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Can You Hear Me Now?
squarefish writes "CNN has this story about a hiker stranded in South America's Andes mountains when a blizzard begins. He reaches into his backpack for his cell phone -- only to find his prepaid minutes are up. Out of nowhere, a phone company solicitor is calling on his cell phone, asking if he would like to buy more time. Is this convenient or what?"
as far as i know, you are still able to make emergency (911) calls from a cell phone even if it has no service agreement. however, seeing as it wasn't the united states, more power to the sales guy or something. :))
next we'll be hearing a story about how spam saved someone's life. (i don't care whether its the canned or electronic kind, would be interesting either way
Although, if they had cell phones on that soccer/football (or was it rugby? I forget) that was forced to resort to cannibalism, they all probably would have gotten sales calls - after all, they always call during dinner.
WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
Besides, chilling your battery will not revive it. It will only slow down power loss.
What a stupid article!
Convenient, maybe. But what if he hadn't been stranded. How annoying would it be having a solicitor call you and try to cell you more pre-paid minutes every time you run out. I thought it was against some kind of law that phone solicitors could not call your cellular phone anyway? (Correct me if I am wrong)
~.Evanrude
"...Ok Mr. Diaz you don't need to make up some stupid story about being lost in the Andes mountains. If you are not interested, you could just say so." *click*
At least in the US, cellphone carriers are required by law to allow all 911 calls through on any cellphone, whether it's activated or not. The law is pretty strictly enforced, too. It's reasonable to assume that wherever he was, a similar service or law exists.
I can imagine that 1) there was some sort of equivalent service in his area, and 2) his service should have a number to call, like '0' or '611' to talk to someone about adding minutes to his calling plan. The guy was smart enough (and lucid enough) to know that chilling batteries rejuvenates them to some extent, but couldn't figure out how to get a hold of anyone on a service that doesn't require "charged" minutes? He's getting more credit than he deserves.
Regardless, if such emergency services aren't available where he was, let it be a lesson to the carriers there. Someone could easily hold them liable for not permitting emergency calls to go through, where life-threatening situations exist.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
... is whether or not they made him buy the minutes before they would help him.
they dont.
I worked in a battery shop for a few months. Cooling batteries makes them discharge slower, and freezing them destroys them (expanding/crystalizing electrolite destroys the membrane between the plates). Last month I left my cell in the car overnight, it got a bit cold (in the 40s), and my phone wouldn't work until the battery warmed back up.
...also, as Jeff67 points out:
"Alcohol only gives the perception of warmth. It does it by dilating blood vessels in the skin. The result is you lose heat faster. Drinking when you're really cold is a good way to get dead."
So, fake longer battery life, and fake warmth. In short, this looks like a bogus story. I guess CNN is taking it's cues from the Chinese news media these days...
Never never never smoke crack before geometry class!
Can you hear me NOW? No? Hum, get a crew out here...we need another tower.
Ah, can you hear me NOW? Good!
--MonMotha
True, but if I'm going to freeze to death, I'd much rather do it drunk.
It's more convenient than you think. How did the hiker get stranded in the first place? My theory is that the phone company had a hand in getting him lost in the first place. Who benefits? Suddenly here is a heartwarming story that makes the phone solicitors look like benign life-saving angels rather than annoying pricks paid to disrupt our most precious moments of peace....
However.... Alcohol also acts as anti-freeze. You may know of the story about the Baker on the Titanic. The normal survival time in the icy cold waters at that time was only a few minutes. The baker had the right idea and got trashed just before it went under. The Baker was picked up 2 hours later, and he survived.
Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to get signals on top of mountains. Why? Because at the top of the mountain you have line-of-sight with many different ground antennas. It is the same reason that you get a good 'view' :)
Also, from my personal experience in the Alpes, phones seem to work pretty well at high altitudes - so much, that I even get signals from neighbouring countries' networks sometimes. The major problem with large height is that your cellphone might appear in many cells simultaneously and the networks might become confused. (And this could be one of the reasons why you can't use a cellphone inside an airplane)
As far as the batteries are concerned.. I am aware that lower temperatures lower the reaction strength => the internal resistance of the battery increases => it becomes unusable very quickly. However it works again when it becomes warm. This does appear bogus...
