退后原来是向前

文摘自：http://teongee.blogspot.com
2009年2月5日

槟州的全槟无线上网逐步的落实，为朝向先进的资讯州铺路。州政府的前瞻、胆识和魄力应该值得记一个功。然而，遗憾的是，有关无线上网这门科技的基本相关常识（尤其是应该注意得如何减少电磁波辐射方面的基本措施），却未见到有效的传达到每个用户。

连续造访了好多位的“书读得不少的人士”，其中包括了大学教授、博士级的讲师、专科医生、工程师和电脑科的学者等等，彼等都对电磁波辐射这门学问不是很熟悉。但他们都乐意以求学问的心态和我交流、讨论（不像有些人，无耻的在留言里留下污浊的文字， 他们当中也没有人叫我搬到山洞里去住）。他们看了The Stewart Report、Naila Study、BioInitiative Report、Benevento Resolution、Venice Declaration 等等的资料和报告后都有“相见恨晚”的感觉。

查阅近期有关WiFi和手机在西方国家的进展，想和大家分享：
2005：
奥地利亚医药協会建议人们使用有线上网。
法兰副克教育局和德国教师工会禁止和不建议在学校使用WiFi。

2007:
英国和法国的一些学校拆除了校内的WiFi设置。
法国的国家图书馆，因为健康出了状况而拆除了所有的WiFi设置。
德国政府严厉警告国民避免在办公室和家里使用WiFi。建议使用有线上网。
欧盟环境局（European Environment Agency)呼吁有关当局即刻减少来至于电磁波的辐射 （包括WiFi）。

2008：
欧盟国会以522票对16票通过敦促欧洲各国执行更严厉的辐射标准。
法国政府禁止以广告向孩童推销手机。

眼看许多国家都逐渐的把WiFi撤出学校和住家时，我们是否应该稍作停步，再三思考，到底有没有必要让孩童、老年人活在过量的电磁波辐射里。如果只有工商业区或特定的区域能无线上网，是否我们就落后或退步了呢？

我想到这一首禅诗：手把青秧插野田，低头方见水中天，六根俱静方为道，退后原来是向前。

English Hippies Want Local Wi-Fi Network Turned Off

Monday, January 05, 2009 | FoxNews.com

The little town of Glastonbury seen from the mysterious and prehistoric Glastonbury Tor.

Turn off that Wi-Fi network — it's disturbing our chakras.

That's what many residents of Glastonbury, a lovely medieval town turned New Age hub in southwestern England, are demanding the local government do.

Ever since the town's free municipal wireless broadband network went online in May, people have been complaining of, as an online petition puts it, "headaches, dizziness, nausea, severe tiredness, brain fog, disorientation and loss of appetite, loss of balance, inability to concentrate, loss of creativity" — all ailments an examining physician would find it difficult to prove or disprove.

"This place is not appropriate for a Wi-Fi trial," resident Linda Taylor tells the local Fosse Way magazine. "People are complaining of headaches, tingling skin among other symptoms. This makes me wonder what is it doing to the children."

Thought by many to be the burial place of the mythic King Arthur, Glastonbury's year-round population of 9,000 swells to about 150,000 every June when the mammoth Glastonbury Festival three-day rock concert occupies a nearby field.

"I don't want my son exposed to risk 24 hours a day, including at his primary school, which is within the Wi-Fi zone," yoga teacher Natalie Fee tells London's Telegraph. "I would be failing in my duty as a parent if I did."

One man has even begun making orgone generators, which use crystals, semi-precious stones and gold to purportedly put out positive energy to combat the negative vibes flooding the town from the Wi-Fi base stations.

"I have given a number of generators to shops in the High Street and hidden others in bushes in the immediate vicinity of the antennae. That way you can bring back the balance," Matt Todd told the Telegraph. "The science hasn't really got into the mainstream because the government won't make decisions which will affect big business, even if it concerns everyone's health."

Todd says the Wi-Fi network is weakening the ley lines, supposed invisible webs of energy running through the landscape that the Druids and other ancient Britons are said to have been well aware of.

Others Glastonburians say their levels of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep and is seen as a wonder drug by natural-health types, have been all out of whack since the Wi-Fi network went on.

