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Iowa County Launches Nation's First '911' Via Text Message

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Aug 6th 2009 at 4:19PM


People are constantly incriminating themselves with poorly timed or damaging text messages, but one Iowa county is finally allowing people to get themselves out of trouble with their texting thumbs. According to the AP, the emergency call center located in the county jail in Waterloo, Iowa is the first in the nation to accept texts directed to 911. The responders can even reply to the emergency messages via computer.

The service, so far, is only available to residents of Black Hawk County who subscribe to a T-Mobile wireless provider. County police chief Thomas Jennings said, "I think there's a need to get out front and get this technology available." There is definitely a need for the service (which law enforcement and emergency dispatch should have begun installing years ago), especially since texting has become the favored, and basically default, communication tool of many teens.

Emergency text services are also greatly needed for deaf, hard-of-hearing, or mute victims stuck in precarious positions. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect, though, could be the ability to more accurately and efficiently respond to kidnapped victims or hostages, like the Oregon teenager who, last year, saved herself from her captor by texting with a friend. [From: AP/AOL Money & Finance]
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Gadgets That Saved Lives
Call it a stroke of luck, the hands of fate, or a touch from God. No matter what you call it, there's no denying gadgets have helped saved some lives. So keep that gadget close by, folks. You never know when your time is up.
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Wired Politicians

    Al Gore
    Last year, hackers gained access to former Vice President Al Gore's blog, where they posted links to Web sites selling prescription drugs including Xanax, Oxycontin and Lortab. It is uncertain whether or not Rush Limbaugh visited any of the sites.

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    Putin with Dog
    This past October, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin saw a longtime dream realized when he equipped his black lab Koni with a GPS collar. Apparently, even dogs can be counter-intelligence risks.

    Putin in Judo Get-Up
    Always eager to display his virility, and his tech-savviness, Vladimir Putin released, and starred in, an instructional Judo DVD last year. And we thought George Bush was weird.

    Ron Paul
    As his campaign gathered steam at the end of 2007, Ron Paul watched -- probably confusedly -- as a group of his supporters banded together and marched in support of their candidate through the mystical realm of the World of Warcraft.

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    Karl Rove
    Former Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has recently entered the world of Twitter, regularly updating his page with self-promotions, answers to supporters' questions and topics for debate. How about this topic: "Does anybody really want that much Karl Rove?"

    Rush Limbaugh
    Unable to figure out how to back up e-mails on his Mac, a frustrated Rush Limbaugh beseeched Steve Jobs, on his radio program last year, to help him out. The problem must have been a tough fix; until this, we'd never heard of Rush asking for a Democrat's opinion.

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    Eliot Spitzer
    After resigning from the office of Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer finally found a new job last month, writing a weekly column for the online publication Slate. We wonder if that Playboy.com job fell through due to "a lack of moral fiber."

    White House Christmas vid
    Weirder than ever, George Bush and the rest of the First Family released their most eyebrow-raising Christmas video yet late last year. We're not sure what guest stars and gold medallists Michael Phelps and Nastia Liukin have to do with the Holidays, but we do know they're more popular than the still-President.

Tags: 911, 911 text messages, 911TextMessages, cell phones, CellPhones, disastertech, emergency, main, news, police, texting, textmessaging, top

Cell Phones

Carrier Pigeon Caught Trying to Smuggle Cell Phone Parts into Prison

by Laura June (RSS feed) — Apr 16th 2009 at 10:01AM

Back in late March and early April, when we first heard the terrifying tale of two shifty, hapless carrier pigeons intercepted while attempting to smuggle cellphone parts to inmates in a high-security Brazilian prison, we thought it was merely an isolated incident. Well, now that another pigeon has been caught -- this time outside a Colombian prison with a tiny suitcase full of cellphone components strapped to its back -- we have to face the truth: carrier pigeons are probably evil by nature. The Colombian authorities say that the pigeons are likely being raised inside the prison, then sent to the outside to collect the contraband handsets before doing what pigeons do best -- returning home. The officials also admit they are relatively powerless to combat the problem, though the intercepted bird is now imprisoned at a local animal shelter. So... how long until a different carrier pigeon is intercepted trying to sneak a teensy KRZR into the incarcerated, winged criminal?

