks are community property, that doesn't mean that it's okay to ride motorcycles on them. Riding motorcycles on sidewalks disturbs people and encroaches on the safety of oneself and others. For the same reasons, just because the air belongs to everyone doesn't mean that it's okay to receive telephone calls anywhere one pleases.
Unfortunately, Congress disagrees with me, probably for the same reasons our youth can get guns and cigarettes: big industry has legislation in its pocket. The cellular phone industry continues to thrive at alarming rates. We can change this if we make the public aware of the dangers of cell phone use.
I have a lot to say about this topic. I suggest that the US make it legal for certain establishments (grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.) to block incoming cellular signals. This can be accomplished via cellular signal blocking panelling or by devices which send out wavelengths to block out any incoming signals. I hope that one day it becomes legal for US citizens to import and carry devices such as the Wave-Shield (see below) to gain their own personal bubble of quiet. What are the goals of the Jammers Program? Find out about them in my...
| Monday, December 2, 2002, front page of the Indianapolis Star: "Road deaths rise with phone use": Harvard study links 2,600 fatalities a year to distracted drivers using wireless devices. Way to go, guys! The article is about how in 2001 there was an unsuccessful bill in the Indiana House by Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton) that would have banned cell phone use while driving in Indiana. Thompson says that he is 'considering re-introducing the bill.' |
| Monday, December 23, 2002, Marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal, Dennis K. Berman: "We May Be Reaching Our Limit for Yakking On All of Our Phones." It's a great article examining the philosophical issues behind talking on our cell phones. Is it becoming a human need to always be in communication with someone? I like everything in this article, but the only thing Berman got wrong was the title. In my opinion, we reached our limit a couple years ago... |
| Wednesday, February 12, 2003, from an "Allstate
NOW" (online employee magazine) article: Cell
phone users: "inattention blindness" click here to read the report |
| Also from "Allstate
Now", June 10, 2003 California may restrict vehicle cell phone use Measure pending in state Senate On May 29 the California Assembly voted in favor of a bill that would prohibit drivers from holding and talking on cell phones, and the measure is now pending in the state Senate. Although cell phones are very popular in a state where long commutes are common, there has been little public resistance to the proposal. The lack of concern about the new restriction is attributed to the fact that the law only prohibits drivers from holding cell phones, not from talking on phones. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 25% of traffic accidents involve driver distraction. It reports: 60% drivers say they have a wireless/cellular phone; 58% of those with a wireless phone say they "rarely or never" use it to make outgoing calls while driving; 56% say they "rarely or never" take incoming calls on their cell phone while driving. NHTSA also reports that 13% of drivers with a cell phone say they use their phone for outgoing or incoming calls on three-quarters or more of their driving trips. In addition: Male drivers with cell phones are more likely than their females to both make outgoing (46%) and accept incoming (50%) calls while driving (as compared to 39% of females doing each behavior). While drivers age 21 or older with cell phones are about equally likely to use their cell phones for outgoing calls as they are to take incoming calls, cell phone-using drivers age 16-20 are more likely to use their cell phones to take incoming calls (63%) than they are to make outgoing calls while driving (40%). Use of a cell phone while driving decreases significantly with age. About 60% of cell phone owners age 21-29 use their phone for inbound or outbound calls while driving, the figure drops to 50% for those age 30-45, 33% of those age 46-64, and less than 10% for those age 65 or older. |
Fun Fact: As a high school student in some states, your cell phones and pagers are considered to be drug paraphernalia. Having your cell phone go off in school can result in In School Suspension and Drug Rehab. |
This page is growing! (Sort of. ~mp, 10/18/2004) I hope to continue that initiative to battle for the legality of Jammers in our country. The first step is informing the viewers of my website. Now check out the links below.
Cell Phone Jammer Links!
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53538,00.html
cell-phone blocking panelling
http://starportuk.com/21.htm
Wave-Shield Cellular Phone Jammer
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,51273,00.html
jammers in France
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1a092200.html
why cell phone jammers are illegal in US
http://www.gingin.ne.jp/wavewall/index.html
Japanese Product similar to Wave-Shield
http://wireless.newsfactor.com/perl/story/9856.html
Jammers in Canada
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,50592,00.html
about cell phone radiation
http://www.inq7.net/nat/2002/may/09/nat_8-1.htm
cell phones used to communicate illegally
http://www.cell-block-r.com/
product that addresses areas of unwanted cellular communication
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/usatoday/20021226/ts_usatoday/4730754
companies that require their employees to talk on cell phones are
being sued!
http://cartalk.cars.com/About/Drive-Now/articles.html
website with additional articles on cell phone stupidity, focused
on driving
http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/27/technology/cell_death/index.htm
Do cell phones kill? Here at mattplln.chaosnet.org, we say yes.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030127/tc_nm/health_cellphones_dc_2
Doesn't matter how many hands you have free when you are blind!
please contact me by telepathy to report broken links
Feel free to link to this webpage. http://mattplln.chaosnet.org/jammers