Monday, October 25, 2010

8-2: Should You Worry about Cell Phone, Cellular Antenna, and Wi-Fi Device Radiation? (page 340)

I chose to read this article because I've heard before about radiation due to cell phones, cellular antenna and Wi-Fi devices and wanted to know more about it.  I also chose to read this because I wanted to see if they gave any factual evidence on if these products do cause radiation.  This article interested me from the title alone and the fact that I’ve wanted to know about this topic more in depth for awhile.

Personally I am not worried about cell phone, cellular antenna, and Wi-Fi radiation because we all suffer from harmful things every day.  Whether that be the pollutants in the air we breathe, the bad habits that we are consumed by and etc, these radiation occurrences are rare and do not happen too many people.  Even stated in the article that most research studies have concluded that these three products are not solely responsible for the health issues suffered in people.  It says that skeptics are not sure about this, but there are always skeptics when it comes to stories and data, doesn’t mean those people are right it just means they have doubts.  In conclusion I am not worried about the radiation from these products; I am worried about how much room these antennas and cell phone stores will take up around our area though.

Nobody that I know minimizes the use of cell phones or other wireless devices due to health concerns because they share the same feelings as I do listed above.  Actually I use these devices less than most of the people that I know, so if it is true these because health effects than their more exposed to it than I am.  We live in a technology world and to minimize these devices is honestly not an option. 

Even though everyone else and I do not believe that these devices are causing health problems, nor are we concerned does not mean that the government shouldn’t consider the possibility.  I believe that governments should be required to consider health concerns when making decisions about wireless deployments.  It is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to this, but if the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to deploying a wireless spot than I believe it should not be a concern.  The deployment of a wireless spot could equal more money and better coverage for cell phones and other devices.  They should consider the possibilities because if for some reason radiation did affect people with health problems and they readjusted the law made in 1996, that means the companies could be sued by those people and lose a huge profit.  They need to consider all possibilities when it comes to deploying a wireless spot.  It is a small percentage of people that are affected by radiation due to the devices, so I would say it’s a yes and no when it comes to the government considering the possibilities of deployments.

It wouldn’t bother me to live next to a cellular antenna because I don’t believe that radiation is exerted through the devices listed above and if it is, it’s a small percentage of people that are affected anyways.  Also due to the fact that no case has ever been won because of findings that the illness was caused by cell phones makes me not care if I lived next to a cellular antenna or not.  The only reason I would care if I lived next to a cellular antenna or not is when I started noticing a difference in my health from when I did not live next to one compared to when I did.  This would be the only time I would be concerned about living next to an antenna, if I did see a decline in health I would move and reconsider my position on this topic.

Monday, October 11, 2010

6-3: Should the World Become a Cashless Society? (page 257)

The reason why I made this selection is because the article interested me, and I wanted to see what it was specifically about.  I also chose this article because the other ones listed that we could choose from seemed less interesting than this one. 

The world should not become a cashless society because like it says in the article "A smart card purchase preserves a record of the transaction that could become available to other merchants, advertisers, government agencies, or hackers.  Having a cashless society would in my opinion cause more harm than good, the positives for the smart card get outweighed by the negative effects.  For instance what would happen if your smart card had a malfunction and spent more money than what you really did, technically difficulties would be bound to happen at some point. 

I would not be comfortable using a smart card or fingerprint instead of actual cash because I feel like the fingerprint and smart cards would just be a way for the government to keep track of you.  It comes down to being a complete invasion of privacy which would violate my rights as a American citizen.  If you use a fingerprint or smart card where does all that information go and who gets to see it?  I'm sure that you will be able to see your own transactions and such, but you would never truly know who else would see it.  When it all comes down to it I think this is just another way to have the government keep track of people without actually telling them the main reason.