Oak Ridge National Lab: On Bombs and Rotten Fruit (Knoxville: insurance, buying)

[LauraC]

Saw an article this morning on the Discovery Channel website about Oak Ridge National Laboratory developing a new laser system that coud be used to detect roadside bombs and might also be used someday by all of us in our cell phones to detect spoiled food. It's a 2 page article.

Ray Gun Detects Bombs at Distance : Discovery Channel

[hiknapster]

Good. Now if they could only figure out how I could get better reception, or get a free upgrade on our phone, since it broke after five weeks and it will cost $300 to upgrade. Maybe they could take a roadside bomb to my provider or throw some rotten fruit at them.

Yeah. Then we would be making some progress.

[jabogitlu]

Cool, thanks for the link, Laura. But hik, I'm with you. My phone broke and I had to buy a new one. no problem. But then I had to pay the company $60 for a "contract breaking" fee. What?? I kept the same service, but my phone broke and I had to buy another one! It was even the same phone! LOL! They seriously have a very strange monopoly.

[ThatTNGuy]

What service do you guys use? I've had a mysteriously broken/malfunctioning cell phone twice in the past, and both times I've gotten a brand new phone (same model) from Verizon without paying a cent. If they had been water damaged or if it was plainly obvious that I did something to make them quit working, it would've been a different story, but if my phone ever starts acting up on its own, the folks at Verizon will either fix it or give me a new one.

[jabogitlu]

I use alltel. I had a razr. After a couple years using it, the screen stopped working, then it eventually broke in half. I didn't mind buying a new phone, after all, two years with one gadget is pretty good. It was the "fee" for having to BUY a new phone from them that really pissed me off. I argued with them for a good thirty minutes before I gave up. Gotta have my cell.

[hiknapster]

Sprint. I have insurance on both phones, and we still had to pay a $30 deductible. What I don't understand is why, if we want to upgrade, it will cost us $300 for a phone that is only worth about $50.

I am a cellphone newbie.

I hate both phones that we have. I guess I really messed up.

So, quite frankly, I don't know how my cellphone is suppose to sniff out rotten food, when I can barely understand what anyone is saying.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Sprint. I have insurance on both phones, and we still had to pay a $30 deductible. What I don't understand is why, if we want to upgrade, it will cost us $300 for a phone that is only worth about $50.

I am a cellphone newbie.

I hate both phones that we have. I guess I really messed up.

So, quite frankly, I don't know how my cellphone is suppose to sniff out rotten food, when I can barely understand what anyone is saying.

I'm with you! I don't even know where my cell phone is. I think it's in my car. I HOPE it's in my car because I got it only for emergencies, like if my car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Otherwise I can't stand cell phones. And now with text messages and built-in cameras, cell phones are yet one more thing that we teachers have to look out for in class. grrrrrr

But anyway, that's an interesting article you posted for us, LauraC!

[jabogitlu]

I'm not much of a fan. I keep mine on silent and check it periodically to see who's called or whatever. But I don't have a landline phone, so I must keep it near me so when I need to make a call, I can.

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Not trying to advertise for my husband's company here, but many mom n pop type stores sell used phones at greatly reduced rates. Ask ..... you never know what they might say. One friend actually sells pretty much nothing BUT used phones in his West Knoxville locations.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by JMT

I'm with you! I don't even know where my cell phone is. I think it's in my car. I HOPE it's in my car because I got it only for emergencies, like if my car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Otherwise I can't stand cell phones. And now with text messages and built-in cameras, cell phones are yet one more thing that we teachers have to look out for in class. grrrrrr

But anyway, that's an interesting article you posted for us, LauraC!

If it's been in your car (you hope that's where it is) long enough the battery will be dead and if there isn't a cable to plug into the lighter for a charge (assuming the car battery being dead isn't the reason you want to call) you might as well toss the phone. It's not doing you any good.