Police Plan To Bluespam People About Locking Their Doors
from the this-is-a-good-idea-how? dept
We still can't figure out why anyone thinks "bluespamming" is a good idea. Bluespamming, if you don't know, is setting up a system to look for phones with bluetooth enabled, and sending them an automatic message if they're nearby. It's spam, via bluetooth. Yet, for some reason, many organizations that are doing it, such as the US Navy don't seem to realize it's intrusive and annoying. The latest to dip into bluespamming are police in West Yorkshire who somehow think that bluespamming people reminders to lock their doors and windows will be effective. Perhaps it'll teach people to better lock up their mobile phones so bluespamming doesn't bother them instead.
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A reminder to secure your stuff (be it house or phone) can only be good, as statistics show inarguably that most people won't do it unless you give them a good reason to. The house part is taken care of by house thieves, and now the phone security patr is taken care of by this new form of spam.
Even if you don't believe that, the spam will probably influence some people to learn how to use their phone better, and they now have the added security and battery life due to having bluetooth turned off. Who doesn't like that?
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Re: [what's wrong with it?]
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Re:
Yeah, didn't think so.
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What?
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A society of fear
Face it, if a thief wants your stuff, all they have to do is break a window... without even checking to see if the door is unlocked. The professional thieves will be gone before the police are even notified. And the even more professional ones will drive up in a van and convince the nosy neighbors that they're helping you move! (Or is this an urban legend?)
One time, I went on vacation for an entire week and in my hurry, I forgot to lock the front door. Guess what? Nothing happened at all- nothing was stolen and the world didn't end. Everything was exactly the way I had left it... including the dishes in the sink.
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Re: A society of fear
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Re: A society of fear
You didn't leave it unlocked. I unlocked it. And I snapped a full copy of your hard drive, and those interesting photos you keep in your drawer. You know which photos I mean.
If you don't want also the rest of the world to know, contact me, and maybe we'll be able to work something out.
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Re: Re: A society of fear
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Re: A society of fear
The "moving man" method is used a lot on the show, but... eh... I don't know how often it happens in real life.
I mean, hell, if I believed everything I saw on TV.... =)
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Remember 'can cause injury can cause injury'?
And the dangers of picking up heavy weights. Remember the robot that repeats 'can cause injury can cause injury...'
It's a trend, the whole countries gotten like this now. TV is full of 'everything is a scam' TV programs that make people afraid that everything is a scam and everyone a robber/scammer/murderer.
Apparently they've arrest that nasty builder who was going around 'cold calling' on people to sell his services.
We use to call it selling yourself, or door to door saleman, but now they call it cold calling and made it illegal.
'Cos sometimes a person knocking on the front door is a robber to distract you from the back door. Important to guard both doors at the same time.
And sometimes old people will be easily scammed, because they are alone and the social fabric of Britain has collapsed as everyone is afraid of everyone else.
Ahh, send him to the middle east as the US envoy. Because middle Englands ready to lynch him.
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Re: Remember 'can cause injury can cause injury'?
Read the warning labels on stuff around your house. The scary part is that someone actually did those things and tried to sue them for their own stupidity...
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Why Bother?
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Opportunist burglars
WY police recognise it as a big problem. Something like 50% of burglaries are through unlocked doors. A police officer I spoke to said that they don't want to break windows since they would attract attention, or they might cut themselves and leave DNA evidence.
But yeah, bluespamming would be REALLY irritating. Especially if every shop and trade van you passed sent you a message.
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Re: Opportunist burglars
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One word: undiscoverable
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US Navy?
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Turn it off
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Life has a stupidity tax. Don't be stoopid. ;)
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Let's have more unsecure protocols
What was I thinking? Then companies would have no incredibly overpriced cleaning anti-polluting programs to sell us.
Way to go geniuses!
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The difference is in the prior probabilities. If (let's hope) 95% of people lock their doors, but only 50% of burglaries come from locked doors, that would imply that you're 19 times as likely to be burgled through an unlocked door as a locked one.
Naturally those are only example numbers, but you get the point.
The lock serves as a deterrent, similar to alarm systems. Most alarm systems can be defeated. However, the system is reasonably effective until all your neighbors have one. Locks work the same way - if there's an unlocked house and a locked one, the thief will preferentially choose the easier target. So if you have locked doors, a menacing dog, and an alarm system, you're less likely to be burgled if you have neighbors who don't lock their doors, have weak locks, cats, and/or no alarm systems.
As in the old proverb...I don't have to outrun the lion, I just have to out run you. Make sure you always have somewhat better security than your neighbors, and you'll probably be OK.
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Thieves love this stuff
Let's see what our enterprising criminals can do with Bluespam.
And for all those thinking it's a good idea, why not carry it further? How about bluespamming everyone with "Don't drink and drive", "don't commit murder", "save water", "save electricity", "look before crossing the street" etc...
Heck, why not bluespam people telling them "nighty night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" while you're at it.
The "moving man" method is used a lot on the show, but... eh... I don't know how often it happens in real life.
Happened to my boss when he moved into his new place a couple of years back. The neighbours were used to removalist vans delivering stuff on the weekend. During the week, when everyone was at work, some more vans turned up and cleaned out the house.
Someone else I know just moved into a new house and had a minor burglary. Since they just moved in and exhausted from moving, they forgot to lock one of the windows and left stuff out. Someone sneaked in and took all the purses on the kitchen table.
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