{"id":9666,"date":"2023-11-30T19:10:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T17:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=9666"},"modified":"2023-12-01T10:20:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T08:20:29","slug":"smartphone-how-smart-is-it-to-have-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/smartphone-how-smart-is-it-to-have-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartphone how Smart is it to have one?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Smartphone Spy in Your Pocket or Liberator?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>30 November 2023 ~ Smartphone how Smart is it to have one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The last man to leave the sinking ship; the last man to go to the Isle of Man before they change the name to the Isle of Person; the last man to be the fourth man, as you know there was a third; the last man out at the wickets; the last man to be allowed to be called a man; the last man to play the white man; the last man behind the penultimate man; the last man ~ real man~ to win the lottery; the last man on Earth; the last man in Islington (even more rare than the last man on Earth) ~ you probably wanted to be, if not all of these, at least one of them, in the same way that I had led myself to believe that I was and would be the last man without a mobile phone. I didn\u2019t plan things to be that way, neither did I design my phoneless status, as rumour has it, according to some highfalutin&nbsp;principal. It just happened. I never had a mobile phone, because I never had a mobile phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">As with being a vegetarian (I became one of those in the 1970s.), I discovered, and I must confess with some delight, that not possessing a mobile phone became other people\u2019s problem not mine, but when those around me who were most effected by my not possessing a mobile phone began to turn up the morality and invoke the strains of guilt, viz that my not having a mobile phone did not prevent me from using theirs, I had to agree, they did have a point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">There cannot be many of us who do not realise that the mobile phone (and I use this term generically to also include the smartphone) is, as with every other technological communication system, a tool for mass surveillance. Whenever you use a smartphone, <em>they<\/em> know where you are, what you are doing, what you are saying, and, once they have compiled that electronic dossier on you, you can bet your life they presume to know what is on your mind, even how it works, if indeed, it does work after you have enlisted yourself into the ranks of the twiddling masses. So, there it is, the smartphone, but for whom is the smartphone smart? \u2018The Spy in Your Pocket\u2019 my brother calls it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Smartphone how Smart is it to have one?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Mass surveillance is the price we pay for our addiction to technology. Some of us rail against it; some of us accept it; most of us ignore it. I, personally, am not so much bothered about Big Brother as ending my life as the Lone Ranger to become one of the twiddling cattle-driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Not having a smartarsephone is a little like not being saddled with children. Without both, you can sit back at comfort\u2019s distance and watch with a heartfelt sigh of relief as it passes you by. But as Nature and&nbsp;habitualisation dupes us into doing things that others think we ought to do, so William Gates and his band of silicons coerce and cajole us, hunt us out, hound us down and round us up until, with no place left to hide, the last stop is the twiddler zone. Remember, just because your paranoid does not mean that they&#8217;re not out to get you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Whilst having children is not so much of a stigma as a life sentence, having a mobile phone is incalculably stigmatic. As soon as you pull out that phone and twiddle, an arrow seems to flash out of the ether, pointing the caption at you, \u201cOne of the brainwashed masses!\u201d Tell me, in some American states is it still a felony not to guzzle alcohol inside of a brown paper bag? Taking this as my cue, I was thinking of disguising my phone as a sandwich or rubber duck, but that would never do, because twiddlers who twiddle their lives away do so as if by self-enslavement, they are wearing a badge of honour. All for one and look like all! WTF! (The World Twiddling Forum).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"625\" height=\"619\" data-attachment-id=\"9674\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/smartphone-how-smart-is-it-to-have-one\/no-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?fit=900%2C891&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"900,891\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"No-smartphoe-whilst-walking\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?fit=300%2C297&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?fit=625%2C619&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=625%2C619&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Don't walk and talk on a smartphone!!