Wednesday, February 04, 2009

"This Message Will Self-Destruct!"

A friend of mine sent me a piece of news yesterday that I just had to share with the geek community. You may have already seen this, but I want to discuss it anyways because I find it hilarious, tragic, and disturbing all at the same time.
A man in Gangzhou, China on the 30th charged his phone battery to max, and placed it in his pocket as usual to continue on with his day. Little did he know that seconds later it would explode and sever a major artery in his neck...killing him instantly! That poor guy! Can you imagine knowing someone who died of an exploded cell phone? And hey, wait a minute! Exploding cell phones?! Is this the next major threat to technology geeks everywhere, or was this just some freak accident? No one knows what brand of phone this was yet (probably because they're going to cover that up so we don't suddenly all fear our cell phones), but hopefully we'll find out soon.












Image courtesy of http://www.newlaunches.com/entry_images/1107/28/samsung_phone.jpg

This makes me think a few things...One: are all my cyber-punk fantasies finally coming true and machines are going to try to rebel against us?
Two: the man was secretly inspector gadget and his text message was sent to self-destruct.
Three: The cell phone had a very, very tiny bomb planted in it?
Four: Lithium batteries are really not the best idea everyone thought they were.
Five: The government planted control devices in cell phones to have us offed when we're talking back?
I dunno....so now I'm really pulling at straws...but I find it amusing that most of the only reasonable solutions I can come up with would be great movie plots! (So would someone get me on the phone with Michael Bay and we can discuss my payment at a later time?)

That said, here is the warning list the London Times posted in their article about the incident. My personal favorite is avoid long phone conversations, because who hasn' t had a long conversation on their phone? I mean, really?

"After the latest incident, the Shin Min Daily News published advice for consumers on how to avoid mobile phone explosions. The tips included:

- Always use original batteries. Be sure that batteries by the manufacturer are meant for your mobile phone.

- Never modify your phone

- Always use original battery chargers

- Do not expose your mobile phone to high temperatures, and avoid exposing it to direct sunlight

- Avoid long phone conversations

- Do not make or answer calls when the phone is charging

- Try to keep your phone in a bag instead of in a pocket

- Do not use damaged batteries."

You heard it here folks. Don't keep cell phones in your pocket...like you have been for however long you have had a phone. We all have to get purses and bags now (I vote silly man-purses for the men. JK) to carry our phones.

Well I'm off to work at the video game store now to tell my coworkers about this ridiculousness. Let me know if you find a way around this exploding phone business.

= Lady Laura Jones =

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article5648440.ece

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

how the hell did a phone in his pocket hit him in the neck?

This sounds like an assassination cover-up to me.