More Cellphone Pseudoscience Woo, Yours For Only 40 Euros!

[luchog]

Yet more "evil cancer-causing cellphone" techno-woo. This time, it's an "anti-radiation" chip that sticks to the back of your phone. It apparently combats cellphone radiation by... emitting radiation. But good radiation, not bad radiation. :rolleyes:

And of course, they don't forget to include the requisite woo jargon and other nonsense, especially the use of "quantum" and "information wave", and a bunch of pictures that look impressive but mean absolutely nothing.

Firm touts anti-radiation chip for phones (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12/09/e_waves_phone_chip/)


The E-Waves Phone Chip is essentially a bulky sticker that attaches to the back of your handset and works by using “interference technology”.

When you make a call, the chip beams out - it says here - “a quantum physical information wave” towards your brain to neutralise any potentially harmful waves sent out by the phone. The E-Waves' radiation cancels out the phone's radiation, the company behind the project said. It revealed nothing else about the gadget.


*sigh* Why is it that ethics and morals always seem to get in the way of my making a whole lot of very easy money?

[Harpyja]

Good question.

How does the sticker emit anything? Is it solar-powered, or does it attach to the cell phone's battery source in some way? Because when I think of a "chip," I think of an actual computer chip.

[madurobob]

Bah - all you need is a couple of good TowerBusters (http://www.metatech.org/danger_of_cell_phone_tower.html)

(haven't checked, but I'm sure that's nothing new to the jref)

Anyway, yeah, a "chip" on the phone not like a computer chip, but more like a wood chip. I've seen these before. They hit the scene, I think, about this time last year (just in time for the holidays!).

ETA - wow, time flies.. it was 2 years ago: http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=2075616

[luchog]

How does the sticker emit anything? Is it solar-powered, or does it attach to the cell phone's battery source in some way? Because when I think of a "chip," I think of an actual computer chip.
My guess is that it doesn't, or it uses a low-powered system that absorbs and is powered by some of the radiation from the cell phone, and retransmits it with some minor alteration (supposedly a phase change according to the website, but take that for what it's worth).

I'm creative enough to come up with this kind of complete nonsense. Why am I not rich yet?

[madurobob]

My guess is that it doesn't
Pretty safe guess, I'd say

I'm creative enough to come up with this kind of complete nonsense. Why am I not rich yet?
My guess is you need to drink a LOT more bourbon to properly develop the morality of a late night infomercial marketing hack. I'd be happy to help you on this quest for enlightenment next time you're in NC.

[wackyvorlon]

It takes a surprising amount of practice to repeat that garbage without laughing :)

We need to start marketing small faraday cages that people can seal their phones inside. Then they will no longer have to fear RF.

[arthwollipot]

I'm creative enough to come up with this kind of complete nonsense. Why am I not rich yet?Because you have a functional set of ethics.

[madurobob]

We need to start marketing small faraday cages that people can seal their phones inside. Then they will no longer have to fear RF.

THAT would be a hit. Not just phones, but whole rooms. Something like a copper-lined canvas or metallic paint to line the walls with. The conspiracy nuts would love it. The audiophiles would love it. Even the ghost hunters would love it. One stop woo shopping.

[Perpetual Student]

I stuff my hat with aluminum foil and cellophane to trap the cancer causing radiation. The foil modulates the waves so that the ohms are rendered harmless by the oscillations, which act as a transducer for the capacitance. The cellophane then insulates against the coulombs, which would otherwise ionize my brain cells. It works -- so far after three months, I have no cancer!

[ElMondoHummus]

*sigh* Why is it that ethics and morals always seem to get in the way of my making a whole lot of very easy money?

Pffff... who says these idiots are going to make any money? If I learned anything in my undergrad classes reading "How to Read Donald Duck", it's that people aren't blank slates to write on, and just because someone puts something out there doesn't mean the intended audience is going to buy it (in both a literal "purchase" as well as a mental "acceptance" sense).

That bunch of liars will probably get, what, 1 out of several thousand people who see the ad who'll believe it works? Maybe? And out of that fraction of a percent, only a fraction will shell out the dough to get ripped off. These geniuses might recover the cost of their ad, but I simply can't see them making any real profit. Maybe they'll rake in enough for a pizza (small, 1 topping, with coupon), but if they make any real money, I'll be surprised. The general public as a whole can be pretty gullible about stuff, but crud like this'll set off all but the most severely dense person's BS detector from a mile away.

[GreyICE]

Oh man, they totally need to buy my new crystal-powered chip. For only $10 more, they can get a chip inlaid with special radiation-absorbing crystals that bear only a passing resemblance to common quartz.



Seriously, I've occasionally wondered how much money I could make selling this crap. It would be so easy.

