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California's "Wireless-Free" Zone

pangur writes: "In Wired, there's the story about how Arthur Firstenberg changed Mendocino, CA into a 'wireless-free zone' as a safehaven for those deemed 'electrically sensitive'. His critics claim that he is driving away any chance of a significant economy."

5 of 662 comments (clear)

  1. Psychosomatic illnesses + zealots = bad news. by Ioldanach · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The list of symptoms causing 'electrical sensitivity' reads like a laundry list of psychosomatic effects. In the article, one woman says that since the school put up this tower, going to the school makes her ill and even touching her computer mouse burns her. Of course, the article goes on to say that there have been towers on that school for the past 30 years. And the big advocate for this? He carries around a bevy of equipment to detect electrical fields, which I don't expect make him feel any better about the places he visits.


    And I have one all-important question: Have *any* of these people been tested within the confines of an experiment to see if they *really* experience these problems? Try putting them through an experiment in an environment secure & devoid of radio activity (say, a bunker somewhere with a guassian cage around it).

    Such an experiment would entail:

    1. A control group which does not get any sort of exposure, and has no means by which the occupant would see any source of exposure.
    2. A group with appliances inside the gaussian cage that can emit RF, such as computers & microwaves
    3. A group with appliances inside that don't get any juice, and thus *can't* emit
    4. A group in the same environment as the control group but with externally injected RF noise.

    Only with that kind of an experiment can their claims be given any sort of credence. Until then, its all quackery.

  2. excerpt by schnitzi · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Wireless Free Mendocino has been instrumental in defeating attempts to bring cell phone and a high-speed Internet service to the town's 1,000-odd residents.

    That hyphen is entirely superfluous.

    --



    I object to that article, and to the next reply.
  3. Re:Mendocino has a thriving "offline" economy by QuietRiot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm there. Unix when you're high is a treat. Playing with my FreeBSD box after a bowl or two is a great way to satiate either the anti-social [sit there in front of your computer for hours without having to talk to anybody] or super-social [email, and lots of it] person you may become. While there are many other things I can enjoy under the influence, unix is a treat for me.

    I love to build - and I especially like to be crafty and work with my hands after a nice J with some friends. I like to build, fix, and create. And while marijuana can make you pretty spacy, it often helps me to concentrate - and become less distractable than I usually am. I can give myself a little project, or part of a big one, and just go at it.

    The slight change in perspective at the command line can be a benefit too. Seeing problems and relations between system resources in a different way can help anyone become a better sysadmin or to better solve problems that may develop. Stepping off your own beaten path can lead to shortcuts and enlightenment. You may realize you've been taking the long way home on a simple function you've been performing for years. A chance to explore - that's what it's really all about.

    While I don't suggest relying on yourself when you're very high or whipping out a J at work - if you never use your computer when you smoke - or if you used to smoke long ago, but haven't in a while ... well - give it a shot. Explore. If it doesn't work for you... well, you probably haven't lost much. And it's pretty hard to experiment without learning _something_ right?

    Just remember to dose yoruself properly. Don't do too much - or you'll just stare at your screen and call me crazy. Use your command history - and keep an editor window open to jot down ideas or help you remember what you've done. [Short term memory IS affected - so compensate!]

    Experiment. You're bound to learn _something_

  4. Re:The only thing this guy is missing ... by PD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Indeed. Who's to say that some among us can't be sickened by:

    1) small doses of fluoride in the water
    2) small doses of iron in the water
    3) small doses of radiation from smoke detectors
    4) small doses of nutrasweet
    5) small doses of saccharin
    6) small doses of psychic energy
    7) small needles inserted into energy points in the body
    8) small amounts of chemicals emitted by menstruating women
    9) small amounts of pig sweat in perfumes
    10) extremely large amounts of staph bacteria on everything we touch
    11) etc.

    The answer to your question "who's to say that some among us can't be sickened by smaller ones?" is ME. It's called the burden of proof. The person making the claim needs to provide the evidence. Without evidence the rational position to take is "I don't believe it. Prove it."

  5. I Won't Mod, I'll Reply by virg_mattes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > Please, you idiots making fun of these people, you are true idiots and it is becouse you are not complaining on the companies instead. They should create products not transmitting harmful radiation. They should find alternative methods of doing same things that doesnt HARM humans.

    There are some real problems with this. Creating products that don't create harmful radiation (based on this fellow's definition of "dangerous") would require them to build devices that don't use electricity, since he's complaining about any radiant EM field, and these fields are induced by electric current. Needless to say, few people (in the modern world, anyway) are willing to give up the use of electricity to protect themselves from EM fields.

    > And becouse, you are the #1 on the list to become electricsensitive. And many of you are that already Your ears getting hot? It feels like sand in your eyes? Dry skin? And many more things that are signs of electricsensitivity.

    The problem here is that of all of the sysmptoms listed, none of them (and no combination of them) seems exclusive to the condition. Moreover, the only backing information cited was a vague reference to a Swedish study, and the facts from the only study data the Swedes ever published stated that people who claimed to be electrically sensitive could not detect and were not demonstrably affected by EM fields in double blind tests. This would tend to refute Mr. Firstenburg's claims, but strangely the web site makes no mention of the results, only the study. This leads me to believe that more proof is needed about the causal link of bad health and EM exposure before it makes sense to start in on lifestyle changes.

    Virg