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IP: Jammin'
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 18:39:39 -0400
From: Bosley_J <Bosley_J () BLS GOV> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu> Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 12:32:52 -0400 Hi Dave- Dave Staudt thought you might like to see this note that I got from a colleague. Have a good weekend and jam them cell phones!! John Bosley ---------- From: Kennedy_Jim Sent: Friday, August 28, 1998 9:21 AM To: Bosley_J Subject: Jammin' Importance: Low John Thought you might appreciate this little item from C|NET -- a useful new technology (if you ride the trains, you know what a pain it is to have some jerk shouting into his phone next to you). Jim After my vacation in Greece--which was wonderfully free of URLs, but packed with more obnoxious cell phone users per square mile than any place I've ever been--I stumbled across a disturbing but interesting new technology that allows you to jam the airwaves and prevent cell phone calls within a prescribed radius. "Jamming" is already happening in Japan, a country that could probably put the mobile-phoning Grecos to shame. The Wave Wall, by a company called Medic Inc., is a cigarette-sized transceiver with a 20-foot jamming radius. It's a pricey $480, but cafes, theaters, and high-end restaurants are already using these devices to keep the peace. Of course the implications are huge (which is why I like this topic). The Japanese government is concerned about emergency calls being blocked, potential interference with pacemakers, and so forth. But I'm picturing the inevitable American version--a freakish cyberjammer who roams the streets gleefully interrupting calls, or prowls the highways making callers truly "hang up and drive." Need I say more? I have no idea when the jammers will hit our shores, but it sure makes you look back at the days of "Hang on, I'm going into a tunnel and may lose the connection" with a certain innocent fondness. Now you'll never know if it's the connection or the suspicious-looking minivan in the slow lane.
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