Tags: carrier pigeon, CarrierPigeon, cellphone, cellphones, columbia, criminal birds, CriminalBirds, pigeon, pigeons, prison

Audio/Video, Cell Phones

Cell Phone Video Clears Man of Rape Charge

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Apr 7th 2009 at 10:35AM

Man Cleared of Rape Charge by Mobile Phone FootageOften, when a woman accuses a man of rape, there's little proof beyond he-said-she-said, and, in many cases, that's enough to put the man away, whether he's guilty or not. The onus definitely falls upon the accused to prove his innocence in most of these cases. In the recent case of Gary Taylor, a 41-year-old businessman, the defendant was able to prove his innocence, according to a report in the Daily Mail last week, thanks to some rather racy footage captured on his mobile phone.

Taylor had recently been accused of four counts of rape by a 27-year-old woman whose name has been withheld for legal reasons. The woman testified that Taylor had raped her in her apartment while she was "quite drunk" on the night of September 26, 2008.

The trial was going badly for Taylor until he produced footage of the woman "actively" engaging in the sexual acts that she claimed to have had forced upon her. The footage was shown only to the judge and jury, and Taylor was found not guilty of all four charges. The woman had not seen the video before it was shown to the judge and jury, and we're wondering if she even knew she was being recorded at the time, which potentially brings up a whole other legal issue. Regardless, had Taylor not had that phone, this whole case could have ended much differently. [From: The Daily Mail]

Related Links:

Tags: cell phones, CellPhones, crime and punishment, CrimeAndPunishment, evidence, footage, mobile video, MobileVideo, rape, tech evidence, TechEvidence, trial, trials, video

Cell Phones

Canadian Principal Uses Chinese Device to Jam Students' Cell Phones

by Chad Mumm (RSS feed) — Apr 2nd 2009 at 2:31PM


We've seen our fair share of teen cell phone mishaps. From highly publicized 'sexting' trials to our favorite story of a girl arrested for hiding a cell phone in her butt, there seems to be no limit to our kids' cellular shenanigans.

It seems that all teens have cell phones now, and that, apparently, they just can't stay out of trouble with them. Back in 2007, Steve Gray, principal of Port Hardy Secondary School in Vancouver, Canada, was fed up with students using their phones in class, so he took action. After a school-wide ban on electronics failed to quell the use of the devices, Gray finally, last week, took matters into his own hands. He jumped online and bought a $165 electronic jammer from China.

Last Tuesday, after putting the small tin box with four antennae in the school's library, Gray fired it up. According to The Globe and Mail, students spent the first day wondering if the cellular tower was down, but, by the second day, had figured out that something was amiss. Last Thursday, they held a protest.

Read more →

Tags: cell phone, cell phones, CellPhone, CellPhones, jamming, teenagers, teens, top

Cell Phones

Should We Ban Our Kids From Texting?

by Chad Mumm (RSS feed) — Mar 31st 2009 at 4:12PM


Since text messaging has become the de facto mode of communication for an entire generation of teens and tweens, many parents have had to question their kids' use of the technology. Some are even taking the drastic step of banning text messaging, altogether. It's not hard to see why; we've reported on a myriad of incidents involving teens and texts, from states banning it on their roadways to high-profile teen "sexting" trials. Still, is it the right move to cut off your kids? Is it possible that barring them from text messaging might actually hurt their development?

Debbe Geiger, a writer and mother of two from Durham, NC, has had mixed feelings since her family banned their children from texting. In a recent blog post for the New York Times, Geiger discusses the conflict that arises from worrying about "mean-girl" texts and the dangers of irresponsible use while simultaneously wishing for the convenience of being in touch with her kids in a way palatable to them.

