Subject:  Mobile phone scare over, or is it a Wind-Up? (McConnell)..
Date:     Wed, 16 Aug 2000 084330 -0500
From:     Roy Beavers 
To:       guru 
--------------------------------------------------

.........From EMF-L.......Frankly, ????????  guru........

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Mobile phone scare over, or is it a Wind-Up?
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 19:37:06 -0700
From: "Chris McConnel" 
To: 
References: <3999B7F6.62AB2F59@emfguru.com>

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/12598.html

Mobile phone scare over, or is it a Wind-Up?
By: Kieren McCarthy
Posted: 15/08/2000 at 13:16 GMT


Despite the constantly conflicting arguments over whether mobile phones are
damaging, most people must surely have the opinion that there is a real risk
of radiation for users.

With the release of governmental research that says mobiles are safe again
have come reports of a mobile gadget that reduces the radiation from the
hands-free cable by 90 per cent. The Wind-Up product is not a new thing - we
first heard about it in May but only gave it a small mention. Now it seems
to be gaining wider awareness, we thought it only right to dig deeper.

The company that manufacturers the Wind-Up, Ismo Ltd, originally produced it
to act as a cable tidier - it's a reel that takes up the slack from the
cable. This was way back in November last year. Then, when a report from the
Consumers Association in April said that the hands-free kit was actually
amplifying radiation by 300 per cent, the Wind-Up gadget was repackaged as a
radiation reducer.

A press release was sent out claiming the new properties was sent out on 23
May, containing claims of an independent survey by Powerwatch that said the
Wind-Up reduces radiation by 90 per cent. Dr Alasdair Philips of Powerwatch
was quoted extensively.

Now, we're not suggesting anything untoward here - Dr Philips is clearly an
expert in this field and Ismo is very open about its product and the
timeframe of its claims. But a few things do make us suspicious. First of
all, Ismo suggests to current owners of Wind-Up that they contact the
company to learn how to put it in "anti-radiation mode (a simple
modification)". This would suggest somewhat of a fudge.

But how do customers contact Ismo? Well, they either email or fax. No phone
number is listed and if there is one, it is ex-directory. The fax number is
an 0870 number, meaning it is a national number. That means that it can be
picked up by any one of a number of offices in the country. But why is the
fax number national when there isn't a phone number?

This aside, there is a nagging cynical doubt here at Vulture Central that
there may be a commercial relationship between Ismo and Dr Philips. He isn't
one of the company's two listed directors, but nevertheless we emailed Ismo
to ask for confirmation. We'll keep you informed.

Does it work as a radiation reducer? Who knows? It is obviously expecting a
run on the products - it has got the product into Carphone Warehouse and
Harrods among others and has reduced the price from £7.99 to £4.99. Our
major beef with all things mobile-related at the moment are the dodgy
scientific experiments that are carried out to prove the point one way of
the other. Shouldn't an official independent scientific body agree on some
form of standard testing? Or would that put at risk billions of pounds of
investment in these little devices? ®


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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com