photo credit: Confession App

Are you a Catholic needing to go to confession? There’s an app for that. Seriously though, it’s not actually an app to substitute for confession. (The Catholic Church is very clear on this issue.) It is an app for the iPhone that helps you figure out how you’ve sinned (as if you didn’t know) and formulate a confession. It’s called Confession: A Roman Catholic App, and was created by Little iApps with the help of two Catholic priests ($1.99). And it has been given the blessing of Bishop Kevin C. Rhodes of the Diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend, Indiana.

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Motorola Xoom - Now or Later?

The Motorola Xoom became available February 24th. With its 10.1 inch screen and 1280 by 800 resolution display, it is perfect for displaying pictures and presentations. The Xoom’s Honeycomb OS runs Nvidia’s Tegra 2 platform, with a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of on-board user memory (plus an SD card slot). What’s not to love? Why not rush out and buy it now?

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Android Nook Color

Want a new Android Tablet for $249? The Nook Color actually runs on the Android mobile operating system. Of course out of the box it isn’t an Android tablet, but with some tweeking, you can root the Nook Color to be an Android tablet. According to an article posted by Anya Vinclauv, Gather Technology, “Once rooted, the Nook Color has access to the Android 3.0 Honeycomb port, and the ability to run apps from Android Market. The market was locked out upon purchase of the device from Barnes & Noble.”

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: iPad 2 Event

The much touted iPad 2 is rumored to be revealed today in San Francisco at 1:00 pm. Special invitations for the event were sent out with a sneaky-looking iPad peeking out from behind the date. Rumors are flying about just what the new features will be. According to Catharine Smith, The Huffington Post, MacLife offers a sobering prediction: “While many may be disappointed if Apple doesn’t ’shock and awe’ with the next iPad, the reality is that the company’s tablet is leading the market by such a wide margin at this point, Cupertino can still afford to coast a little bit — at least until September, when the rumor mill claims we’ll likely see a more spectacular iPad 2 with the bells and whistles that make us all swoon.”

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Is Your Teen Sexting?

Is your teen sexting? Sexting is the practice of sending naughty pictures via text message or email. There is apparently an epidemic of sexting going on with teens today. (And for those who feel like they are still teens… LOL) But all kidding aside, it is a major problem among teens today. Many teens today have their own cell phones, and it is considered a violation of their privacy to monitor their texting and calls. (When I was young it was like having your mother read your diary…) And while you may not want to step on your teen’s privacy issues, did you know that in some states the parents can be punished for the sexting that their teen does?

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Casio Bluetooth Wristwatch

Ever had to dig in your bag to silence your ringing cell phone? Now you can just tap your wristwatch twice and it will silence your phone. According to Martyn Williams, IDG News, Casio has developed a prototype system that can mute a phone with a couple of taps to a wristwatch. The wristwatch works with Bluetooth Low Power technology (BLE-technology) and an app that enables it to link with your cell phone. The watch is scheduled to be out to consumers by the end of the year.

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: 911 Oral Histories

None of us will ever forget the tragedy of September 11, 2001. We are coming up on 10 years since it devastated New York, and really the whole world. A new app, Broadcastr, seeks to make audio clips available as an oral history of the terrible event. Debuting this month, this app will make those stories available on both the Internet and Smartphones.

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: GPS Systems Jammed

Despite warnings and concerns by the FAA and the Defense Department, LightSquared was given conditional approval. The plan is for LightSquared to install up to 40,000 terrestrial cell phone base stations across the U.S. to augment its mobile satellite communications service. The FAA is concerned with test results involving the Garmin International GPS system that was jammed by the LightSquared transmitter. Not only does this affect GPS systems in vehicles, but also in airplanes. This can’t be good.

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: PGA Allows Cell Phones

The PGA has long banned fans having cell phones at Tour events. Finally, after significant pressure, Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s Chief of Operations, announced the policy change Tuesday after allowing cell phone use at five previous tournaments as part of an experiment to enhance fans’ overall experiences, according to Reuters. The PGA’s new rules allow the mobile devices with the some restrictions. The volume must be on silent, you can only make calls in designated areas, you may only take still photos during practice rounds, and there is to be no video recording at all.

The Tour will formally introduce the new policy at the Honda Classic in March. After several months of testing, the powers-that-be decided fans could bring and use their mobile phones at Tour events. Of course there will be stiff penalties like being kicked out of the tournament if you are caught taking photos or don’t have your phone on silent mode.

“We understand that mobile devices are an important part of everyday life,” said Andy Pazder. “We concluded, after the five test tournaments, that allowing mobile devices on-site at Tour events was a tremendous fan enhancement, allowing them to stay connected to business and family.”

There are more benefits than just being able to make calls. With web browsing capable cell phones, you can also pull up PGATour.com and check the leader boards for the latest scores and statistics. According to Yahoo Sports, there are also some interesting stories about the old days when cell phones were banned at the Tour Events. Fans would use their cell phones up to the last minute before entering the event, and then toss them into a bush with a lot of other last minute users’ phones. When they came to retrieve their phone, they would use someone else’s phone to call their cell phone and pick up the one ringing. I bet that was pretty funny to watch.

Are you a golfing fan? Do you think the PGA should let fans bring their cell phones into events? Do you think fans can be trusted to only use cell phones in designated places and have the phones on silent mode? How many of us hear cell phones go off in movie theaters when it is clearly posted and even announced that cell phone usage is prohibited? Perhaps being threatened with expulsion from such a costly event, like the PGA Tour, is a good deterrent. After all, confiscating your cell phone probably constitutes some sort of personal freedom violation.

photo credit: Numbers Can Stimulate Emotions

Pushing the numbers on your cell phone can elicit emotions. Our brains have been so impacted by the numbers on your cell phone keyboard that just pressing numbers in certain sequences can affect your emotional state. Studies done at the University of Würzburg in Germany show that just by typing the numbers that correspond to the letters in a word like “love,” we can activate the meaning of that word in our minds. According to an article posted by USNews.com, our brains now understand number sequencing as it corresponds to our cell phones. The results of the study in Germany were published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Read the rest of this entry »