Category: Gizmos | Scottie's Tech.Info

How to choose a dumbphone: It ain’t easy!

If you decide to ditch your smartphone, then you have to pick the right dumbphone.

“You must choose, but choose wisely.”

There are many factors that come into play, like where you live and what wireless provider you’re using.

But it gets way more complicated than that…

2G, 3G, or 4G? And then, will 2G be around much longer with the release of 5G? What about 3G networks? How long will 3G be sticking around?

And then we have 4G dumbphones: There aren’t very many (at all), and they aren’t as Google-free as we might hope. SIGH…

What you can do about 5G, WiFi, etc.

In my last vid, 5G is just the tip of the iceberg, I talked about a bunch of recent studies showing that all this crazy wireless stuff is having negative effects on our health.

Naturally, the question on everyone’s mind is: What can we do about it?!

Well, minimizing your exposure is probably a wise idea. There are all kinds of fun ways you can do that.

And second, you should speak your mind. Share on social media, talk to your friends and family, show them the studies, sign petitions…

Ya know: Don’t assume that you are powerless!

Are WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G, and 5G bad for you? Hold on to your hats…

5G is coming, and people are worried. Well, should we be?

To answer that question, we need to know what studies have been done on the safety of microwave-frequency digital radio transmissions.

We need to look at WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, and 4G studies, as well!

After all, much of the concern about 5G is based on the results of those studies.

It turns out that there ARE a ton of studies out there that indicate that yes, it looks bad.

Off isn’t really Off

In the olden days, our gizmos had electro-mechanical power buttons. When the thing was turned off, no power was sent to it.

Nowadays, things have changed with the advent of electronically-controlled everything – including things like washing machines.

You can even look at the specs of most gizmos these days, and you’ll see two power ratings: Max power consumption, and “Sleep” power consumption.

Puters haven’t been off-off for a long time now. Smartphones are also never really off in many cases, and neither are smart TVs.

HDMI Cables: Which type should I use for 4K?

I recently had some fun with HDMI cables – specifically, how best to connect a 4K UltraHD Blu-ray player to a 4K TV?

As a follow-up to my Display Cable Madness vid, I dive a bit deeper into the different flavors of HDMI cable: 1.4, 2.0, and 2.1.

Obviously, the latest and greatest cable is always recommended for new components. But what about existing setups?

Would your upscaled Blu-ray to 4K setup benefit from a newer HDMI connection?

It’s not just about resolutions and refresh rates, but also stuff like UltraHD Deep Color and High Dynamic Range (HDR)…

Why I ditched my smartphone

Smartphones are nice, right?

They let you Do Stuff™, and you can even convert your entire social life to be run entirely via Google’s servers!

WOW!

Well, according to a recent investigation by the Tucker Carlson clan, it turns out Google is hoovering up far more data than previously thought.

So, I finally decided to take the plunge: I’ve switched to a dumbphone, and I’ve never been happier…

A better Stylish Smartphone Faraday Box

9 months ago, I made this video: Make your own stylish smartphone Faraday Box in 10 minutes

Since then, I’ve learned a ton more about Faraday cages, and experimented a lot to make an even BETTER box.

It turns out that my original box was only so-so at blocking Bluetooth. My original testing of Bluetooth blocking was, shall we say, not very thorough. My primary focus was blocking cell network signals.

I also mistakenly assumed that if Bluetooth was blocked, WiFi at 2.4 GHz would also be blocked. Nope! WiFi is much harder to block due to the higher signal strength (among other things).

I’m fired!

To make matters worse, contrary to popular belief, we’re still learning about how Faraday cages actually work!

And so, I give you: Stylish Smartphone Faraday Box: Mark II

Get your politics out of my tech!

In recent years, we’ve seen a huge upsurge in “political correctness” and certain “social movements”.

From James Damore being fired for speaking his mind in a very “leftist” corporate culture, to Amazon’s Alexa declaring that she is a feminist, to DNA testing services telling everyone they’re African to “combat racism”…

It seems that amidst all this political/social mayhem, our tech has essentially been weaponized.

We may still have separation of church and state, but it seems that the political and social views of tech corporations are being pushed onto people via their products.

I don’t think that’s a wise course of action…