Tales From Technical Support Content
I was waiting for the bus at a bus stop, when a random person walked up, looked at the cell phone I was using to check e-mail, then my "Microsoft" backpack and asked "Do you work for Microsoft?"
me: "Yes--as a contractor."
him: "So you know about cell phones."
me: "Yes."
him: "Do you know the CIA can listen in?"
me: "Cell phones are, basically, radios. Anybody with a suitable radio can listen in."
him: "But the CIA can listen in even if you're not on a call."
me: "Certain phones can be triggered remotely; it's called 'hot-miking.'. Not all phones can be hot-miked."
him: [Removes battery from phone] "The CIA can still listen in."
me: "No--that would require magic, and the CIA still doesn't have that."
him: "They might."
me: "No--no; cell phones are bound by the laws of physics, and without a power supply, a cell phone cannot work. Anything else is fantasy."
him: "I was in the Army, and I know what the CIA can do." [Walks away]
I'm an engineer, I'm pretty sure the CIA is not using magic, but as Jack L. Chalker said: "Magic only means 'I don't know how it works.' Once I know how it works, it becomes Science." Personally, I would expect the DIA (Defense Inteligence Agency) to work with the Army.
