A *small* private company maybe. I think a company like GOOG or MSFT can make sure the appropriate wheels are greased.

I wonder how feasible it would be to come up with a small field-strength indicator that at least lets you know if your phone is transmitting significant amounts of data when you don't expect it to. It's not too hard to construct such a device with older, modulated-carrier type radios, but it might be more difficult with a CDMA or other wide-spectrum device. Also it would be prone to false detection of other nearby cellphone radios. However I think it's your best bet for taming a commercial cell fone.

Then again it is easily thwarted by an app which stores compressed audio/location data on the fone and bulk uploads it whenever other traffic is occurring.

Measuring power draw of the battery might tell you if something is running when the phone is 'off'. It won't help you if the spying app is only active under normal operation, however.

As I'm sure many others have said, you could use pre-paid phones and recycle them every so often. Then again it may be pretty easy to identify you based solely on the people you call with that phone, along with other biometric information(voice indentification, for instance).

I think we're all going to have to get used to being tracked, scanned, inspected, detected and infected. What we should be doing is establishing a legal framework that offers us clear protections and a method of redress when our rights are violated. I think we're entering this new era blind - most Americans and even government officials can't even comprehend what's coming or what is already here.

We live in an age when most people don't have a clue why the bill of rights exists as it does, so the chances of success are not good.

It is within 100 miles of the coast as well.

Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck, or 100 duck-sized horses?

Hi Linus! Thanks for everything!

How has getting older and raising a family changed the way you look at kernel work and programming in general? Do you see yourself still being involved in the kernel in 20 years? Do you ever just want to take a break for a few years, or do you feel like your time working on the kernel is a rest from the real world?

Yeah, but some of us have rectums capable of allowing objects to exit as well as enter. So it may be possible that a terrorist has this capability as well, along with, say, a few of his friends, who could then assemble the device outside their anal cavity.

As my upper-middle-class, female, New Yorker friend just found out, the problem with the sanitized images is that forgetting a dime in your pocket will cause it to trigger a general alert and you'll be whisked aside for gate-rape.

And let's not forget that a butt-bomb, like that used by terrorists in Saudi Arabia in 2009, is still undetectable by gropers and scanners.

If you fail to understand the difference in both size and scope between the illegal drug trade and trade in untaxed booze and cigarettes, I'm not sure any argument would sway you.

A telephone survey? Really?

"Domestically, they're pulling together all the data about virtually every U.S. citizen in the country and assembling that information, building communities that you have relationships with, and knowledge about you; what your activities are; what you're doing. "

So how do you fight that? You need a way to pollute their dataset, like an app that calls random people during each other's free-minutes period.

Hiding won't help. Not having a facebook page won't help. Pollute their data.

Lack of proper parenting, poor social skills, hopelessness, and bad luck are the real gateway drugs.

The substances are the symptom in most cases.

In my own personal experience, MJ was the *last* drug I tried.

I know, right? Trickle-down never works... which is why my in-laws who live below the poverty line had access to free, advanced medical care and drive a second-hand prius... oh and HDTVs... cell phones... all the food they can eat... yeah.. never works.

Yeah but that requirement is obviously driven by the presence of human-piloted vehicles on the roadways.

In 25 years, do you think you'll be able to drive your own car anymore? I doubt it. Autonomous vehicles are coming, and I suspect that in a quarter century we'll be regulating human-operated vehicles off public roads.

Well polyurethane 'tweels' are in development which should improve the rolling resistance(cuts it 'by half' in one article from 2005).

The infrastructure, and more importantly land rights, for roads already exist, vs the tremendous cost and hassle of laying new rail lines.

Buses can adapt to changing transportation needs quickly, unlike rail lines which take years(or decades).

Natural gas is cheap and plentiful. Is electricity the only option? I don't think so. I'd bet that future battery technology along with the efficiency improvements given by autonomous vehicles will lessen the benefits of rail over self-powered vehicles.

Ok, so it's not really designed for mass public transportation, but it looks like it shows some concepts which could be easily applied to mass-transit, long-distance buses.

Does anyone else think that self-driving, high-speed buses like that would eliminate the need for high-speed rail? With billions about to be spent on technology from the 1800's, it seems like there are other options which are much better suited to fulfilling America's transportation needs.