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The CTA Jammer!
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subego
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Oct 16, 2015, 01:23 AM
 


Note the bag of beer, the fake label wrapped around the beer between his knees, and the cellphone jammer in his hand.

Never encountered him, but now I kinda want to so I can pull out my phone and pretend it's still working.

The only downside is one has to think this guy is out of his freaking mind.

Chicago reddit is on to him though, so I imagine his days are numbered. The FCC don't play that.
     
Cap'n Tightpants
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Oct 16, 2015, 07:38 AM
 
I sympathize, in a way, people do spend too much time on their phones.
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osiris
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Oct 16, 2015, 08:58 AM
 
I was talking to a friend about phone use - how everyone's head was buried into their screens these days.
Then he showed me some pictures from the '40s and '50s in a subway car in nyc .
Nearly everyone had their head down and eyes glued to a book, a magazine or newspaper.
The media may have changed, but people's habits haven't.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
The Final Dakar
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Oct 16, 2015, 09:18 AM
 
Why does he want to jam phones?
     
osiris
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Oct 16, 2015, 09:48 AM
 
I'm guessing he's tired of being ignored and wants to be loved.

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Laminar
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Oct 16, 2015, 10:09 AM
 
Even stupider:

DailyTech - "Vigilante" Florida Highway Cell Phone Jammer Smacked with $48K FCC Fine

Nothing's more distracting that trying to re-send a text that won't go or checking your phone to figure out why your call just dropped. He was guaranteeing that people would be focus exclusively on their phones while he was around them.
     
The Final Dakar
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Oct 16, 2015, 10:16 AM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
I was talking to a friend about phone use - how everyone's head was buried into their screens these days.
Then he showed me some pictures from the '40s and '50s in a subway car in nyc .
Nearly everyone had their head down and eyes glued to a book, a magazine or newspaper.
The media may have changed, but people's habits haven't.
Yeeeeeep.
     
Laminar
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Oct 16, 2015, 10:22 AM
 


     
osiris
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Oct 16, 2015, 10:34 AM
 
Damn hipsters!

oh wait.
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subego  (op)
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Oct 16, 2015, 12:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Why does he want to jam phones?
The hypothesis is he's turning it into the "quiet car".
     
The Final Dakar
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Oct 16, 2015, 12:59 PM
 
Ohh. Well that's a completely different thing than what Shaddim was complaining about.
     
subego  (op)
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Oct 16, 2015, 01:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Ohh. Well that's a completely different thing than what Shaddim was complaining about.
The jammer could certainly feel that way, too. He's in the right "get off my lawn" age group.

I'm old enough the phenomenon bothers me as well.
     
Cap'n Tightpants
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Oct 16, 2015, 02:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Ohh. Well that's a completely different thing than what Shaddim was complaining about.
I sympathize, in a way
Yeah, you're right, oh the "complaining". It's light criticism, at best.
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The Final Dakar
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Oct 16, 2015, 02:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants View Post
Yeah, you're right, oh the "complaining". It's light criticism, at best.
Would you classify your response to my post's wording as complaining or light criticism?
     
Cap'n Tightpants
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Oct 16, 2015, 10:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Would you classify your response to my post's wording as complaining or light criticism?
Would you classify your response to my original post as complaining or light criticism?
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Laminar
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Oct 17, 2015, 03:27 PM
 
I know you are but what am I?
     
Cap'n Tightpants
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Oct 17, 2015, 03:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
I know you are but what am I?
The MacNN drive-by poster?
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The Final Dakar
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Oct 19, 2015, 09:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants View Post
Would you classify your response to my original post as complaining or light criticism?
Observation.
     
