photo credit: Facebook Privacy Issues

Once again Facebook is making headlines. This isn’t necessarily a good thing. This time, Facebook has allowed third party developers access to your street address and cell phone information. This information was made public on January 14th. As of the 18th, Facebook rescinded permission for app developers to have access. Isn’t this like closing the barn door after the horse is gone? Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: 911 Cell Phone Donations

Free 911 cell phones have been given to residents of a mobile home park that was ravaged by fire this week. After fire swept through a mobile home park in Orange County, California, AT&T landline phone service was unavailable. This posed a serious problem for many elderly residents who needed a way to contact 911. The solution came when the city of Lake Forest gave the residents cell phones from their Cell Phones for Life program. This is a nonprofit organization whose mission, along with the city, is to provide free cell phones and batteries to seniors to call 911.

“We have this program available and we want to make sure they get out to the people who need them,” Gary Magill, director of community services for the City of Lake Forest, said. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Chinese Game ZT Online

From PC to mobile phones, ZT Online is making history. The new technology used is a first for mobile phone gaming. According to an article posted on ChinaTechNews.com, “Unlike common mobile phone online games, the mobile version ZT Online uses a part of the gaming data of the PC version to enable synchronous role creation, level upgrades, and interactive chats with the PC end. In addition, to make it a better option for the mobile phone users, the new mobile version ZT Online will introduce nearly 200 original story missions.” Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Winter Tips for Smartphone Users

Just how bad is the winter cold for your Smartphone? First of all, lithium ion batteries don’t like extreme temperatures, either hot or cold. Verizon Wireless recommends you keep your battery fully charged in case of emergency. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Rider Safety Tips

USRider provides roadside emergency assistance for equestrians. Members simply call the toll-free number on the back of their membership card from their cell phone. USRider is in its ninth year providing emergency roadside assistance to horse owners. This is all well and fine as long as your cell phone battery isn’t dead. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: iPhone Toddler

The iPhone is now the toy of choice for toddlers. What? Yes, according to an article by Hilary Stout, NY Times, many parents are now using their iPhones to tame their tantrum-prone toddlers. It’s a phenomenon that is creating concern from some childhood development specialists, (and me). Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: 911 Cell Phone Bank

The 911 Cell Phone Bank program is giving away free cell phones for emergency calls. Started in 2004, this program was created to provide an ongoing and readily available source of 911 cell phones and funds to meet unexpected and urgent needs of participating law enforcement and affiliated victim service agencies. To date, the program has generated more than $1 million in funding and has distributed over 95,000 emergency cell phones nationwide.

The 911 Cell Phone Bank program has more than 1,500 active agencies participating, and is growing. The top ten participating agencies in November were:

1. Cook County Sheriff’s Office, IL
2. Harbor House, FL
3. FDEP Central District, FL
4. Quigley House, FL
5. Capital Area Corporate Recycling, LA
6. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, FL
7. Bay County Sheriff’s Office, FL
8. AMS HQ Fitchburg, WI
9. City of Hampton Sheriff’s Office, VA
10. Ross County Sheriff’s Office, OH

Each year over 100 million people upgrade their cell phones. Most people just throw them in a drawer and forget about them. Wouldn’t it be great if more people knew about this program and sent their phones to the 911 Cell Phone Bank? I know that our company, batteries4less.com, donates new batteries for cell phones donated locally to victim survivor groups. Verizon also has a program called Hopeline, refurbishing retired cell phones and distributing them to charitable organizations.

10.5 million seniors live alone. According to the 911CellPhoneBank.org website, every 9 seconds a woman is abused, and 60% of those women are pregnant. Many areas distribute these phones through county agencies or through law enforcement. Most communities have some sort of domestic violence survival program. Providing an emergency cell phone to these people has the potential to save lives in a big way. The 911 Cell Bank organization works strictly with agencies, not individuals.

Emergency phones are only for dialing 911. Cell phones are given free of charge to people who need them, but the phones will only have the capability of dialing 911. Officials estimate that more than 2,000 emergency cell phones are distributed each month through law enforcement and other agencies. Imagine the lives they can save.

Promote the 911 Cell Phone Bank and everyone wins. All donations are of course a tax deduction. You can also promote 911 Cell Phone Bank’s Facebook fan page and reach even more people. Their goal is to be “liked” by 1,000 people by the end of the year. So get on Facebook and click on the like tab for the 911 Cell Phone Bank page. Awareness is everything! You never know whose life you may be saving by a free emergency phone.

photo credit: 12 Android Phone Apps

Your Droid phone can do amazing things. Out of the box Droid phones is a still and video camera, an address book, a GPS navigator, and yes, even a phone. But with some downloaded apps, your Droid becomes Super Droid. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: High Tech on the Slopes

The times they are a changing… It used to be that it was very bad form to answer a cell phone while on a ski lift or be found chatting on the lodge catwalk. It was like being caught with your cell phone going off in the movie theater. Now due to social media platforms, Smartphone apps and the like, it is no longer a faux pas to whip out your cell phone on the slopes. In fact, you are probably in the minority if you don’t. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Smartphone Shopping

Who is that suspicious person lurking about the isles with their cell phone? It’s Super Shopper scanning barcodes via Smartphone for the best deal on that item. Say what? Yes, indeed. No longer are you subjected to blind shopping if you didn’t catch all the ads in the Sunday paper. You can now download a shopping app that will allow you to scan the barcode of an item and get the best prices from all the competing stores. Read the rest of this entry »