[luchog]

My guess is you need to drink a LOT more bourbon to properly develop the morality of a late night infomercial marketing hack. I'd be happy to help you on this quest for enlightenment next time you're in NC.
Ugh, bourbon. Make it a good Scotch or Irish single-malt, and I'm right there.
We need to start marketing small faraday cages that people can seal their phones inside. Then they will no longer have to fear RF.
From my days doing tech support for DSL and Wireless products, a refrigerator makes a very effective poor-man's Faraday cage.
Because you have a functional set of ethics.
Crap. There has to be an ethical way to take advantage of gullible jerks without working for the government.

[jmercer]

We need to start marketing small faraday cages that people can seal their phones inside. Then they will no longer have to fear RF.

THAT would be a hit. Not just phones, but whole rooms. Something like a copper-lined canvas or metallic paint to line the walls with. The conspiracy nuts would love it. The audiophiles would love it. Even the ghost hunters would love it. One stop woo shopping.

Actually... if something could be done at a reasonable cost (to us, not the customer) that really does stop cellphone usage, I can think of a number of potential markets.

[luchog]

Pffff... who says these idiots are going to make any money? If I learned anything in my undergrad classes reading "How to Read Donald Duck", it's that people aren't blank slates to write on, and just because someone puts something out there doesn't mean the intended audience is going to buy it (in both a literal "purchase" as well as a mental "acceptance" sense).

That bunch of liars will probably get, what, 1 out of several thousand people who see the ad who'll believe it works? Maybe? And out of that fraction of a percent, only a fraction will shell out the dough to get ripped off. These geniuses might recover the cost of their ad, but I simply can't see them making any real profit. Maybe they'll rake in enough for a pizza (small, 1 topping, with coupon), but if they make any real money, I'll be surprised. The general public as a whole can be pretty gullible about stuff, but crud like this'll set off all but the most severely dense person's BS detector from a mile away.
Considering the sheer number and persistence of these scams, there has to be people falling for this stuff.

And after spending many years dealing with the general public as part of various jobs, I'm more than willing to believe that there will be money made. A lot of money. Look at how many people shell out huge amounts of money for insanely improbable audiophile woo, combined with the number of people who actually believe that cell phone radiation causes cancer and all manner of other brain disroders. Just look at how many of them have shown up here to rabidly defend such woo; not only as vendors, but as purchasers as well.

I think you are vastly overestimating the intelligence and gulliability of the average person, due to a highly biased sample. For the vast majority of people, technology falls into a big box labled "Magic"; and for a lot of the rest, what little knowledge they have is fragmentary and augmented by a lot of misunderstanding and misconception, along with outright falsity. Look at how many shell out the bucks for complete and utter and total nonsense gibberish like What the (Bleep) Do We Know? and The Secret. The only trick to selling garbage is knowing your audience, and tailoring your pitch accordingly. People will buy and believe anything if it adequately fits in with their pre-existing prejudices and fears.

People fear science and technology, because they don't understand it. What do you think keeps medical woos in business? It's a multi-billion dollar industry.

[luchog]

Anti-radiation phone chip withdrawn from sale (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12/16/e_waves_chip_withdrawn/)

According to The Register (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/), the vendors of this particular bit of woo have removed their anti-radiation chip from the market "pending further testing".

Belgian pharmacy chain Omega Pharma has since said that, following launch of the E-Waves chip, a “storm of protest broke out during which scientific proof of doctors and professors was brought into doubt”, according to a Reuters report.

[Dr H]

It takes a surprising amount of practice to repeat that garbage without laughing :)

We need to start marketing small faraday cages that people can seal their phones inside. Then they will no longer have to fear RF.

Or just point them here:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4355

Now, that's what I call good RF. :D

[jmercer]

Yeah - too bad it's illegal in some areas :D

[madurobob]

Actually... if something could be done at a reasonable cost (to us, not the customer) that really does stop cellphone usage, I can think of a number of potential markets.

Well, see this cheap version (http://lindsaybrown.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/building-a-faraday-tent/)

They set up a small tent in the shadow of a cell phone tower. Then cover the tent with tin foil - twice. The cell phone in the tent stops working. So, all you have to do is buy a few hundred rolls of tin foil and...

Or, I have metallic paint that once you paint something with it, you can stick magnets to. A few coats of that may interfere with cell phones. Or, there are always those EMI shielded plastic bags that hard drives and RAM come in (might look funny stapled all over the wall).

There are all kinds of ways to shield part of a private residence, but doing so in a more public space - say a theater or classroom - might run afoul of a few laws - I dunno.

[jmercer]

Interesting. :)

I can see applications for corporations and other entities. It would have to be subtle, though - and thorough, if we're gonna be honest about it's effectiveness. :D

[Dr H]

Yeah - too bad it's illegal in some areas :D

Yeah, like the United States.

