

Tin Foil Hats Actually Make it Easier for the Government to Track Your Thoughts - pykello
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/tin-foil-hats-actually-make-it-easier-for-the-government-to-track-your-thoughts/262998/

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raleec
<conspiracyTheoryMode>

    
    
      Which, of course, is why they are promoted as protection!
    
      <conspiracyTheoryMode>
    
        That's what they want you to think!
    
      </conspiracyTheoryMode>
    

</conspiracyTheoryMode>

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brudgers
Original study:

<http://berkeley.intel-research.net/arahimi/helmet/>

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jonnathanson
Any government agency, extraterrestrial, wizard, or mutant professor that
wants to read my thoughts can have at it. The joke's on them. Have fun sorting
through all the chaff to get to the wheat, guys.

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Ntrails
You've heard of google right? It seems to me that a large amount of data is
insufficient impediment to finding the data people are looking for.

Anyway, I never trusted tin foil - that's why I stick to my replica magneto
helmet. I think we can all safely say that Sir Ian Mckellen would never lie to
us.

~~~
MaysonL
Mu metal is the recommended material.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu-metal>

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chris_wot
You realise, of course, that this is the ultimate in government conspiracies
to keep us all from wearing tin foil hats?

Somehow they go MIT to do a study into the wearing of tin foil hats and
manipulated the results to show that the wearing of tin foil hats is less
effective than not wearing tinfoil hats. It's obvious they got to those
carrying out the study because they were _not_ wearing tinfoil hats.

Pretty obvious really.

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yrral
They didn't even need to manipulate the results. The MIT study is extremely
flawed. They used aluminum foil instead of tin foil. These metals aren't even
in the same group or period on the periodic table.

Keep wearing those tin foil hats!

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borski
For the record, that 2005 study at MIT was actually part of what inspired the
name of our company - Tinfoil Security.

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sausagefeet
Hmmm, the implication is that the security you offer isn't only bad but so bad
it's easier to circumvent than no security at all, right?

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borski
Wow - what an unnecessarily personal and derisive attack.

No. It's simply a memorable name that allows us to play to the idea of Tinfoil
hats protecting you - it's playful. The MIT study's results weren't relevant
to why we named it that - it was the fact that it was even studied at all
that's more to blame.

For the record, the security we offer is top notch.

~~~
dcx
I'm really hoping this doesn't come out as an attack too, but instead as an
extra datapoint for your business. I agree with OP's perception. When I hear
the phrase "tinfoil security" the word associations that come to mind don't
really sell security. Tinfoil is just not a substance you think of as being
thick and defensive. I do like the playfulness of it, but I'm not sure that's
a quality that customers can draw brand value from, in the context of keeping
their stuff secure.

But either way - the tech industry isn't (yet) at the point where brand names
make much of a difference to the bottom line. Branding hits your bottom line
at the supermarket when I'm buying detergent from you, but not so much when
I'm looking for the best search engine/maps product/security offering. :)

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mikevp
The problem is that they did not do the test using actual tin foil. They used
aluminum foil. All readily available "tin" foil is actually aluminum.

Just try finding some real tin foil.

There is a reason for this.

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vectorbunny
Indicates a migration of fiendish fluoridators to foil? I am now taking
suggestions for a new disparaging appellation to apply to my fact based
paranoia.

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s_henry_paulson
Everyone knows you need to run a wire to ground.

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crpatino
Of course there's someone "trying to read and/or control your thoughts with
radio waves". The technology has been around for over 60 years and it's called
TV.

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markyc
i knew it!!