\" class=\"wp-image-9674\" style=\"width:321px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=300%2C297&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=768%2C760&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=12%2C12&amp;ssl=1 12w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=624%2C618&amp;ssl=1 624w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=24%2C24&amp;ssl=1 24w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=36%2C36&amp;ssl=1 36w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/No-smartphoe-whilst-walking-rz-min.jpg?resize=48%2C48&amp;ssl=1 48w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">It astonishes me how inveterate twiddlers, who twiddle whilst they walk, do not meet with a horrible accident. An acquaintance of mine, an elderly gentleman, has seen fit to turn this banal practice into a source of entertainment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Whenever a pedestrianised twiddler is heading in his direction deaf and blind to all around them, he takes up position on the pavement, having first worked out their approximate trajectory, and stands there whilst they collide with him. Judging by the average response, it would seem that even the demigod smartphone, with all its apps, bells and whistles, is powerless to resist when it comes to timely embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">My personal favourites of the twiddling fraternity are pub twiddling couples. I have seen couples come into pubs twiddling, buy drinks whilst twiddling and then spend the entire evening sitting next to each other, never saying a word, just twiddling. Are they beyond repair, or do they actually \u2018talk to each other\u2019, for example on the WhatsArse messaging system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">&#8220;What an interesting evening, darling. Time to twiddle back home.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">You\u2019ve probably guessed by now where all this is leading. Correct, no matter how much I might rail against it, and in the process vainly hope that somehow, somewhere along the way, I will exonerate myself, the indisputable fact remains that crumpling under umpteen pressures, I eventually succumbed. Yes, I went out and bought a twiddler (\u2018Arrrggghhh!\u2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">So, whatever could have gone wrong to have brought about this extraordinary U-turn? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">For all its social and psychological evils, whilst it irrefutably <em>is<\/em> an implement for mass surveillance, the smartphone also doubles as a cloak of invisibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Before the smartphone and its mass uptake, going to the pub on one&#8217;s tod was a peculiar exercise in self-consciousness. If you hadn\u2019t got a newspaper to hide behind, and even if you had you might end up reading it cover to cover, upside down and back to front, all you could do was to stare into space. Thankfully, the days have gone, except in some up-North benefit-class clubs, previously \u2018working man\u2019s\u2019, when a knuckle-dragging neanderthal clocking how you were sitting there with seemingly nothing better to do than letch would adopt a confrontational tone: \u201cAre you looking at my girlfriend?\u201d which obviously you were, or, if he hadn\u2019t got a girlfriend, which usually he hadn\u2019t because he was far too stupid to have such a thing: \u201cAre you looking at me mate?\u201d The temptation to reply, \u201cGiven any number of variables, I would rather look at a piece of s_ _t!\u201d was often too hard to resist, even though as a means of closure, it often ended in fisticuffs and sometimes a trip to the local nick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Today, pubs, in the main, are much more civilised. Possibly because they are more food, and therefore family, orientated, and also because some of the \u2018men\u2019 who frequent them would be positively miffed if they didn\u2019t catch you looking at them. You can usually tell who these men are. You&#8217;ve seen them on the adverts. They&#8217;re always winning the lottery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">How many men have stopped doing the lottery since adverts like that appeared is a question for another day. It does not alter the fact that sat there in the boozer looking like Billy No Mates, constantly checking your watch, as if someone you had arranged to meet is late, or coddling the delusion that after you have finished that long, that slow, that lonely pint you are going on somewhere else, are no longer ruses you have to resort to in an age where everyone looks and acts as if they are everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Smartphone how Smart is it to have one?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">As long as you are a paid-up member of the Zombified Smartphone Club, nobody is going to bother you, nobody is going to question you. With that little (not so little and also rather heavy) rectangular glass-front phone, a voyeur\u2019s window on the world, not so different from Pandora\u2019s Box, flings itself open to you. &nbsp;You can kerb-crawl the net at will, take as many selfies as you like ~ hundreds if it floats your boat ~  before seizing on that magic one that looks not remotely like you. As long as it hides those sags and wrinkles and makes you believe you look 20 years younger (Likes and Followers! Likes and Followers!), you\u2019ll kiss the ass of your mobile phone until all the old cows come home. Ahh, shrine to delusion, vanity, narcissism, thy name is social media!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I instinctively knew that to take a selfie of myself was something I should avoid. And was I ever right. But for the sake of historical record, I took that selfie. Good heavens, I thought, when I looked at my selfie, what on earth do I think I&#8217;m doing wearing the nose of Charles de Gaulle?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">This first sorte into the realm of selfie-taking taught me in no uncertain terms that there is obviously more than meets the eye (and nose) when it comes to taking fawning photos for mass consumption on Facebook, especially abracadabra ones that transform you from what you really are into the oil painting you never can be. Indeed, every photo on Facebook is intrinsically an art form, art meaning &#8216;artificial&#8217;, and not everyone can master it. The trick (and what a trick!) is to make your faithful believe that the life your photos say you are living is primarily better than theirs and certainly better than yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Look out! Selfie in Victory Square!