"The pulsed microwaves feed the pineal gland with false information," local Jacqui Roberts tells the Western Daily Press. "Melatonin fights the free radicals and cancer-producing cells."

The Telegraph tracked down a physicist who says the health fears are, well, what might be called natural fertilizer.

"All the studies which have so far concluded show there is no evidence of a connection between exposure to Wi-Fi and ill health," states Dr. Eric de Silva of Imperial College London.

Arguments aside, Glastonbury's Wi-Fi experiment may end due to simple economics.

At a raucous town council meeting in late November, one official had to admit that in the six months since the network, which costs about $15,000 per year to operate, had gone on, only 422 people had used it.

Wifi and Electromagnetic fields

Wifi and Electromagnetic fields by Andrew Goldsworthy. Oct. 2008

We are constantly being misled by elements of the mobile phone and electronics industries (who have huge vested interests in the infrastructure) into believing that the pulsed microwaves used in cell phones and Wifi are harmless. Their sole justification for this is that the radiation is too weak to generate significant heat when they are absorbed by living tissues.

However, they are seemingly oblivious to the fact that living cells depend on electricity and electrically charged atoms and molecules (ions) to maintain their healthy functioning. They can therefore be damaged electrically by electromagnetic radiation that is far too weak to generate significant heat.

For example, our cells use the energy from food to pump ions out of mitochondria (the cells’ power stations). They are then let back in through an ATPase (an enzyme not unlike a molecular water wheel). Each turn of the wheel generates a molecule of ATP, which is the main energy currency of the cell. In effect, an electric current flowing into and out of these tiny structures provides virtually all of our bodily energy.

Some of this ATP is then used to pump ions out of the cell. When they return via special enzymes (called transporters) in the cell membrane, they can carry with them essential nutrients that the cell needs to absorb. So we use electricity to absorb our food too.

Another example is in our nerve and brain cells. They use ATP to pump sodium and potassium ions across their external membranes. Nerve impulses are generated when these ions are suddenly let back again to give sharp spikes of current.

Last but not least, the membranes themselves (which are only two molecules thick!) are held together electrically. They consist mostly of negatively charged molecules bound together by positively charged ions (mostly calcium), which act as a kind of cement.

Unfortunately, weak electromagnetic fields gently tease out some of these calcium ions, which weakens the membranes and makes them more inclined to leak. As a result, our bodies become less efficient at generating energy and our nerve and brain cells are more likely to generate false impulses.

False impulses generated in sensory cells can give symptoms of electrosensitivity, whereas those generated in the brain can affect mental function and may also lead to stress headaches. Even people who do not regard themselves as electrosensitive, frequently get headaches and other unpleasant symptoms when exposed for long periods to the radiation from Wifi, cordless phones and mobile phones.

Other reported effects from prolonged exposure to pulsed microwaves include an increase risk of cancer and a loss of fertility. This seems to be associated with observable damage to cellular DNA, probably as a result of the leakage of digestive enzymes from lysosomes (tiny particles in living cells that digest and recycle waste) whose membranes have been damaged by the radiation.

Pulses carried by microwaves are particularly dangerous. This is because their very short wavelength allows the transmission of pulses with extremely rapid rise and fall times, and it is the rate of change of the fields (rather than their total energy) that does most of the biological damage; it catapults vital calcium ions away from cell membranes, which in turn makes them leak. This leakage can explain the great majority of the observed adverse health effects of prolonged exposure to electromagnetic radiation (for more on this, together with references, please visit http://tinyurl.com/55286a ).

It is therefore unwise and arguably dangerous to be exposed for long periods to the radiation from Wifi transmitters, cordless phones and mobile phones (especially their base stations, which run 24/7). They should certainly not be deployed in public places until all the risks have been independently evaluated. Any claims that they are harmless because they do not generate significant heat are completely unwarranted.

Andrew Goldsworthy BSc PhD
Lecturer in Biology (retired)
Imperial College London Andrew Goldsworthy BSc, PhD

Who is Andrew Goldsworthy
Andrew Goldsworthy is an Honorary Lecturer in Biology at Imperial College London. He retired from full time teaching in 2004 but still gives occasional lectures there in specialist subjects such as food irradiation and the (exorbitant) energy cost of modern food production.

