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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."
"This overexposure to pulsed microwaves has been a personal tragedy for me," Wagner said in an e-mail interview. "I'm left hypersensitive -- even my mouse burns my hand when I use my computer now."
Am I the only person who doesn't understand this? Why did he give an *email* interview if using computers is so painful to him?
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
I'll be damned, I grew up in Mendo. Everything you say is true :P.
Hypochondria is one word for it... The thing is that a lot of these people don't want to hear that what they have is really a mental imbalance. I've heard of people with imagined skin parasites too -- they will go to the dermatologist, present no obvious symptoms, and simply do not wish to be told that what they really need is a mild antipsychotic.
It's a bizarre situation. I feel safe in saying that these people's conditions are probably delusional; what has to be brought into account is that whether or not it's all in their heads, their suffering is certainly real. The problem is that they take any attempt to bridge the disconnect as a personal insult...
/Brian
Prove a paranormal ability and Randi will give you one million U.S. dollars, baby.
Seriously. A million bucks. No kidding.
Well, Mr Firstenberg?
We're waiting.
We're still waiting.
We're going to be waiting forever, as usual, aren't we?
Just to save Mr Firstenberg some time, I'll list a typical collection of objections to the validity of Randi's offer, as proffered by various alleged levitators and mind readers, on Mr Firstenberg's behalf:
"There is no money. There is too little money. There is too much money. I want to see the money in a pile. Proximity to cash compromises my spiritual enlightenment. Randi is a powerful anti-psi ray emitter. Randi is a cannibal and I am afraid of him. The FBI will forcibly change my gender if I win. I want it in Tongan Pa'angas, not US dollars. Money is an illusion. Property is theft. I'm a teapot! I'm a teapot!"
Let's just compare the symptoms of the two...
(Dehydration references: here and here.)
ES: Unusual tiredness, Flu-like symptoms, Weakness
Dehydration: Weakness, Fatigue and/or loss of energy
ES: Problems with concentration, dizziness and loss of memory, Sound sensitivity, Sun sensitivity
Dehydration: dizziness, changes in mental state (disorientation, memory loss), Delirium, Irritability
ES: Unconsciousness
Dehydration: Loss of consciousness
ES: Cardiac palpitations
Dehydration: Rapid or weak pulse
ES: Headaches, Teeth and jaw pains, aches in muscles and joints, Burning pain
Dehydration: Headache or bodyache
ES: Nausea and digestive problems
Dehydration: Nausea, vomitting
ES: Dryness of the upper respiratory tract
Dehydration: Dry mouth
ES: Perspiration
Dehydration: Sweating
-------------
Dehydration doesn't account for all the symptoms, but it sure does cover a lot. Makes you wonder if Mendicino just needs a mandatory water consuption policy...
Police officer: sir, I noticed that your driving seems as if you are unusally tired and/or dizzy. Have you been drinking?
Guy: No officer, not a drop!
Police officer: I knew it! I can spot dehydration a mile away! Take this low life and put him in the tank until he sobers up.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
Don't tell Mr. Firstenberg, but Mendocino lists a good dozen hams, and I'd have to believe that Mendocino county hasn't been terribly effective in telling the FCC they're the boss.
According to the ARRL's callsign lookup for zipcode 95460, there are 14 hams listed in the community. The town also sports a amateur radio club - Willits Amateur Radio Society (look at their stated objectives for reference to their county).
And I'd have to bet the local luddites haven't been too effective in shutting off satellite reception, AM, FM and broadcast TV reception, licensed microwave, 800 MHz trunking (e.g. city/county police, fire and roads), etc.
So I'm terribly curious how this RF allergy is only affected by specific frequency bands - e.g. 900 MHz analog cellular (but not amateur use of 900), PCS around 1.8 GHz, 2.4 GHz ISM and 5.3/5.8 U-NII allocations?
Even more curious is that I don't see any reference to the pulsed microwaves emitted by microwave ovens - approximately 2.4 GHz devices that often carry 500 watt radios and leak significantly more RF than the receive end of a 2.4 GHz wireless ISP transmission (e.g. -55 to -85 dBm).
Apparently the energy crisis wasn't enough for these mysticism-led luddites. They probably won't be happy until the state is living in an ag commune...
*scoove*
I'd even bet that if we moved service into another frequency assignment, the allergy would follow.
I remember in physics class in high school, we figured out the strength of the EM field around a high voltage wire. We calculated that even as close at 50 feet (like wires suspended in the air), the earth's natural field was like 100 times stronger.
:-D
Since then, I've always viewed these claims of EM radiation problems with a skeptical eye. My own suspicions is that this guy had a few too many REMs to the skull from his dental X-Rays and is a candidate for therapy.
Humorless sig goes here.
Frequency is important, too. The earth's natural field takes tens (or is it hundreds?) of millions of years to flip around; the power line's field is changing every 1/60 of a second. There's a reason you can wrap an inductor around the line to get juice, but can't do the same around the equator.
Don't get me wrong, I strongly doubt there's any detectable biological effects from power lines, but that's something that would have to be proven by double-blind experiment; your calculations aren't enough.
