Hold the Phone! Are you going to grow a horn from using your smartphone?

[grulla]

Jane C. Hu
JUNE 20, 2019

If you love to complain about the kids these days and their newfangled devices, I’ve got the perfect thing for you: Phones are causing horns to grow on young people’s skulls.
At least that’s what one local outlet recently made of some findings by Australian researchers, who published a trio of papers between 2016 and 2018 describing growths of small bone spurs on the back of young people’s skulls. The research has been out for a while but has received a round of media attention after a BBC article published last week mentioned it as an example of how the human skeleton is still evolving.

Continue reading: https://slate.com/technology/2019/06...one-spurs.html

[grulla]

Even though this is a cellphone issue, it's more of a skeletal posture problem rather than EMFs, which might have made the article more eligible for the "Healthy Diet and Lifestyle" forum.

[Islander]

Wow, that's disturbing. I wonder whether frightening the younger generation with anatomical oddities will be enough to curtail their overuse of smart phones.
Ah... probably not.

[Islander]

Here's another take, this one from Time, but the only reason I'm posting it is that it comes with a clear x-ray of the bone spur.
https://time.com/5611036/teenagers-s...t=2019062119pm

[Julieanne]

I've done a of lot reading in my life - wouldn't that cause the same problem?

[grulla]

I've done a of lot reading in my life - wouldn't that cause the same problem?

Exactly my thought. OTOH, maybe we all need to be X-rayed.

[Pattypans]

I hate texting, and part of the reason is that it's just an uncomfortable position. Not that it hurts, but it really feels unnatural. Here in Brazil, EVERYBODY uses WhatsApp, because it's free. Although you can call with it, or leave a a voice message, it's used most frequently for texting. My friends and students all wish I'd install it on my phone, but I won't. (Also because I don't want to use my phone to connect wirelessly or any other way.) Anyway, my husband has it on his phone, so when it's the best way to contact somebody I use his. If I have to wait til he comes home, so be it.

I saw the bone spur article, and then read one somewhere else that emphasized that the connection to texting was presented by the researchers as a possibility, not a firm conclusion. It wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be the cause, though.

[Julieanne]

I text because I have really poor reception where I live, calls are hopeless. I kept my landline for this reason. Texting can be annoying - the keys are so sensitive I make constant mistakes. But it has been very useful for brief messages.

[Islander]

Most young people here prefer texting to either phone calls or email. It's fast, it's simple, no need for niceties ("How are you?")
I use it for business, and for any time I want to contact someone quickly. Unlike email, most text apps have a sound alert (or you can set one or download one) so you know instantly when someone has messaged you. In my case, my phone anticipates the next word, which really cuts down on typing! And no, I've never learned to use my thumbs!

[grulla]

I text because I have really poor reception where I live, calls are hopeless. I kept my landline for this reason.

You might investigate replacing your landline with a discount <home phone base modem> coax cable connected outdoor antenna as we had previously discussed. https://www.hawkeshealth.net/communi...ht=cell+phones

[Julieanne]

grulla, the whole of Oz changed over to the National Broadband Network (NBN) recently. It's WiFi, no choice, and the phone uses a VOIP system. I have no idea what that means, but the bundled phone and internet cost me less than my old internet alone cost, and I make very few calls.

So it works for me. Mostly I email and text, and use the phone to call a business or make an appointment. However long I have to hold, it is still the same cost, as landline calls aren't timed. unlike cell phones.

[Islander]

VOIP = Voice Over Internet Protocol, meaning phone calls are carried by the internet rather than by cell towers. At least, that's my layman's understanding of it. And I can't speak for other carriers, but my cell phone doesn't charge me for the length of a call. My basic rate still has unlimited everything.

[Julieanne]

I guess it depends on your plan. I originally had a 'pay as you go' which was expensive for longer calls but no plan fees. OK for emergencies till I got a proper phone. I'm only allowed 90 minutes call time, which suits me as I don't make calls, but can if I need to. At $9AU a month it's a bargain! The downside is that particular server has poor reception in the hills where I live, but texts go through OK.

[Maurya]

Most of my comms are by texting, just because the voice cell phone signal is so poor here. No landline phones in my neighborhood. Recently there was a news article about some huge sums that AT&T had invested in improving their towers since the hurricanes. We all found this information quite hysterical, as the service is just as poor as ever. Even texting sometimes fails to go through, with no explanation. Frequently my housemate has sent me a screen shot of the received text messages, just to let me know that whatever I had sent just never went through at all. So we are fortunate to have even texting at our service, even if only occasionally.

[grulla]

"Maurya", "Recently there was a news article about some huge sums that AT&T had invested in improving their towers since the hurricanes. We all found this information quite hysterical, as the service is just as poor as ever."

It sounds to me that perhaps you have a line-of-sight cell phone reception problem??? I have the Consumer Cellular (CC) Home Base VIRTUAL landline, with the ZTE721 cellular Home Phone base modem (as well as my original land line) with an outdoor antenna, that one's (unused) landline telephone instrument is plugged into.

The CC Home Base service is reasonably priced for unlimited long distance calling. CC is piggybacked on the AT&T (and also the T-Mobile) network, and is GSM operating system (OS) compliant. AT&T also makes the same Home Phone/Base service directly available as well. Not sure about T-Mobile Home Phone/Base availability, need to inquire???

The cellphone's ZTE721 modem's indoor rubber duck antenna is unscrewed from the back exposing a common radio industry SMA connector, which is then replaced with an outdoor RG58 SMA connected co-ax cable, connected outside to a mast mounted, EMF SAFE, outdoor antenna.

You should be able to get installation advice and assistance from any two way mobile radio company in your area, (and you might also show them a printed copy of this HH post). Also, check my previous above info, including that from the above mentioned previous HH thread link for more help.

You can also do an online search for outdoor cellular antennas: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cell+phone...h_&ia=shopping (HH no-spam compliant search link)