He was born just before the Second World War and, after a grammar school education in Wales, obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Botany, followed by a PhD at the University College of Swansea. He then took a lecturing post at Imperial College London where, apart from a short secondment to work in agricultural research and a sabbatical in the USA, he has been ever since.

At Imperial, he acquired a reputation among students for explaining complex subjects in simple terms, for ‘out of the box’ thinking, and for spicing his courses with unusual lectures such as those on space biology and the scientific basis of acupuncture.

His research and teaching, extend from the physiology and biochemistry of photosynthesis and photorespiration through the biological effects of electromagnetically treated water to the electrophysiology of plants. He also designed an experiment for the Anglo-Russian ‘Juno’ space mission and is now a member of the Life Sciences Advisory Group for the European Space Agency.

As well as ‘regular’ scientific papers, mainly on plant electrophysiology, he has written several popular science feature articles for the New Scientist on such diverse subjects as ‘Why Trees are Green’ and ‘The Cell Electric’ (on the evolution of plant and animal action potentials and the origin of the nervous system).

His interest in the biological effects of electromagnetic fields dates back over 30 years but has only recently come to fruition with the publication of a new theory that explains many of their seemingly weird effects in simple physico-chemical terms. It was first published (mainly in relation to plants) in Plant Electrophysiology – Theory and Methods, Ed AG Volkov (Springer 2006). This was followed by an Internet publication in 2007 (which can be viewed on this site) entitled ‘The Biological Effects of Weak Electromagnetic Fields’, which deals with their effects on humans and animals and, in particular, the dangers from mobile phones.

The article also includes a section that draws attention to the remarkable similarity between the symptoms of electrosensitivity and those of hypocalcemia (low blood calcium). This is interpreted as being due to both electromagnetic fields and low blood calcium removing structural calcium from cell membranes to produce similar physiological effects. It is argued that electrosensitive individuals may already have a slightly low level of calcium in their bloodstream so that electromagnetic exposure ‘pushes them over the edge’ and they develop hypocalcemia symptoms. If this is correct, it raises the possibility that conventional treatments for hypocalcemia may remove some if not all of the symptoms of electrosensitivity.

Andrew Goldsworthy’s page at Imperial College

The Biological Effects of Weak Electromagnetic Fields, Andrew Goldsworthy, 2007
Selected papers
Electromagnetic Fields and Health: Executive Report, Andrew Goldsworthy, 2009
The dangers of electrosmog, Andrew Goldsworthy, 2007
The Biological Effects of Weak Electromagnetic Fields, Andrew Goldsworthy, 2007
Goldsworthy A, 2006. ‘Effects of electrical and electromagnetic fields on plants and related topics’. In Plant Electrophysiology – Theory and Methods. Ed. Volkov A G (Springer, Berlin, Hiedelberg, New York).
Goldsworthy A, Whitney H, Morris E, 1999. ‘Biological effects of physically conditioned water’. Water Research. 33, 1618-1626.
Goldsworthy A, 1996. ‘Electrostimulation of cells by weak electric currents’. In Electrical Manipulation of Cells. Eds. Lynch, P., Davey, M.R. (Chapman and Hall, New York).
Goldsworthy A, 1995. ‘Photorespiration’. In Production and Improvement of Crops for Drylands. Ed. Gupta, U.S. (Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi).
Mina M G, Goldsworthy A, 1992. ‘Electrical polarization of tobacco cells by Ca2+ ion channels’. J. Exptl. Bot. 43, 449-454.
Goldsworthy A, 1991. ‘The Phycobilins’. In Photoreceptor Evolution and Function, ed. Holmes, M.G. (Acad. Press, London).
Mina M G, Goldsworthy A, 1991. Changes in the electrical polarity of tobacco cells following the application of weak external currents. Planta 186, 104-108.
Goldsworthy A, Mina M G, 1991. Electrical patterns of tobacco cells tobacco cells in media containing indole-3-acetic acid or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Planta 183, 368-373.
Goldsworthy A, 1988. ‘Growth control in plant tissue cultures’. In Advances in Biotechnological Processes, Volume 9. Ed. Mizrahi A (Alan R Liss, New York).
Goldsworthy A, 1987. Why trees are green. New Scientist 116 (1590), 48-52.
Goldsworthy A, 1987. Why did nature select green plants? Nature 328, 207-208.
Goldsworthy A, 1987. ‘Electrical control of growth in plant tissue cultures’. In Plant and Animal Cells: Process Possibilities. Eds. Webb, C. and Mavituna, F. (Ellis Horlwood, Chichester 1987).
Goldsworthy A, 1986. The electric compass of plants. New Scientist 109 (1489), 22-23.
Goldsworthy A, Rathore K S, 1985. Electrical control of shoot regeneration in plant tissue cultures. Bio/Technology 3, 1107-1109.
Rathore K S, Goldsworthy A, 1985. Electrical control of growth in plant tissue cultures. Bio/Technology 3, 253-254.
Goldsworthy A, 1984. The cell electric. New Scientist 102 (1407), 14-15.
Goldsworthy A, 1983. The evolution of plant action potentials. J. Theor. Biol. 103, 645-648.
Goldsworthy A, Fielding J L, Dover M B J, 1982. ‘Flash Imbibition’ a method for the re-invigoration of aged wheat seed. Seed Sci. & Technol. 10, 55-65.
Goldsworthy A, 1978. An instrument for measuring crop density by light absorbance. Ann. Bot. 42, 1315-1325.
Goldsworthy A, Gates R, Ridgley D L, 1977. An electronic coleoptile measuring device. J. Exptl. Bot. 28, 744-750

