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Beyond the Sun
Quotes from the show (after Johnny Fever destroys a phone):
Johnny: (after hearing the sirens) It's the phone cops. They know what I did here today.
Venus: What are you talking about?
Johnny: They're coming to get me, man!
Venus: That's paranoia, man!
Johnny: Wake up, sucker, this is the phone company we're talking about! They see everything, they know everything, they got their own covert police force! I'm probably wired for sound right now! I gotta get out of here!
Venus: Johnny!
Johnny: Don't use my name!!
Johnny: Don't you people get it? It's the phone cops!!
Andy: There is no such thing as phone cops!
Johnny: Oh, sure. Cover for them.
-- From TV.com
Remember the phone cops episode from the "WKRP" TV comedy? And Dr. Johnny Fever's unfounded 1980s paranoid rant, "Don't you people get it? It was the phone cops!"
I had a flashback to that episode Wednesday night at my apartment in Henderson.
Let me explain.
I got home about 8 p.m. Wednesday night after stopping off at Trader Joe's to get a cheap bottle of wine and some ready-made chicken marseille.
After popping the ready-to-heat meal into the microwave, I was checking through some bills when I heard a loud knock on my door.
I thought it might be the guitar guy, Tom, who lives in the next building. Or maybe some kids who lived nearby were skateboarding by and bumped the door.
I looked out through the peephole and saw nothing.
Then there was another knock.
The fisheye view showed me a man dressed in a green shirt and khaki pants, holding a clipboard.
I opened the door and noticed a second man. Both were staring at me suspiciously.
I saw each one of them had police badges on their waistbands.
"Do you live here?" one of them asked.
"Yes," I said, sizing them up as I stood in the doorway, trying to think what the heck I might have done to bring the police to my door.
"We're investigating an Internet-related crime," the first man said. "May we come in?"
"Why do you want to come in," I asked, starting to get a little nervous. I was wondering if they were really cops or if this could be a home invasion.
"That's OK, we can talk here," the first man said.
He explained they were Henderson police detectives. He handed me his card. I thought it looked too professional to be done on someone's home computer.
"Come on in," I said. "Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"
Both declined.
The first guy sat in the love seat.
The second one stood at the door. Both of them quickly scanned my place.
I hoped there wasn't too much to see to brand me as an Internet criminal. There were a few old New Yorkers on the coffee table, an Atlantic Monthly on the bar and some old Time magazines and some old copies of the Las Vegas Sun.
"The reason we're here is that our investigation led us to your Internet connection," the first cop told me. "Do you know what an iTouch is?"
I drew a blank.
Then I remembered. I told him I knew an iPod touch was similar to an iPhone, only without the phone, but with the ability to access the Web through a router.
"So your Internet connection is not password protected?" he then asked me.
I told him no, I hadn't put a password on my wireless router.
I didn't tell him I often tried to hook into other connections when I took my laptop out to the pool, just out of range of my own connection. So, in terms of Web karma and my own sense of fair play, I didn't feel like I should block my own signal if someone else needed it.
He started asking me about my son.
I was puzzled. Matt had left a couple of months ago. What did Matt have to do with this?
"How old is he?" the guy asked. I said he was 27.
"Do you have any other children?"
"Yeah. Three daughters, but they all live back in Kansas."
"You don't have any teenagers or children who have lived her recently?"
"No. Why? What's this about?"
I asked him why he wondered about my son. He said the apartment manager had told him I had a teenage son living with me.
I laughed. Matt looked pretty young and was always getting carded. But Matt had moved away to another state.
Both of the two men seemed upset. I guess this was not going their way.
"So you don't have any teenagers living here?" he asked.
No, I said again.
Then he explained that someone had reported their iPod touch had been stolen. And they were able to trace e-mails sent from it through my Internet connection. They thought by the nature of the e-mail that the culprit was a teenager.
"You should get your connection password protected," he told me, getting up to leave.
"I really don't think I see the need to do that," I said when they were outside.
"Well, this is the kind of thing that happens when you don't protect it," he said, leaving me a little uneasy.
His tone hinted they might be back.
After they left, I ate my dinner as I watched TV. And I chewed over the events of the night.
I thought about Dr. Johnny Fever of WKRP. The over-paranoid strung-out radio DJ was convinced there were sinister phone cops lurking out in the 1980s communications ether.
I guess Johnny's paranoia was just a few years too early — their modern-day version had just been to my door.
And now they have MY number.
