Lofty Matters

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We just recently upgraded our cellphones and is that ever a chore! There is so much out there and making sure that you are going to be happy with the one you end up choosing can be a little unnerving. I wanted to make very sure that I was going to be happy with my selection for at least a year…so we did quite a lot of research and looking.

Finding the best deals on the latest cell phones for sale is a great thing to do on the internet. At least you can do a lot of your initial research online before you begin to narrow your selection down a little. This is what we did.

Check out these Unlocked Cell Phones.

I got a Blackberry Curve this time around and I couldn’t be happier. This phone does everything I could ever ask of it and more.

After you’ve done your research, head over to VibeCellular for the best prices I’ve seen around. Not only do they have great prices, but their selection is extensive as well. You are sure to find exactly what you want there.

Three weeks after Hurricane Ike slammed Texas at least 34 people are missing and some are presumed dead.

Volunteers and rescue workers have been sorting through miles of debris in the marshes on the eastern side of Galveston Bay. They are using dogs trained to find human cadavers.

It is slow going. They are wading through the debris left from ruined lives.

Two bodies have been recovered so far.

The devastation was so complete on Bolivar Peninsula that officials fear some victims may be lost at sea or so hidden in the marshes that they won’t be found.

The storm’s outer winds pushed a torrent of water across the peninsula early in the morning on September 12…effectively trapping over 100 people who had been told there was still time to evacuate.

During that day rescue workers in helicopters saved about 130 people from the flood waters before the winds got too strong for them to continue the rescues.

Many people either chose to stay or found themselves trapped in their houses. The floods rose to about 18 feet above normal tide. This completed inundated the peninsula.

The fear now is that most of the people who are still missing are no longer alive. With each passing day it becomes less likely that those missing will be found alive.

Using the internet responsibly and transparently is important to me. If you have a computer that is shared by more than one person, I hate to say it…but it’s very possible that you might not be aware of every site that is being surfed by your computer.

Filters are useful for controlling sites that are harmful - like porn sites. However, it is possibly to bypass filters and if this happens, would you know it? Possibly not…unless you regularly scan your computer to see what is going on.

A tool that will detect porn would be a very useful thing. Using both a filter and a pornography detection tool like SurfRecon will allow you to scan your computer to see if any pornographic images are hiding on your computer.

This will encourage responsible internet behavior as well as transparency - which can only be a positive thing!

The majority of the discarded cell phones in the US are forgotten in a drawer.  A few make it to a collection center for recycling or a facility  that resells cell phones.

The goal is to get more consumers to realize that their old cell phone can  and should be recycled.

Nearly 200 million cell phones will be sold in the US in 2008.  Approximately half of these will be replacing older phones.  If these retired are not disposed of properly they can lay in landfills releasing toxic materials from their various parts.

These retired phones are also a great opportunity because they are often perfectly functioning phones.  If not functioning properly, then often some parts can be harvested.

It’s estimated that the US cell phone recycling rate has been at 10 % for the last few years.  To compare, 2006 data shows that US households recycled 51% of paper waste and 45 % of aluminum.

Even though there are several collection programs for retired cell phones, most consumers are ignorant of how or where they can recycle their old phones.

US consumers typically replace their phones every 1.5 to 2 years.  This is partly due to upgrade incentives and partly due to the fact that cell phones are now a “fashion accessory” of sorts.

Discarded cell phones can be sold overseas to consumers who may not be able to afford more expensive phones.

Overseas scrap operations of discarded cell phones is something those in the e-recycling business try to avoid.  High gold prices have created an interest in electronic waste.  These smaller scrap operations often have unsafe labor conditions and improper disposal protocols.

Some e-recycling companies offer consumers a choice of charity that receives their recycled phone.  There is also one that pays consumers for their old phones.

Tags: cell phones, discarded cell phones, e-recycling, retired phones

Have you ever noticed how many ebay sellers and other online sellers don’t ship internationally? This makes it almost impossible for people overseas to shop with US ebay sellers and other online stores.

Here’s a great way for buyers overseas to expand their shopping alternatives!

This is a mail forwarding service that is a warehouse in California. You can have products shipped to this warehouse and they will notify you by email when your package arrives. The next step is to use a shipping calculator and get the package forwarded to you wherever you are in the world. They use inexpensive USPS Priority Mail, Express, or FedEx.

This is also a great thing for store owners and ebay sellers as they can finally make their products available to international buyers without the hassle that would typically accompany this service. Sellers can either refer customers or open their own account and arrange forwarding for their buyers. They also have an affiliate program that pays a 10% commission from their fees.

Signing up is free!