Hey, kids, don't take your phones to school

Per one of Johnny Cash's hits:

Pending Gov. Abbott's signature, student cellphones, except for medical and other authorized needs, will be banned from use on K-12 school campuses during the school day. The student safety issue of some parents is a red herring, especially with campus security meaning that if there is a shooter at school, it will be on a lockdown anyway.

My issue is that, as I have expected all along, the bill doesn't pay school districts for a magnetic lockbox system, because it specifies districts have the option of banning student cellphones from being brought to school in the first place.

Yeah, good luck with that, any superintendents and school boards who go that policy route. You'll get fragged by parents.

And, as I read it? The Trib's story has a big fail. The bill says it takes effect on Abbott's signature, not Sept. 1, if more than two thirds of both houses pass it. And, they did. (I tagged the Trib and its reporter on Shitter, and as normal from the Trib, have yet to hear back.)

Southworst, a reflection on the airline industry, with a Sprint/T-Mobile sidebar

If you fly in and out of Dallas, it's almost certainly going to be either Southwest Airlines at the old, but modernized, Love Field, or American Airlines at D/FW International. 

First, let us note Southwest has been around 50 years. It's a legacy airline by now, too. Its "bags fly free" and its one-plane model (except for some AirTran planes) haven't been fully adopted elsewhere, but other practices such as fuel hedging have. Also, it does run a modified sort of a hub-and-spoke system. There's a technical name for it I once saw, but can't remember now. But, it's not a true point-to-point.

Southwest has the alternate name of Southworst, sometimes well earned, and well documented on these pages. From the serious, to the passenger killed being sucked out a window, to the serious of being way too cozy with the Metroplex office of the Federal Aviation Administration, to the not-so-serious of having a reputation for passenger modesty, it does do this.

But, who else are you going to fly?

DFW is American's main hub, and since its merger with US Airways, it has a near stranglehold there.

Delta flies a couple of gates at Love, and Alaska one or two. Continental, with a hub in Houston, flies a few at DFW. Otherwise, the main competition there for America is Spirit, which has not (yet) gotten around to charging you for the air you breathe on a flight, but has about everything else taken care of.

The background to this? Vacation.

Left Dallas on Friday, July 30. Southworst had either a 7:55 nonstop to Oakland or an 8:10 one-stop that night. Figured I could get to the airport early enough for the nonstop, and did so.

Only to have notifications on the way that it was delayed, then delayed again.

Final takeoff was set for shortly after 9 p.m. The flight was coming from Little Rock, and there was no severe weather between there and the Metromess; I don't know if weather further east or north delayed it, or crew issues. (Hold on to that.)

Well, we didn't actually take off then. It took ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTES for Southworst's ground crew to get all the luggage loaded. This is AFTER everybody's boarded, flight attendants have done their checks, etc. In other words, we could have taken off then, but ... no luggage.

For the return trip? Options were a godawful early one-stop at 6:20, with no plane change, a semi-godawful early 7:20 nonstop, and what I picked, an 8:35 one-stop, no plane change. For an outbound plane at a "home" airport, the 7:20 would have been fine, but with the extra arrival time for an airport I've only flown out of once, maybe twice, before (I've done San Francisco and San Jose as well), I didn't want to get up that early.

Due to driving California's North Coast, I didn't check in Saturday night for my Sunday morning flight on Aug. 8.

So, I got to a Southwest kiosk and it said it couldn't run my reservation. I run to the counter after getting some help, and ... it appears my flight was cancelled. 

They eventually and quickly got me on that 7:20 nonstop, which was starting boarding at that time. Oy.

I had NO message on my phone from Southworst, but hold on to that thought as well.

Before we took off, the captain said that they were waiting for the first officer to come in from Seattle. Why would you announce that? Now I'm wondering how tired this guy is. That's why I said "hold on to that" above. 

Anyway, AFTER I get back to Dallas, while waiting for my bags (which did make it), I NOW have messages from Southworst, first saying they were scheduling me for that 6:20, then for the 7:20.

I have no idea why those weren't sent earlier.

Or were they?

Sprint, now part of T-Mobile after another merger, SUCKS in Oregon. I was, a couple of days earlier, planning on meeting an old acquaintance in Eugene, Oregon. 

I had ZERO phone or text service from Portland, where I first texted, assumed it went through, and didn't check, into and through Eugene. I had to borrow a landline phone at a gas station to call my friend. Thanks to the lady at Arco. Oh, my friend confirmed the suckitude.

