# Your cell/smart phone brainfarts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212 "2014-12-14T16:28:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/1 "2014-12-14T16:28:20Z")
I had a Motorola razor flip phone. I thought it was pretty cool. And I had a 2 piece case for it. One piece covered the back of the bottom and one covered the back of the top. Anyway, after a while, I stopped being able to hear it ring. It rang very quietly no matter how much I cranked the volume. And it didn’t matter which ringtone I selected. So I took it to the AT&T store, demonstrated the problem, let the woman there try it herself, and then she went through everything to get me sent a replacement phone. THEN I discovered why the ringing was muted. I had slipped a new, crisply folded $20.00 dollar bill inside the the bottom case ('cause look, you never know when you might forget to hit an ATM and $20 cash might be really useful) and it had slid down and blocked the slots where the ringing sound came out. :smack: It was too late to stop the replacement phone, so I just sent it back (instead of the ‘broken’ phone) after I received it. Sure, I could have swapped for the new one, but I didn’t want to deal with transferring all the contacts. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/2 "2014-12-14T17:23:28Z")
As it turns out, I don’t really need one but the wife uses hers 24/7. Cameras are garbage, screen so small I need strong magnifier glasses, needs charging a lot , there are 4 apps that keep coming ‘on’ even though I select all apps to close when I shut them off and stay that way, now get off my lawn… ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/3 "2014-12-14T17:51:07Z")
Does leaving one outside in garden, during a rainstorm, count? Then I did exactly what you’re not supposed to do - rebooted it and tried to see if it still worked. :smack: Instead of immediately removing the battery and plunking everything in a bowl of rice to absorb the moisture. (I know this _now_, but in the meantime I fried my phone.) ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/4 "2014-12-14T19:25:42Z")
I lost one once, probably 10 years ago. Couldn’t figure out where it could have gone missing, did I drop it, leave it somewhere? Bought a replacement from eBay. A couple months later, pulled the couch cushions off to vacuum, and it was wedged between the couch back and bottom, far beyond where my hands went when checking under and between the cushions a few months earlier. I’ve become much more dependent since then, ditching my landline and using a smart phone that’s pretty much always within 3 feet of me. I forgot it at home once a couple years ago. All day, I kept reaching into my pocket for it, thinking about who I was going text or message next about how funny it was that I left my phone at home. Yeah, haven’t done that again! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/5 "2014-12-14T19:26:03Z")
This happened to me back in the 90s. I left my place of work to drive to a nearby store. I got out of my car to discover to my great surprise (and relief) that my phone was on top of the car’s roof. Somehow I left it on top of the car when I left work and it stayed there until I got to the store. It may have helped that it had just rained, so my car was damp and my phone was in a leather case, so that might have kept the phone from sliding off. And I wasn’t driving very fast. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/6 "2014-12-14T19:39:39Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > I lost one once, probably 10 years ago. Couldn’t figure out where it could have gone missing, did I drop it, leave it somewhere? Bought a replacement from eBay. A couple months later, pulled the couch cushions off to vacuum, and it was wedged between the couch back and bottom, far beyond where my hands went when checking under and between the cushions a few months earlier. > > I’ve become much more dependent since then, ditching my landline and using a smart phone that’s pretty much always within 3 feet of me. I forgot it at home once a couple years ago. All day, I kept reaching into my pocket for it, thinking about who I was going text or message next about how funny it was that I left my phone at home. Yeah, haven’t done that again! I realised about a year ago that it would only cost me an extra $20 per month to add a “dumb phone” to my plan. Since my only phone is my cell, and it’s absolutely crucial for business (self-employed contractor) I got the back-up phone. I’m usually very disciplined with my primary phone but the dumb phone has allowed me to find it a few times when I had brain farts. Otherwise I’d be emailing people to call my phone, or physically going to a neighbor’s house to ask them to call me. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/7 "2014-12-14T20:02:06Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I’m usually very disciplined with my primary phone but the dumb phone has allowed me to find it a few times when I had brain farts. Otherwise I’d be emailing people to call my phone, or physically going to a neighbor’s house to ask them to call me. Is your smart phone an Android? You can use the online [device manager](https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager) to make it ring, if you have access to another computer/device. If you phone’s GPS is on, it will locate, and you can also lock it and/or erase it remotely if it’s stolen. