Harvey is thinking he's a bit old fashioned for not wanting to hear other people's cell phone conversations.

Frankly, I resent this verbal exhibitionism. My momma raised me to be polite. If I'm in an area where someone's having a conversation that I'm not involved in, I feel socially obligated to at least pretend I'm not listening in, no matter how audible their blah-blah-blah-ing.

As it happens I think Harvey's quite right. And it has nothing to do with being old curmudgeon and much to do with people airing way too much of their laundry (usually dirty) in public, without a second thought.

Actually, it truly surprises me, the things people will talk about on a cell phone in a public place.

For instance...While sitting in an airport I heard a guy call numerous clients and/or colleagues to tell them about the business he worked for... failing. Not only were the calls depressing, but he kept telling everyone "this isn't public knowledge yet"... and all I could think was - "well yes, it is public knowledge now". Even though he never mentioned the company name - what if I or someone in the airport knew who he was and what company he worked for?

I've been on the train and listened to numerous business conversations - where if I had been the competition - it would have given me TONS of info on the other guy's business practices. I've heard people's medical information, bank information, parents chewing their kids out about sex, drugs, school... just the most amazing stuff. The person talking thinks nothing of this because they don't recognize the people around them as being any sort of danger to them!

When my husband made frequent trips to Detroit, working with automotive clients in his previous job. He had to absolutely sit on the younger guys traveling with him... no cell phone, no chit chat, no vocalization PERIOD about any work related stuff outside of closed conference rooms. You never knew if the competition was sitting right next to you at the airport or in a restaurant or worse yet in the bar! He told them, you MUST assume they are there and they are listening.

My cell phone conversations in public places have consisted of me calling my husband to tell him I'm on my way home - when I'm down in the city and taking the train. If I have a conversation in another public place - such as an airport, I will find a spot that is empty (generally a gate not currently in use) and do my talking there.

But when I'm out in public I try to be very aware of what I'm saying and not just spout personal or professional info to all and sundry. And possibly even tell people I'll call them back in a minute, as I go out and get in my car. As a matter of fact - 99.9% of all my cell phone conversations take place in my car. I just feel more comfortable about it that way.

Now, you have to remember I work at home... I only go out occasionally and travel by air even less. Just think if I commuted to work on the train daily or flew once or twice a month! I could be a regular font of information about all kinds of things.

Am I overly paranoid? Well, maybe a little paranoia is a good thing in this case. And maybe if people thought that chatting away on a cell phone might get them into trouble, they'd hang it up when out in public.... nah it'll never happen.

Posted by: Teresa in Idiocies at 06:15 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It seems Bill Gates left behind a page of doodles when visiting an economic summit over in London... Reporters grabbed the page thinking it was the doodling of the Prime Minister and had the handwriting analyzed.

Newspaper stories contained phrases such as "struggling to concentrate" and "not a natural leader".

This was when they thought the doodles were those of the PM... Then it was found that the doodles actually belonged to Bill Gates...

"We look forward with amusement to explanations by a variety of psychologists and graphologists of how various characteristics ascribed to the prime minister on the basis of the doodles, such as 'struggling to concentrate', 'not a natural leader', 'struggling to keep control of a confusing world' and 'an unstable man who is feeling under enormous pressure', equally apply to Mr Gates.

Even if it was an analysis of Tony Blair's doodles, the end result is ridiculous in the extreme. I always had my doubts about handwriting analysis, but this seems to put the clincher on it - it's more a bit of "wishful thinking" than an actual "science" OR that might just be because of who they asked to do the analysis and what they told them prior to the start.

Or, as would be the case with NYT reporters - perhaps they only reported what they wanted to hear or what they thought it should be... There's no telling, but it is amusing.

Yeah, I should be so unstable... just think of all the money I'd have... then everyone could criticize me and I wouldn't give a damn in the least!

Hat Tip Slashdot

Posted by: Teresa in Idiocies at 09:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Tim Blair is talking about a device you can add to your television to block FOX News (seems most liberals don't know how to operate a remote).

FOXBlocker is an innovative new product that filters out the FOX News network. Simply screw the filter into the back of your TV ...