Cap'n Tightpants
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Oct 19, 2015, 02:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Observation.
Ditto.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
     
The Final Dakar
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Oct 19, 2015, 03:09 PM
 
     
SSharon
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Oct 20, 2015, 08:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
I was talking to a friend about phone use - how everyone's head was buried into their screens these days.
Then he showed me some pictures from the '40s and '50s in a subway car in nyc .
Nearly everyone had their head down and eyes glued to a book, a magazine or newspaper.
The media may have changed, but people's habits haven't.
https://xkcd.com/1227/
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osiris
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Oct 21, 2015, 10:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by SSharon View Post
Isn't that the truth lol

"The art of pure line engraving is dying out. We live at too fast a rate." - 1892
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
SSharon
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Oct 21, 2015, 11:58 AM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
Isn't that the truth lol

"The art of pure line engraving is dying out. We live at too fast a rate." - 1892
The more things change the more they stay the same. I get annoyed when people of my parents' generation make fun of me for not knowing anyone's phone numbers. I respond that my generation probably know 100 passwords instead of 100 phone numbers.
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osiris
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Oct 21, 2015, 12:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by SSharon View Post
The more things change the more they stay the same. I get annoyed when people of my parents' generation make fun of me for not knowing anyone's phone numbers. I respond that my generation probably know 100 passwords instead of 100 phone numbers.
so true, I suck at phone numbers these days but god forbid I should forget a password.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
turtle777
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Oct 25, 2015, 05:31 PM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
so true, I suck at phone numbers these days but god forbid I should forget a password.
On top of that, we remember dozens of URLs, something that takes up mental "space" as well.

-t
     
Laminar
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Oct 26, 2015, 10:19 AM
 
"What's Apple's website again? Oh yeah, Apple.com. Glad I've logged that away into my permanent memory."
     
turtle777
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Oct 26, 2015, 10:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
"What's Apple's website again? Oh yeah, Apple.com. Glad I've logged that away into my permanent memory."
You always were smarter than the rest of us.

-t
     
Laminar
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Oct 26, 2015, 11:02 AM
 
It took an engineering degree for me to figure out the complicated "company name" + ".com" trick that everyone's using these days.
     
turtle777
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Oct 26, 2015, 12:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
It took an engineering degree for me to figure out the complicated "company name" + ".com" trick that everyone's using these days.
Yes, I just noticed it works wonders with "companies" like Lifehacker, MacNN, MacRumors, Daring Fireball, Ars Technica, Apple Insider, etc...
Not to mention all those Blog "companies".

Fortunately, they ALL use the .com top level domain, so it's really easy.

Oh, wait.

-t
     
Laminar
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Oct 26, 2015, 04:16 PM
 
I hear the master's courses cover how to Google for "MacNN Forums".
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 9, 2016, 12:21 PM
 
     
reader50
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Mar 9, 2016, 04:30 PM
 
Yep, it's the same guy. It will be interesting to hear his reason.

All I'm coming up with is "so he can hear the natural subway noises more clearly". Which doesn't er, sound right. Or maybe he fears terrorist bombs with cell-phone activators.
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 9, 2016, 05:16 PM
 
As unbelievable as this sounds for the third biggest city in the country, the rollout for subway cellular service happened... six months ago.

Probably caused the guy to snap.
     
turtle777
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Mar 9, 2016, 05:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
As unbelievable as this sounds for the third biggest city in the country, the rollout for subway cellular service happened... six months ago.
.
LOL. 20 years ago, we already had cell phone service in subways in Berlin.

USA! USA! USA!

-t
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 9, 2016, 06:03 PM
 
This is Chicago, and things are done the "Chicago way".

Twenty years ago Berlin had cell phone service in the subway? Twenty-five years ago we didn't have cable.
     
turtle777
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Mar 9, 2016, 06:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Twenty years ago Berlin had cell phone service in the subway?
Yep. Just checked, it was 1997.

The provider's name was E-Plus (today O2). It was a GSM based network. They were first to offer it, before the two bigger networks (D1 T-Mobile and D2 Mannesmann - later Vodafone) came online.

Handy-Empfang jetzt auch in der U-Bahn - DIE WELT

So ist Berlin schon seit 1997 unterirdisch vernetzt...
-t
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 9, 2016, 07:06 PM
 
That was a rhetorical question.

