Protecting Your Personal Space Every now and then (actually, more now than then in today's high tech world) someone comes up with an idea, concept or device that is just what the doctor ordered. What I'm going to talk about in this column is one of those ideas/concepts/devices whose time has certainly come. Leave it to an MIT grad student to figure this one out -- and kudos to her. I read about this in the May IEEE's Spectrum. The story is on page 17 and is called "Zone of Silence." I'm sure we've all been in a situation where we are enjoying a leisurely dinner, or maybe spending a few moments at a nice, quiet piano bar. Maybe we're reading the Sunday paper at our favorite `net-enabled coffee shop, or maybe we're browsing in a book store...well, I can go on with examples but I think you get the concept. We are enjoying some quiet time. Then, the atmosphere is rudely shattered by the annoying ring of someone's "personalized" mobile device ringer. The next thing you hear is this person, in panic mode, discussing a business deal that's falling apart, or trying to save a car deal because their credit score is too low or his/her girl-/boyfriend is leaving them for a Las Vegas dancer (this isn't fiction -- I've actually overheard conversations about these topics) or any number of personal tidbits that really aren't anyone's business, let alone worthy of disturbing my, or others', moments of tranquility. Now, the way the story goes is that this MIT grad student (her name is Limor Fried) was having a nice, quiet dinner with a friend when her friend abruptly and rudely broke off the conversation to answer her cell phone. Well, Fried got "fried," and, as the story goes, "got even." She promptly developed a jammer that effectively jams any cell phone signals within a radius of about four meters -- hats off to Fried! Well, I did a bit of research on jammers and yes, pretty much, what the article says is true -- jammers are becoming a hot item. You can find them all over the `net as well as in any number of technogadget catalogs. However, the FCC says jammers are illegal (but OUR privacy can be disturbed without a second thought). You just can't jam. The FCC is threatening to start prosecuting violators (like they don't have enough to do with legitimate interference and common OTA broadcast violations). The FCC should take a clue from what is happening in other parts of the world. For example, in Japan, jammers are legal in concert halls to shut down the wireless "noise." Brazil and Spain use jammers in prisons to keep inmates from secret communications. In India, they are used to silence cell phone users in the Parliament and France has authorized the use of them in movie theaters (that gets my vote, for sure). Now, fair is fair and there are some legitimate issues that have credibility when it comes to controlling jammers. First on the list, of course, are 911 calls -- there has to be a way for them to defeat jamming, unequivocally. And, if jammers are to be consumerized, they have to be defeatable in case of national emergency or if EMS agencies need to use mobile communications in the open consumer bands. And, obviously, there are wireless devices where continued operation is critical, such as in the medical field. These need to be protected as well. There are legitimate arguments on both sides of the fence, so obviously, the best solution for next generation jammers is built-in "intelligence." And, as with any emerging technology (well, jammers aren't really emerging technology so lets call them "coming of age"), in most cases, cooler heads prevail and a reasonable compromise is eventually worked out -- jammers will be no exception. There is little doubt that the ubiquitous use of mobile voice communicators has changed our lives for the better. No one I know will dispute that. But everyone I know has complained, at one time or another, that they have been annoyed by someone else's wireless voice device. It will take some time for this to settle and for the general populous to develop a set of etiquette rules for mobile communicator use. If they don't, creative minds like Fried will continue to develop "creative solutions" (can't wait for the one that silences 100+ dB boom boxes and car stereos -- have thought of developing a EMP cannon myself, but haven't been able to get it down to briefcase size yet) that allow us to reclaim our space. The wireless industry is in the "A" position to take this bull by the horns and, for the good of society, address those that think they are the only ones who matter and what they do has no consequence -- at least in the wireless world. A large majority of the population understands that they have some responsibility to their fellow humans... it's for those who don't, I say, "this jammer's for you." BTW, if your interested in building one of these, luckily the FCC can't stifle the publication of instructions. Check out this web address: http://www.mit.edu/~ladyada/thesis.pdf-- I certainly will.