I'm surprised Friday and Gannon didn't check your milk carton for an expiration date.
That's quite a leap from two detectives investigating a stolen iPod to "phone cops." I guess it must have been a slow news day.
Since when do cops go to such lengths to investigate a stolen phone? Sounds like BS to me, like they were fishing for something else.
What's next, a knock on the door if you make a comment on a blog that offends law enforcement.. Oh, damn there's someone at the door.. I gotta go.
Comment removed by staff.
C'mon, these are HENDERSON cops we're talking about. Not exactly FBI or even NYPD...
Interesting that my comment questioning the intelligence of someone not wanting security for their internet connection was removed.
So, Sun staff, is this post PC enough to pass muster?
Btw, my comment(s) are not a personal attack, just an opinion of what I view as very poor judgment by the author.
Logic, you should know better than to question the intelligence of anyone in authority at the LV Sun. Look at Brian Greenspun ... people attacked his views and now you can't even post a comment on any of his "columns."
Our_Lin-
I was pretty surprised that they deleted that. There was no offensive language and I've seen much worse comments stand.
To imply that internet security is not a concern is, according to all expert opinion, dangerous and foolish.
I'm not surprised that you don't see the need to have security on your wireless connection, but from a technical stand point anything you do on your home network is able to be monitored and watched fairly easy with free software with relatively little technical know-how. Securing your network won't stop everyone, but it deters anyone that isn't determined to specifically use YOUR network.
Second thing to point out, these two were just looking for a clue, unless they are really good at what they do they won't be able to trace an email from a stolen iTouch back to where it was sent from. First, how would they know it was sent from the iTouch and not from another machine on your home network? Last I checked email headers list IP and not the MAC address they come from.
Just my two cents.
Thanks for all the comments.
As a postscript to my tale, I got an interesting call today from a Henderson woman.
She tells me she had almost the same experience Wednesday night that I had Tuesday night, except in her case a stolen laptop was involved.
She said the police came in with the same story about Internet theft through her unprotected wireless router, wondered if any teenagers were around and looked around their house.
She read my story and thought something seemed a little strange, considering we live on opposite sides of the city and we were getting the same story. But she called the Henderson police and found out the visit was legitimate.
I encouraged her to post her own tale of the "phone cops" here if she has some time.
Comment removed by staff.
In terms of knowing it was sent from an Ipod, email messages on he Ipods put at the bottom"Sent from my Ipod"
Im guessing that is how they knew it was a Touch
http://www.lvrj.com/news/48145032.html?n...
You really should secure your wireless connection for several reasons:
1. Child Porn. You could end up with the FBI raiding your home and seizing all your computer, video and cameras if the "nice neighbor" next door is using your connection to download child porn. You will probably spend a few weeks in detention while computer forensics experts sift through your computer hard drive and other media looking for evidence.
2. Pirated Music, Movies or Software. Yep the good old neighbor next door might be downloading and sharing copyright protected media and history has shown the court believes that if it came from your IP Address, you knew about it and are responsible because you did not secure your wireless router.
3. Any other crime. Threats, stalking, phishing, etc. You name it, if it comes from your wireless connection, expect a visit from Joe PD.
And this is what at least two detectives from the Henderson PD are getting paid to do? Hit random homes looking for teenagers? Sounds more than fishy. I hope they don't find a home with a teenager living there--who knows what might happen next. Very bizarre! Police departments won't take a report on stolen cars but they'll pursue the loss of an iPod or a laptop computer. That's just funny.
How do users go about securing their wireless connection or at least finding out if it is secure?
exasperated,if all else fails,try reading the instuctions.
to secure your connection you have to go online to your wireless router company, it is not easy to find the info. no need for the sarcasm (typical vegas) america1 try helping next time or don't post
wakeup,all routers come with a manual and disc for setup.so stick it!
Ya, definitely fishy. If it sounds and smells like dog spit.. Henderson PD are using this excuse to get into people's homes. This story should have been on local TV news. They'd soon stop harassing people over a cell phone or a laptop. Ridiculous waste of time, or more likely they have another agenda..
America1, not everyone is tech savvy even when it comes to reading instructions. I've been an IT person for over 10 years and honestly, some of those instructions are just not end user friendly. So don't get mad, just bear with them.
Comment removed by staff.
Law enforcement was sent to your residence upon a police report. From experience, ask for the police report connected to your residence. It may take six weeks to obtain. That police report will enlighten you to the victim(s). You may learn alot about your least suspected relationships.