"Unplug Glastonbury Wi-Fi," say residents

Friday, November 28, 2008, 00:00

GLASTONBURY residents are demanding that the town’s Wi-Fi is “unplugged” and masts are removed from the town centre.

The Somerset County Council’s six-month wireless internet trial in the rural market town comes to an end this month - and, at a meeting last Friday to review the initiative, residents expressed anger at the negative impact on the town.

Computer programmers who have not benefited from the scheme, therapists who claim they are treating an increasing number of people suffering psychosomatic symptoms, mothers concerned about their children’s exposure to non-ionising radiation and residents who believe their health has been affected by the installation of six Wi-Fi hotspots in the centre of Glastonbury, all aired their views at the meeting held in the town hall.

Resident Linda Taylor said: “We were not asked if we wanted Wi-Fi in the town, nor were we given an opportunity to vote for it. Why Glastonbury? This place is not appropriate for a Wi-Fi trial. People are complaining of headaches, tingling skin among other symptoms. This makes me wonder what is it doing to the children.”
The Glastonbury Wi-Fi initiative, launched by the Somerset County Council (SCC) and Connecting Somerset in May is funded with public money from the council and the South West Regional Development Agency.

It is one of a number of projects being rolled out by the SCC in Somerset and is aimed at bringing wireless internet connections into rural areas and towns across the county.

But connecting Glastonbury appears to have not had the anticipated usage. Figures presented at the public meeting by council representative Matt Ballard show the number of users ranged from 57 in May to 156 in September, with the total number of users being 422 people over the past six months. He assured people the pilot scheme was under review and said their opinions would be noted in the report made before county councillors Alan Gloak, Alvin Horsfall and Ian Galloway decide on the future of Wi-Fi in Glastonbury.

Mr Ballard said if the pilot was to continue, there were plans to make it a free service and to introduce a number of initiatives including laptops into schools, sponsorship opportunities from companies such as Toshiba, neighbourhood watch links and community media services.

Sam Welbourne, Director of local IT company, Ergonet said at the meeting, although he believed the council were seeking to help individuals and business owners in Glastonbury with the service, the usage figures over the six month trial were very poor.
“The local community are getting very poor value for money for this project and I would really like to know how the council sees this scheme developing as a lot of money has gone into it.”

Although 40 people turned up to the meeting to discuss whether the initiative had any economic benefits residents said the meeting was not representative of the town as most people were at work.

However, a petition of 400 signatures against the three-year pilot scheme, which is costing more than £33,800 of public money, was presented to the council.

