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City-Provided Wi-Fi Rejected Over "Health Concerns"
exphose writes "A small, hippie-friendly town in northern California, Sebastopol, had made an agreement with Sonic.net to provide free Wi-Fi across the downtown area. However, not everyone in town was pleased with the arrangement. According to Sebastopol Mayor Craig Litwin, citizens had voiced concerns that 'create enough suspicion that there may be a health hazard' and so they canceled their contract with Sonic.net. Some more details are at the blog of Sonic.net's CEO."
It's time to lay off the weed, me thinks. WiFi signals are as harmless as any other radio signal. I suppose they may try to get FM and AM radio blocked, as well? I am curious, though, if these same people just happen to be carrying cell phones.
Bearded Dragon
Fortunately, non-free WiFi and non-open WiFi doesn't have the same kinds of health hazards.
I find it ironic that the CEO makes a grossly inaccurate statement that actually hurts his cause:
Compare this to the mobile phone that you keep in your pocket, which is typically three to ten times this power level. When it's at it's highest power level, you hold it next to your head to conduct a conversation. Ever notice that your skin gets warm after a long call? That's the only side effect of RF energy - warming.
The warmth of a cell phone has nothing to do with RF. It is waste heat generated directly by the transmitter - it is not the result of RF energy being absorbed by the skin and converted to heat. Even low-frequency transmitters get very hot when transmitting. VHF and UHF mobile rigs, like those used by emergency services and amateur radio operators, have huge (relative to the size of the radio) heatsinks on the back to dissipate the heat so the final stage electronics are not fried. My amateur handheld (Yaesu VX-7R quad band) can transmit at 5 watts, and the magnesium case literally gets so hot at that output power that it is difficult to hold. That is transmitting at frequencies vastly lower than cell-phones (144-148 MHz) which pass right through skin. It's not the antenna that gets hot, or my head, it is the case housing the transmitter.
Also, batteries get warm when generating high amperage, especially really compact batteries like lithium-ion. So that also contributes to the warmth of a transmitting cell phone.
Better known as 318230.
Disclaimer: I'm not among the "electrosensitive" crowd, and I couldn't care less about routers and cell-phones.
That said, I find the "but there's a big nuke overhead!!!" argument just as bunk.
The fact is: you don't get all the frequencies from that ball of light. There's this thick atmosphere, including such layers as the ozone layer and the ionosphere. Plus such things as the water in the atmosphere which are just as good there at absorbing a certain band of microwaves, as, well, when you heat water in your microwave. These things absorb almost anything to the left of infrared or to the right of UV-B.
Let's just say there's a reason why they worry about shielding the craft in which they'll send a man to mars. Or why the gamma ray telescopes are put in orbit, and not at ground level. Or why over-the-horizon radar can actually see beyond the horizon, by bouncing the signal on the ionosphere. It's just as almost-opaque to those signals from the other side, you know.
So, yes, you have a big nuke over your head, but you also have some hundreds of kilometres of damn good shielding between you and it. Most frequencies outside the visible spectrum, or nearby, you're _not_ getting the full radiation of that nuke. You're getting them in homeopathic doses, if at all.
Even briefer: It doesn't prove what you think it proves. Sorry. It's as irrelevant as saying that heat can't kill because you have billions of tons of molten lava under your feet and it hasn't killey you yet.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
She should call James Randi, since she apparently has the paranormal ability to detect radio waves. For $1m, she could buy herself a nice big Faraday cage.
>north
You're an immobile computer, remember?
>Is there any way Sonic.net could sue these guys for backing out of an agreement for made-up reasons?
No, because in every industry except entertainment its suicide to ever sue your own customers. Who would want to do business with anyone like that? There are a lot of lawyers who never receive payment for their services who also never sue their customers. Once the word gets out that youre doing that then its time to close shop.
That even here in California, we have illiterate fearful ignorant people that want to sit in a bunker an wait to nuke the commies. TKFTs alive and well in the state of California. I wonder if they called to complain on their cell phones, or perhaps from a wireless phone in their house? Perhaps when they get in an accident they use their On-Star to call for help... hmmm... No, i'm sure they just sit there in their caves wondering if they should bathe this week.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Emo Philips
OK, it's easy to mock the old hippies for being afraid of radio waves. But in a nation that has been told that asbestos, thalidomide, red dye #2, aspartame and Vioxx are harmless I don't begrudge them their suspicion.
Rather than engage in derisive laughter, why not send them some helpful and relevant information that might assuage their concerns? If half the posters here wrote them a letter with a significant reference or two they might actually learn something. Remember, "Knowing is half the battle."
I like WiFi as much as anyone else. But making comparisons with stuff capable of killing might not convince a suspicious mind.
The reason the sun don't kill us outright is because we're evolved to handle it. (Mind you, oxygen is a crazy reactive element and a different life form might consider breathing it as much fun as swimming in hydrocloric acid.)
If people worry about man-made sources of electromagnetic radiation, soothe them with stories of how infintesmal it is.
I lost my sig.
Score:3, Informative? WTF?
I live in Boulder, CO, so I've met a hippy or two. They're naive and opinionated (just like most other people I've met), but I've never met ANYONE who fits the description above. So, maybe this one could be flagged as "Funny" or "Trollbait", but it is hardly "Informative".
That's a cargo-cult way of looking at it. Once person is a coincidence. Two is interesting. Three is a trend.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.