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">My next trick was to put the smartfun away, cease repeating \u201cHe nose you know!\u201d and shoot off on my solo run into Kaliningrad\u2019s city centre, where, it embarrasses me to confess, that in front of the monument in Victory Square the compulsion took me again. I had to try for another selfie! (You can see the way it goes, can\u2019t you?) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">This time I would bring into play the much loved sucked-in cheeks and ubiquitous silly pout. At the very last minute, however, drawn in cheeks were dropped (they tend to do that, don&#8217;t they?), as I had noted in my dotage that my impression of Peter Cushing was already quite advanced and that to remodel my cheeks into two squeezed lemons might prove a bridge too far. If only I&#8217;d have stuck in my youth to murdering animals and eating them, by now my cheeks would be lovely and round like two plump rolls of prime pink brisket! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Even though my lips had not been enhanced, pumped up so that they looked like slugs, and I had no Frankenstein\u2019s bolt through my snout, which given its size on my debut selfie could easily have accommodated any number of scrapyard pieces, this was destined to be my first (and also my last, I might add) outdoor-taken selfie. All that I succeeded in doing by pouting my lips like a retard was to convey the regrettable impression that although I was out on the town tonight my false teeth had not come with me. They were probably still in the gherkin jar into which they had landed when I let out that sneeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cWell, bugger that!\u201d I said to myself, and shoved my Toosmart phone deep within my inside pocket, and I did not take it out again until I was  standing outside the bar to which my feet had been programmed to take me. (Blame it all on the technocrats!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"625\" height=\"471\" data-attachment-id=\"9676\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/smartphone-how-smart-is-it-to-have-one\/bavarian-themed-zotler-bier-and-czech-u-gasheka-bars-in-kaliningrad-expat\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?fit=2000%2C1506&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1506\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?fit=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?fit=625%2C471&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat-1024x771.jpg?resize=625%2C471&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Bavarian themed, Z\u00f6tler Bier, and the other Czech, U Gasheka in Kaliningrad\" class=\"wp-image-9676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=1024%2C771&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=768%2C578&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=1536%2C1157&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=16%2C12&amp;ssl=1 16w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=624%2C470&amp;ssl=1 624w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=24%2C18&amp;ssl=1 24w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=36%2C27&amp;ssl=1 36w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?resize=48%2C36&amp;ssl=1 48w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?w=1250&amp;ssl=1 1250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Bavarian-themed-Zotler-Bier-and-Czech-U-Gasheka-bars-in-Kaliningrad-expat.jpg?w=1875&amp;ssl=1 1875w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Here are some facts for you. There are two bar\/restaurants in the centre of Kaliningrad which are joined at the hip: one is Bavarian themed, Z\u00f6tler Bier, and the other Czech, U Gasheka. The only pubs in the UK I know which had a similar arrangement, occurred in London&#8217;s Greenwich. They were the Richard I and The Greenwich Union (since vandalised by Young\u2019s Brewery, which, with typical corporate disregard for social history and heritage, knocked them into one).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">How embarrassing it was that on one occasion when a group of us had gone to the Richard I, I somehow ended up halfway through the evening accidentally in The Greenwich Union. I had stepped outside the front of the Richard for a quick puff (that&#8217;s right, I said &#8216;puff&#8217;!) on my King Edward cigar and when I went to return inside unknowingly entered The Union. Thinking I was in the Richard and that my friends were playing a silly joke, ie they had gone into hiding somewhere, I took the pint I had freshly ordered and went and sat in the beer garden to ponder on what I should do. It was only when I heard my friends chatting away behind the fence in the Richard garden next door that I realised my folly:  it wasn&#8217;t my friends who had played a joke; it was beer and navigation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cWell, that\u2019s nothing to be proud of. Is it!\u201d<br>Hmm, I\u2019ll have to think about that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Out of the two Kaliningrad bars mentioned, my first bar tonight would be the Bavarian one, an establishment where, if you are lucky, you get to sit down the centre of the room inside a make-believe beer barrel. Unfortunately, my luck was out this evening ~ it had probably gone to Maxims ~ and I was shown to a line of seats and tables that ran along the perimeter of the room. Good! A young couple sitting together at right angles to my table would provide the perfect opportunity for testing  the cloaking function of that recently purchased gadget that was jumping out of my pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A businessman, to the left of me, who had obviously not just bought his phone, was so absolutely invisible to everyone in his orbit, with the exception of himself, that had his skills at twiddling not been so well endowed (which seemed to beg the question, was he born with his smartarse in his hand?), &nbsp;I would never have thought to notice him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"625\" height=\"830\" data-attachment-id=\"9677\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/smartphone-how-smart-is-it-to-have-one\/beer-with-spying-spectacles-min\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?fit=753%2C1000&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"753,1000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Beer-with-spying-spectacles\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?fit=226%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?fit=625%2C830&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?resize=625%2C830&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Smartphone how smart as mass surveillance systems?