tagged w/ Cell Phones
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Lead may be behind a fifth of unexplained male infertility cases. For the first time, researchers say they’ve found evidence that even low-level lead exposure may damage sperm and contribute to male infertility.
Read more at Heroin and Cornflakes....http://arch1design.com/blog/?p=7870Lead may be behind a fifth of unexplained male infertility cases. For the first time,... more
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(Vancouver+Sun+-+News)
TORONTO — A cheating wife, a snooping husband and a cellphone bill has led to a $600,000 lawsuit being launched against telecommunications giant Rogers Wireless Inc.
Gabriella Nagy, 35, of Toronto is suing Rogers for invasion of privacy and breach of contract after her husband discovered her extramarital affair through her cellphone bill in June 2007.
"My life is beyond repair," Nagy said Monday. "It was a mistake, I rectified it and learned from it, but I will carry it for the rest of my life."
According to a statement of claim, Nagy said she signed a cellphone contract with Rogers in June 2006 under her maiden name and asked for her bill to be sent to the home she shared with her husband and their two sons — now aged 6 and 7.
She said her husband left her and the children in August 2007 without giving any reason.
According to Nagy, she later discovered that her cellphone account had been terminated without her knowledge, then reactivated and bundled with the family's TV, Internet and home phone bill — listed in her husband's name.
When Nagy confronted her husband, he told her that he had seen an itemized list of calls on her cellphone bill and was suspicious of one number she was calling frequently. Some of the conversations lasted for hours at a time.
When he called that number, a man told him that he and Nagy had just ended a three-week affair.
Nagy claims that Rogers transferred her cellphone over to her husband without her knowledge, and subsequently is to blame for their breakup.
"The affair was over," she said. "The thing that really hurt me is that it all came out not through my own doing."
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Nagy also said the separation led to her being fired from a $100,000 a year job as a rental sales agent.
"To lose a job that I worked so hard for to provide for my children, for it to be like nothing now," she said. "I feel like a nobody."
She said she cried uncontrollably at work and continues to go to therapy and takes prescription medication.
Nagy hasn't worked since her separation, and has been diagnosed as having "dysfunctional depression," according to a statement of claim.
A trial date has yet to be set, but Nagy said she's going public now with the lawsuit in an effort to prevent this from happening to anyone else.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2008 in Ontario Superior Court.
"The bottom line is that Rogers terminated my contact without my permission, transferred my services to someone else's name and breached my privacy," she said. "I entrusted them with my personal information."
Her lawyer, Edward Tonello, said the issue is his client's privacy was allegedly breached without her knowledge, leading to dire consequences.
"What, if any, cell carrier improperly discloses to a non-customer that the customer has a fatal disease or a contagious disease?" he asked. "To my knowledge, there has been no lawsuit for breach of privacy in such a manner in Canada."
Rogers has denied all the allegations, saying it was notified by Nagy and her husband that they wanted a single bill for all their services.
"We did not terminate Ms. Nagy's contract or automatically consolidate these accounts," said Rogers spokeswoman Kathy Murphy in an e-mail. "While we empathize with Ms. Nagy's situation, we cannot be responsible for the personal decisions made by our customers."
The company's statement of defence goes further, stating that Rogers should not be blamed for the marriage breakup or the effects it had on Nagy.
"The marriage breakup and its effects happened, or alternatively, would in any event have happened, regardless of the form in which the plaintiff and her husband received their invoices for Rogers services in July 2007," according to the court documents.
Rogers said the cellphone bill was consolidated into one bill for "administrative efficiency" that would result in savings to the plaintiff and her husband.
Rogers also claimed that Nagy paid her husband's bill on a number of occasions, using both her maiden and married name.
This isn't the first time a Canadian cellphone carrier has been blamed for a breakup.
In February, a Winnipeg man said his 2 1/2 year relationship ended when his girlfriend found suggestive text messages on his Virgin Mobile cellphone. He denied writing the messages, which included texts like "Booty call," "Where u at" and "Be there soon."