At least T-Mobile appears to have contacted me, but only to say "verify my account," and apparently typing in a phone number isn't sufficient, and I am at work as I write this up Monday evening.

So, who knows? Maybe Sprint/T-Mobile sucked in Oakland, too, though I don't really seeing "no network available" on my phone in Oakland.

That said, Southworst, also contacted on both Twitter and FB, but on Sunday, have sent me nothing but Sunday "bot" messages that today is not a workday. As of Monday night, no message.

(I later read on Twitter that Southworst appears to be scrubbing flights where COVID cancellations mean they aren't packed like sardines. The one I got rebooked on was sardines in spades; I think I literally had the next-to-last seat on the plane.)

See, I can switch to ATT or Verizon, or even U.S. Cellular or somebody. It's harder with airport monopolies.

OTOH, T-Mobile on Twitter and Sprint on Fuckbook aren't helpful. T-Mobile person suggests "you could test it," ignoring that I said I was on vacation. I also noted that Eugene is 200K people, not a small hicksville. Sprint person asked for home address and nearest major cross street after being handed over from a T-Mobile on Fuckbook. (Sprint has zero presence on Twitter, basically.)

The bottom line is that, in both cases, they know they suck, and they know they can largely get away with sucking.

Update: Speaking of? T-Mobile just had a massive data breach. Thank doorknob I am:

1. Not a prepaid customer;
2. Refuse to let companies keep credit card info on file when I make online payments.

 

Does AT&T really care about rural broadband?

Probably enough. But it cares enough that President Obama cares about it to mention it in a press release announcing it's buying T-Mobile.

I oppose Senate’s proposed cell phone 'ban' – too lenient

Banning just texting? Great. But, banning cell phone conversations while still allowing hands-free cell phone usage will allow the equally dangerous use of cell-phone conversations while driving to continue.

And, actually, probably put us further away from stopping that by law.

Multiple, even numerous, studies show that it’s NOT holding the cell phone that’s the problem with cell-phone conversations while driving. Rather, it’s the conversation itself.

More and more companies are banning the practice by sales and other staff on the road.

Yes, the proposed bill would increase penalties for “distracted driver” accidents, including cell phone conversation in general. And, some localities won’t let juveniles talk and drive at all.

The mother lode of research background is here.

So, why not ban that for everybody?

One way to stop cell phone use while driving …

And that is, like tobacco, make it tougher for the young to do so. And, starting tomorrow, here in Texas, if your’re a minor, no talking on that cell while driving. Not even hands-free. You have to hang up and drive. Maybe the lesson will latch on for later life for a few.

Feds hid phoning-while-driving danger stats

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, after gathering years of data about the danger of talking on cell phones while driving, then sat on it, out of fear of Congress. Finally, a Freedom of Information suit has made it public.

The story notes that Congressional comments gave NHTSA good reason not to tell it, as Congress basically didn’t want to hear.

So, how many people have died in our country because Congress was in thrall to cell phone lobbyists? How many people have become addicted to a “right” to calling while driving?

State govts ignore need for drivetime cell phone ban

Fact No. 1 is that cell phones are very distracting, not just distracting, while driving.

Fact No. 2 is that hands-free devices are NOT a safe alternative. Period.

Fact No. 3 is that self-centered American drivers insist on wanting to yack wherever, whenever, and that includes while driving as well as while in restaurants, etc.

Which leads to Fact. No 4, the refusal of state legislatures to ban cell phone use while driving. Add to that the hypocrisy of cell service companies like Verizon, which tell people not to talk while driving, yet oppose a ban.

Some people say, “I’m bored while driving,” especially if on the open road:

“I’m on the phone from when I leave the Capitol to when I get home, and that’s a two-hour drive,” said Tad Jones, the majority floor leader in the Oklahoma House, who helped block the legislation. “A lot of people who travel are used to using the phone.”

It’s called a radio or CD player or MP3 player.

Fact No. 5 is the typical American propensity to blame the other person:

“When we ask people to identify the most dangerous distraction on the highway today, about half — correctly — identify cellphones,” said Bill Windsor, associate vice president for safety at Nationwide. “But they think others are dangerous, not themselves.”

So, YOU hang up. Don’t wait for the other person. YOU hang up.

Read the full story, all six webpages, to see how serious the problem is and how much we really need …

Fact No. 7 — a ban on cell phone use while driving.