Except I'd say that with discrete use the chances of being nabbed for using one are effectively zero. The beauty of these is that people encounter "dead zones' with their cell phones all the time, so they usually don't think anything of it when they experience one of these deliberately dead zones. They just move to a "better" location, which, since that location would be away from the person wielding the device, is kinda the whole point. :)

[Dr H]

Well, see this cheap version (http://lindsaybrown.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/building-a-faraday-tent/)

They set up a small tent in the shadow of a cell phone tower. Then cover the tent with tin foil - twice. The cell phone in the tent stops working. So, all you have to do is buy a few hundred rolls of tin foil and...

Or, I have metallic paint that once you paint something with it, you can stick magnets to. A few coats of that may interfere with cell phones. Or, there are always those EMI shielded plastic bags that hard drives and RAM come in (might look funny stapled all over the wall).

There are all kinds of ways to shield part of a private residence, but doing so in a more public space - say a theater or classroom - might run afoul of a few laws - I dunno.

It's been a while since I've bought any electrically conductive paint, but I used to use it for shielding audio devices and static-sensitive lab gear. It wasn't cheap. As I recall we used to pay around $150/gallon for it. Turning a modest-sized room into a Faraday cage with metal foil probably wouldn't cost much more, unless you were using lead or something really exotic.

[madurobob]

It's been a while since I've bought any electrically conductive paint, but I used to use it for shielding audio devices and static-sensitive lab gear. It wasn't cheap. As I recall we used to pay around $150/gallon for it.
What I have is called "Active Wall" from Magnamagic and its about $30/gallon. I has a very fine iron dust mixed in the latex. With one thick coat magnets will stick to whatever was coated. When dry I doubt its resistance is low enough to be considered "conductive", though.

[Dr H]

What I have is called "Active Wall" from Magnamagic and its about $30/gallon. I has a very fine iron dust mixed in the latex. With one thick coat magnets will stick to whatever was coated. When dry I doubt its resistance is low enough to be considered "conductive", though.

Ah, OK. That's something a bit different, then.

I'd have to guess that if it isn't actually conductive when dry, it's probably not that good a shield against RF, though.

What I was thinking was more along the lines of copper, silver, or carbon-conductive paint, which has a dry resistance of only a few milliohms per foot, and which can form an effective RF shield if properly applied and grounded.

[Lensman]

<snip> Or, there are always those EMI shielded plastic bags that hard drives and RAM come in (might look funny stapled all over the wall).

</snip>.

Those bags aren't for EMI shielding, they're for Electro-Static Discharge shielding.

[Alareth]

I did see a small cloth bag that acted as a faraday cage marketed within the last year or so.

The ad copy said it was usefull to prevent recieving calls when you were in important meetings and such.

I remember thinking that turning the phone off would be cheaper and easier.

[GreyICE]

I did see a small cloth bag that acted as a faraday cage marketed within the last year or so.

The ad copy said it was usefull to prevent recieving calls when you were in important meetings and such.

I remember thinking that turning the phone off would be cheaper and easier.

*sigh*

The actual use is to slide shoplifted goods into the bag so they don't set off the scanners.

They just can't advertise that.

[Uncle Vanya]

This reminds me of something that happened to me a while ago, a friend of a friend was visiting from Ireland and he had one of those cellphone radiation block-a-ma-doodles on his phone, only his lit up when he was making a call! Holy Crap!

I tried to argue with him telling him that that's about as good at absorbing RF as a hello kitty phone charm, but he was having none of it (after all, why listen to the guy with the electrical engineering degree, what does he know about RF? Pfft.). Eventually the argument came down to "why does this thing light up when I make/get a call?" I wanted to explain that it was basically a small antenna but I decided a demonstration would be best, I had a pen in my laptop case that I was given when I started my job, basically it was a novelty pen with a top that started flashing when a cell phone call was made/received. It was made for meetings where you're supposed to set your phone to silent and people won't look at you funny when instead of a phone ringing you get a flashing pen. I pulled out my pen and demonstrated that just because it lights up, doesn't mean that it actually does anything.

Sadly, it still didn't get through to him. Sigh :(

[Dr H]

I did see a small cloth bag that acted as a faraday cage marketed within the last year or so.

The ad copy said it was usefull to prevent recieving calls when you were in important meetings and such.

I remember thinking that turning the phone off would be cheaper and easier.

That would be this?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1305

Or, if you want to be really spiffy, this:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1306

[GreyICE]

That would be this?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1305

Or, if you want to be really spiffy, this:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1306
Yeah, look at the size and shape (especially the second one, with the blackberry (not a small cell) on it for scale.

Now tell me that's for cell phones...

[MattusMaximus]

Penn & Teller did a funny bit on this kind of woo on their show B.S. a few years ago. :)

[Alareth]

How will this radiation blocking sticker affect the boost my reception sticker?

[Aitch]

From my days doing tech support for DSL and Wireless products, a refrigerator makes a very effective poor-man's Faraday cage.


As will a micro-wave oven; with the added bonus that, if you forget the phone is in there and switch the oven on, you get a pretty wild firework display. :D