I was pointing out not too many years before Berlin was getting cellular service in the subway, Chicago still didn't have cable TV.
     
Cap'n Tightpants
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Mar 9, 2016, 07:40 PM
 
You think you can just move something in without paying the proper bribes? Hah!
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subego  (op)
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Mar 9, 2016, 07:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants View Post
paying the proper bribes
That's the Chicago way.
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 10, 2016, 01:10 PM
 
The Jammer was asked in court why he did this, and his response was he gets annoyed with people using their cellphones while on the CTA.

The judge then proceeded to hit him with a $10,000 bail, and suggested he should wear headphones.
     
OAW
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Mar 10, 2016, 02:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
The Jammer was asked in court why he did this, and his response was he gets annoyed with people using their cellphones while on the CTA.

The judge then proceeded to hit him with a $10,000 bail, and suggested he should wear headphones.
Wayment! Now I always have my iPhone on me. I can track the location of all my family members. I can be reached by them whenever. Especially in an emergency. I can be notified if my home alarm goes off. Or if anything gets fraudulently charged on one of my cards in Apple Pay. I can monitor and respond to any work related emails or texts. I rarely actually TALK on the phone because that interrupts whatever I'm doing at the time. But this dude was jamming everyone's cellphone which blocks all of that because he was "annoyed"? This knucklehead needs to realize that he's doing a lot more than keeping people from yakking on the phone.

OAW
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 10, 2016, 03:20 PM
 
Or shit goes down in the next car and someone tries to call 911.

Maybe I'm just inured to it, but I feel like don't encounter many people with bad cell phone etiquette on the train. Admittedly, I use it off-peak, and 90% of my usual trip is in the subway, which as I mentioned is brand new to the world of cellular reception. At the moment, I think most of the riders on the stretch I take are more hyped about using the new infrastructure to get data rather than to make or receive calls. It's kind of loud in the subway.

Don't get me wrong. People on the train have horrible etiquette, and I'd often like to light the car up with an M16, but it's rarely because of phone conversations. Clustering around the door when there's room farther in is what gets you to the top of my shit list.
     
OAW
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Mar 10, 2016, 05:30 PM
 
My experience on Chicago trains is the stretch from O'Hare to downtown and back. But this was back in the day when I was doing IT consulting. Cell phones only works outside the tunnels and even that was hit or miss. Always had to take a cab if I needed to make an important call.

OAW
     
mindwaves
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Mar 11, 2016, 07:54 PM
 
Not sure why the guy didn't just place it in his bag instead of displaying it for the world to see.
     
The Final Dakar
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Mar 11, 2016, 10:21 PM
 
He's the Cliven Bundy of train cellphone use, obviously.
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 12, 2016, 08:46 AM
 
Originally Posted by mindwaves View Post
Not sure why the guy didn't just place it in his bag instead of displaying it for the world to see.
Note the date of the original picture, which was given to police, and the date of him getting busted.

IOW, the police didn't give a shit about this for months and months, so neither did he.
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 31, 2016, 01:11 PM
 
This guy has the best lawyer ever.

If he attends counseling, the (now misdemeanor) charge gets wiped.

Fun side note: they tried to nail him on felony "dicking with public utilities". I'll leave why this crashed and burned as an exercise for the reader. It had to be a sweet, sweet moment.
     
reader50
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Mar 31, 2016, 02:57 PM
 
He's a repeat offender. And he broke Federal laws regarding public airways. Slaps on the wrist are usually reserved for important people in government. Regular citizens usually get the book thrown at them.
     
subego  (op)
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Mar 31, 2016, 03:17 PM
 
As I said, this guy is like the best lawyer ever. Betcha he's getting lots of new clients today.
     
Cap'n Tightpants
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Mar 31, 2016, 07:17 PM
 
Yeah, that's slick (prosecutors should have known better), the guy very well could have gotten 3-5 years. If I didn't already have cut-throat, dirty-dog lawyers...
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