States want prison cellphone jam; wise idea?

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is co-author of a bill to allow states to jam cellphones inside prisons; since they are actually two-way radios, cellphones are wholly under the regulation of the Federal Communications Commission and jamming them is illegal.

On the surface, it sounds like a bright idea.

But the wireless industry trade group CTIA-The Wireless Association, says that experiences in other countries show that private lines in the vicinity also get jammed. It wants states to use better detection technology and toughen criminal penalties.

Open manhole almost makes Darwin Award winner

Another solipsistic, gadget-absorbed young American almost got killed by her self-absorption.

New York City 15-year-old Alexa Longueira fell in an open manhole while cell-phone texting and walking. She, of course, blames only the city of New York.

"Regardless of whether I'm texting or not if there was a cone there I'm going to see a big orange cone," she said. "I walk that sidewalk every day, I don't expect a big hole there.”

Wrong. I’ll allow your young age to excuse you from any knowledge of cognitive science, etc. But, of course, in reality, we drive and walk familiar routes on autopilot all the time, even without such added distractions. The only reason you haven’t walked into another person is (unless you have already) they’ve been alert enough to avoid you. Of course, Ms. Longueira is likely to do the same thing while driving in a few years.

Cell phones in prison a growing problem

Since I first blogged about this issue back in 2007, it seems like the problem is only becoming more serious.

As the new story notes, California state penal officials confiscated more than 2,800 cell phones last year, double that of 2007. Texas could confiscate nearly 1,500 this year.

Why? Federal law prohibits jamming cell phones, though Congress is considering new legislation on that, targeted at prisons. As for what you can do with one inside the stir?

You can call in drug deals, either from the outside or within prison. You can talk to sympathetic guards. You can use them as a form of prison currency for those two reasons. You can rent them out, for reasons one and two. Probably, you can get, like condos, time-share cell phones.

More seriously than that, you can orchestrate prison gang work, set up outside crimes and harassment, arrange getaway rides for escapes, call in bribes for those more friendly prison guards and more.

Here in Texas, Grits for Breakfast picked up on some issues back in 2007, following up on a National Public Radio story that highlights the problem nationally, including this Texas example:

Last month, a warden in Texas also got a call — from the mother of one of his inmates. She was calling to complain that her son was getting poor cell-phone reception inside the prison.

“She was paying for the service, and she felt that she should get good service out of the prison,” says John Moriarity, the inspector general of the Texas prison system. “That cell-phone company assured her it was within the coverage area, and she wanted to know why they were having some difficulty getting a good cell-phone signal out of the prison.”

(NPR also reports that a Maryland state senator got a cell-phone call from an inmate complaining about prison conditions!)

Henson noted, speaking of friendly prison guards, that a cell phone, being metal, can’t get past a detector, so a corrupt guard is allowing each one inside.

Give the Time story a further look; I've just summarized it.

Henson has more on the phone calling reform ideas here.

And, back in 2007, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was already worried about BlackBerries, not just cell phones.

Oh, if you want an unvarnished look inside TDCJ, try The Backgate, a blog by TDCJ staff. It’s so renegade it’s even pro-union!

Cell phone and fluoridation pseudoscience

Kids, meet cell phone pseudoscience

Drumming up totally scientifically unsupported scares about cell phones causing cancer, especially in kids, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, wants parents to ban kids from using them.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s plenty of social and psychological reasons for parents to “pull the antenna.” But this pseudomedical claim isn’t actually a reason.

And, this isn’t the first bit of “medical” pseudoscience this week. Earlier, I got a red-flag-waving e-mail from a member of an anti-fluoridation activist network noting that the National Kidney Foundation had signed off on the idea that fluoride causes bone cancer, etc.

This, at bottom line, illustrates just how unscientific medicine is compared to the natural sciences.

And, until medicine tightens up the p value on medical research tests from 5 percent to, say 2 or 3 percent --- still loose enough to not screen out lifesaving outliers, but enough to screen out more pseudomedicine, it’s going to remain that way.

But, that’s not half the issue on the Kidney Foundation.

The anti-fluoridation activists list naturopaths, chiropractors and acupuncturists among the “professionals” signing their petition to ban fluoridation of drinking water.

When I asked the e-mail troll for his or her name, and affiliation with one of these activist groups, as well as any actual NKF connection, the person stopped e-mailling.