Computer programmer Terry Scott pointed out there were more signatures against the service than people using it. Resident Eloise Brown told the council it was trying to sell the people of Glastonbury something they clearly did not want.
Another resident, Tim Bates, said councillors had been prickly and dismissive about the subject when he had addressed them on the matter.

He added: “I do not want it. I do not see anyone using it, and it does not seem to be a good deal. Unplug it.”

Residents demanded the council invested the cash in cabled connection instead of Wi-Fi, claiming it carried no health risks.

Mother, Natalie Fee, said she was pro Glastonbury having better internet connection, but said she wanted cable, not Wi-Fi as she and a number of parents were worried their children were being exposed to low level radiation 24 hours a day, seven days a week from Wi-Fi masts.

Residents expressed fears that scientific knowledge of the service was not complete and urged the council to take a precautionary attitude.

In a statement released after the meeting, a spokesman for the SCC said: “There is no consistent evidence to date, that exposure to radio frequency signals from Wi-Fi adversely affects the health of the general population. The signals from the system we have installed in Glastonbury are very low power and the resulting exposures are well within internationally accepted guidelines and those set out by the SCC.”

Spokesman Graham Philips, from independent organisation Powerwatch, which plays a central role in the UK Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Radiation health debate, said: “Someone using a Wi-Fi enabled laptop will be exposed to approximately twice the level of radio frequency electromagnetic fields to someone living 60 to 70 metres away from a mobile phone base station. The exposure from Wi-Fi, unlike TV and non-digital radio transmitters, is very similar to base station exposure.

“Symptoms found in those living around base stations include concentration or memory problems, sleep disturbance, dizziness, nausea and other adverse neurological end points. The EU Parliament believes there is enough evidence for precaution, and the principality of Liechtenstein has recently legislated public exposure limits (Environmental Protection Law 2008) of 0.6 V/m (lower than exposure using a wireless laptop).

“Unlike the drug and food industry, whose products have to go through extensive pre-market trials and testing, there is no pre-market safety net for wireless devices. Considering current evidence, the public should not be subjected to city-wide exposures without the health of the local population being carefully monitored before, during and after roll-out.”

Miranda Shearer
mshearer@bvmedia.co.uk

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT : PRELIMINARY REPORT on preoccupations concerning the effects of human health of electromagnetic fields.

Article in http://www.next-up.org

For many years now independent scientists and Non-Governmental Organisations have been tirelessly warning national and international health authorities of the damaging effects of ever-growing artificial radiation on people and on wildlife, particularly from the ElectroMagnetic Fields (EMF) generated by the HyperFrequency microwaves from wireless telecommunications.

For many years now no government or national body has even deigned to convene a parliamentary commission in spite of the urgency of the situation caused by this grave problem of public and environmental health.

For many years now the equivocation on this issue has been cleverly maintained by various institutions, including the WHO, their strings pulled by the industry via the corrupt M. Repacholi (ex-WHO and ICNIRP), as can be seen from the successive leaders of the international organisation who have never taken the decisions that were needed.

Today we are paying for the error of our ways and are discovering the scale of the disaster, especially for young people.

The negationists of several countries have managed to make the doubt and confusion persist by putting out disinformation, however now the links of cause and effect are clearly and scientifically established.

The verdict is damning on the gene damage caused by artificial EMFs among some people whose metabolism is affected by new pathologies such as Electro-Hyper Sensitivity (EHS) or a disturbance of endocrine functions called The Microwave Syndrome.

An accurate study of the contributing factors and the high mortality among people whose health is already weakened is yet to be carried out (clusters).

Prompted by this recent evidence action is being taken: the fact that the population is being massively bombarded by artificial radiation has at last been recognised, and will be the subject of a wide-ranging and responsible debate in the European Parliament based on this Proposed Resolution dated 19 December 2008.

This document represents a great leap forward. Please distribute it as widely as possible to local authorities and councils, teachers, health personnel, etc.

