Product Reviews & Information Blog

Archive for the ‘Cell Phones’ Category

Seems like everyone carries a cell phone, iPod or other electronic device these days. Kids are no exception, but what happens when kids want to bring these items to summer camp?

Some camps allow kids to bring electronic gadgets with them to camp. One camp even includes an “optional cell phone” in its suggested packing list.

But that’s the exception, not the rule. Most camps restrict kids from bringing these items to camp completely.

Theresa Torrone, the director her own summer camp in Los Angeles, California, does not allow portable electronics at camp. “We believe iPods, Gameboys, cell phones, other portable electronic devices electronics are better left at home,” Torrone says. “Not only are these items easily lost, damaged or even stolen, they are counterproductive to the camp experience.”

Torrone says the goals at her camp include teaching kids about beach and ocean ecology, introducing them to new aquatic activities like surfing and jet skiing, and facilitating new friendships, among others. But if children are listing to iPods or talking on cell phones, “they typically do so in isolation, apart from the rest of the camp group,” argues Torrone. “We believe a large part of going to camp is sharing new experiences in a group setting. When kids are playing with their cell phones or electronics, their opportunities to learn and experience new things with their group are limited.”

According to Torrone, some parents insist on sending a cell phone to camp with their kids because they feel more comfortable knowing they can reach their child anytime just by calling.

“But a major component to the camp experience is learning to live independently. Kids can’t do that with their parents calling them all the time. So we feel that parents should resist the temptation to send their kids to camp with Cell Phones. If you need to reach your child in an emergency or for any other reason, just call or email the camp office. They’ll be able to contact your child right away.”

Torrone says many camps now use technology to give parents “an arms length way” to see and communicate with their kids while they’re at camp. Some camps will post pictures of the campers on the Internet while others give parents the opportunity to send one-way emails to their kids as an alternative to sending letters.

Torrone understands kids’ cravings for electronic toys and gadgets. “Many kids are even more tech-savvy than their folks,” she says. And there are some kids, Torrone says, who just “can’t get enough tech.”

In this case, Torrone suggests sending your son or daughter to a technology-based summer program. “Many camps specialize in technology-driven activities,” Torrone said. “Computer camps and video-making camps are really popular these days.”

To find camps like these, or any other type of camp, Torrone advises logging onto http://findacamp.com, the American Camp Association’s summer camp search engine which is filled with a database of approximately 2,500 accredited camps.

Torrone’s Aloha Beach Camp embraces technology and the power of the Internet to provide Information to prospective camp families and customers. “But we’d rather not have their kids bringing electronic devices into the camp community.”

Does Torrone ever envision a day when electronic toys and gadgets will be accepted at camp? She pauses to think, then replies, “Well, maybe when campers can learn to ride a horse, bond with the rest of the group, roast marshmallows, do skits around the campfire and download songs to their iPods all at the same time,” she laughs.

Copyright Eric D. Naftulin and Aloha Beach Camp. All rights reserved.

Eric D. Naftulin

To be harassed by telemarketers, prank callers or even threatening and abusive callers is not what we want in life but often we feel powerless to act against these vermin who plague our phone lines. What makes it even harder is that many now call from cell phone numbers making looking them up in a regular phone directory impossible! There is however an option available for those of us who need to find out the details of who owns a cell phone number if they have been harassing you, or even if you are just curious about a cell number that you might have found that might be important. You see, you can reverse lookup cell phones and discover who owns them and more on the Internet!

As has been mentioned Cell Phone numbers do not show up on regular phone directories that can usually do a reverse lookup by finding the owner of a number rather than the other way around. This is because of a thing call the public domain which all home phone number fall under meaning that the information about them is free for anyone to lookup which is why phone directories are free and easy to use and find. Cell phone numbers on the other hand while not a secret nor protected by any law are not covered under the public domain and so there is no central authority that has a list of all cell numbers to give out to directory owners.

So how then can you do a reverse cell phone lookup online? The answer is that some people with an obsession with uncovering information decided to make their own reverse cell phone directory and went out to find cell phone numbers and details of the owners to make a database much like a regular phone directory for Cell Phones. These databases were made up of many smaller listings from marketing firms and various other companies that had limited lists and combined them together to make a mega database that could be used by people like you and me to get the information we need!

So if you need to find the details of the owner of a mystery cell phone number and need it quick click below to test out the internet’s best reverse cell phone directory!

http://phone-detective.1001-solutions.info

Gary Mathers

There are 4 billion cell phones in use all over the World! And with the phones come their stories and myths which buzz with the self-proclaimed experts!  Most of the users are not scientifically inclined and gobble up all the mumbo jumbo that they hear!
    I came across these four stories which caught my attention. I took them rather seriously, and asked those who were knowledgeable. They laughed and laughed and took it as big joke; a wonderful humor! They said that these stories are the most absurd and contain non-scientific misinformation that must be strongly put down!
    The first is a baseless story that the battery of the Cell Phone runs out faster if you make long distance calls. It takes more energy to reach across states and continents. It stands to reason that the longer the distance, the more power the phone will need to send it all the way. From London to Manchester will take less energy than from London to New York or from London to Bombay. But this is not true because the phone is not doing all the work. The distance which the cell phone signal needs to travel is the same for every call. This is the distance between the cell phone and the nearest relay tower of the service provider. It is the tower which then sends the voice to wherever. The message travels only the distance upto the tower with the power of the cell phone and thereafter it’s the power of the phone network system that carries it further. The drain of power from the phone battery that is the amount of power that it expends therefore is not dependant on the distance to the final destination of the call.
    The second is a fallacious story that the cell phone is a radio receiver which can receive the FM stations like a normal radio. It’s true that you can hear the stations play on your phone, but the programs are not coming from the radio station directly, but through the phone connection through the service provider. If you haven’t paid your bill and the phone is disabled by the service provider the radio doesn’t work. Another example is when you remove the SIM card In a GSM phone, your radio capability is gone too! This shows that the radio program is coming to you only through the phone signal.
    The third is a ridiculous story that when if you hold the phone to one ear, you hear it in both the ears, as waves pass through your head to hit the eardrum of the opposite ear. This is not true. It can be easily disproved by placing a mike at the aperture of the left ear when you have a live conversation by holding the phone to your right ear. The mike will pick up no sound thus proving the myth to be false! The signal to the phone is in the form of microwaves which are converted in the phone to sound waves. Although the microwaves travel through your head to the other ear, these cannot be heard unless they are converted to sound waves which the ear cannot do! Only when your phone is connected to stereo earphones and you wear both the earphones, one in each ear, then and only then that you can hear the voice or Music in both your ears.
    The fourth is an idiotic story that in vibration mode, when the cell phone vibrates, the phone numbers in the phonebook shake and they get mixed up. This is absolute nonsense as the phone numbers that are stored in the memory of the phone are not beans in a bottle to shake and get mixed up. The numbers are stored by changing the magnetic properties of the storage chip and they are not separate and distinct pieces which can be moved. Please rest assured that no matter how hard you shake the phone or vibrate it your stored numbers are not going to fall out and get mixed up! 
    I have written this article to dispel the wrong notions about the Cell Phones, but I have my own doubts as to how many readers are going to believe me. I have a lurking suspicion that these stories will continue circulate amongst the ignorant for their pseudo logic and amongst the enlightened for their in-built humor and laughter!  If I hear anyone of these stories again, I wouldn’t know whether to cry or to laugh!

Dilip Dahanukar