The p is the acceptable rate of false positives. In physics, it’s 0.01 percent, FAR tighter than in medicine.

Cell phones: The new prison contraband

Hat tip to the excellent blog on Texas criminal justice issues, Grits for Breakfast:

Scott Henson notes that more than 300 cell phones have been confiscated from inmates in recent years. But, if you know anything about prisons, you’ll know many of those weren’t found for some time, and there’s plenty more that never were found.

He links to a National Public Radio story that highlights the problem nationally, including this Texas example:

Last month, a warden in Texas also got a call — from the mother of one of his inmates. She was calling to complain that her son was getting poor cell-phone reception inside the prison.

“She was paying for the service, and she felt that she should get good service out of the prison,” says John Moriarity, the inspector general of the Texas prison system. “That cell-phone company assured her it was within the coverage area, and she wanted to know why they were having some difficulty getting a good cell-phone signal out of the prison.”

That cell phone was one of more than 300 that Texas prison officials have pulled out of inmates’ cells in the past three years. Moriarity says it's not just happening in Texas and Maryland.

“I’ve spoken to some of my fellow [inspectors general] across the country, and I believe everybody’s having a problem with it,” he says.

In several criminal cases, inmates have used cell phones to run gangs operating outside of prison, to put hits out on people, to organize drug-smuggling operations and, in one case, trade gold bullion on international markets.

(NPR also reports that a Maryland state senator got a cell-phone call from an inmate complaining about prison conditions!)

Scott notes that some inmates are just doing this to have their families avoid getting gouged by collect calls, but also spots that I do, namely that drugs or money can be smuggled inside a phone. And, since he observes that a cell phone, being metal, can’t get past a detector, a corrupt guard is allowing each one inside.

Beyond that, inside a unit, a cell phone can be used to:
1. Set up drug deals, either supplies from the outside, with the same corrupt guard taking a cut, or deals inside a unit;
2. Set up prison sex, either between inmates or with guards;
3. Coordinate gang activity inside a unit;
4. Plan an escape.

Answer? The state of Texas needs to improve its phone plans for prisoners, so those who are just trying to beat costs don’t have to worry. And, it needs to raise guards’ wages enough to at least lessen the temptation of corruption. At least within a unit, the state also needs to look at rotating guard assignments more frequently, to cut down on contact with the same inmates.

Scott has more on the phone calling reform ideas here.

Two additional notes:

First, as NPR reports, there is cell-phone snooping detection technology. It isn’t cheap (try several hundred thousand per prison unit), but this problem isn’t going away.

That’s because …

TDCJ is already worried about Blackberries, not just cell phones.

Oh, if you want an unvarnished look inside TDCJ, try The Backgate, a blog by TDCJ staff. It’s so renegade it’s even pro-union!

Two-year-olds and cell phones

My nephew, Jed, has learned how to grab my sister’s cell phone and use the “redial” function.

Unfortunately, Jed, Uncle Steve had to go back to work, or he would have talked longer.

A cell phone and scientific curiosity

After getting my cell phone, I found out I don’t always have the greatest of reception inside my apartment. Stepping immediately outside, but still between apartment units, doesn’t help.

But, I can walk 100 feet to the corner, go diagonally across it to an elementary school parking lot, and get two or even three bars of reception.

I feel like the cell phone is a bit like a metal detector, only I’m searching for electromagnetic radiation.

And small!

Not much longer than my thumb when folded shut and no thicker than a fair-sized native pecan. It’s not much more than a toothpick in hands my size.

Good Interior news from Kempthorne so far

New Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has made a first commitment to revert national parks to Clinton-promulgated rules restricting snowmobile use. Sounds good so far, but let’s definitely not count these chickens before they hatch.

Kristen Brengel, a lobbyist for the Wilderness Society, described the new policy draft as good but noted that lobbyists for commercial and recreation interests still have three weeks to change Kempthorne's mind.

“It’s not over yet,” Brengel said. “Now Kempthorne will have his first opportunity to show whether he can be a true steward of the national parks.”

The new policy draft, if retained, could also put the clamps on cell phone towers in national parks. We can only hope, for one less eyesore, one less push by cell phone companies for park commercialization, and, above all — one more weight in the scales of reducing noise pollution, specifically in this case, the noise pollution coming from cell phone chatterers.

You know who you are. If you can’t stop yammering, then don’t visit Yellowstone or Yosemite in the first place.