Next-up organisation.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT : PRELIMINARY REPORT on preoccupations concerning the effects of human health of electromagnetic fields.(http://www.next-up.org/parlement_europeen.php#1)

NB: This document is an accurate translation but is not the official English text as none is yet available.
See the original text in French (PDF).(http://www.next-up.org/pdf/Parlement_Europeen_Projet_de_Rapport_preoccupation_effets_sante_champs_electromagnetiques_19122008.pdf)

P1 Wimax free modem promotion to end on Feb 1

Article in NST Online
2009/01/28

PETALING JAYA, WED:

Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (P1), Malaysia’s first WiMAX telco, will end its free modem promotional offer on 1 February 2009, five months after its commercial launch in August last year.

Michael Lai, chief executive officer of P1 said the company will be introducing its new packages starting 2 February 2009, where five new subscription plans for P1 W1MAX users will replace the current promotional packages. The new subscription plans will consist of three ’Home’ plans to meet the needs of personal users and two ’Office’ plans that are designed for businesses.

For the new plans on 12-months contract, subscribers will have to pay a subsidized amount for the WiMAX modem valued at RM999.

“We strongly encourage broadband users who are within our coverage to seize the opportunity and sign up for the current free modem promotion before the end of this month as they would be able to save on having to pay for the modem.” Our customers can be assured that our new plans will be backed by P1’s on-going commitment to top-notch quality of service and customer satisfaction. With these plans, we look forward to serving more Malaysians as we continue to aggressively roll out P1 W1MAX nationwide,” Lai said.

P1 W1MAX service is now available in selected parts of the Klang Valley, Johor and Kedah. The latest areas to have P1 W1MAX coverage this week include parts of Jalan Kemajuan in Petaling Jaya, Pandan Indah in Ampang, Kota Kemuning and Taman Bunga Negara in Shah Alam, The Summit in USJ, Jinjang Utara and Selatan, Damansara Heights and Bandar Puteri Puchong in Selangor. Detailed information on the current P1 W1MAX subscription plans and reseller location can be obtained at www.p1.com.my.

P1 made these announcements earlier at a gala dinner for about 250 P1 W1MAX resellers from the Klang Valley, Johor, Penang and Kedah. The dinner was the first national reseller gathering hosted by P1 since the launch of their service in August last year.

WiMAX wobbles but will it fall down?

Article in itp.net
Posted by Mark Sutton on 1 February 2009 at 02:43 UAE time.

Nortel has announced its intention to get out of the mobile WiMAX business, and concentrate instead on other LTE technologies. The news shouldn’t have too much impact on the Middle East, where Nortel’s WiMAX activities were minimal, but it does look like another wobble in the WiMAX story.

WiMAX has been touted by some as the great communications hope, especially for developing markets, where the flexibility of wireless connection coupled with a wider range and greater bandwidth than traditional wireless technologies. Others however, have claimed that the technology has some fundamental flaws, namely in the power required to broadcast over greater range, and see WiMAX as a costly diversion, that should be passed over in favor of other developing technologies.

The Nortel announcement is not the only bad news for WiMAX. When Alcatel-Lucent announced 6,000 job cuts in mid-December, one of the areas it said it wanted to cut back on spending was in WiMAX. More recently, Time Warner, Google and Intel have all written down their investments in Clearwire, a would-be WiMAX service provider for the whole of the US.

Meanwhile, WiMAX seems to go from strength to strength in the Middle East, with a growing number of services coming online.

But does slipping vendor support impact on WiMAX in the region? There are still strong supporters of WiMAX - mainly Intel and Motorola, which has bet big on WiMAX, and the usage model for the technology is better suited to emerging markets like the Middle East. While the response to WiMAX has been varied, when deployed properly, the standard gets good results.

Probably the biggest issue will be end point equipment, and enabling widespread connectivity. Once the infrastructure investment in WiMAX is in place, operators are pretty much stuck with it. But if the influential US market shies away from WiMAX, a lack of available devices could see users staying away from WiMAX for want of an easy connection. WiMAX supporters like Intel will have to do a lot of lobbying to push WiMAX antennae into notebooks or add-on aerials to give the ubiquitous connectivity that end users want.

That said, the influence of the US market is waning, and its not as if there are not already multiple standards in communications already in place across the world. With a growing uptake of WiMAX in MEA, often in markets with little alternative when it comes to broadband connectivity, it looks like the technology will be here stay in this part of the world, at least for a while. Whether operators are able to get enough value out of it before they look to newer technologies will be a question of how well they market it and deliver services to convince customers of its value.

