public boolean isMacMuted(final String mac){
  final long muteTill=getMacUnmuteTime(mac);
  return muteTill > System.currentTimeMillis();
}

public boolean isMacMuted ( final String mac ) { final long muteTill = getMacUnmuteTime ( mac ) ; return muteTill > System . currentTimeMillis ( ) ; }
is the given mac muted ? this may have the side effect of removing from the database any mac ' s whose mute has expired
