Cellphone Radiation? Probably Worse For You Than Fukushima Because It's Stuck to Your Head!

That's right. Unless you live near or around the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants, or the nearby areas affected, then there are many things that are much more dangerous to you and your families' well-being than crap spewing out of the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

People need to keep things in perspective. Of course the Fukushima nuclear accident is serious business. For me, I thank God I don't live there... Actually, no. That's not true. I thank me. I'd never live close to a nuclear power plant anyway. Neither would I live close to any sort of refinery, oil producing facilities or toxic waste dumps. I always questions the sanity of people who do... I always wonder why, when something bad happens, then the people who do live near these places complain as if they are surprised by disaster.


Seems to me disaster has a way of striking all around the world all the time.


Like I said, when it comes to your health and the welfare of your family, there's lots of things you should be concerned about... If you don't live near Fukushima then there's stuff going on all around you that just aren't as glamorous as nuclear accidents so they aren't reported by the main stream mass media, yet they have a much higher chance of ruining your health or your families' health than Fukushima ever could.


Here's a list of a few:


Did you know that For Every One Death Due to Nuclear Power, 4,000 Die Due to Coal? 


Or how about Benzene in Cars! This Will Kill More People Than Fukushima Will


And today's interesting tidbit comes from Activist Post. It is entitled Is Your Cell Phone Killing You?

An excellent infographic has been released, which covers many of the physical and mental health problems, as well as the financial burden sold to an increasing number of people who feel they "cannot live without" a cell phone.

As shown below, this obsession manifests in a myriad of ways that affect individual health and social interaction....

There is one other area key area that is not covered in the infographic, but is also worth mentioning -- the radiation effects of cell phones, especially on the young.

Experts have said that cell phones are capable of causing a number of health problems, including depression, infertility and damage to your DNA.

In 2011, the WHO/IARC released a report stating that cell phone radiation may have a carcinogenic effect on humans. In fact, the World Health Organization actually said that cell phones are in the same cancer-causing category as lead, engine exhaust, and chloroform. 

Considering the hundreds of millions who live thousands of miles away from Fukushima with how much they have a radioactive device stuck to their head all day, I'd say that this issue demands some serious consideration.

Here's more details and facts from this very interesting infographic:

1) More people can't live without their cell phone:

* The average person glances at their cell phone 150 times a day

* 68% of people experience phantom phone vibration when anticipating a phone call or notification

* 43% of iPhone users would go shoeless for a week rather than temporarily release their phones

* 22% would forego brushing their teeth

* 73% of people sleep with their cell phones

2) This obsession can lead to mental and health problems

* Fear and anxiety can increase coagulation and increase heart disease by a factor of four

* 57% feel anxiety when they run out of battery or credit or have no network coverage

* 70% of women and 61% of men fear losing their phones (it's called "nomophobia" or "no mobile phone phobia")

* 50% feel anxious when they don't have their mobile phone with them 

* 25% of nomophobia have experienced accidents while messaging or talking on the phone

3) Sleep deprivation

* People lose an average of 45 minutes a week of sleep due to cell phone usage

* 63% of smart phones users use a social networking site before going to bed

The article then goes on to suggest ways to fight back against cell phones (and I heartily agree!)

1) Turn off cell phones 45 minutes before bedtime to increase sleep quality

2) Take a trip unplugged! Go to where there is no TV, network or computers! 

3) Resist constantly checking your cell phone for messages. If it's important, then they will call you

May I add?:

4) Turn it off at meal time

5) Turn it off during meetings and when you are not at work

6) Never use if for an alarm clock

7) Turn off your cell phone for 12 hours a day, everyday

Cell phones are bad news. Not only are they bad for your health, they are ruining people's quality of life. 


One person commented to me that, "... they can't be as bad as breathing in Fukushima radiation..." To that another friend said, "No. You just shove them up a hole in your head and talk on them for hours..." Good point.

Turn those damned things off! 


Refer to this great video that I wrote about at New Year's in Turn off those digital devices and learn to live again:

Not only will turning off your cell phone for at least 12 hours a day improve your life, it will improve your health.


For a related article, please read: Radiation and Reason - the Impact of Science on a Culture of Fear 

Turn off those digital devices and learn to live again

Here's a good wish I have for you for 2012. Turn off those digital devices and learn to live again.

Thanks to Dale Yost

An Amazing Japanese TV Commercial

In spite of all the bad news out of Japan recently, Japan shows that she still knows how to make the world's top quality and innovation. Here's a TV commercial for Japan's cell phone carrier DoCoMo.

I love Japan and I love Tokyo. This is still, far and away, one of the most fun and exciting places to live in the world...