It was later discovered that the messages had been pre-programmed into his phone by the cellphone carrier.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Toronto+woman+sues+Rogers+exposing+affair/3039714/story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+canwest%2FF229+(Vancouver+Sun+-+News)#ixzz0oR6jqNXP(Vancouver+Sun+-+News)
TORONTO — A cheating wife, a snooping husband and a... more
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BANGALORE, India — In populous India, more people have access to mobile phones than to toilets.
Shocking as that statistic may be, a combination of social, cultural and economic factors are at play, depriving millions of Indians access to better sanitation.
On the one hand, India has some 565 million mobile phone connections, covering roughly half the country’s 1.2 billion people. It is a country whose tech-savvy workforce provides sophisticated tech know-how to the rest of the globe.
But only 366 million people, a third of its population, have the use of a proper toilet, according to a recent study by the United Nations. The rest defecate in the open, leading to the stereotype that India is a dirty, smelly country.
The tragic irony brings to the fore the sanitation challenges in a poor country. Borrowed Western sanitation ideas, power- and resource-intensive as they are, simply cannot be replicated in India, says Sunita Nadhamuni, CEO of Bangalore-based non-profit Arghyam, which works extensively in water and sanitation.
So, government agencies as well as NGOs are looking towards context-sensitive models where energy and water usage is low, and waste disposal simplified. “Expensive waste water treatment plants and centralized sewage systems are not for a country like ours,” said Nadhamuni. Arghyam supports several eco-friendly sanitation projects across the country.
In many parts of rural India, a toilet is not just about the infrastructure but about age-old traditions. “It is not ‘build-and-they-will-come,’” said Y.D. Mathur, the Lucknow-based advisor to India’s leading sanitation NGO, Sulabh International. Mathur, a former UNICEF official, says the biggest challenge is bringing about behavior change in rural communities. A poverty-stricken family would rather build a house or a shop and rent it out rather than have a toilet. And then they would continue going out to the fields for their daily rituals.
In many villages, government-funded toilets lie in various states of disuse. Officials admit that half the toilets built under government schemes or incentives may be in a state of disrepair. Many of them are low-cost constructions, dark and dingy and poorly maintained. As surveys reveal, many users have the burden of fetching their own water so, shortly after the toilet is constructed, it is declared un-usable.
The linkages between good sanitation, improved public health and economic growth are long-proven. But government agencies and NGOs are confounded by how to help India's vast, illiterate masses make those same connections.
“In southern state of Karnataka, for instance, NGOs first identify communities, propound the use of toilets and then build the infrastructure on demand,” said Arale Mahadevappa, a former government official who is a consultant in low-cost rural solutions.
Many grandiose government schemes promoting good sanitary habits in both urban and rural India are usually lost in translation.BANGALORE, India — In populous India, more people have access to mobile phones... more
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LA PLATA, Md. - The Charles County sheriff's office said a man called 911 and made up a story about being robbed so that he could get a ride home. Authorities said they were called to Hawthorne Road near Manor Drive in Ripley for a reported armed robbery on Thursday. The man told officers that he had been walking on Route 225 when a car stopped and a someone put a gun to his head and demanded money. The man claimed to have complied and the suspects fled.
But as officers searched the area and noticed inconsistencies in his account, the man admitted fabricating the robbery story because he wanted a ride home.