\" class=\"wp-image-9677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?w=753&amp;ssl=1 753w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?resize=226%2C300&amp;ssl=1 226w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?resize=9%2C12&amp;ssl=1 9w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?resize=624%2C829&amp;ssl=1 624w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?resize=18%2C24&amp;ssl=1 18w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?resize=27%2C36&amp;ssl=1 27w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Beer-with-spying-spectacles-min.jpg?resize=36%2C48&amp;ssl=1 36w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">He was a pro, I was a novice, and I have to say it showed. My first message on WhatsArse was an all fingers and thumbs job. It took me 20 minutes to compose a reasonably legible paragraph which, had I been working on a laptop, would have taken perhaps a minute or less. Nevertheless, I stuck to my guns, and over the next 40 minutes,  managed to shoot three messages into and across cyberspace complete with photos attached. During those 40 minutes, the young couple facing my profile (and thinking \u201cIt\u2019s Peter Cushing!\u201d), and whatever it was the man was doing down the other end of the room with his Bavarian sausage, were so plainly indistinct as to issue the suspicion that I had come as close to vanished as Davos had to resetting the world. Had I been any more gone, I would have been shaking hands with H.G. Wells!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Next door, in the Czech bar, I was again unlucky. The best seats had been taken, and I ended up perched upon a sponge-filled leather-look bench, which was, I suppose, alrightish, except that being so high off the ground it left one\u2019s little legs dangling with nothing to rest one\u2019s feet on, rather like sitting in the barber\u2019s chair when you were six-years old. How fortuitous and kind of fate that she had arranged a stool in front of me so that I could use its stretcher as a foot rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"625\" height=\"471\" data-attachment-id=\"9678\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/smartphone-how-smart-is-it-to-have-one\/mick-hart-shoes-with-microphone-min\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?fit=1920%2C1446&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1920,1446\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?fit=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?fit=625%2C471&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=625%2C471&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mick Hart's shoes with microphone attached\" class=\"wp-image-9678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=1024%2C771&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=768%2C578&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=1536%2C1157&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=16%2C12&amp;ssl=1 16w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=624%2C470&amp;ssl=1 624w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=24%2C18&amp;ssl=1 24w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=36%2C27&amp;ssl=1 36w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?resize=48%2C36&amp;ssl=1 48w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mick-Hart-shoes-with-microphone-min.jpg?w=1250&amp;ssl=1 1250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In this bar, I tried out my phone with an email or two. Fine, although when it came to attaching images, the process became a tad mysterious. Exit quickly and onto Google. I had never opened websites using a smartarsephone before, and now that I have, I cannot say that&nbsp;I found the experience particularly positive: yards and yards of constant scrolling. It&#8217;s like an electronic version of bog roll. But twiddling and swiping go hand in glove, and for me, the man with the reputation for being the Last Man on Earth to Own a Smartphone, the gauntlet had been thrown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In the bar up in the clouds (the Pivovar Restaurant Brewery) overlooking the spot where I shouldn\u2019t have taken my second selfie, and now on my third beer, not only had I become more confident in my twiddling and more comfortable with my twiddler, but my Russian language had improved no end. Crabtree from <em>\u2018Allo \u2018Allo<\/em> (\u201cGood Moaning\u201d) may well have had good reason to feel proud of me, but could his approval be half as rewarding as thinking you&#8217;re getting it right, whilst most likely you are not, or rather not quite, but not knowing nor either caring because sitting snuggly in your pocket, if you haven&#8217;t already lost it, is your little spy and pie in the sky, your customised, very own smartphone  ~ ahhhh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">By the end of the evening I was able to say two things. No, I had not drunk so much that I could only say two things, I mean two things pertinent to my smartphone experience. The first was something I had always suspected: Never take a selfie and, if you have to think again, never take a selfie. The second was that my expectations of the smartphone as an instrument of lonely-guy