Cell phones are a good thing but, sometimes, when I watch the way people are using them, I can't help thinking that the technology has become a blight upon mankind. I've been in Dallas and am now in New York and have watched with interest the way people have thoroughly embraced the use of the cell phone.

Now it seems everyone has one tucked away somewhere. Everyone is talking.

Outrageously cheap rates are driving the talking. Sprint for example is offering a monthly flat rate of $150 a month for 1,500 minutes for calling from anywhere in the US. That's right -- 25 hours of calling a month with no additional charges for roaming. Almost every company is now offering flat rate phone plans.

A bus driver in Dallas, after almost being cut off by a talking driver, noted that a country and western star had recently crashed while talking on the cell phone and was now in hospital. Some US states are actively debating controlling or banning the use of hand held cell phones while driving after such incidents. Accident rates have shot up. The New England Journal of Medicine found that talking on a phone while driving quadruples the odds of having an accident and is nearly as risky as driving while intoxicated.

Brooklyn, Ohio, the Cleveland suburb that claims to have pioneered the mandatory seat-belt law has extended its traffic safety laws to the use of cell phones. Everyone is debating cell phone use -- and misuse.

"I was waiting to get out of a exit and there were five cars coming around the circle,'' the driver said. "Could you believe it? In all five every single driver had a phone to his ear. All in a line.'' While travelling on this same bus -- to the Dallas Convention Centre where a risk managers conference was being held -- three delegates were using their cell phones to keep connected to their offices. One was setting up her schedule for the remainder of the week before she flew off to Malaysia on Sunday. The guy sitting a row over was discussing the hiring of an executive for the company with a colleague in another city.

"I think that offer is too rich,'' he said about the proposed salary. "And he gets stock options for performance -- like the rest of us.'' The executive then went on to discuss in excruciating detail the firm's financials so the stock option bonus could be worked out in the offer of employment. At the back of the bus another guy was yammering away on the phone. My ears aren't that good so I can't tell you what he was discussing. We passed a billboard sign which stated in bold white letters: "Make Nokia your wireless phone''. In the advertisement the word "wireless'' was crossed out and "only'' was inserted on top. I kid you not.

While waiting to board the airplane in Dallas to get to New York, three people in my immediate area were conducting a telephone conversation. One woman managed to grab her bags, give her boarding pass, walk pass the flight attendants and get to her seat all the while chatting on the telephone. On the way she passed another guy talking on his cell.

My friend Joe noted that New Yorkers have really taken to using cell phones en masse only in the past two years. You can't go anywhere without a phone ringing or someone talking on one somewhere.

In the US there are an estimated 67 million users of cell phones. That figure is expected to double by the end of next year. With all the talks of banning drivers from using hand held phones, some companies are hoping to capitalise on speech recognition devices that will allow people to keep their hands on the wheel. SRI Consulting is developing what it calls an "intelligent transportation system'' which will control vehicle stereo systems, climate control, navigation questions and voice-activated dialling.

The Economist magazine last week had a story about how scientists have discovered that cell phones might be good for you. Cell phones have been accused of causing headaches, depression, memory loss and brain cancer. The problems have been blamed on microwaves producing subtle biochemical tweeks.

Alan Preece of Bristol University could find no ill-effects from mobile-phone use in a study he and his colleagues did, according to the magazine.

"In fact, the researchers found the opposite: using such phones may speed up an individual's reactions,'' the magazine stated. The study found reaction time improved by four percent in test subjects.

New York's Village Voice newspaper had a feature on the obsession New Yorkers have with portable gadgetry. It featured lists of what some people felt they needed to carry about with them. "Ken Li, 26, technology and business reporter for the New York Daily News, manages to carry his Nokia 6160, BlackBerry pager, Motorola numeric pager, NEC MobilePro 770 handheld PC, and IBM ThinkPad 560z laptop all on his skinny frame,'' the magazine said, in the article about the "gadget elite'' -- the "early adopters'' of technology.

The BlackBerry pager is the latest new gadget that's hot on the market.

Produced by Research in Motion, the pager synchronises with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange so you can send and receive E-mail using your current E-mail address. The gadget can also send "text to voice'' messages through the phone using a synthesised voice program.

King of the roamers: Last year the king of Moldova's Gypsies, Mircea Cerari, died and as was traditional, was buried with his belongings. Instead of the usual gold ear-rings, cards, copper pots, or horseshoe, Mr. Cerari was buried with his computer, fax modem, and cell phone.

He was also buried with a vodka-stocked bar. Organisers of his interment insisted that concrete was poured over the grave to deter thieves from breaking in. Associate Press ran a story with the headline "Moldova's gypsy king is dead -- but not out of touch.''