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Killer Apartment Vs. Persistent Microwave Exposure?

Posted by kdawson on from the will-it-fry-an-egg dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I am considering buying a penthouse apartment in Manhattan that happens to be about twenty feet away from a pair of panel antennas belonging to a major cellular carrier. The antennas are on roughly the same plane as the apartment and point in its direction. I have sifted through a lot of information online about cell towers, most of which suggest that the radiation they emit is low-level and benign. Most of this information, however, seems to concern ground-level exposure at non-regular intervals. My question to Slashdot is: should the prospect of persistent exposure to microwave radiation from this pair of antennas sitting twenty feet from where I rest my head worry me? Am I just being a jackass? Can I, perhaps, line the walls of the place with a tight metal mesh and thereby deflect the radiation? My background is in computer engineering — I am not particularly knowledgeable about the physics of devices such as these. Please help me make an enlightened decision."

11 of 791 comments (clear)

  1. Easy by acehole · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tin foil suit.

    --
    Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
  2. Re:If you are worried about it... by DingoTango · · Score: 5, Funny

    Agreed. Notice that you referred to the space as a "killer" apartment.

  3. cell tower next to village by tokul · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mobile company raised cell tower next to some village. Locals complained about health problems caused by this tower. When contacted cell company CEO replied:
    - That's nothing. Wait and see what happens when we turn it on.

  4. Get a gun. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Get a gun. Then, make an appointment with the landlord. Explain your fears and phobias (about microwave radiation) to the landlord. Wave the gun back and forth while you are talking.

    Ask the landlord to relocate the cell-phone towers.

    This strategy is quite effective in dealing with obstinate landlords. I should know since I'm serving time for 1 count of voluntary manslaughter.

    1. Re:Get a gun. by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Get a gun. Then, make an appointment with the landlord. Explain your fears and phobias (about microwave radiation) to the landlord. Wave the gun back and forth while you are talking. Ask the landlord to relocate the cell-phone towers.

      This strategy is quite effective in dealing with obstinate landlords. I should know since I'm serving time for 1 count of voluntary manslaughter.

      Wait... if you're serving time for voluntary manslaughter, that means your strategy is NOT effective, since obviously the landlord did not do what you wanted him to do (otherwise, why shoot him?).

      But then again, you have a gun and you're willing to use it... I'm sure your strategy is the best strategy ever. No really.

      ...

      Please don't hurt me.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  5. Here's a tip... by Telecommando · · Score: 5, Funny

    If your microwave popcorn starts to pop before you turn the microwave on, it's probably not safe.

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    Beta sux! Join the Slashcott! http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4760465&cid=46173047
  6. Re:If you are worried about it... by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Easy one. Just start wearing a tin foil hat. I'm sure some kind soul here would be more than willing to help you out!

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
  7. Re:If you are worried about it... by noidentity · · Score: 5, Funny

    In addition, if you are worried consider that future buyers may also be worried. Unless you plan to either die in the apartment or leave it to your children, resale ability and ease of resale may be things you wish to consider.

    Look on the bright side: if he really does die from the microwave radiation, he won't have to worry about resale value.

  8. Re:Yes, you are being a jackass by ffreeloader · · Score: 5, Funny

    Amateur radio operators have been using devices that can put out 5 to 1500 watts since the 1930s (possibly earlier)

    Yeah, and look at what all that radiation has done to them. It's turned them into hams.

    --
    "while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude." de Tocqueville
  9. Re:If you are worried about it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he's buying it he won't have a landlord and he won't be a tenant, moron.

  10. Re:If you are worried about it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Alu-min-i-um, you insensitive colonial.

    No worries: if it was unsafe, I am sure that the cellular industry would tell you.