cell phones

[tylor2000]

I have a little badge that says "Trust Me I am A Scientist" *offers Trisha*

 

*watches mad scientist movies*

*while munching popcorn, looks up at you*

*goes back to watching movie*

tylor

[eclv]

Speaking of cell phones, anyone have NEXTEL? I now have a NEXTEL issued from work. It has the whole direct connect thing but I don't know anyone (except everyone at work) who has it.

I still say Sprint rules, PCS to PCS. Especially when all your favorite people have it too.  

[NESSAussie]

5) Cell phone radiation can cause pacemakers to malfunction is they (pacemakers) are not properly insulated from cell phones that are within 6 inches of the pacemaker.

Nope. If a pacemaker were to malfunction because of cell phone use, I'd say the EEs who designed it really sucked. So far, nobody has been able to prove anything about cell phones causing sensitive medical equipment to malfunction...

During the early years of the WTR program, we looked at solving the pace
-maker interference problem as not only an important acomplishment for
public health, but also the model for how the WTR program was supposed
to work.

Namely: Through our surveillance effort, we had identified a potential problem
of interference that could seriously affect patients who use cell phones.
We went to the responsible government authorities and notified them of the
problem. They asked us for help in the science and we obliged. The research
we oversaw was focused and served to identify the scope of the interference
problem and offered long- and short-term solutions. We had the government's
endorsement of our recommendations. The cell phone industry and the pace
-maker industry were both very much involved and cooperative by the end.
In effect, the problem was solved.

Peace

Aaron

[NESSAussie]

After much thought, I am writing this letter to you, personally, to ask your
assistance in solving what I believe is an emerging and serious problem
concerning wireless phones. I write this letter in the interest of the more
than 80 million wireless phone users in the United States and the more than
200 million worldwide. But I also write this letter in the interest of your
industry, a critical part of our social and economic infrastructure.

Since 1993, I have headed the WTR surveillance and research program
funded by the wireless industry. The goal of WTR has always been to indentify
and solve any problems concerning consumers' health that could arise from
the use of these phones. This past February, at the annual convention of
the CTIA, I met with the full board of that organisation to brief them on some
surprising findings from our work. I do not recall if you were there personally,
but my understanding is that all segments of the indusrty were represented.

At that briefing, I explained that the well-conducted scientific studies that
WTR was overseeing indicated that the question of wireless phone safety
had become confused.

Specifically, I reported to you that:

the rate of death from brain cancer among handheld phone users was higher
than the rate of brain cancer deaths among those who used non-handheld
phones that were away from their head;

the risk of acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor of the auditory nerve that is
well in the range of the radiation coming from a phone's antenna, was 50%
higher in people who reported using cell phones for six years or more;
moreover, that the relationship between the amount of cell phone use and
this tumor appeared to follow a dose-response curve;

the risk of neuro-epithelial tumors on the outside of the brain was more than
doubled, a statistically significant risk increase, in cell phone usres as
compared to people who did not use cell phones;

there appeared to be some correlation between brain tumors occurring on the
right side of the head and use of the phone on the right side of the head;

labratory studies looking at the ability of radiation from a phone's antenna
to cause functional genetic damage were definately positive, and were
following a dose-response relationship.

I also indicated that while our overall study of brain cancer did not find a
correlation with cell phone use, the vast majority of the tumors that were
studied were well out of range of the radiation that one would expect from
a cell phone's antenna. Because of that distance, the finding of no effect
was questionable. Such misclassification of of radiation exposure would tend
to dilute any real effect that may have been present. In addition, I reported
to you that the genetic damage studies we conducted to look at the ability
of radiation from the phones to break DNA were negative, but that the
positive finding of functional DNA damage could be more important, perhaps
indicating a problem that is not dependant on DNA breakage, and that these
inconsistencies needed to be clarified. I reported that while non of these
finding alone were evidece of a definative health hazard from wireless phones,
the pattern of potential health effects evidenced by different types of studies,
from different labratories, and by different investigators raised serious questions.

Following my presentation, I heard by voive vote of those present, a pledge
to "do the right thing in following up these findings" and a commitment of the
necessary funds.

When I took on the responsibility of doing this wrk for the you, I pledged 5
years. I was asked to continue on through the end of a sixth year, and agreed.
My tenure is now completed. My presentation to you and the CTIA board in
February was not an effort to lengthen my tenure at WTR, nor to lengthen
the tenure of WTR itself. I was simply doing my job of letting you know what
we found and what needed to be done following from our findings. I made
this expressly clear during my presentation to you and in many subsequent
conversations with members of your industry and the media.

