Posted on 03/01/2006 6:32:02 PM PST by Vermonter
New paint blocks out cell phone signals ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 1 (UPI) -- A Rochester, N.Y., company has developed paint that can switch between blocking cell phone signals and allowing them through.
"You could use this in a concert hall, allowing cell phones to work before the concert and during breaks, but shutting them down during the performance," said Michael Riedlinger, president of NaturalNano.
Using nanotechnology, particles of copper are inserted into nanotubes, which are ultra-tiny tubes that occur naturally in halloysite clay mined in Utah. Combined with a radio-filtering device that collects phone signals from outside a shielded space, certain transmissions can proceed while others are blocked, the Chicago Tribune reported.
However, the wireless phone industry is up in arms over the development.
"We oppose any kind of blocking technology," said Joe Farren, spokesman for The Wireless Association, the leading cell phone trade group. "What about the young parents whose baby-sitter is trying to call them, or the brain surgeon who needs notification of emergency surgery? These calls need to get through."
There's a whole web site dedicated to them:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=latest_threads
'I don't really care'
That sums it up.
And now they are driving in a daze. Rest assured the 'what if my child needs immediate brain surgery' folk will be out there. (any hospital will make that decision for you) Afetr 30 years in level 1 trauma centers, they do make good calls. Why? They do not want to see you in the clinic.
Then you should frequent restaurants where they don't paint the walls.
All this does is turn a small area into the local equivalent of a hillside.
Tin foil still works best.
That way, you could actually take a long, leisurely bath and still know who called you and what it was about.
Oh, dear... what about them? What did they do before cell phones???
You mentioned your children are diabetic and need immediate access. That is not always the solution and relying upon fragile cellular connectivity will eventually get them into a jam someday. They need to recognize they have a medical condition and how to live a successful life with it. Don't make them believe they're less of a person because they need to rely upon a syringe or a pump.
My suggestion is to send them to a certified camp for children with diabetes for a couple weeks each summer (without a cellular phone) where they will spend time with hundreds of other diabetic campers, diabetic counselers, and diabetes educators. Empower your children, don't make them believe they must call mommy and daddy on a cellular at every turn. The doctors at the camp would call you if there was a problem. Children can be encouraged to write letters home with pen and paper. Cellular telephones shouldn't become a crutch for people.
~ Blue Jays ~
Does anyone remember life before cell phones?
Yep! you could actually have a conversation with a friend, over dinner or lunch without their cell phone interruping things.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Most people cannot imagine it now but there was a time when some men could not be contacted for months at a time. Family members were often dead and buried before a sailor or soldier was aware of an illness. I think it is great that that is no longer the case but some people are getting carried away with the need for instant contact. Some people can't get anything done now for talking on the cell about things that are really inconsequential. I think some of us no longer have a sense of proportion or priority.
Do they have auto paint?
Just remember to wear it shiny side up. ;>)
And the thing is, they don't just "ring" anymore....they play Beethoven's Fifth or some such.
I just finished four weeks of jury duty on an Attempted Murder case. Once (and only once!) during testimony, a fellow juror's phone started playing show tunes. It got turned off pretty quicklike...
Boy, it sure is. What do you think about all those stories about the 60 year-old people dropping dead as a result of their childhood exposure to lead paint, second hand smoke and asbestos?
Horrifying, I tell you.
Most people cannot imagine it now but there was a time when some men could not be contacted for months at a time. Family members were often dead and buried before a sailor or soldier was aware of an illness. I think it is great that that is no longer the case but some people are getting carried away with the need for instant contact. Some people can't get anything done now for talking on the cell about things that are really inconsequential. I think some of us no longer have a sense of proportion or priority.
I agree.
Are you sure it was because of your beeper and not because you wouldn't take your baseball cap off?
While that was great sarcasm, see post #55.
I agree that there are things that are overhyped these days, but heavy metals are nothing to joke around with.
I don't care about your diabetic kids either.
My obliviousness to your kids' plight, though, does not affect your enjoyment of whatever play or concert we're attending.
Your self-centered attitude of "everyone else around me be damned, I'll let my cell phone ring whenever it wants to," does negatively impact everyone else's theater/concert experience.
I guess this is like, "I don't mind if you smoke as long as you don't exhale."
They could just send Mr. Gumby into the hall to fetch him.
"ARE YOU THE BRAAAIN SPECIALIST? MY BRAIN 'URTS!"
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