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/8 "2014-12-14T21:22:46Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Is your smart phone an Android? You can use the online [device manager](https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager) to make it ring, if you have access to another computer/device. If you phone’s GPS is on, it will locate, and you can also lock it and/or erase it remotely if it’s stolen. Hey! That is cool, yes it’s Android. I had no idea. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/9 "2014-12-14T22:33:24Z")
I have as my ringtone _Everybody Dance Now_, because I get a kick out of just sitting around, possibly with other people, and my phone suddenly commands everyone to dance, just out of the blue. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, my phone rang at 2:30 a.m. and it was a wrong number, but it woke me up and as I was waking up, I thought, well it can’t be that something bad is wrong, with _that_ ringtone- whew! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/10 "2014-12-14T23:08:22Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > … Instead of immediately removing the battery and plunking everything in a bowl of rice to absorb the moisture. … Here’s a recent thread on drying phones. Rice is ineffective to harmful; don’t try it. > **[Effectiveness of putting wet cell phones in rice?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739616)** > > Sounds like a good Mythbusters test. Are there any examples of controlled tests of putting doused cell phones in rice (as a desiccant) showing any bearing on future viability? Anecdotal evidence doesn’t count. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/11 "2014-12-14T23:50:10Z")
I was recently given a new iPhone 5 by my work. The first few times I used it as a phone I could not hear the caller/callee. I was about to tell the job the phone was broken when one of my employee’s said let me see it. There was a protective film over the front of the phone blocking the speaker. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/12 "2014-12-14T23:57:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Here’s a recent thread on drying phones. Rice is ineffective to harmful; don’t try it. > > [Effectiveness of putting wet cell phones in rice? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739616) Nobody actually said it was harmful and more than one anecdote indicated it could be useful. Or, just air-drying, and rice didn’t make a difference one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/13 "2014-12-15T22:06:59Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Is your smart phone an Android? You can use the online [device manager](https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager) to make it ring, if you have access to another computer/device. If you phone’s GPS is on, it will locate, and you can also lock it and/or erase it remotely if it’s stolen. There is also the app [Android Lost](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidlost&hl=en), which lets you control all functions of your smartphone remotely should it be lost or stolen. Can’t find your phone and didn’t load the app yet? No problem, it can be pushed to your phone remotely - as long as the phone is on. It’s also free! ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/14 "2014-12-17T05:46:11Z")
I think I’ve said this before, but I used to chuck my phone, keys, loose change, work ID lanyard and things into a bowl in my kitchen, and also plug my phone in for charging. One early morning, my not quite three-year-old was monkeying around, and dumped the vinegar decanter thingy\* into the bowl. So my phone was plugged in and marinating in a bowl of vinegar, with a bunch of copper and nickel coins, and assorted other stuff. What a smell! Hot vinegar with boiled copper notes. And some rather clean copper coins on the bottom. The bowl itself was hot to the touch The phone was fried, or should I say _pickled_. \*the square bottle with the long neck and the metal lid with the hole in it. Which then went into retirement. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/15 "2014-12-17T08:30:58Z")
When I’m on the road at work, I’m carrying my personal phone and a work phone. I go to call my dispatcher and absentmindedly dial my own phone. So I hang up the work phone to answer my phone, only to find that “they” have hung up already. We have too many work phones for me to recognize the numbers, so I wonder “who the hell is that?” and hit redial, causing the work phone to start ringing (“Will you people leave me the fuck alone?!?!”). Luckily I recognized my own number. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cell-smart-phone-brainfarts/707212/16 "2014-12-17T09:50:54Z")
[giggling] That’s either really funny, or the second bourboned eggnog is kicking in. OK, bedtime. [still giggling]