He said his cell phone was out of minutes and 911 was the only number he could still call.LA PLATA, Md. - The Charles County sheriff's office said a man called 911 and... more
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You'll recall, studious little gremlins that you are, that we recently saw the venerable first-gen iPhone prancing about with an unusual little green droid providing it with operational commands. Well, the coder behind that project, David Wang, has now stepped his game up to the iPhone 3G, which has been outfitted with an almost complete implementation of Android. Audio support is the last missing piece of the puzzle, but the groundwork has been laid and it too should be ready for some unholy Apple plus Google action within the next few days. Downloadable binaries are currently being prepared, so we thought we'd help you fill the time with a video demo of the port.You'll recall, studious little gremlins that you are, that we recently saw the... more
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'Talked about that dream to someday live off the grid in some farm. It'd be a place where I can grow my own food and play ride the horsey (or something close to that). Which is the extreme opposite from my growing up here in...'Talked about that dream to someday live off the grid in some farm. It'd be... more
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Ever worry that that gadget you spend hours holding next to your head might be damaging your brain? Well, the evidence is starting to pour in, and it's not pretty. So why isn't anyone in America doing anything about it?
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It's hard to talk about the dangers of cell-phone radiation without sounding like a conspiracy theorist. This is especially true in the United States, where non-industry-funded studies are rare, where legislation protecting the wireless industry from legal challenges has long been in place, and where our lives have been so thoroughly integrated with wireless technology that to suggest it might be a problem—maybe, eventually, a very big public-health problem—is like saying our shoes might be killing us.
Except our shoes don't send microwaves directly into our brains. And cell phones do—a fact that has increasingly alarmed the rest of the world. Consider, for instance, the following headlines that have appeared in highly reputable international newspapers and journals over the past few years. From summer 2006, in the Hamburg Morgenpost: ARE WE TELEPHONING OURSELVES TO DEATH? That fall, in the Danish journal Dagens Medicin: MOBILE PHONES AFFECT THE BRAIN'S METABOLISM. December 2007, from Agence France-Presse: ISRAELI STUDY SAYS REGULAR MOBILE USE INCREASES TUMOUR RISK. January 2008, in London's Independent: MOBILE PHONE RADIATION WRECKS YOUR SLEEP. September 2008, in Australia's The Age: SCIENTISTS WARN OF MOBILE PHONE CANCER RISK.
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Frey observed two factors in how microwaves at low power could affect living systems. First, there was the carrier wave: a frequency of 1,900 megahertz, for example, the same frequency of many cell phones today. Then there was the data placed on the carrier wave—in the case of cell phones, this would be the sounds, words, and pictures that travel along it. When you add information to a carrier wave, it embeds a second signal—a second frequency—within the carrier wave. This is known as modulation. A carrier wave can support any number of modulations, even those that match the extra-low frequencies at which the brain operates (between eight and twenty hertz). It was modulation, Frey discovered, that induced the widest variety of biological effects. But how this happened, on a neuronal level, he didn't yet understand.
In a study published in 1975 in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Frey reported that microwaves pulsed at certain modulations could induce "leakage" in the barrier between the circulatory system and the brain. Breaching the blood-brain barrier is a serious matter: It means the brain's environment, which needs to be extremely stable for nerve cells to function properly, can be perturbed in all kinds of dangerous ways. Frey's method was rather simple: He injected a fluorescent dye into the circulatory system of white rats, then swept the microwave frequencies across their bodies. In a matter of minutes, the dye had leached into the confines of the rats' brains.
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The cell-phone industry has managed to exert its influence in other ways, too. In the United States, the organization most influential in the government's setting of standards for microwave exposure is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which bills itself as "a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics." According to Slesin, "The committees setting the EM safety levels at the IEEE historically have been dominated by representatives from the military, companies like Raytheon and GE, the telecom companies, and now the cell-phone industry. It is basically a Trojan horse for the private sector to dictate public policy." The IEEE's "safe limits" for microwave exposure are considerably higher than what they should be, says Allan Frey, who was a member of the organization in the '70s. "When it comes to this matter, the IEEE is a charade," Frey told me.