concealment when sitting alone in a bar or pub was vindicated. And yet, the keeping-tracks-on-you downside that inevitably comes with owning a smartphone, unless you keep it switched off, continues not to sit easily with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In more recent years, I have heard people say that the Silicon Valley Mob have turned up the heat in their racket to enslave people and to extort as much personal information about everyone on Earth as completely as they can. Like the Capone organisation, which, after Al\u2019s demise, moved with the help of Sam Giancana into the labour rackets, the Silicon Outfit found a new racket in 2-step verification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Conspiracy theory or not, with the roll-out of 2-step verification for online banking, as a sign-in function for websites and blogs and as the only option for identifying yourself on ecommerce sites, such as eBay for example, the message is loud and clear, either get a smartphone or else be bolloxed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The one-step further exploitation than 2-step verification is fingerprint and\/or eye recognition. Now it\u2019s getting personal. Where will it all end? The clue may lie in the word &#8216;end&#8217;. In other words and words more plain, is Anus Authentication already passing from science fiction into the realms of science fact? It is too much of a coincidence that AI (Anal Intelligence) is the state of the art abbreviation on the tongue of every news editor. AI is everywhere, so there must be something in it, as I&#8217;m sure there must be someone out there, in a small secluded brick-looking building in Silicon Valley\u2019s back yard, who is poised with the paperwork in his hand for the biggest breakthrough yet. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RrKKt6NprVM\">Zappa<\/a> may have the answer &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Image attributions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Man with phone on couch:<\/em> Image by &lt;a href=&quot;\/ru\/&rdquo;https:\/\/www.freepik.com\/free-vector\/character-playing-videogame_7734013.htm\/#query=clipart%20sitting%20using%20a%20smartphone&amp;position=17&amp;from_view=search&amp;track=ais&amp;uuid=00c57546-c79e-4db8-a98c-c064c40ce15e&rdquo;&quot;&gt;Freepik&lt;\/a&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No walking with Smartphone: <a href=\"https:\/\/publicdomainvectors.org\/en\/free-clipart\/No-smartphone-while-walking\/81731.html\">https:\/\/publicdomainvectors.org\/en\/free-clipart\/No-smartphone-while-walking\/81731.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spectacles: <a href=\"https:\/\/publicdomainvectors.org\/en\/free-clipart\/Glasses-with-eyes\/44056.html\">https:\/\/publicdomainvectors.org\/en\/free-clipart\/Glasses-with-eyes\/44056.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Microphone: <a href=\"https:\/\/publicdomainvectors.org\/en\/free-clipart\/Vector-clip-art-of-electric-microphone\/28206.html\">https:\/\/publicdomainvectors.org\/en\/free-clipart\/Vector-clip-art-of-electric-microphone\/28206.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Copyright \u00a9 2018-2023 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>A couple more posts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/its-that-man-in-the-russian-hat-in-bedford\/\" title=\"It's that man in the Russian Hat in Bedford!\">It&#8217;s that man in the Russian Hat in Bedford!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/secret-weapon-in-kaliningrad\/\" title=\"Secret Weapon in Kaliningrad\">Secret Weapon in Kaliningrad<\/a><br><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smartphone Spy in Your Pocket or Liberator? 30 November 2023 ~ Smartphone how Smart is it to have one? The last man to leave the sinking ship; the last man to go to the Isle of Man before they change the name to the Isle of Person; the last man to be the fourth man, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2104,6],"tags":[435,1880,55,2253,2252,2251],"class_list":["post-9666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mick-harts-diary-2023","category-kaliningrad-mick-harts-diary","tag-englishman-in-kaliningrad-russia","tag-mick-hart","tag-mick-hart-in-kaliningrad","tag-smartphone-how-smart","tag-smartphone-how-smart-is-it-to-have-one","tag-smartphone-spy-in-your-pocket"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Mass-Surveillance-via-Smartphone-OK-cropped.png?fit=396%2C395&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14320,"url":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/winter-in-kaliningrad\/","url_meta":{"origin":9666,"position":0},"title":"Winter in Kaliningrad can be both harsh and beautiful","author":"Mick","date":"24 \u0444\u0435\u0432\u0440\u0430\u043b\u044f, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Some snowy scenes of Kaliningrad in winter. The thaw is on, but it\u2019s not spring yet!","rel":"","context":"\u0412 &quot;Kaliningrad Photogallery&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Kaliningrad Photogallery","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/category\/visitors-guide-to-kaliningrad\/kaliningrad-photogallery\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Old K\u00f6nigsberg fire hydrant snow-capped: winter in Kaliningrad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/rz-Fire-Hydrant-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=760%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/rz-Fire-Hydrant-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=760%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/rz-Fire-Hydrant-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=760%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/rz-Fire-Hydrant-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=760%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2635,"url":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/stas-kaliningrad-konigsberg-guide-has-died\/","url_meta":{"origin":9666,"position":1},"title":"Stas