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WiFi Worries Still Going Strong In The UK
from the gotta-freak-out-about-something dept
Not so long ago, the BBC did a scare-mongering show about the supposed "threats" of WiFi radiation on children. Never mind the fact that it was later pointed out that the program used horrendously bad science, that actual scientific tests have shown the fears to be totally overblown (the amount of radiation is minimal, and double blind tests find that people cannot tell when WiFi is on, despite claims to the contrary) and that even the BBC later admitted that the show was poorly done and presented only one side of the story (the fear mongering one) while blatantly making the one reasonable person on the show look bad. It also left out some of the conflicts of interests concerning one of the scientific "experts" on the show (the guy who sold anti-radiation products and has a clear reason to build up fear mongering around WiFi radiation).
But, no matter, anti-WiFi hysteria has been in full bloom since that program aired. Despite all the studies showing little to no impact from WiFi radiation, the UK's Daily Mail is running yet another fear mongering piece about how WiFi in schools is harming children and wants a moratorium on WiFi in schools. Apparently the fact that a year's worth of WiFi radiation is the equivalent of 20 minutes on a mobile phone hasn't been explained to these people.
Reader Comments
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The only part of this that I actually find surprising is that schools in this country are actually using wi-fi at all; the receivers wouldn't last five minutes in any school round here.
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Re:
I live in the Seattle, WA area and the only school that I know of that uses wi-fi is a private one that costs 15,000-20,000 a year.
I am a high school student and I go to public school but have many friends in private schools cause I started in a private school for elementary and middle.
I'm pretty sure no wi-fi network would last 2 minutes in a public school. Not only from people stealing the receivers but from student hackers who like to screw up the system. It's very common on hardline but wi-fi would probably be worse cause the IT wouldn't be able to track down the people by computer location.
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Security an easy problem
Put the access points in a cage, that way they won't get stolen. Or, if the ceiling is tiled, put them above the tiles, and the students won't even know where they are. Most of them probably wouldn't even know how the signal is propagated in the first place.
As far as the network security, there are plenty of out the box real-time security systems that would foil just about all high school kids.
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wow, ... radiation ... radon in homes, now that's a serious problem. Radio radiation from the 200mW a wifi AP puts out, or 600mW+ that a cell phone puts out? Or what about a 50W CB radio? Licensed amateurs can use 5000W on certain bands. Or what about the typical power of a TV broadcaster? That i know of, there is very, very little chance of getting injured from any type of transmission in the radio bands until you move into very high transmitting power, and even then i would be more afraid of the voltages generated inside the equipment than from the radiation coming off my antenna.
Then of course you have a stigma attached to the language where radiation=bad, way-to-go media fear mongering high five.
I hope that some real scientists talk to the politicians before they are influenced by this and ban something ridiculously idiotic (again).
Media needs to start giving more informative studies and less scare-the-crap-out-of-you reporting when it comes to anything having the word 'radiation' in it.
/rant
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The Daily Mail
Don´t pay much attention to the daily mail, its the Fox News of the UK. They love to run alarmist stories about technology (computer games teaching kids to kill is a favorite) and right-wing rubbish about how imgration is destroying the country.
It really is a sad excuse for journalism.
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we are all doomed
No, seriously we are.
You may make fun of the issues and of the people that claim to suffer, but have you really considered this topic before carelessly writing about it. I think not.
You only have to look at several key areas to understand that there is a massive cover up taking place.
The main area being money. Are govt's concerned about making money? I think so. How much has the UK govt taken from 3G and other mobile operatives in the form of licences - 4-5 billion.
Have we ever had any 'independent' analysis of the wifi and mobile phone issues with a large number of subjects? Not yet.
Have we had any phone company/wifi router company doing there own tests - yes, lots. Do you know, the phone company's have now told us that using a mobile phone/dect phone up to 1 hr before you sleep CAN alter your sleep pattern.
Do mobile/cell phones affect you - YES they do - the mobile phone co's have told us. Are you doing anything about it. I guess not. Why? - because you probably dont want to believe it.
However there are thousands of tests carried out all over the world that tell us people are suffering with the use of mobile/cellular/DECT phones, WiFi routers, et al.
Do you want to believe it - NO you dont.
People are conditioned to using them - they dont associate harm from them because the harm comes after 10-15 years of use.
People are conditioned by the phone companies who do not want proven research to hit the streets.
