Deadly cellphones in Pakistan

A recent rumor about a cellphone virus causing deaths has caused panic in Pakistan. Here is my analysis of the news

Yesterday, I tried calling my car mechanic on his cell phone and he did not pick up the call. I went to the workshop and inquired the reason. He told me that he didn't want to die at this (young) age. He told me a story that his neighbor made this mistake of receiving a phone call on the cell phone and the next moment he had a broken leg. Wow! I was amazed at such a daring exhibit of absurdness.

It forced me to dig further on the subject so I had a chat with a number of people that were completely or partially advocating the idea. People have come up with various scientific explanations of the situation. Here are the most popular ones

Computer virus

Some people think, this is a computer virus (a software program) that is transmitted to your cell phone during a voice call. After being downloaded, it forces your phone to generate a strange sound that damages your braincells, resulting in a bleeding ear or a (this is funny) broken leg and an eventual death.

If it is a computer virus, we are talking about a cross hardware, cross operating system software program. That means the same software program that can be downloaded and executed on a Nokia NSeries mobile phone can be downloaded and run on a Samsung E600 (both having entirely different microprocessors and operating systems) and on any other mobile phone in the world. This is nothing short of a miracle to achieve. I am sure my fellow computer scientists would agree. Even if we assume it to be true true that a real cross-platform software program for cell phones can be made, which is being transmitted via a GSM voice call. What-the ?? Come again! a GSM voice call? So here is the catch my fellow readers:

GSM is a very nice and practical protocol for the cellular phone community. It has two basic services Voice and Data transmission. Read the referenced Wikipedia article and you will notice that Voice service (the active service when you are making or receiving a phone call) cannot be used to transfer and download digital data to your cell phone. You need to use the Data transmission service (SMS, GPRS, etc.) to be able to transfer data (or a software program on a cell phone). Whereas, in our case, people are said to be dying after picking up a Voice call. Doesn't it explain anything?

Biological virus

Some say this is actually a biological virus that is transmitted over the cellular phone signals (GSM signal).

To my utmost disappointment, I have seen a few telecom engineers giving this explanation, what could be worse than that?
A biological virus is a chemical (DNA or RNA) structure, that means a set of molecules!! Are we trying to say that matter is being transmitted via electromagnetic waves and then entering your ear? I am sure Einstein and many other scientists are really upset in their graves as we speak of this idiocy.

How it started

I have a very strong feeling that somebody read Stephen King's bestseller "Cell" and then played a prank with someone who hadn't read the novel. I think it turned out that most of the people in our country hadn't read the piece of fiction and it was so easy to be fool them. Just like that, things started falling into place and we have this situation at hand.

My wife works in a Government hospital of Lahore. She and a few fellow doctors came across an interesting case in the Emergency ward. An unconscious patient was brought in with his attendants telling the Doctors that he received a strange phone call on his cell phone and fell unconscious immediately after that. It must have been the deadly virus that killed our dear friend. The doctors checked his vital signs and blood pressure. Everything appeared to be normal. None of the signs suggested any abnormality in his physical conditions. It was almost certain that he was only pretending to be unconscious. So they decided to 'electrocute' him. A little spark near the left ribs and he woke up like a light bulb, walking back home the next minute. Obviously, it matters how our mind is treating a certain rumor. Human psychology is an amazing thing, it has the potential of letting you believe and (even) feel something that is not happening in the reality.

Below are a few interesting reads on the subject.

The present rumor in Pakistan has caught almost everyone's attention in the world. Here is an interesting news article on this subject. (The world is laughing at us):

You probably already know that you can pick up bad germs from sitting on a toilet seat in a public restroom - but did you also know that deadly viruses can be transmitted into your body through your cell phone? http://www.tmcnet.com/news/2007/04/13/2507422.htm

History

The first ever mobile phone virus rumor was something like this: Mobile Phone virus (aka ACE-? and UNAVAILABLE)
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/mobile.htm

Here are a few equally funny hoaxes from the past

and another one

It is obvious that some culprits have always been trying to exploit the ignorance of a common man. No doubt, it would be great fun to start a prank that eventually hits all the TV channels and newspapers of the World but is it really worth that much of a damage?