Kaliningrad K\u00f6nigsberg Guide has Died","author":"Captain Codpiece","date":"2 \u0434\u0435\u043a\u0430\u0431\u0440\u044f, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The loss of an indispensable friend Published: 2 December 2020 It is with great sadness that I report that our dear friend Stas (Stanislav Konovalov) passed away recently from post-operative complications whilst undergoing hospital treatment. My wife, Olga, and I met Stas in January 2019. We were introduced to him\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0412 &quot;Diary 2019\/2020&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Diary 2019\/2020","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/category\/kaliningrad-mick-harts-diary\/diary-2019-2020\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stas Kaliningrad K\u00f6nigsberg Guide","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Stas-I-on-balcony.jpg?fit=720%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Stas-I-on-balcony.jpg?fit=720%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Stas-I-on-balcony.jpg?fit=720%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Stas-I-on-balcony.jpg?fit=720%2C960&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1824,"url":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/cedar-wood-beer-in-kaliningrad\/","url_meta":{"origin":9666,"position":2},"title":"Cedar Wood Beer in Kaliningrad","author":"Captain Codpiece","date":"20 \u0438\u044e\u043b\u044f, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Mick Hart\u2019s totally biased review of bottled beers* in Kaliningrad (or how to live without British real ale!) Article 3: Cedar Wood beer Published: 20 July 2020 Would you Adam and Eve it, the name of this beer is Wood? Well, to be more precise Cedar Wood. And no, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0412 &quot;DAILY LIFE in KALININGRAD&quot;","block_context":{"text":"DAILY LIFE in KALININGRAD","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/category\/daily-life-in-kaliningrad\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Me-Drinking-Wood-edited.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9424,"url":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/kaliningrad-toilet-door-is-a-thing-of-beauty\/","url_meta":{"origin":9666,"position":3},"title":"Kaliningrad Toilet Door is a thing of Beauty","author":"Captain Codpiece","date":"12 \u043e\u043a\u0442\u044f\u0431\u0440\u044f, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Sponsored by Mick Hart 12 October 2023 ~ Kaliningrad Toilet Door is a thing of Beauty Has it ever crossed your mind that one day you might be famous and, if so, in what capacity? Many dream of fame when they are young at a time when the reason is\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0412 &quot;Diary 2023&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Diary 2023","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/category\/kaliningrad-mick-harts-diary\/mick-harts-diary-2023\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kaliningrad Toilet Door sponsor Mick Hart","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Mick-Hart-Bog-Door-min.jpg?fit=972%2C924&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Mick-Hart-Bog-Door-min.jpg?fit=972%2C924&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Mick-Hart-Bog-Door-min.jpg?fit=972%2C924&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Mick-Hart-Bog-Door-min.jpg?fit=972%2C924&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6076,"url":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/oxota-beer-in-kaliningrad\/","url_meta":{"origin":9666,"position":4},"title":"OXOTA Beer in Kaliningrad","author":"Captain Codpiece","date":"30 \u043c\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0430, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Mick Hart\u2019s totally biased review of bottled beers* in Kaliningrad (or how to live without British real ale!) Published: 30 March 2022 ~ OXOTA Beer in Kaliningrad Article 19: OXATA I have often seen it, but I\u2019ve never tried it, but when I saw a chap in front of me\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0412 &quot;DAILY LIFE in KALININGRAD&quot;","block_context":{"text":"DAILY LIFE in KALININGRAD","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/category\/daily-life-in-kaliningrad\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"OXOTA Beer in Kaliningrad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/OXOTA-beer-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/OXOTA-beer-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/OXOTA-beer-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/OXOTA-beer-Kaliningrad.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3875,"url":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/secret-weapon-in-kaliningrad\/","url_meta":{"origin":9666,"position":5},"title":"Secret Weapon in Kaliningrad","author":"Captain Codpiece","date":"5 \u0438\u044e\u043d\u044f, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We have lift off! Published: 3 June 2021~ Secret Weapon in Kaliningrad You know how the UK media is always going on about the Kaliningrad region being the most militarised zone in the universe, well here\u2019s a secret weapon that my wife discovered when she was out shopping one evening.\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0412 &quot;DAILY LIFE in KALININGRAD&quot;","block_context":{"text":"DAILY LIFE in KALININGRAD","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/category\/daily-life-in-kaliningrad\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Secret Weapon in Kaliningrad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arse-Boot-2.jpg?fit=561%2C488&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arse-Boot-2.jpg?fit=561%2C488&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/expatkaliningrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arse-Boot-2.jpg?fit=561%2C488&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}