... what do you expect from a story related with telemarketers and reported by Journalists working in US Media Conglomerate B]
I miss my rubber keyboard.(Homepage)
Alcohol is a vasodialator, so you do get increased bloodflow, especially in surface capillary veins. So you do suffer from hypothermia at a greater rate, but you also prevent frostbite. Depending on the amount of exposed skin, drinking small amounts alcohol is often considered a good thing. If your boots get wet and then freeze, drinking is the only thing you can do to help keep the circulation going and save your toes. Alcohol and water are both vasodialators, but alcohol works best. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, which is a bad thing for frostbite. Brandy contains lots of sugars, so would have an overall warming effect, assuming he had reasonable clothing.
Chilling batteries can cause the output voltage to rise, because the internal resistance is a complex function based on temperature. I've seen the graphs of battery output for satellites, very non-linear, with several peaks and dips for different temperatures.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
Now we can't even DIE in peace, without some ($*%&$ing phone solicitor bothering us.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
.. who claim that you shouldn't drink alcohol in extreme hypothermic conditions?
Alcohol dilates the blood vessels and the rush amplifies your body heat. True, you lose heat faster and in 'normally' cold conditions you shouldn't drink alcohol. But if you're stuck in a freezing mountain, you need to keep comfortable to keep awake, which is essential to your survival. And the article says the guy is relying on carefully measured doses of brandy. Limiting intake is essential.
Alcoholic beverages are actually present in most hikers' backpacks for this purpose (and also for treating wounds, due to its antiseptic nature).
And what's up with "you shouldn't drink anything at all in hypothermic conditions"? In fact, you should drink adequate amounts of liquids. Water, as most liquids, preserves your temperature. The only time you shouldn't intake liquids is when you're already victimized by hypothermia (in other words, you're already unconscious or near unconsciousness so you can't really do anything anymore, but this is handy advice for people who encounter hypothermia victims -- don't give them food or drink).
Pet peeve: Profane people propagating perfunctory pedantry.
On the other hand, if you eat the snow you can freeze to death trying not to dehydrate. I'm sure a very slow but steady diet of snow is the best way to go.
I'd carry a plastic bottle that I could put snow into, then put the bottle into my clothes. After it melts, then you can drink it. That's much safer.
Do not eat without melting! Eating snow and ice can reduce body temperature and will lead to more dehydration.
Melt ice or snow and boil it if possible. Don't eat crushed ice - it can injure your mouth and can also cause further dehydration.
Lundin says eating lots of snow is a common and potentially deadly mistake.
"Don't eat snow," said Mike Sheets. "Don't put it in your mouth and try to melt it if you're thirsty. You'll use up too much of your body's heat, and you need that energy for yourself."
Drink a lot of water, 8 to 12 glasses a day. But do not eat snow to satisfy your thirst. Eating snow can lower your body's core temperature, triggering deadly hypothermia.
Don't waste body heat by eating snow. Make a fire; heat water before drinking.
Do not eat snow as it tends to dehydrate the body
Do not eat snow to obtain water, it will just make you colder.
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
The guy was lucky he wasn't a crusty, battle-hardened American consumer. Otherwise, here is what would have happened:
Man, I'm freezing... This brandy is good (Hiccup)...
Riiiinng...
Hello?
Hi, maybe I speak to Mister Diaz?
Leave me alone, you f&@*$%ing telemarketer bitch! Click. Hey, wait a sec... Hello? Hello? Oh crap...
That's right, boys and girls, telemarketers are not only a nuisance, they also create deeply ingrained reflexes that can hamper your survival if you happen to be drunk, stranded and out of minutes at the same time...
Did you hug a telemarketer today? Good! Keep hugging him until he chokes.
--
Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/