I was inspired, so I ran with it -- Let's start the MYSTERY PHONE MOVEMENT!!!!

In june of this year, member BobbyShaftoe wrote a thread (linked here) about an idea he had of leaving an old phone lying around and using it to wake people up by loading it with information. As soon as I read the thread, I was super inspired. At the time I didn't have an extra phone but I did talk to people about the idea and they all agreed it wouldn't hurt to try.

Fast forward to september. I've had an Iphone for a few months now, only because the sound element on my Palm Pre went out, so the ability to hear a phone call was gone. I finally decided to use that phone to test his idea.

First thing I did was wipe the phone clean by resetting it. I then wrote on a piece of paper "finding this phone is the beginning of your journey. look in the notes." I took a picture of the text and made it the wallpaper so that as soon as the phone was opened or turned on, that's what they would see.

In the notes section, the first note said "we don't know you but we want to help you. don't bother trying to sell this phone, it's not even worth trying to fix. read all the notes with an open mind."

For the remaining notes, I copied a list of threads from ATS and I will give credit to the authors:

Radiation found in U.S food - by Dalke07

U.S. government panel now pushing "vaccinations for all!" No exceptions - by Highlyoriginal

Genetically Engineered Food Alters Our Digestive Systems! - by Burntheships

All roads lead to Rome(from 'The United Nations and the Cold War' section until the end of the OP) - by Protoplasmictraveler

Suicide note of Guantanamo Prisoner - by December_rain

And the last note in the phone said "have you had enough? we don't think so. go to the videos now."

In the videos section I put two 5 minute clips from loose change 2, and one 5 minute clip from the federal reserve part of Zeitgeist. I edited the video at the end so some text showed that said "now look in the pictures".

The first picture was the full ATS logo and URL, with the 'deny ignorance' written underneath the URL.

The second picture was text that I threw together on adobe PS that said "go to the text messages. look in the 'sent' folder"

The only text in the phone said "leave this phone as you found it, in a busy location, and help somebody else. We will wake the world up."

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If anyone is familiar with Atlanta, I left the phone on the ledge next to the fountain in Centennial Olympic Park and walked across Andrew Young International and sat on a bench. Maybe 3 minutes later a young man picked it up and from where I was watching it seems like he was a little confused. He walked off while still going through the phone. I didn't follow him of course, but I hope that he leaves the phone so somebody else can find it.

what happens when it runs out of battery...

reply to post by spw184


i left it fully charged. im hoping that if it dies, somebody will be curious enough in trying to keep or sell it that they will charge it up..

now that I think of it, I should have taped the battery from my wifes old palm pre to the back. lol

why not tape it to a charger lOL

reply to post by spw184


don't want anybody to get TOO comfortable with it.. this phone has to be a hot potato...

wonder where it is now... lol

reply to post by My.mind.is.mine


why didn't you set it as a travelbug geocache?

Originally posted by spw184
what happens when it runs out of battery...

The attention span of the average citizen who may find it will run out faster than the battery will.
I can't get people I know to sit on their asses and watch a 10 min video, never mind making them work for information that betters themselves.

reply to post by JibbyJedi


it doesn't hurt to hope. and it definitely doesn't hurt to try.

those of us who don't subscribe to the "official" viewpoint have an obligation to at least try to wake people up. who cares if we fail.

Typical ATS...you've actually got up from the pc, made an effort and now everyone picks faults with it, and will say you've wasted your time.....this of course is coming from the ones who have never left their chair in days.

I say Good on you for making an effort, and if it wakes just 1 more person up then who knows, you may get a reward in karma

Good on you!

Originally posted by Tangled2011
Typical ATS...you've actually got up from the pc, made an effort and now everyone picks faults with it, and will say you've wasted your time.....this of course is coming from the ones who have never left their chair in days.

I say Good on you for making an effort, and if it wakes just 1 more person up then who knows, you may get a reward in karma

Good on you!

im not picking out faults.. im making suggestions... and an urban geocache with printed versions of ATS articles. >_>

Better idea would be to use USB thumb drives.
They are cheap, small, don't require batteries and have more storage capacity than old cellphones.
Load them with PDFs and other docs and images and spread them around in public places.

reply to post by Tangled2011


thank you, I plan to do it again, but I think more people should do it. to sacrifice something you paid for to try to help others, that's admirable. who knows, maybe it would grow to the point where the media reports on "mystery phones". lol

Originally posted by jaden_x
Better idea would be to use USB thumb drives.
They are cheap, small, don't require batteries and have more storage capacity than old cellphones.
Load them with PDFs and other docs and images and spread them around in public places.

awesome idea. I don't have any flash drives at all though. but you're absolutely right, cheaper, no batteries, and people are more likely to snoop through them.

and if you name the files after porn, people will definitely look! lol

you should have downloaded a tracker application to it.. then you could have tracked its movements..

Originally posted by My.mind.is.mine
reply to post by Tangled2011

 

thank you, I plan to do it again, but I think more people should do it. to sacrifice something you paid for to try to help others, that's admirable. who knows, maybe it would grow to the point where the media reports on "mystery phones". lol

Thats a great idea!!! But how are we going to get all the phones?? Im setting up a "Awakening" geocache as we speak, and i have some old crappy flashdrives (399mg) that I might set some pics,vids, files, and a wake up letter on.... I would be all like HELL YES!! if the media started to report mystery phones because of us!

reply to post by Misterlondon


doesn't that require service? oh well, maybe next time. I know you can buy batches of phones on ebay with messed up sound elements.

but the flash drive idea is resonating with me right about now.

reply to post by spw184


you know how ego maniacs do, they do something then call the media on themselves. if there's enough going on, I'd call the news and report it.

A while ago people started something called "Dead Drops" to share files offline by going up to a place and finding a USB drive that you could use to take and drop files from. Not quite as good for pushing knowledge among the sheep, but it's one idea. (:

deaddrops.com...

reply to post by jaden_x


that's dope. but that's definitely too much. lol

we could go on an old fashioned ATS sticker campaign if all else fails... =)

what about a dropbox? just spam the WORLD with the password to a dropbox folder.