Dan Gillmor continues to fight the good fight for freedom, privacy, fair use, and other forms of sanity.

That distinctive chirp-boop (choop) sound that nextel phones make when in walkie-talkie mode — as recently seen being ‘not-endorsed’ by multiple-Emmy-winner Dennis Franz, who should know better — has become, over the last few weeks, the bane of my existence. The sound seems to carry over any distance, certainly through two tissue-paper walls from a roommate’s bedroom at 3 AM, and I’ve also found that it’s nearly impossible to learn to ignore. And it is the rare combination of these two qualities, I believe, that impelled one of my fine-feathered avian neighbors to learn to emulate it so precisely.