This Really Scares Me!

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This is exactly why I do not like onstar, let alone sat navigation. I have navigation, its my map bag, it rides in the trunk! The scarry thing is that I am told my 2005 has a black box, it only records 6 seconds, but that is enough. Next thing we know the car will be able to read our vital signs too, oh but its for our own saftey!
 
You know, I've been thinking about this kinda thing ever since US car makers started using the OBD II computers in cars a few years ago. Now lately OnStar has been playing these tear-jerking radio spots about a crying mother who's locked her two infants in the car accidently and the superpowers at the Official OnStar Crisis Command Center (OOCCC for short) save their lives by unlocking the doors. Now I ask you: if a stranger can unlock the doors of your car from outer-f'n-space what else can "they" see or do? Do you want someone you don't even know to see where you are every second of every day? Do you want "them" to know how fast you go to get there? Or where you ate lunch last thursday? I know it sounds paranoid (trust me, I am) but by using the sattelite tracking Detroit built into your late model car (at Uncle Sam's insistence) and using information in the magnetic strip on a common ATM card as well as tracking "cookies" generated by web sites you visit, someone could know everything there is to know about you. They could tell where you are at any given time, what you eat, where you shop, who you are in contact with thru email, what interests you have and how much money you spend and on how you spend that money. They could build a profile of your personal traits and personality and if they felt you were a threat to society or if they just wanted you gone, they could pick an opportune time and place (3 am in the middle of nowhere) to have your car stop via sattelite signal, then the MIB come out, end your life functions and dispose of the body before anyone knows you're gone. Either that, or I need to switch to decaf...
 
zookeeper said:
You know, I've been thinking about this kinda thing ever since US car makers started using the OBD II computers in cars a few years ago. Now lately OnStar has been playing these tear-jerking radio spots about a crying mother who's locked her two infants in the car accidently and the superpowers at the Official OnStar Crisis Command Center (OOCCC for short) save their lives by unlocking the doors. Now I ask you: if a stranger can unlock the doors of your car from outer-f'n-space what else can "they" see or do? Do you want someone you don't even know to see where you are every second of every day? Do you want "them" to know how fast you go to get there? Or where you ate lunch last thursday? I know it sounds paranoid (trust me, I am) but by using the sattelite tracking Detroit built into your late model car (at Uncle Sam's insistence) and using information in the magnetic strip on a common ATM card as well as tracking "cookies" generated by web sites you visit, someone could know everything there is to know about you. They could tell where you are at any given time, what you eat, where you shop, who you are in contact with thru email, what interests you have and how much money you spend and on how you spend that money. They could build a profile of your personal traits and personality and if they felt you were a threat to society or if they just wanted you gone, they could pick an opportune time and place (3 am in the middle of nowhere) to have your car stop via sattelite signal, then the MIB come out, end your life functions and dispose of the body before anyone knows you're gone. Either that, or I need to switch to decaf...
That's why you have to act normal... at all times. That way they won't know about... stuff that didn't happen.

Reminds me of the book 1984.
 
Several years ago, I saw a great flick (may have even been a documentary) starring Rowdy Roddy Piper. I think it was called "They" or "They Live" or some such thing. Anyway, Roddy Piper plays a guy who's down on his luck and he somehow gets these sunglasses that allow him to tell who is human and who is an alien. Turns out the aliens have taken over the planet and control the government, the banks and pretty much all the areas of power and have planted subliminal messages in all we humans see and read in order to keep us in line and get them to do their dirty work. It was an eye-opener for me and even though I think the aliens know that I know their secret, they haven't made an attempt on my life in almost three hours. But then again, the day ain't over yet...
 
They have unplugged the intersection cameras here in MN, as they have been charged as unconstitutional. The ticket is supposed to go to the driver, but the only info the cameras show is the car. You can't give a moving violation to a car, and you can't prove who was driving.

The cameras are unplugged for now, but I am sure they will revise the Patriot Act to say that terrorists are speeding or something, and then we will be screwed. :(
 
Well, I guess I'm just a horrible "conspiracy theorist" - bought parts and built a contraption that actually tracks my speed and direction via GPS satelites and broadcasts it over the 144MHz Amateur Radio Band. Of course, that's only if I remember to throw it in whatever truck (or, eventually, the Cougar) in which I happen to be driving and plug it in! :D
Seriously, it was the original "Lo-Jack" system; first built as a "radio geek's" toy so they could keep track of each other. And it was first used by some dude in Connecticut (I think) to help the cops track his stolen car. He called all his Ham buddies who fired up their radios and Delorme-equipped computers to keep him advised of where they saw his ride; and he told the cops what his Ham buddies told him. He probably doesn't see a single dime in royalties from the LoJack guys :fuss:

In two weeks, my company truck gets outfitted with a new "Technician Dispatch System" which includes a GPS and a cellphone; as well as a Palm V and a printer. We've already been coached on the penalties for "disabling" the GPS/phone.
Personally, I'm thinking that this is gonna be great! There are a couple of places in our service area that are, shall we say, remote? - but our dispatch center can't believe Yuma County can be that big! I'm looking forward to making a run out to one of those areas; and having Phoenix call my boss to say that "412's truck took off way to the north along the river, and then stopped reporting its location!!!!!" To which he's gonna reply, "Oh yeah, that job is out at Martinez Lake, where cell systems don't work. We've been telling you for years that it's farther out of town than your highly precise and accurate database says it is" :lol: The rebel in me just loves to stick it in the Phoenix cubicle-dwellers' ribs now and then :D
Do I care that it's gonna report my speed? - not really! For those who haven't personally experienced one (or heard me b***h about it); the much-vaunted 4.6 OHC motor is a real dog when it comes to hauling a heavily-laden F150 around - I can't maintain even 65 without the tranny going for third (or sometimes second) on the slightest of inclines in the company sled. Going to the main distribution terminal at Martinez Lake (from our office) is a 31.2 mile trip. We're allotted 15 mintues for the drive. Don't bother; I've already done the number-crunching - it's 128.4 MPH. I think, if I took off the camper shell (and ladder racks) and got Fleet Services to okay a PO for the wheels/tires, suspension and Roush-blown 3 valve 5.4 from a latest-model Lightning, I coyuld make it!
Maybe some radar-absorbant paint would help with the Highway Patrol guys..... :p

Really, the whole "black-box" idea doesn't worry me all that much. I wouldn't waste my money on "On-Star"; when a spare key, or a baseball bat (BFH, 14" Crescent wrench, .44 hollowpoint) would serve the purpose if getting in my wheels were a matter of life-or-death. :D And, I generally carry two or three communications devices on my person that can call up any manner of public safety squads should the need arise. If I really wanna be an insane a-hole driver; remember that I left the radio industry to ultimately become well-paid for doing this Broadband/Internet/Localnet gig. Don't you think I could come up with some way of disabling all that crap in my vehicle? If I can figure it out, anybody else could.