MSNBC: Exploding cell phones prompt warnings

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6569187/

Curtis Sathre said it was like a bomb going off. His 13-year-old son Michael stood stunned, his ears ringing, hand gushing blood and body covered in black ash.

In a split second last August, fragments from Michael’s exploding cell phone had hit him between the eyes and lodged in the ceiling of the family’s home in Oceanside, Calif.

Over the past two years, federal safety officials have received 83 reports of cell phones exploding or catching fire, usually because of incompatible, faulty or counterfeit batteries or chargers. Burns to the face, neck, leg and hip are among the dozens of injury reports the agency has received.

<snip>

Angela Karasek, a 21-year-old paralegal in Philadelphia, bought her Motorola phone and battery together from a Nextel store. She awoke one night a few weeks ago to what she described as a pinging sound and then saw fire. Her cell phone battery had blown out, igniting a doll about three feet away. She ran to her parents’ room for help, and her father quickly put out the fire.

[Downtown Hound]

1. Yikes! n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Cue Terror Alert.

Get on it, Ridge. Yer' burnin' daylight.

[Liberal Veteran]

3. Gee....that would a great power to have.

To cause a person's cell phone to explode at will. Especially those assholes who are in front of you in line and keep telling the cashier to hold on while he/she continues the important life altering conversation that usually is:

"Uh-huh! He really said that!"
"Did you watch The OC last night?"
"He SOOOO did not!!!!"


:grr:

[Endangered Specie]

7. Thats when you pull a Skittles...

"Woud you SHUT the FUCK UP! and hurry up goddamnit!" etc...

[Sparkle]

4. Crap!

[truthisfreedom]

5. cell phone batteries have an enormous amount of energy packed into a small

space. technology can be a frightening thing...

[Whoa_Nelly]

11. Love this part of the report

“If you’re cramming more and more power in a small space, what you’re making is a small bomb,” said Carl Hilliard, president of the California-based Wireless Consumers Alliance, which has been tracking incidents of cell phone fires and explosions.

Cell Phone Terror Alert is now Orange...

[Ready4Change]

6. Cellphones don't kill people.

People with cell phones kill people.

I started writing that in jest. But as I typed I realized it's true. Some 100 or so anecdotes of burns from cellphones with aftermarket batteries and/or improperly charged is a small dent (pun no intended) in the numbers of injuries and perhaps deaths caused by cell phone distracted drivers.

Ah, but exploding cell phones cell newspapers. Never mind.

[Endangered Specie]

8. I can think of several people for whom an exploding cell phone

might serve as poetic justice and or karma.

[HamiltonHabs32]

9. well...

if they dont blow up in your face, they'll suck your wallet dry!

/dont go over your minutes

[Endangered Specie]

10. It might be wise to invest in one of those phones...

where you have a headset and the antenna, battery, computer are on your belt/pocket
.
.
.
Course, then again, you could end up blowing your schlong off.

[central scrutinizer]

13. your schlong is firing blanks anyway

some studies have shown that men who wear cell phones on their belt have significantly lower sperm counts. Sounds like nature's way of thinning the herd - anybody who can't survive without their cell phone is analagous to the slowest gnu in the herd - easily picked off and kept from breeding.

[Endangered Specie]

14. I'll bet most of them don't believe evolution...

"Evolution does not care whether you believe it or not it will still do away with your ass if you give it enough incentive" - Me, to creationists

edit: I stand corrected about the belt cell phones ;)

[0007]

12. Wow! I bet the angels are working over time these days.

[Straight Shooter]

15. Yeehaw! Bring on the trial lawyers!

I guess the companies think it's better to pay a few settlements than actually fix the damn problem.

File the lawsuits now and save somebody, maybe a child, some very serious injury later.

Over the past 2 years, 83 reports. Many people don't report an incident unless they're injured. Cell phones are more prevalent than ever.

Just when you thought you'd heard it all ...

[GoBlue]

16. Beware the iPods

nt

[BuelahWitch]

17. Dang! I'm more glad than ever I don't have one

:scared: First the brain cancer scare, now this. What will it take people to just stop flapping their yaps?