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Read More http://www.gq.com/cars-gear/gear-and-gadgets/201002/warning-cell-phone-radiation#ixzz0mcdj4NsbEver worry that that gadget you spend hours holding next to your head might be... more
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Verizon is on an absolute release frenzy and they aren’t stopping, Look for the LG Aloha and the LG Fathom to hit stores in May.Verizon is on an absolute release frenzy and they aren’t stopping, Look for the... more
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The choices you make when buying, using, and getting rid of your tech can also have an impact on the environment and your personal carbon footprint. Lucky for you LAPTOP Magazine made it easy to make greener choices.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/happy-40th-earth-day-reduce-reuse-recycle
Reduce
Drawing power for our laptops is a necessary aspect of life, but some are better at power efficiency than others. The more efficient, the less energy used, the greener you are. Plus, a lower energy bill is its own reward. In our annual Green Choice Awards we tested 21 netbooks and notebooks to determine overall eco-friendliness, including the amount of watts they gobble. Click to see which systems get the green star.
http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/green-choice-awards-2010.aspx
Reuse
When you no longer use or need that old notebook, MP3 player, or mobile gadget, what can you do with it? If you can’t or don’t want to give it away to someone you know, consider trading in your old tech for discounts on new purchases, gift cards, or even cash. Many of the programs that accept older, gently-used technology resell, refurbish, or repurpose it, giving the gadgets you no longer want a second life and keeping them out of a landfill. Click below to find programs for trading in your laptop, mobile phone, and other gadgets.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/ready-set-recycle
http://blog.laptopmag.com/how-to-recycle-mobile-gadgets
Recycle
If your laptop or other gadgets are too old to earn you some cash, you should still send them off for proper recycling. The components and/or batteries inside might contain harmful chemicals best kept from landfills. Most of the trade-in programs for laptops and other tech will also take recyclables for no fee. Either drop them off at a designated location near you or get a pre-paid envelope or mailing label so you can ship it from home.
And if you’ve got some batteries to dispose of, be sure you’re doing it properly. Some can go in the trash, but others should be sent off for recycling, too.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/battery-disposal-done-rightThe choices you make when buying, using, and getting rid of your tech can also have an... more
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According to a survey released today, 1 in 3 American teenagers send upwards of 100 text messages on a daily basis. Scary or just a sign of the times?According to a survey released today, 1 in 3 American teenagers send upwards of 100... more
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Mother Jones - Environment + Health → Tech, Top Stories
-- By Dave Gilson
Killer apps: The real story behind your smart phone's innards.
IT'S A CELL PHONE, a camera, a media player, and a handheld computer all in one. But what makes the iPhone such a great tech toy also makes it a perfect example of the often murky, sometimes downright sketchy origins of our electronics. Here's a glimpse of what's really in an iPhone 3GS—and any number of other gadgets, from laptops to game consoles:
We've loaded this iPhone up with 10 apps you won't find on a real smart phone (visit link:http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/03/scary-truth-about-your-iphone). Click on an app to learn where your phone's electronic components really came from.
--Dave Gilson, is a senior editor at Mother JonesMother Jones - Environment + Health → Tech, Top Stories
-- By Dave Gilson... more
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Mother Jones - http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/03/gorillas-extinct-mid-2020
In March, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) announced that gorillas in the Congo may be extinct by the mid-2020s, a drastic change from its 2002 projection which had 10 percent of the original range surviving in 2030.
The culprits behind the demise of one of the world's brightest primates: poaching, logging, mining, the Ebola virus, and...cell phones.
Adam Hochschild's piece in the March/April issue of Mother Jones http://motherjones.com/toc/2010/03, describes how the Congo's vast natural resources are continuously pillaged to feed foreign interests to the detriment of locals, their environment, and now gorillas.