I go into my greengrocers to buy fruit. if i select bad fruit at the counter and pay for it at the check out - does the store keeper tell me i have bad fruit?. No he doesnt.
For a saner, healthier, stress free life - ditch your cell phone - ditch your wifi and get wired.
Dont make fun of people who believe - make fun of people that dont believe
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Re: we are all doomed
>>You only have to look at several key areas to understand that there is a massive cover up taking place.
The main area being money. Are govt's concerned about making money? I think so. How much has the UK govt taken from 3G and other mobile operatives in the form of licences - 4-5 billion.
What does this have to do with 'harmful microwave radiation'? As someone whose cell phone is 3G capable, and has used phones on EDGE, I can say that 3G is not a gimmick and is definitely a step in the right direction for mobile communication and computing. Not that it has anything to do with the topic at hand.
>>Have we ever had any 'independent' analysis of the wifi and mobile phone issues with a large number of subjects? Not yet.
Have you ever taken a course in statistics or studied how to properly carry out an effective double-blind experiment? I'm guessing not.
>>Have we had any phone company/wifi router company doing there own tests - yes, lots. Do you know, the phone company's have now told us that using a mobile phone/dect phone up to 1 hr before you sleep CAN alter your sleep pattern.
>>Do mobile/cell phones affect you - YES they do - the mobile phone co's have told us. Are you doing anything about it. I guess not. Why? - because you probably dont want to believe it.
>>However there are thousands of tests carried out all over the world that tell us people are suffering with the use of mobile/cellular/DECT phones, WiFi routers, et al.
>>People are conditioned to using them - they dont associate harm from them because the harm comes after 10-15 years of use.
>>People are conditioned by the phone companies who do not want proven research to hit the streets.
Source for these comments?????
>>I go into my greengrocers to buy fruit. if i select bad fruit at the counter and pay for it at the check out - does the store keeper tell me i have bad fruit?. No he doesnt.
Horrible example for the point you were trying to make. Fruit, by nature, will go bad after a while. Is it the grocer's duty to inspect every single fruit every minute of every day? No. Is it your duty, as a consumer, to prepare foodstuffs properly? Yes. Is it your duty, as a consumer, to research on products you wish to purchase so that you can do so correctly? Yes. What does this have to do with cell phones!? Look, if you don't want a cell phone, that's fine, that's your choice as a consumer. But please don't go running into a provider's store screaming "THEY'RE LYING TO YOU! THEY'RE KILLING YOU AND SMILING, YOU SHEEP!"
>>For a saner, healthier, stress free life - ditch your cell phone - ditch your wifi and get wired.
Shall I inform you how much radiation you receive every day from your so-called "saner, healthier, stress-free" wired connections? From your "saner, healthier, stress-free" home itself? Please use this space to list all electrical devices you have in your home so that I can be as accurate as possible with my estimation. Please do not reply that you do not have electricity because you are, in fact, typing comments on an internet news article.
P.S. Do you have a Radon sump system? I hope so, since you're concerned with the levels of radio frequency interference inherent with cellular and wifi transmission...
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it gives me a headache
I discovered wifi simply from getting a bad headache 10 mins after being in my friend's studio - I don't get headaches, he thought it could be the wifi and turned it off - he got rid of it permanently and his health returned - he always had headaches and felt exhausted whilst he had it installed. I also notice that on forums where people are pro wifi they usually are quite rude, name calling and using false logic and poor humour. Wifi is known to prevent cognitive thought and if these people are anything to go by the case is proven.
If you want to know more about the science and the cover ups just go to www.mastsanity.org.uk and see for yourself. I also feel it is totally unethical that people can irradiate areas including other people's homes without permission, a bit like blowing tobacco smoke through their windows except you can't see it or smell it. The health hazards of tobacco were also ridiculed for a long time hmmm... seems to be a pattern here...
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Re: it gives me a headache
>>Wifi is known to prevent cognitive thought and if these people are anything to go by the case is proven.
Source? First of all, 'cognitive thought' is a redundant statement. Secondly, I find it interesting that I am able to clearly and logically question your argument when my Wireless N router is sitting less than a meter from me. No one in my high school had any issues with graduating, yet our school had prevalent wifi connectivity. All of the colleges I've attended have wifi, and no one there seems to be having any problems.
I seriously question the validity of your statements when the real-world evidence is set against you.
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