Thanks to Lew Rockwell

Finally! Tokyo to Get Cellphone Service in Subways!

It never seems to fail. I could be sitting around at home or in the office all day and not get a single phone call to my cellphone (not really complaining), but sure as the sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning, the moment I get into a subway train, and the door closes, someone will call me.

As soon as the train leaves the station - in between stations - there's no cellphone reception in Tokyo. 


But that's all going to change this year!


CNN reports:

Users of the iPhone in Japan have long had one grievance to share -- the poor lack of signal on phone giant Softbank's network.

Walk underground or stand in an elevator and you can expect the line to go dead on any Softbank phone, let alone on a moving subway train. Of course, one should never speak while in the carriage, but for those wishing to download news or send text messages, each tunnel is a frustration.

Tokyo Vice Governor Naoki Inose and Softbank president Masayoshi Son agreed at a meeting at the municipal head office to resolve the issue whereby a phone signal can be found in the passageways under the city, but not while moving between stations -- affecting millions of commuters.

According to the Mainichi, Son "proposed that e-mail use be enabled in subway trains because doing so would raise people's productivity."

......

The antennas will be paid for by a consortium of the three telephone giants, Softbank, NTT Docomo Inc and KDDI Corp, so should serve all phones, and could be up and running by the end of 2011.

I don't really want to talk to people on the trains, but would love to be able to read the news on the Internet or check stock prices or watch Youtube.

I hope they do arrange this as soon as possible. It looks like Osaka will have this service in 2012!

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Making Money from Free Cellphone games? How?

Here's an interesting article from the Mainichi. I've wondered about this....

How do firms make so much money from free cell phone games?

Despite Japan's continued recession, companies that offer free cell phone game platforms like Mobage and Gree -- are raking in tens of billions of yen annually. If the games can be played for free, where is all the money coming from?

At the Roppongi headquarters of Gree Inc., employees in their 20s and 30s tap away at the several hundred computers lined up in the huge office.

"I'm always thinking about what might make people want to fish," says a 27-year-old male employee on the development team for Gree's leading product, a fishing game called Tsuri Suta. He stares at his computer screen.

Making money from a free online fishing game called "Tsuri"? But how? Aha! Fishing supplies? Really?

With Tsuri, for example, players are free to participate in fishing events with other players, but fishing poles can become so worn out that they break. The user is then given the opportunity to continue using the free pole, or select a more user-friendly pole for 100 yen or more. Among the available tools are 1,000-yen poles with lures that enable players to catch big fish, and the "ultimate" pole at 2,000 yen.

Computer games that charge players for additional tools existed before cell phone games appeared on the scene, however. So what's the difference?

I decided to experiment with cell phone games for about three weeks. At first, I couldn't understand what about them drew people in. But as I made friends and exchanged short letters on the way, I found myself looking into my phone during my commute to work.

"Put simply, it's just a way to pass the time," says a 27-year-old man in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward who began gaming on Mobage Town three years ago and has continued to play during breaks at work. Indeed, the convenience is what DeNA says characterizes their product.

"It's a new form of entertainment that can be used in those 'in-between' times," says a DeNA publicist.

The article goes on to state that 5 ~ 10% of players will pay for extra tools. That's a great conversion rate!

Now you know how they make money with "Free" games!

Junior and High School Girls and Cellphones

In Japan, cellphones are everywhere. I even see small children, in first and second grade, at my son's school who have their own cellphones.

Many adults in Japan have more than one cellphone and I personally know some guys who have three or more (one guy told me he had a different phone for every girlfriend so that he doesn't confuse them when they call).

But the one slice of the pie here in Japan that is just incredible is the junior high school and high school girl segment of the market. These girls are devouring novels on their cellphones as fast as they can get them.

CS Monitor reports:

Media-sharing website Maho i-Land boasts 1 million online books and 6 million users who read and/or write novels on the website for free. Many users tap away and compose using their cellphones, simply following a word limit of 1,000 or less characters per page. Budding authors can choose to “publish” their online story immediately or keep it unlisted. Many upload their content as they finish and choose to receive feedback from readers. Authors respond to feedback by fixing mistakes and sometimes changing the story lines. The most successful authors get their stories printed.

“Keitai novels make up a roughly $36 million market annually,” says Shigeru Matsushima, an editor at Starts Publishing Co.

That explains a lot. I often see these girls on their phones just enraptured by what they are reading. If it were a friend's e-mail or text, it would be short, right? But these girls will stare at their phones for 20 or 30 minutes straight. If they are reading cellphone novels, then that would explain it.

Who says young people today don't read?