檳設無線上網 民間組織抗議

图文摘自东方新闻网专题

2009年1月27日
　
檳城州政府推行「檳州無線」計劃，首批7個WiMAX覆蓋地點已確定。在Packet One Network公司的配合下，檳州子民將可於18個月內，在公眾場所使用WiFi免費無線上網。這項計劃引起多個民間組織的抗議。

無線上網方便省事，符合資訊時代人們和企業提高生產力的需求，並能解決我國固定網絡設施落後的缺憾。

但無線上網設備使覆蓋範圍充滿了電磁波，當檳城全島都被WiMAX覆蓋，全檳老老少少都無可避免受影響。這成為民間組織大力反對的理由。

WiFi是戶內的短程電波傳輸方式，而WiMAX則是戶外的長程電波傳輸方式。

但無論WiFi還是WiMAX，在傳送資訊時都會發出高頻率電磁波。這種電磁波對生物的影響眾說紛紜，至今尚無定案。

開發相關技術的科學家認為至今沒有證據顯示有關技術對人體有害，因此可安全使用。但持反對意見的科學家則認為，生物界發生的一些現象，足以說明電磁波的危害。

先進國拆除無線上網

德國研究發現，WiFi釋放的電磁波干擾鳥類和生物辨認方位，影響繁殖，甚至造成死亡。鯨魚集體擱淺的謎團一直未有答案，其中就有人認為是因為軍艦的探測聲納影響或破壞了鯨魚的聲納系統所致。

此外， 先進國家一些教育機構開始拆除無線上網設備，應被視為一項警訊。而多國近年來將電磁波環境建議值（即安全標準）從1000萬微瓦降低至10萬微瓦，即高達100倍之譜，也應獲得關注。

手機的3G功能已出現瓶頸，作為一種新的資訊傳播方式，WiFi和WiMAX無疑蘊含大量商機，對大企業的吸引力可想而知。知名跨國企業如英特爾、諾基亞和摩多羅拉都大力開發相關技術，以求搶吃這塊通訊的新餡餅。

企業有足夠資源影響政府施政，而檳州民聯政府又全力打造新政府形象，因此雙方一拍即合不足為奇。首長林冠英不擔心企業不配合國會在野黨的無線上網計劃，如何安撫人民對電磁波輻射的不安，反成為他意想不到的棘手問題。

無線上網又一章：電磁波難防

各種電器的發明，使現代人的生活變得十分便利。家庭主婦有了各種電器的協助，家務變得更輕鬆，使她們可以無憂無慮地走出家庭頂半邊天，社會也因此釋放了巨大的生產力。

現代城市人有九成時間待在戶內，從辦公室到住家都離不開電器。問題是有能量的物質都會釋放電磁波，而電視、電腦、手機、電燈等各種家庭電器，幾乎樣樣都是電磁波的發射源。電磁波充斥環境，已引起越來越多關注。

改變習慣　減電磁波危害

電磁波無所不在。住宅、辦公場所、通車過程中都避不開。近距離使用家庭電器所釋放出來的電磁波強度，往往比鄰近的電力設施還要高。小至一支吹風筒在操作時都會發出大量電磁波，更別說是微波爐了。

