The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Posts tagged Opinion
Tank destroys mobile masts down under
Jul 14th
Link: BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Tank rampage crushes phone masts
It’s not uncommon to find residents taking matters into their own hands to stop new mobile phone masts popping up in their neighbourhood – but in Sydney one man decided to take things a little too far.
A man has been arrested in Sydney after phone masts were destroyed during a 90-minute rampage in a privately owned armoured personnel carrier. The incident began when police noticed the APC destroying a substation in Minchinbury at about 0200 local time on Saturday (1200 GMT).
Officers called for back up and pursued the vehicle at speeds averaging 30km/h (19 mph) as it crashed through masts, fences and telecom relay sheds. They moved in as it stalled trying to bring down another mobile phone tower in the suburb of Dean Park.
The man in question – one John Robert Patterson, said “that certainly he had authority to behave in such a manner”, according to his defence lawyer. Telstra meanwhile said there would be “coverage problems” until the police give them access to the sites.
Teachers say mobiles are ‘offensive weapons’
Jun 26th
Link: BBC NEWS | Education | Mobile phones ‘offensive weapons’
Expect this to turn up in the Daily Mail tomorrow..
A teaching union is calling for mobile phones to be classed as potentially offensive weapons. NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said the way pupils misused them to bully their teachers meant they should be banned from school premises.
Hmm ok. There was me thinking from the headline we were talking about throwing mobiles at the teacher, or attacking them with the power of a Razr flip. Anyway, the article goes on:
Ms Keates is raising the issue of mobiles with ministers at a task force meeting on Tuesday. She is particularly concerned about websites such as Ratemyteacher and Bebo which, she says, provide a vehicle for false allegations and abuse by pupils which can damage teachers’ self esteem and careers.
She said: “These sites are fed by pupils’ misuse of mobile phones. The time has come for mobiles in schools to be placed in the category of a potentially offensive weapon and action taken to prevent their use by pupils while on school premises. Regrettably, our evidence shows that some schools are still not taking these issues seriously.”
Right. Firstly, what’s stopping pupils using Ratemyteacher and Bebo from their PCs at home? In fact, they’re probably more likely to do that as the data charges on prepay are pretty crippling.
And second – ‘offensive weapon’? What’s that about? I’m surprised they haven’t banned pencils yet, following my complaint sometime in the 80′s that the boy that used to sit next to me in Infants school used to constantly stab me in the leg with a blunt HB.
Of course if you’re a Daily Mail reader, this is yet another serious issue that needs a knee-jerk reaction. Standby for the feedback from ‘Angry from Tunbridge Wells’.. 
Police Chief: ‘Stop texting me crime reports’
Jun 23rd
Link: Daily Express, Sabah, Malaysia — News Headlines
There’s been a few services launched recently that allow you to text a non-urgent crime report or tip-off to the police. Most of these involve some kind of automated system and tracking – however in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, things are a little different.
City Police Chief ACP Ku Chin Wah has apparently been giving out his personal mobile number for concerned citizens to text him. However, he’s been rather overwhelmed with texts, meaning he can’t always respond straight away.
The Chief said: “The public must call the city police hotline number instead of (calling or) texting to my mobile over a crime or any emergency because I will only check that phone when I am free [...] so it would not be a good idea to report a crime that needs the police’s attention right away”.
The article cites an example where a 49 year old man in Luyang sent Ku a text to report a break-in at his property on Tuesday. Although the text was received at 10.26pm, he didn’t get a chance to read it until around 12.30am.
This appears to be one of those ‘you couldn’t make it up’ stories. The idea is good in theory, but reporting crime to someones personal mobile is a bit pointless. If anyone reading offers mobile services in Malaysia, you could do no worse than give Police Chief Ku a call. You’ll find his mobile number in the original article.
Incidently the man reporting his house being burgled saw sense and called the proper police number, who sent out a patrol vehicle and caught a suspect in possession of a roll of electrical wire, believed to have been removed from the house. All’s well that ends well..
Prisoner hides mobile charger up arse
Jun 20th
Link: Lag caught with phone charger up jacksie | The Register
A lag at Swaleside Prison on the Isle of Sheppey was caught with an entire phone charger up his jacksie after officers noticed his “discomfort” during a search of his cell, The Sun reports.
The appropriately-named Tony Pile, 22, serving a life stretch for “beating a man to death in a race hate attack in 2005″, was collared during a sweep aimed at cracking down on drug and phone smuggling into the Kent chokey.
Ouch!
One Prison Service source admitted: “We’ve known for some time that prisoners hide phones up there but this is a first.”
The source continued: “Pile had somehow managed to secrete the entire charger where the sun doesn’t shine. It just goes to show the lengths some inmates will go to stay in touch with the outside world while banged up.”
Backward Canada: the proof?
Jun 14th
Had this in earlier from our very own Krystal.
- – -
So I went to the mall on my lunch, and after being thoroughly
disappointed with the selection at H&M today, I thought I’d poke my
head into Wireless Wave (generic phone type place, probably like
Phones 4 U?)
So I say to the guy (full well knowing the answer) after his pouncing
on me the minute I go in and saying “Can I help you miss?”
Me: “Yes, I’m looking for the Nokia N95, I saw a photo of it it looks very nice”
Man: “The what sorry?”
Me: “The Nokia N95, do you have any?”
Man: “Ummm I’m sorry miss, you must have the name wrong, there is no
such thing as a Nokia N95. Are you sure it wasn’t this, or this or
that you’ve got the name wrong?”
Me “Nope I’m sure.”
Man: “well that phone doesn’t exist”
oh boy… that was almost cruel of me wasn’t it?
- – -
Hilarious
Thousands flee homes after Tsunami hoax text
Jun 6th
Link: The Raw Story | Hoax text message spreads tsunami terror in Indonesia
Thousands of people fled their homes in panic on the Indonesian coast after hoax text messages spread warning them that a tsunami will hit the region, journalists and officials said Wednesday.
“The possibility is that a tsunami may take place on June 7,” said part of a short telephone text message (SMS) that is widely circulating in various coastal areas of Nusa Tenggara province, local journalists said.
Nearly 1m mobiles get flushed in the UK each year
Jun 4th
Link: Brits Drop 850,000 Phones Down the Toilet – Each Year
If you’ve ever found yourself trying to fish your mobile out of the toilet, you’re not alone. A staggering 855,000 handsets are flushed away every year in the UK – that’s roughly £342 million we’re ‘loo’sing. Research by SimplySwitch, the price comparison and switching service, found 4.5m handsets are lost or damaged every year.
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