'Militias have seized large chunks of gorilla land and logged and mined it. They have done so because the illegal trade in timber and in metals such as gold and coltan -- used in cell phones -- generates between $14 million and $50 million a year for them.' --- CNN reports
'This is a tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade. Ultimately it is also a tragedy for the people living in the communities and countries concerned. These natural assets are their assets: ones underpinning lives and livelihoods for millions of people. In short it is environmental crime and theft by the few and the powerful at the expense of the poor and the vulnerable.' --- Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UNEP
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/03/gorillas-extinct-mid-2020Mother Jones - http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/03/gorillas-extinct-mid-2020... more
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We all know about the iPad, but what's going on with all these new iPhone rumors? Chris Hardwick talks to Jason Chen, Editor of Gizmodo, to talk about reports about potential new wireless providers and features for the phone. We're crossing our fingers that the rumors are true!
http://g4tv.com/videos/45050/iPhone-Rumors-New-iPhones-and-iPhones-for-Verizon/We all know about the iPad, but what's going on with all these new iPhone rumors?... more
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In a move claiming to be part of a campaign against pornography, the Chinese government will start monitoring text messages. According to undisclosed criteria, some messages will be deemed 'unhealthy' content and mobile services will have a list of keywords provided by police. Though some of those words could be immoral or offensive content (Gawker calls it a "war on sexting") it just as likely that they could be political or anti-government content.
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- Haiti: Challenges to come
- Haiti: Following along in the news
- The United Nations mission in Haiti
- Haiti reeling from 7.0 earthquake - Updates, Video, How to help
- Education shmeducation? - A California graduate's perspective - guest post by: Dan UckoIn a move claiming to be part of a campaign against pornography, the Chinese... more
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California prisons have plenty of problems but one that you may not often hear about is contraband. That's the subject of tonight's Vanguard episode: Prison Contraband.
This Week on Vanguard: Prison Contraband (Video)
What people are sneaking into the clink has changed a bit from old prison movies. Sure, there's plenty of homemade knives and drugs, but one of the biggest problems facing California prison officials these days is actually cell phones. A report released early last month showed over 4000 cell phones confiscated across the state this year.
"Investigations conducted within California prisons have supported allegations [that] cellphones have been used by incarcerated felons to participate in criminal activity," wrote Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Crimes committed by inmates using cellphones have included the planning of escapes, restraining order violations, use of stolen credit cards to purchase inmate quarterly packages and the coordination of smuggling contraband into prisons, Cate said.
Authorities have even begun training cell phone sniffing dogs.
Tune in tonight to Vanguard for an in-depth look at the fight against contraband in California prisons.
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- US, China to work on clean energy - No bill this year
- Did airport slaughter scene get Modern Warfare 2 banned in Russia?
- America's Christmas present: Jobs
- Neda's boyfriend speaks after escaping Iran
- Vladimir Putin loves hip-hopCalifornia prisons have plenty of problems but one that you may not often hear about... more
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"If you love your Verizon service and the Palm Web OS, then check out the Palm Pre Plus with its revamped full QWERTY keyboard and twice as much storage capacity. Chris Hardwick and Alison Haislip review this updated Palm Pre that runs $30 with a Verizon contract."
The main point I want to mention:
"New features include the Pre Plus becoming a wi-fi hot spot for up to 5 devices.
This app is easy to use and gives good download speeds, but it's $40 more with a 5 gigabyte data cap."
Apple put the kaibosh on that app when it was on the iPhone."If you love your Verizon service and the Palm Web OS, then check out the Palm... more
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- To no one's surprise, Sprint kicked off CTIA 2010 here by announcing its first 4G phone.
The HTC Evo 4G is not only the carrier's first WiMax cell phone--previously the carrier only has offered 4G laptop cards and the Samsung Mondi -- but also the first commercially available 4G handset with a major U.S. carrier
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/24/4g.phone/index.html?npt=NP1LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- To no one's surprise, Sprint kicked off CTIA 2010 here by... more
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If you love your Verizon service and the Palm Web OS, then check out the Palm Pre Plus with its revamped full QWERTY keyboard and twice as much storage capacity. Chris Hardwick and Alison Haislip review this updated Palm Pre that runs $30 with a Verizon contract.
http://g4tv.com/videos/44778/Palm-Pre-Plus-Review/If you love your Verizon service and the Palm Web OS, then check out the Palm Pre Plus... more
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