德國生產生物共振波儀器的Rayonex公司工程師戴瑪海爾，日前來馬巡迴多個城鎮發表演講。他指出，研究顯示，雞蛋長時間暴露在電磁波中，孵出畸形小雞的比率也會大增。

因此，他提醒大眾，單單是現代化廚房的各類電器，如抽油煙機和微波爐，就都會放射大量的電磁波，對人體產生不良影響。

他向本報透露，德國的高級轎車品牌已開始正視車內大量電子儀器可能帶來的後遺症，包括發展出汽車專用手機，致力減低車內的電磁波。

後遺症漸受關注

過去談到居家的安全衛生和保持室內空氣清新，除了遠離排出廢氣的工廠，不外天天掃地隔日抹地，以求去除肉眼可見的灰塵或污垢。

更細心者會設法減少牆壁和傢俱使用的揮發性強漆料，保持空氣流通，以免吸入諸如甲醛和苯等有害氣體。

但是，隨著家庭和辦公室的電器充斥，所產生大量肉眼看不到的電磁波是否為人體帶來後遺症，近年已受到越來越多人的關注。

我國順勢療法醫師陳奕權向本報說，電器的使用在現代社會不可避免，因此，消費人要想辦法避開其後遺症。

睡房勿安置電腦

他舉例：「電腦不要連續使用太久，不要將電腦安置在睡房，更不要睡在徹夜下載網站內容的電腦旁！」

他認為，為了身體的健康，人人都有必要正視電磁輻射的長遠影響，改變生活習慣。他也呼籲：「使用手機盡量長話短說，並以手機短訊取代通話。」

我們的手被火灼會因疼痛而馬上縮回，但人體感受不到電子輻射的存在，因此往往對其危害茫然無知。加上電磁輻射有累積效應，長期暴露在電磁波下，對人體的危害可想而知。

長期暴露在過量電磁波環境中，輕者會引起頭暈目眩、記憶力減退、耳鳴等現象，重者會破壞免疫系統，增加致癌機率。既然我們不可能回去沒有電器的蒙昧時代，如何在環保和安全的前提下使用電器，並設法抵消其不良影響，無疑值得所有人深思。

Parent warns against use of WiFi in schools

Article in Darlington and Stockton Times
1:07pm Friday 23rd January 2009


A WORRIED father is calling parents to a meeting to explain the potential harm caused to children by school computers.

Clint Crisp believes that wireless transmitters or WiFi in classrooms could cause longterm health damage to staff and pupils, leading to cancers and dementia.

Mr Crisp, who has two children at Hartburn Primary School, near Stockton, is calling for the school to remove wireless technologies as a precautionary measure and replace them by hardwiring computers to the internet which, he argues, offers faster data transfer.

Mr Crisp said he had been told by the school that it was following advice by Becta, the Government agency promoting the use of information and communications technology, and the World Health Organisation (WHO), but his own research and scientific evidence showed that these guidelines were flawed.

He said: “My concern is that young and developing children are being exposed to low-frequency, non-ionising radiation and scientific evidence suggests that long-term effects may include cell damage in the brain, leading to cognitive impairment or dementia.

“I have a five-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son and it’s their safety and well-being I am concerned about. It needs somebody to do something about it.”

Mr Crisp, of Long Newton, was actively involved in a campaign spearheaded by parents in 1999 which prevented mobile phone company Orange from erecting a mast near the school.

He added: “I believe that parents and teaching staff need to be aware that these WiFi transmitters can emit pulsed radiation up to three times more powerful than a mast placed outside school.”

Tom Gittins, headteacher, said: “We installed the WiFi, like many other schools, to allow our pupils the advantage of increasing curricular time and new exciting technologies relating to ICT.

“In doing so, we have strictly followed guidance from Becta, the local authority and the Health Protection Agency.”

The WHO website states: “On the basis of the studies so far carried out in-house, the agency sees no reason why WiFi should not continue to be used in schools.

“However, with any new technology it is a sensible precautionary approach, as happened with mobile phones, to keep the situation under ongoing review so that parents and others can have as much reassurance as possible.

“That is why our chairman, Sir William Stewart, has stated it would be timely to carry out further studies as this new technology is rolled out. The Health Protection Agency is discussing this with relevant parties.”

Mr Crisp is hosting a WiFi awareness presentation at 6pm on Wednesday at the Methodist church in Greens Lane, Hartburn.

WiFi coverage good but not its future side effects

Letters to Editor in The Star

WiFi coverage good but not its future side effects

I AM glad to see bold initiatives by the Penang government such as WiFi coverage.

However, I hope the state government will listen to the people; we are not against new technology but we just do not want to be constantly exposed to possible radiation.

Wireless access is much appreciated at commercial areas where there is need to make decisions at the speed of light. It is also handy for our foreign tourists to keep in touch with the rest of the world.

However, please give us, Penang residents, the freedom to choose when we need to use wireless access. The side effects of new technology may manifest itself only after a long time.

Damage may be irreversible. Precaution is better than cure.

CHENDOL,

George Town.