Arkansas Blog

If you can't get a jammerr, try low tech guerilla solutions. I once went up to a guy who had been holding court on a cell phone way too long and loud in a confined space, and said loud enough so the person on the other end could hear.."Sir, I have those directions to the gay bar you requested". Of course, I had a ready escape route and took it while he tried to figure out what just happened. Not a perfect solution, but it made me feel better. Now all of you out there start blogging and develop us a list of better Verbal Jamming one-liners while I go on eBay to find me a jammer.

Get me one too, while you're at it, Sanford.
Hubby and I came within inches of having our car creamed yesterday by a ditz wheeling into the next parking space, her phone plastered against her left ear and her cigarette hand on the steering wheel.
My first thought when I read the jammer story this morning? I gotta have one of those. But common sense prevailed. We probably would have been creamed if the ditz's phone had cut out at the right moment and she was even more distracted by that.
Still, with careful and judicious use? I think gotta have one of those jammers.

1. Cell phone jammer.
Ah, Christmas list finished. That was too damn easy.

Here's an invention I've often pondered: Every car-alarm should come with an electrode implanted in the ass of the car's owner. When the alarm goes off, the electrode imparts an unbearably sharp pain to the owner until he or she DOES SOMETHING to stop the alarm--either go check on the car or push a button located in an embarrassing place, it doesn't matter to me. Just STOP the damn NOISE. Gratuitous noise from car alarms has plagued the environment with *false* alarms since they were introduced. Has one of them EVER stopped a car-theft?

New York Times story aside... Cell jammers have been around for a long time. I had heard, in the early 1990s, that if one were going to pull a significant heist or score, the criminal better carry three things: A commercial-grade scanner (tuned to the local police dispatch frequency) with ear piece, a stolen handgun, and a cell jammer. Back then, they cost well over $15K and were quite bulky.Today, almost all commercial security systems have multiple telco lines for monitoring, plus at least one cell backup. I'm not talking about the perception of security (ADT, Brinks, et al). These systems don't call teenagers in India; they directly notify local law enforcement. You better alibi-up before pressing the jam button. Also, these spectrum jammers can (and have) indirectly got people killed. Many devices and systems use the multi-frequency bands near mobile phone spectrum. Medical devices (including "pace makers"), data telemetry services, collision avoidance systems, house arrest bracelets, and the list goes on. This is not an FCC Part 15 issue. These low-end "mobile phone" jammers use omni directional bursts that are actually ultra scramblers. They operate at incredibly dangerous high-gain levels (read: kiss those sperm/eggs & brain cells goodbye). I've seen the radiation patters on these types of antennas. People just don't understand their technology, or in this case, the very real potential for serious harm to themselves and others. If I detected someone in my immediate vicinity using one of these devices, I might be prone to violently drop them to the ground, then contact law enforcement. I guarantee I could prove justifiable self defense in disarming them; to a cop, prosecutor, or jury. It is even easier to detect their use, than to wield one of these jammers. Don't forget, mobile phone towers do more than relay communications. They are active rogue detection devices, recording wireless anomalies 365x24x7. That flat disc at the top is a GPS unit for exact time/location sync. With a $2B mesh matrix of full-frequency commercial "cell" towers peppered across Arkansas, not to mention the criss-cross of military and satellite clouds, I'd not think it a novel idea to death-toy with regulated spectrum. No good can come of it. It is a felony. Think about it. Is it worth the risks? Maybe so, for those people who feel powerless. Alas, they need a cell jammer to feel in control and feed their ego.

The cell phone is the bane of our modern society. Why do people think that they absolutely must talk to their Aunt Maude or best friend Sherry right then? Are they really so busy that they can't take the time to call them from home?
No, they are not. They are just self absorbed and self important like the rest of our society. Else where on this blog is a story about the national mood is poor. Do we not think that this is all connected? Our society is all about materialism and entertainment.it is all selfish. So we all have to talk on the damned cell phone to the irritation of those around us.
I agree with Richie from the movie "Mars Attacks".we should all live in teepees, because in some ways it is better.

Ah, back to the good days when the leg. introduced legislation which would have effectively made it legal to bear arms on school property, but illegal to carry a cell phone.

And while I don't consider myself a great fan of the nasty things, I can see their utility.

As much as the concept seems good, I am not so sure how happy you would be if the person you were trying to reach happened to be sitting near a cell phone blocking Nazi:

If You were going into labor and trying to reach your doc sitting in a dead zone
If Mom's 'minor" surgery turn out to be anything but minor and sis doesn't really you are in a dead zone
If you owned a business and your neighbor was watching flames come out of the roof
If you left two kids (or maybe 3 no one is sure) at home and the firetrucks are there fighting the flames.
If you are next on the liver transplant list, waiting for that call
If you looked out the window and saw someone shoot someone and walk into the building.

The list could be endless. The potential harm that could result from someone who thinks they are keeping in touch while at the same time are being isolated by another party is tremendous. At least better have some disclaimers handy, "Entering a Cell Phone Kill Zone"

Barring a return to manners, a different solution is needed.

And yet people also complain/ponder youngster's obsession with the text message, wondering if it would not be easier to just make the call. Easier perhaps, or perhaps for the first time ever young folks are more concerned with manners than their elders.

(This is not meant to condone texting or calling while driving.)

Seems like just a nice little strip of duct tape on the mouth of the unsuspecting "on da phone" person could quiet the place for a while. It's available in several different colors these days.......

For businesses that wish to halt signals without getting the FCC on their backs, the solution is simple and legal. Plus, you will not be jamming the signal with expensive electronics. There is a mesh that you put around your walls that forms what is scientifically called a "Faraday cage." You simply post a sign that notifies people that cell phones will not operate within the confines of this area.
Regarding emergencies or paging needs, these can be handled by a special area where one can leave these devices, sort of like a cloak room serves a hotel. A person on duty will come get you if a call comes through that is important or will be there to assist you if 911 must be called.
Marc Oni, I tried to find info about some of the radiation problems you mentioned but nothing was listed. If you or anyone else can provide evidence that supports or refutes these claims, I would be interested. I checked several sites and none mentioned this radiation problem. The most common argument was the illegality (felony status).
Furthermore, also please provide some source info about the ability of towers to locate jammers. Nothing was mentioned about that either.

From the perspective of a non-techie, it seems like an area which is being jammed repeatedly or constantly could be identified, but not the jammer. For example, in the article the restaurant where jamming was taking place apparently was identified, but officials couldn't catch the person doing the jamming because the device was turned off. Short of searching premises and persons, I'd have to guess only the dumb and/or unlucky would get caught.
Cell phones are great, no doubt about it. Got a flat and it's 103 degrees? Call AAA and wait for help. Let someone else change the tire with his butt sticking out in the road while you watch, warn and flag because there's no shoulder to speak of.
But take no less than eight calls in a doctor's waiting room within 20 minutes? And every one of those calls unimportant mouthing about this or that friend's shortcomings or a relative's dirty laundry? Apparently it never dawned on the mouthy one that there might be people in that waiting room who knew the people she was talking about. Bet she'd be upset if her target got a tape of that conversation in the mail. It could easily have happened.
Am I the only person in the world who waits until I get into the car to tell hubby the latest gossip?
I'm ready to go back to the beginning when cell phones were new and users said, "Talkfastminutes!" (Yes, someone really said that to me.)

Minor point but....sorry...radar detectors aren't illegal. At least not in most states (including Arkansas). Radar JAMMERS might be illegal...but detectors are not.