In regards to "mean" text messaging, we think it's safe to say that kids were being mean to each other long before texting came around. It's just that, now, the messages are being passed digitally instead of being scrawled on handwritten notes and stashed away in lockers. As unfortunate as it may be, gossip and meanness are a part of growing up; banning the text is not going to eliminate the message.

Read more →

Tags: cell phone, cellphone, cellphones, sexting, teens, text, text messaging, texting, TextMessaging

Cell Phones, TV, Mobile Phones

Mom Gets $50K Bill After Teen Downloads 'Lost' via Cell Phone

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Mar 13th 2009 at 10:15AM

Teen Downloads 'Lost' Episodes Over Cellular Modem, Mom Gets $50,000 Bill
Remember last year's tale of the unfortunate (and unidentified) public servant who managed to rack up a $200,000 phone bill by downloading numerous movies over a non-unlimited cellular data plan? His wasn't the first such outrageous bill we've seen, nor even the second, but at least he can take solace in knowing he won't be the last, with news coming of a Spanish city councilwoman receiving a $50,000 bill courtesy of her daughter's downloads (technically, the woman received a bill of around 40,000 Euros, which converts to around $50K, according to El Mundo).

This woman has a Wi-Fi network in her Madrid aparatment, but the daughter was unable to access it from her bedroom consistently. So, she started using mom's 3G cellular modem, provided by the municipal government and paid for on a per-kilobyte basis, to download television episodes like 'Lost.' Many, many shows and gigabytes later, the mother was presented with the resulting bill and has pledged to repay the council. We hope the daughter at least foots a portion of that -- and that she has a better idea of what's going on in 'Lost' than we do. [From: El Mundo, via Fox News]

Read more →

Tags: big bills, BigBills, bill, billing, cell phones, CellPhones, cellular modem, CellularModem, download, dumb, teens, top, tv

Cell Phones, Computers

German Couples Prefer Internet, Cell Phones to Romance

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Mar 3rd 2009 at 4:38PM

German Couples Prefer Internet, Cell Phones to Romance

Remember when we indicated that half of women would rather spend time online than being intimate with their partners? Many of you reacted with disbelief and many of you agreed wholeheartedly. Regardless of your opinions on the subject, it seems that the sentiment is shared in Europe as well, with a survey of 20-something-year-old couples finding that 84-percent of them would rather break up with their current partner than break up with their Internet connection.

The study was conducted by a German Internet service provider named Bitkom, which found that survey respondents in the age bracket of 19 to 20 were far more enamored with their high-speed Internet connections than they were with their lovers. A whopping 97-percent of the 1,000 people polled said they'd prefer to keep their mobile phones than their partners, if given the chance.

That last statistic , we think, is a little bit sad, but given how attached we are to ours, it's not entirely surprising. [From: Reuters]

Related Links:

Tags: cell phones, CellPhones, internet, internet addiction, InternetAddiction, relationships, romance, trends

Cell Phones

UN Report: 6 in 10 People Worldwide Use Cell Phones

by Darren Murph (RSS feed) — Mar 3rd 2009 at 4:03PM


Outfits like Nokia have been just rolling in profits from selling oodles of low margin handsets in developing nations across the globe, so it's no shock at all to hear that those very countries have propelled the worldwide usage tally well above the 50 percent mark. According to a wide-ranging United Nations report, around six in ten people across the globe now use mobile phones, and as expected, fixed line subscriptions have increased at a much slower pace. If you're wondering just how significant this figure really is, chew on this: in 2002, just under 15 percent of the global population used a cellie. Impressive, eh?

[Via TG Daily]

Tags: accounts, cellphone users, cellphones, CellphoneUsers, culture, milestone, people, phone lines, PhoneLines, statistics, subscriptions, world, world record, WorldRecord, worldwide

Computers

Windows 7 Coming Next Year, Says Ballmer

by Ross Miller (RSS feed) — Feb 25th 2009 at 11:53AM


Sure, we're still anticipating -- but not necessarily merrily -- the release of Windows Mobile 6.5, but for those who wish to look even farther into the future, Microsoft head honcho Steve Ballmer said in a conference call this week that WinMo 7 will be out sometime next year. That jibes pretty well with what we've heard from Motorola and ZDNet before, although there's probably a dozen or so known unknowns that could push it well into 2011 or beyond. For now, however, we're willing to take Steve at his word. Hey, at least they're not gearing up for a Windows Mobile 6.75 in the interim... right?

Tags: 2010, ballmer, cell phones, CellPhones, microsoft, mobile, steve ballmer, SteveBallmer, windmo 6.5, windmo 65, Windmo6.5, Windmo65, windows, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.5, windows mobile 65, windows mobile 7, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.5, WindowsMobile65, WindowsMobile7, winmo 7, Winmo7

Cell Phones

FAA Tells Pilots to Turn Off Their Cell Phones

by Chad Mumm (RSS feed) — Feb 19th 2009 at 12:21PM



The FAA has released a safety advisory recommending pilots turn off cell phones in the cockpit. Passengers are well-versed in powering off before takeoff, but during a recent en-route inspection, the first officer's cellphone began ringing as the aircraft sped down the runway for takeoff. The advisory states:
During the takeoff phase, just prior to reaching V1, a rather loud "warbling" sound was detected by both crewmembers. It was later determined that the sound came from the First Officer's cellular phone, which had been left in the ON position. As a result, the ring tone caused a distraction between the crewmembers during the takeoff phase and could have led the crew to initiate an unnecessary rejected takeoff.
This is probably not an isolated incident; in fact, the crew had never been instructed to turn off cell phones in the cockpit and their general operating manual did not address it.

Read more →

Tags: airbus, airlines, airlinesafety, airlinesecurity, airplane, boeing, cell phone, cell phones, cellphone, cellphones, faa, faa travel, FaaTravel, inflightcalling, travel

Cell Phones

NFL's Security Texting System Will Be On-Duty at Super Bowl

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Jan 23rd 2009 at 11:54AM

NFL's Security Texting On-Duty at Super BowlWe reported just a few weeks ago about the NFL's new "Electronic Lifeline" system that allows fans who aren't having a family-friendly and fun time at games to get help from security without having to leave their seats. Now, the NFL is confirming that the service will be making an appearance at this year's Super Bowl XLIII, set to kick off on February 1, 2009 in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Visitors of the Raymond James Stadium will be able to send text messages from their phones if they feel threatened or offended by other visitors at the game. Texts will be directed to stadium security and, if the system works, a guard will appear post-haste. It's unclear exactly what will happen to anyone who finds themselves on the wrong side of a textual complaint, but we're guessing getting kicked out of the game is a real possibility.

Given that tickets are going for between $1,500 and $10,000 depending on where you purchase them from, we're thinking that's some seriously stiff punishment. [From: textually.org]

Related Links:

Tags: cell phone, cell phones, CellPhone, CellPhones, nfl, security, sports, super bowl, super bowl xliii, SuperBowl, SuperBowlXliii, text, texting, txt

Cell Phones

Some Cell Phone Fans Being Buried With Their Mobiles

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Dec 16th 2008 at 6:04PM

You Can't Take it With You, but you Can Get Buried With It
It's quite common for someone's family to include a treasured memento with a loved one when they're buried, whether it be a piece of jewelry, a note, or some other trinket that was important to them. So, it should probably come as no surprise that this day and age, when everyone seems to spend all day either talking or texting, that trinket is increasingly some sort of cell phone.

Yes, we love to hate them in the living world, but many are choosing to take their mobile addictions to the afterlife by requesting that they be buried with whatever their current handset of choice is. Some families even send them under with fully-charged batteries so that they can receive calls from beyond the dead. To top it all off, there's a report of a frequent Bluetooth headset-wearer (a.k.a. a "Bluetooth guy") getting buried with his earpiece in.

We're not sure how we feel about encouraging gratuitous Bluetooth usage among the living or the dead, but with many people being more attached to their handsets than their pets, you can't blame their families for wanting to send people off with their gadgets -- if only to stop the things from ringing. [From: MSNBC]

Tags: bluetooth, bluetooth guy, bluetooth headset, BluetoothGuy, BluetoothHeadset, cell phones, CellPhones, death, grave, top, weird

Cellphones

Distracted Cell Phone Users Aren't a New Phenomenon

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Dec 13th 2008 at 8:10AM

Distracted Cell Phone Users Aren't a New PhoenomenonWe have plenty of distractions these days, not the least of which being our cell phones. The things can do just about anything your home computer can, and so they can be rather engrossing. We've seen how they've caused car accidents, and even resulted in multiple people walking into the paths of oncoming trains. But, according to a University of Virginia professor, the practice is certainly nothing new.

Peter Norton is the author of 'Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City.' He indicates that the so-called "textlemmings" are just the most recent version of people getting lost thanks to some form of modern distraction:
Every time you introduce a new technology, we have to figure out how it fits into the existing technological structure ... Today it's texting. A century ago it was reading books while crossing the street in traffic. Norton has several cartoons that illustrate that very subject - pedestrians with noses buried in books stepping in front of angry motorists.
However, while this practice may not be new, it's still dangerous. So, make sure you at least put down the cell phone when crossing the street -- and don't forget to look both ways! [From: textually.org]

Tags: cell phones, CellPhones, driving while texting, DrivingWhileTexting, text, texting, textlemming

iPhone

American Airlines Getting In On That Cell Phone Boarding Pass Fad

by Engadget Staff (RSS feed) — Nov 14th 2008 at 11:51AM


American Airlines has joined its peers at Continental in offering boarding pass barcodes that you can download to and display on your BlackBerry, iPhone, G1, or whatever have you. Presently the airline is only offering the option on domestic, non-stop flights departing from O'Hare -- LAX and Orange County will start on the 17th. Some eastern yanks might be asking, "What, no JFK or Logan? Where's the east coast love, AA?" Don't get too bent out of shape, boys and girls -- tech-savvy business travelers love their BlackBerrys, so we could see this pop up just about everywhere before long.

[Via Mobilitysite]

Tags: airline, airplane, airport, boarding, boarding pass, boarding passes, boardingpass, boardingpasses, booking, cellphone, cellphone boarding, cellphoneboarding, cellphones, flight, lax, mobile, ohare, orange county, orangecounty, santa ana john wayne, santaanajohnwayne, transportation, travel

Cell Phones

77% of Americans Use Cell Phones to Text-Message While Driving

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Oct 21st 2008 at 12:42PM

Pervasive cell phone use is on the rise, and it's not just a concern with bad manners. We've reported on people walking in front of trains and crashing cars while focusing more on their phones than what they're doing. And don't forget that this summer's awful train crash in Los Angeles was blamed on a texting. Now, new survey by software company Neverfail, Inc is showing just how pervasive these dangerous habits are becoming, and the findings are disconcerting, to say the least.

The data shows that 77-percent of people have used their mobile e-mail device, like a BlackBerry, while driving a car. Ridiculously, 41-percent have done the same while either skiing, riding a horse, or riding a bicycle, and 11-percent have used one during a "romantic moment!" All the stats, available at the Read link below, are amazing sign of just how addicted to these things some people are. [From: Reuters]

Tags: addiction, BlackBerry, cell phones, CellPhones, driving, killer gadgets, KillerGadgets, surveys, texting while driving, TextingWhileDriving

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