This I don't like

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this company claims to be able to pinpoint any mobile phone. I find it somewhat scary that anyone with my mobile phone number can pinpoint my location for €0.21. CAn some with a PC download the software and try it out to see how good it is.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

In U.S. rural places some accidents have had happy endings when emergency services managed to pinpoint the caller's location from the cell phone signal. And there have been some unfortunate instances when they couldn't locate the caller in time. This has obvious benefits for emergency services, but I agree that it's a little creepy to put this technology in civilian hands.

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

you are in the bathroom, reading a porno mag and eating an egg salad sandwich.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, but which mag is it?

― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Beaver Hun

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not sure I really want every tom, dick or harry being able to pin point my position. Sure the emergency services can find me if I'm in trouble but I'd rather not have this ort of service in the public domain.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

We shall put Ed into the wayback machine to avoid technology. But that means NO MORE DANCE RECORDS. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)

ah they can tell where you are but they can't know what you are doing - so no need to stash the jazz mags just yet

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)

simple solution, don't use your mobile phone.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)

if only we knew Saddam's mobile no.

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Depends on how They locate you. During the run-up to the Persian Gulf War there was a lot of talk about satellites that could pinpoint a car's license plate but not quite make out its characters. Assuming that the technology has advanced since then, the intelligence community (Millar Vanillar to thread!) probably now has satellites that can read over your shoulder...and tsk tsk! I can see you reading Playboy hidden in that copy of Newsweek!

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

see the thing is, there are over 6 BILLION people on the planet, and I would say that at least a million a far more likely to be watched than you. (you meaning anyone)

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 16:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I believe that this works by triangulating your position by working out ones distance from various mobile phone masts.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 16:04 (twenty-two years ago)

They already can tell for billing purposes, as J.Lu pointed out upthread. But it's only a matter of time before something which is used only for "official" purposes gets in the hands of everyone.

Stalking has a whole new dimension now... I find it incredibly worrying.

Can it actually tell the location of your mobile when it's not being used? The solution is to turn your mobile off when not in use, but obviously, what do you do if people are trying to reach you?

― kate (kate), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone with a PC tried their free trial yet?

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)

(BTW, it would be really helpful if you actually put some kind of CLUE in the title of the thread as to what it is about... I would have found this thread sooner if you'd put something in about mobile phone triangulation or something...)

― kate (kate), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't install software on my phone, but I'd love to try it. I wonder if I can convince my boss/the sys admin that this is work related...

― kate (kate), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh its phone software. I thought it was PC software.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:19 (twenty-two years ago)

huh....im either on the couch or in work - to be fair most people if they called my phone and said "where are you" id probably reply "on the couch" or "at work".

― james (james), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Duh, I am so not awake yet. Install the software on my *PC*.

My brain has been fried by the Indian operators and their 30,000 different PMN codes.

I don't actually want anyone at work to have this, because of the number of times I've said "I'm sick, can't come in" when the truth is "I'm playing a gig in Manchester, I can't come in."

― kate (kate), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:23 (twenty-two years ago)

All the more Big Brotherish aspects of this technology assume that your mobile will at all times be a) switched on and b) within a metre of you.

It may surprise some people to hear this, but it is possible for neither a) nor b) to be true without the trauma killing you. If you turn off 'call incoming', your brain does not automatically turn off 'breathe'. Likewise, a mobile is not a pacemaker. You can venture a thousand miles from it and your heart won't stop beating. Stange but true.

― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Thursday, 10 July 2003 09:07 (twenty-two years ago)

This is not a Mobiles: Classic or Dud thread, and I refuse to turn it into one. I wrote out a rant, and I've deleted it.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 10 July 2003 09:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I know that Kate, but my comments are still relevant to the topic, a way to a possible lateral approach to a situation.

― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Thursday, 10 July 2003 09:21 (twenty-two years ago)

It's just one of those things of... the whole POINT of a mobile - that which justifies its expense and its annoyance and everything - is that it is just that. MOBILE. If you are forced to leave it at home, or turn it off - for fear of Big Brother or your boss or your scary stalker being able to track you - well, that completely negates its very existence. And then the 12 Foot Lizards have won.

If I have my mobile with me and switched on, it's because I want - or need - to be contacted. MObiles come equipped with caller ID precisely because they ARE so intrusive. I can choose who to answer my phone to. If someone with nefarious purposes could look at it and see "Ah ha, Kate is not at home being ill, she is actually in Manchester playing a gig" then it's added an extra layer of intrusiveness. If the person doing the looking is my boss - it gets me sacked. If the person doing the looking is my stalker - this endangers my wellbeing and perhaps in cases even a person's life.

Anyway... that's the rant I didn't want to get into.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 10 July 2003 09:25 (twenty-two years ago)

get 2 mobiles, one for friends and family, the other for your boss

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 10 July 2003 10:14 (twenty-two years ago)

You're offering to pay for that?

― kate (kate), Thursday, 10 July 2003 10:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Man this is great! Now, not only can I phone my phone to find out where my phone is but once I've found my phone I can find out where I'm at!

― dave q, Thursday, 10 July 2003 10:40 (twenty-two years ago)

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