I have an even easier way... just move to the "Chicagoland Area". Yep, no problem for liberals here in the heartland of the USA. Comcast Cable does not carry FOX news in this part of the country. If you want FOX in Chicago - you have to spring for a satellite dish. Cable... no matter how "premium" ain't gonna cut it.

Now if you want Fox Sports or Fox Movie... they are available. But heaven forbid we have ready access to FOX News. (not that I'd watch it - I just find it annoying that it isn't available if I want it - this is why I have basic basic cable and won't pay them more than I have to in order to get a few channels)

Oddly enough FOX News is readily available via cable in Massachusetts - home of the Special K twins...

Is anyone surprised that this is a "blue" state?

Posted by: Teresa in Idiocies at 08:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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So I have this annoying problem with my cell phone... When I have the thing on ring (as in loud ring) - I often will not hear it when it's in my purse. When I have it on vibrate I will know when it rings while I'm carrying my purse. You might think... well duh - keep the thing on vibrate and you'll know when it rings. The problem is that when I'm at home I tend forget to take the phone out of my purse - thus the thing "rings" and I never know it because it's not making a sound...

I have friends with cell phones that will vibrate AND ring at the same time. Aha! I decide to head off to my Verizon store and find out about this phenom. My phone when set to Vibrate/Ring will first vibrate 3 times THEN ring 3 times... There is a supposedly good explanation for this - but it seems stupid to me (something about being in a meeting and not wanting it to ring at first or some such nonsense).

At the local Verizon store - I am met with incredulous looks when I tell the guys what I want my phone to be doing. They've never heard of such a thing! They look at me like I've just told them completely unlikely story and they can't quite believe it. (they even ask each other - "Have you ever heard of this? No, me neither"). I try to tell them that my daughter's phone will do this, and several of my friends have phones that do this - I am met with a shrug and a "sorry we can't help you". But you will be eligible for a new phone starting 6/30 (yeah, 6 months from now...)

Then they ask to see my phone - I hand it over. NOW they tell me... wow your cell tower list is WAY out of date! Wha....??? Cell tower list? What cell tower list? No one has ever mentioned anything about this to me EVER. Yeah, well, it seems that cell phone companies have lists of cell towers programmed into your phone and (at least with Verizon) you are supposed to call *228 and then choose option number 2 - to update this list every couple of months!!! Couldn't someone somewhere at sometime have just mentioned that little fact? Just once? ARG!!! Last of all they said my phone software was WAY out of date and if I had 45 minutes they'd update it. I let them do that - so far my call reception is MUCH better! Then I leave the store and go try another to see what info they will give me (no I haven't given up in my quest to get the V/R thing going).

Head out to a different Verizon store (it's actually a mall kiosk). I give the guy there the same spiel. He gives me a dubious look (I begin t wonder if I have horns growing out of my head or something equally strange going on). Then he says - "well, some of these phones will do that with certain ring tones". (I'm trying to figure out why they would put in software that would change how the V/R operates based on ring tone). I have a Motorola phone - he says none of the Motorola phones will do the V/R thing (although one of my friends actually has a Motorola phone that does just that *sigh*) . Oh and I'm eligible for a phone upgrade 8/30 . (now I have 2 different dates for upgrade eligibility)

Last of all I hit a Circuit City. There I find a woman at the cell phone center. I tell her what I'm looking for... AHA! She knows EXACTLY what I mean! (she said most guys don't think the V/R thing is necessary because they don't carry cell phones in bags - they generally have a belt holster or put them in their pockets) She said she doesn't know about all the Motorola models - but hasn't run into one that will V/R at the same time (this could be because of different cell phone models offered through different carriers). However, LG and Samsung both have models that do what I want. Then she looks up my cell phone eligibility and says - I'm eligible for a change by 6/30 (which corresponds to the first date I got).

Now I am debating with myself... should I wait until June to upgrade? I just want a phone - no fancy toys. I don't browse the net or get email, I don't want to take pictures... I just want to call. I'm ambivalent - should I wait and grit my teeth over my current phone - or should I just bite it and buy a new one... Decisions, Decisions...

Posted by: Teresa in Idiocies at 08:11 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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