Most TV set's emit a significant amount of sonic energy, and no, I am not just talking about the content of the TV programs. :-)
In the US, the NTSC standard frequency of 15.75 kilohertz was chosen for horizontal retrace interval. As a natural design consequence of the standard, both the horizontal coil and fly back transformer both operate at this same frequency. These components contain wire coils which vibrate as the magnetic field expands and contracts 15,750 times a second. As these wire coils vibrate, the mechanical movement converts into sonic energy at the same frequency, very similar to a speaker. This vibration results in the TV set emitting a continuous, high pitched pure tone, just within the hearing range of humans.
For the most part, the larger the TV screen, the larger the components, which results in an even higher intensity pure tone emission.
Exposure to these moderately intense, high frequency pure tones for long periods of time,
can inflict serious damage too your hearing. One of these conditions is called "Tinnitus".
Tinnitus sufferers, will often continue to perceive these continuous high pitch tones, long after being exposed. (often years). I.E. A living hell ! The number of 'Tinnitus" sufferers in the US is estimated to be in the 30 to 50 million range. Their number continues to increase at epidemic proportions.
Thus, avoiding additional exposure to these continuous, pure sound tones is a good start!
Some suggestions for the technically inclined.
1. Switch to a full time line double HDTV set/monitor (~31Khz) for normal TV viewing.
2. Change the scan rate frequency preferences for the video card, sometimes up or sometimes down.
Often a 1/2 or 1/3 harmonic can inflict just as much damage, especially if it is just a few feet away.
3. Avoid placing CRT monitors & TV sets in the corners of a room.
The sound reflections off walls just increase the exposure.
4. Replace computer CRT monitors with LCD monitors.
5. Use a laptop computer, and it's built in LCD display for most daily tasks.
This guy is quoted in the article as saying he can't even hold his computer mouse anymore without pain.. whats he think is happening to him? magical ray eminating from the mouse are microwaving his hand.. out of all the computer equipment most people use, surely the mouse is the least dangerous..
Its like the one guy in the article said.. "you can't argue with zealots"
It disturbs me that this crazy person can collect disability for the fact that he thinks electronics harm him..
In a related anecdote, some guy (IIRC in the UK) was busted for stealing power from the power company. He did this buy winding a large quantity of copper coil around his garage, which was situated underneith a high voltage line. The garage full of coil was sufficient to induce enough power to run his house. Unfortunately, I can't find a link to the story.
Caveat: I still think the people trying to shut down the school radio are nuts. I just wanted to point out that short-range EM from high voltage lines is a much different situation than EM from cell towers.
Crispin
----
Crispin Cowan, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist, WireX Communications, Inc.
Immunix: Security Hardened Linux Distribution
Available for purchase
While I agree the guy is, um, strange ... its not the presence of a EM field thats dangerous ... its more like being exposed to changes in flux thats a problem ... Either by moving *your* body through the field, or the field changing somehow, IE alternatic current :)
... the reason the earths field dosen't bother is us, because relative to us it is stationary.
You have to recall the universe is all about motion
Free Techno/Jazz/DNB/MI Music by guys obsessed with monkeys!
The only problem with "Amish Country" is that it definitely isn't devoid of electronic signals. There are all kinds of radio stations in the area, and almost all of the tourists carry cell phones, so there are plenty of cells spitting out a signal.
Personally, I think that if this is such a problem for all these people, they should all just get together and go buy an island somewhere so they can leave the rest of the world alone. I really resent some nut who moves into a town and expects the whole town to bow to his every wacked out whim.
GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
I'd like to see how these people react in a thunderstorm. If they're really as bothered by radio waves as they say, their heads should explode. More likely they don't even react.
It's not just the strength of the field that matters (directly), it's the delta in field strength between the ends of the bulb.
At the same field strength, the larger source is further away and the field delta is lower.
Thus, the Earth's EM field could be vastly stronger, but still not cause a bulb to glow as brightly as a power line. (Unless the bulb stretched from here to the moon...)
However, the human body is likely affected in somewhat the same way as a bulb, so it's not totally silly to think that EM from a power line might cause some weird effects.
The people advocating this would get a lot farther if they didn't seem to be crystal-healing, acupuncture using, ginko-biloba eating freaks without a clue about the scientific method (or any discoveries since the 1920s for that matter.) But try to bring up double-blind studies with them and you'll get a rant about the ego of western science, etc, etc...
Since you claim to be a Ph.D...
If the Earth's magnetic field alternated its polarity 60 times a second, do you think ALL of the flourescent lighting in the world would glow?
From what I understand, from an article in Discover magazine years back (I know... biased and questionable... but...) which discussed magnetic fields around high-voltage power lines, and also electric blankets, the chief problem is the frequency of the field in question. The article states that the danger from a D.C. current is negligable no matter the voltage, but that 60 (and 50) hz A.C. can cause damage, in theory.
Me personally, I like electricity. A.C., D.C.... doesn't matter, just as long as my gadgets run.
Oh, and as far as I am concerned, it's not theft of service to tap inductively into high voltage lines that run over your property... It should be considered payment for the risk of cancer that some people think is there.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.