> Richard Stallman, the fervently committed founder of the free software movement, is discussing the term “libertarian,” when he stops talking abruptly and says, “Hello?”
> I tell him I’m still listening, but he explains that the confused greeting wasn’t intended for me. Instead, he says a man’s voice – neither mine nor an echo of his – had just cut in with one word: “liberty.”
> “Does that sort of thing happen a lot?” I ask. I hadn’t heard anything.
> “Yes,” he says. “It wasn’t a voice I recognize.” He added, “It could be … ”
> Then a quick burst of static made his next words inaudible.
> It was a strange incident, but apparently not a new experience for Stallman, whose emails urge any NSA or FBI agents reading to “follow Snowden’s example” and blow the whistle.
I've had cross-talk happen while on a cellphone. It cut over to another voice saying "... three months!..."- it sounded like an ad. But it wasn't audible on the other end and the conversation wasn't interrupted.
The question you should be asking is: What are the odds that some random vocal sound might be interpreted as "liberty" by a human brain that is primed by talking about that subject?
I telconf weekly with a client in Singapore. The topic is litigation that's critically important to an industry none of you thinks about more than every year or so, if that.
Every call (2 years now) has been subject to intrusion by snippets of voice unrelated to our call.
I don't have this issue with telconfs (on the same topic) within continental USA. Have not done research on the matter.
I get that given a choice between causation arising from malevolence or stupidity, I should choose the latter. But sometimes I wonder.
> I tell him I’m still listening, but he explains that the confused greeting wasn’t intended for me. Instead, he says a man’s voice – neither mine nor an echo of his – had just cut in with one word: “liberty.”
> “Does that sort of thing happen a lot?” I ask. I hadn’t heard anything.
> “Yes,” he says. “It wasn’t a voice I recognize.” He added, “It could be … ”
> Then a quick burst of static made his next words inaudible.
> It was a strange incident, but apparently not a new experience for Stallman, whose emails urge any NSA or FBI agents reading to “follow Snowden’s example” and blow the whistle.
Uh... What happened here?