33 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Copyright © 2015 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.

The Telecom Digest for Jul 17, 2015
Volume 34 : Issue 137 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Theatres struggle with phone use (Ben Combee)
Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows (David Clayton)
Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows (Bill Horne)
Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows (Don Y)
Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows (Bill Horne)
Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows (Pete Cresswell)
Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use During Shows (Dave Garland)

Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence - economic, political, even spiritual - is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 07:12:42 -0500 From: Ben Combee <ben.combee@gmail.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Theatres struggle with phone use Message-ID: <55a79fbc.41a9ca0a.f6400.1e7a@mx.google.com> Submitted for your approval, one of the 'don't talk' messages that our local Alamo Drafthouse theater shows before films http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JVz-fO7kxcQ ***** Moderator's Note ***** It's laced with (bleeped) profanity, and the messages that is repeated was clearly from a very irritated former patron. Of course, the question is "Does it cost more than it makes?" Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 16:16:30 +1000 From: David Clayton <dc33box-usenet2@NOSPAM.yahoo.com.au> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows Message-ID: <pan.2015.07.16.06.16.23.166155@NOSPAM.yahoo.com.au> On Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:11:19 -0700, Don Y wrote: ....... > Imagine if the handicap space took a photo of your license plate when you > parked there. If not registered as having a handicap permit, a "ticket" > is mailed to your home with photographic proof of the infringement (like > "red light cameras", etc.) And we all know that people with these permits are - supposedly - only allowed to use the designated parking spots when directly transporting the person the permit was issued to, don't we? Maybe we need to "Chip" people assigned these permits to have some technology verify that the vehicle is in fact entitled to use the parking spot? -- Regards, David. David Clayton Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a measure of how many questions you have.
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 10:42:39 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows Message-ID: <mo8fqa$f0f$1@dont-email.me> On 7/16/2015 2:16 AM, David Clayton wrote: > On Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:11:19 -0700, Don Y wrote: > ....... >> Imagine if the handicap space took a photo of your license plate when you >> parked there. If not registered as having a handicap permit, a "ticket" >> is mailed to your home with photographic proof of the infringement (like >> "red light cameras", etc.) > > And we all know that people with these permits are - supposedly - only > allowed to use the designated parking spots when directly transporting the > person the permit was issued to, don't we? > > Maybe we need to "Chip" people assigned these permits to have some > technology verify that the vehicle is in fact entitled to use the parking > spot? OK, I get it that you're joking (or, at least I hope you are). But ... The game isn't about enforcing the "rules". The political game is run so as to make sure that few people know how many are breaking the rules. If nobody complains about the use of cellphones in theaters, the problem doesn't exist. In other words, so long as no one knew the football players were given handicapped placards so as to spare them the extra few yards of running practice they might have gotten without them, everyone was "happy" for purposes of counting votes. It was only when the process became so perverted, and it's results so obvious, that excuses were impossible and authorities took action. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 09:16:24 -0700 From: Don Y <anonymous@invalid.telecomdigest.us> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows Message-ID: <mo8lc1$fes$1@speranza.aioe.org> On 7/15/2015 11:16 PM, David Clayton wrote: > On Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:11:19 -0700, Don Y wrote: > ....... >> Imagine if the handicap space took a photo of your license plate when you >> parked there. If not registered as having a handicap permit, a "ticket" >> is mailed to your home with photographic proof of the infringement (like >> "red light cameras", etc.) > > And we all know that people with these permits are - supposedly - only > allowed to use the designated parking spots when directly transporting the > person the permit was issued to, don't we? > > Maybe we need to "Chip" people assigned these permits to have some > technology verify that the vehicle is in fact entitled to use the parking > spot? Insert "permit" (which can now be a credit card sized item as it doesn't need to remain in the vehicle "on display" -- if something else is actively performing the validation) into parking meter style monitor. If you want to be pedantic, photo the cardholder at the same time. Treat them like parking meters -- collect the data weekly and issue citations (just like red-light cameras have their photographs reviewed by a police officer prior to sending out citations) [There was a move, here, to put photo of cardholder on the "tag" but those folks objected -- claiming it could be used to exploit them. I guess on the assumption that folks could look inside the vehicle, see their photo dangling from the rearview mirror and chase them down in the store, etc. -- it never occurred to them that you could redesign the permit with a crease in it so the photo is only visible if someone unfolds it to examine the photo -- like a police officer!] The problem isn't perceived (by society) to be big enough to warrant this sort of attention. Folks who need the spots can either find another -- or, grumble/wait. OTOH, at $500/infraction, one assumes lawmakers are claiming this to be a "privilege" worth protecting. Of course, a $1000 fine on IMPROPER USE of such credentials might help!! [Knowing several people with severe physical disabilities makes me a bit touchy about abuses of this!]
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 10:32:46 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows Message-ID: <mo8f7p$crr$1@dont-email.me> On 7/15/2015 3:11 PM, Don Y wrote: > Fourth, businesses seem to be reluctant to "discipline" their > customers. I suspect the rationale is something along the line > of not wanting to alienate a customer (source of income) and > imagining that other customers will "put up with" the inconvenience. > (i.e., they never see other customers taking their business elsewhere > hence no cost of "failed enforcement"). > > Consider how often someone goes through a checkout with clearly > more than "10 items". What would it take for the cashier to > simply state: "I'm sorry, ma'am/sir; but this lane is for > customers with 10 items or less". [snip] > E.g., imagine if the cash register in the 10-items-or-less lane at the > checkout actually refused to process more than 10 items! And, the > charge/debit-card reader refused to process another transaction on > the same "card/account" for 5 minutes. I.e., only your first 10 items > will be allowed to be purchased -- no need for the employee to play > policeman, etc. A store manager would never countenance such a thought: it would cut into impulse sales, and the candy, batteries, and pulp magazines offered at checkout kiosks are the highest-profit items. Here's the secret to success in retail: the guy who ticks off the least number of customers wins. That means that when a large number of people complain about cellphone use in theaters, the management will come to a decision that offending one or two customers is better business than making excuses to the those whom complain. So, the next time you see it, tell the management that you're offended and angry. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 09:46:30 -0400 From: Pete Cresswell <PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use during shows Message-ID: <9ddfqal5cjgnp50bma76enst0ulgerlrv3@4ax.com> Per Don Y: >I think any other approach has to be effectively fool-proof. I.e., >your phone WILL NOT operate in these confines -- you don't have a >choice in the matter (and our staff needn't be inconvenienced to >feel like policemen in enforcing it). > >E.g., imagine if the cash register in the 10-items-or-less lane at the >checkout actually refused to process more than 10 items! And, the >charge/debit-card reader refused to process another transaction on >the same "card/account" for 5 minutes. I.e., only your first 10 items >will be allowed to be purchased -- no need for the employee to play >policeman, etc. + 1 on both... -- Pete Cresswell
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 14:03:31 -0500 From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Theaters Struggle With Patrons' Phone Use During Shows Message-ID: <mo8v3i$dnr$1@dont-email.me> On 7/12/2015 2:26 PM, Don Y wrote: > I've often wondered why such venues don't "shield" the rooms with > aluminized paint, etc. Granted, it won't stop folks from playing > games on their phones -- but the inbound/outbound traffic would > be stopped. > > [I suspect an active jammer is illegal] It is, although it's not hard to find the hardware if you poke around on the 'net a bit. > I've thought of painting the rooms, here, similarly in an attempt to > curb RF leakage (and infiltration) -- WiFi services that I'm not > keen on others being able to snoop, interact or distrupt. Around here, many houses are stucco (concrete trowelled onto wire mesh backing). If they had a little attention to making sure all the wire mesh was grounded, and aluminum storms, they'd be a pretty fair Faraday cage. Add steel roofing, and you're all set. And in fact just as they are, many have poor to no cell reception (or access to municipal wifi, unless an exterior antenna is installed).

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