Today, I sit here extremely frustrated and concerned that appropriate steps
have not been taken by the wireless industry to protect consumers during
this time of uncertainty about safety. The steps I am referring to specifically
followed from the WTR and have been recommended repeatedly in public
fora by me and other experts from around the world. As I prepare to move
away from the wireless phone issue and into a different public health direction,
I am concerned that the wireless industry is missing a valuable oppotunity
by dealing with these public health concerns through politics, creating illusions
that more research over the next several years helps consumers today,
and false claims that regulatory compliance means safety. The better
choice by the wirelesss industry would be to implement measured steps
aimed at true consumer protection.

Alarmingly, indications are that some segments of the industry have ignored
the scientific findings suggesting potential health effects, have repeatedly and
falsely claimed that wireless phones are safe for all consumers including
children, and have created an illusion of responsible follow up by calling for
and supporting more research. The most important measures of consumer
protection are missing: complete and honest factual information to allow
informed judgement by consumers about assumption of risk; the direct
tracking and monitoring of what happens to consumers who use wireless
phones; and, the monitoring of changes in technology that could impact
health.

I am especially concerned about what appear to be actions by a segment of
the industry to conscript the FCC, the FDA and The World Health Organization
with them in following a non-effectual course that will result in a regulatory
and consumer backlash.

As an industry, you will have to deal with the fallout from all of your choices,
good and bad, in the long term. But in the short term, I would like your help
in effectuating an important public health intervention today.

The question of wireless phone safety is unclear. Therefore, from a public
health perspective, it is critical for consumers to have the information they
need to make an informed judgement about how much of this unknown risk
they wish to assume in their use of wireless phones. Informing consumers
openly and honestly about what is known and not-known about health risks
is not liability laden - it is evidence that your industry is being responsible,
and doing all it can to assure safe use of its products. The current popular
backlash we are witnessing against the tobacco industry is derived in part
from the perceived dishonesty on the part of that industry in not being
forthright about health effects. I urge you not to repeat that mistake.

[zurielshimon]

3) If you put the phone up to your ear, point the antenna away from you.

And just how would you talk on a phone if the antenna were pointed towards you??? :?

[Fairy]

My cell phone is the devil.

[CaliGirl20]

My cell phone is from cingular...I'm switching to another carrier in March....Anyone know of a carrier with good signals?  Cingular is horrible!

[Manda]

Verizon?

[snapple936]

My cell phone is from cingular...I'm switching to another carrier in March....Anyone know of a carrier with good signals?  Cingular is horrible!

i have cingular too, and it really sucks but it does a good enough job here in connecticut.  my mom has verizon and really likes it, so maybe that would work?  t-mobile also supposedly is really cheap and has good reception.



anyone have a cool ringtone? mine is the jackson five hahaha :-)

[eclv]

I have the actual songs from "Ordinary Day" and "Pretty Baby."  

[Steveau]

My cell phone is from cingular...I'm switching to another carrier in March....Anyone know of a carrier with good signals?  Cingular is horrible!

verizon is good especially if you get a tri-mode phone. gimme your # when you get it lol

[Steveau]

My cell phone is from cingular...I'm switching to another carrier in March....Anyone know of a carrier with good signals?  Cingular is horrible!

i have cingular too, and it really sucks but it does a good enough job here in connecticut.  my mom has verizon and really likes it, so maybe that would work?  t-mobile also supposedly is really cheap and has good reception.



anyone have a cool ringtone? mine is the jackson five hahaha :-)

I have ATM that I made myself from the mp3 and uploaded. I also have heaven by los lonely boys and don't know why.

[emmy]

anyone have a cool ringtone? mine is the jackson five hahaha :-)

I have various ringtones depending on who calls...
Ocean Avenue, Yellowcard
Sway & 1000 Miles, Vanessa Carlton
My Tourniquet, Evanescence
Lying from You, Linkin park
Fighting bg music from Sailor Moon
Scooby doo theme song

[Vultch]

most cell phones have plans that average $40 a month, screw that, I dont talk that much to make it worth it.
I got one of the cell phones where you use pre-paid cards, no plan. Just pay for what you use. Its basically just for emergancies and such anyway.
Plus it gets good reception on AT&T Wireless network. So it works for me.

[B]

most cell phones have plans that average $40 a month, screw that, I dont talk that much to make it worth it.
I got one of the cell phones where you use pre-paid cards, no plan. Just pay for what you use. Its basically just for emergancies and such anyway.
Plus it gets good reception on AT&T Wireless network. So it works for me.

True dat. I am like you, but I had to get a phone because I got tired of using phone cards, and all of the people I talk to are long distance  :oops: