Tag: SAFETY

Twitter has issued a warning to all UberSocial and Twitroyd users after discovering that some direct messages sent via the apps have become publicly visible. Twitter's Trust and Safety Team confirmed the vulnerability yesterday, explaining that it could affect any direct messages exceeding 140 characters in length, sent via "d username." Twitter says it has notified the apps' developer and is ...

RIM has decided to pull all BlackBerry apps designed to help drivers avoid sobriety checkpoints, in response to a request filed by four Democratic Senators. Thus far, at least one app has already vanished from the BlackBerry App World, a fact that drew praise from New York Senator Charles Schumer. "RIM's decision to remove these apps from their online store proves that when it comes to drunk ...

It's no secret that Facebook has plenty of underage users, but, according to a report from the Daily Telegraph, the social network is doing its best to keep them out. Facebook's chief privacy adviser, Mozelle Thompson, confirmed yesterday that the site bans about 20,000 underage users every day, as part of its campaign to tighten its 13-and-older age limit. Speaking to a Parliamentary ...

Facebook is expected to unveil a new set of anti-bullying tools today at the White House Conference for Bullying Prevention in Washington, D.C. The changes, designed to "create a culture of respect" among Facebook users, are focused on two main areas: a revamped safety center, and a broader array of more social mechanisms for reporting offensive or threatening content. The social network's ...

In about a month, the city of Marysville, California will test the country's first "smart" red light system, which is designed to predict and prevent traffic collisions at intersections. According to Sacramento's Fox 40 News, the city has incorporated predictive software into an existing red-light camera system, which is located at the intersection of 3rd and F streets. The system predicts when ...

A driver who killed a pedestrian late last year was allegedly updating her Facebook status behind the wheel, according to a lawsuit filed by the victim's family. On December 7th, 70-year-old Raymond Veloz was driving around Chicago's South Side when he got in a minor accident. When Veloz got out of his car to inspect the damage and exchange information with the driver of the other car, a woman ...

Parents everywhere can now hack into their kids' Facebook accounts without feeling even an ounce of guilt -- because a cop in New Jersey says it's okay. Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli recently told NBC New York that all parents should use keystroke-logging spyware to keep tabs on every site their children visit, and every status or photo they post to Facebook. "When it comes down to safety ...

It won't be able to help the U.S. drivers who are taking long trips this holiday season, but a new in-car device available in Denmark prevents drivers from dozing off by testing their awareness and monitoring their vehicle's movements. The Anti Sleep Pilot sits on the dash, and monitors the car's speed and direction, while intermittently asking the driver to tap its surface in order to combat ...

Borut Povše, of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, is conducting a slightly unsettling experiment in which high-powered industrial robots punch human subjects in an attempt to study the threshold at which machines cause pain. It sounds like the antics of a mad scientist, but Povše claims his work is aimed at quantifying the data necessary to institute Asimov's first rule of ...

Believe it or not, power lines are not self-sustaining. They get damaged, get worn, and ultimately fail with spectacular consequences. It's actually somebody's job to get up on those poles and high-tension towers, and inspect those cables to make sure they're still in working order. Needless to say, maneuvering cables with tens-of-thousands of volts pumping past is not exactly the safest of ...

A few months ago, Toyota was forced to recall millions of vehicles following accusations that some of their cars accelerated without warning. While the company acknowledged that many of the incidents could be attributed to faulty pedal placement, it also suggested that some drivers may have simply confused the gas pedal with the brake. Toyota may be able to tinker with its pedal arrangement, ...

Forget its tumbling currency and stagnant labor market. Europe has another issue far more important: spam. Lots and lots of spam. According to a recently released report from security firm Sophos, the Old World has just surpassed Asia as the world's leading spam continent, accounting for more than a third of all junk e-mail sent during the second quarter of 2010. Among individual European ...

After hearing lengthy complaints and protests from child safety advocates, Facebook has finally decided to implement a new feature designed to help teenage users stay safe online. As Reuters reports, members between the ages of 13 and 18 will now automatically receive an invitation to add an application that allows them to easily report suspicious activity. The feature, which is the result of a ...

A researcher at Yale University has developed a car-safety system that uses touch, rather than sight, to warn drivers of potential danger. According to Tech News Daily, John Morrell lined a car seat with a bunch of cell-phone vibration motors that warn drivers of approaching vehicles. The motors continuously (and lightly) vibrate as the driver cruises down the road. When another car ...

Take this as yet another reason to be careful about what you say and do at work. Chances are that your IT guys are digging a little deeper than they should. A survey conducted by Cyber-Ark Software found that 41-percent of IT pros admitted to "abusing" their administrative privileges. This means using passwords to access HR records and customer databases and finding other confidential ...