photo credit: Internet Dark in Egypt

First the Egyptian government blocked social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Now rumors have it that the Egyptian government has blocked Internet connections countrywide. According to an article by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, ZDNet, his sources (Renesys, an Internet analytics firm) confirmed that Egypt has really blocked the vast majority of its Internet connections. Essentially, this has cut off the Egyptian people from the Internet. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Uncle Sam is Watching

You most likely carry a tracking device everywhere you go. For those of us with GPS enabled cell phones, our locations (even when the phone is powered off) are being tracked by cell phone towers. Law enforcement wants to access this information without showing probable cause, however may have to obtain your private records by showing “probable cause” standard. At least this is what the 3rd US District Circuit Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania ruled in September 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: My Mobile Watchdog

Are your kids protected from sexual predators? Do your kids have cell phones? While this is a major convenience for most of us, kids and cell phones can pose many dangers. Are you concerned about a stranger texting your kids? Worried that inappropriate photos being sent back and forth? My Mobile Watchdog may be a viable solution for you and your kids. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Cell Phone Search

Your texting is subject to police search. Earlier this month the Supreme Court of California granted police the right to search a suspect’s cell phone without a warrant. The 5-2 ruling from the Court about the Diaz case stunned the California people. Many feel this ruling is an invasion of privacy and that we are becoming more of a police state reminiscent of Nazi Germany. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle’s SF Gate, Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar noted that the decision permits police “to rummage at leisure through the wealth of personal and business information that can be carried on a mobile phone or handheld computer merely because the device was taken from an arrestee’s person.” I can hardly wait to see what the civil liberty groups make of this ruling. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: FBI Tracking Cell Phones

The FBI used cell phone tracking to gather evidence which lead to a conviction for a rogue New York City cop. According to an article by Peter J. Sampson, The Record (Hackensack N.J.), the FBI used a computer mapping program and “call detail” logs obtained from Sprint Nextel to track the activities of Kelvin L. Jones, suspected of a $1 Million perfume heist. The FBI was able to track Jones’ movement on the day of the Carlstadt robbery using cell phone records, which proved to be highly incriminating along with other evidence. Because of his experience and training as a police officer, Jones knew how to cover his tracks, even using a prepaid anonymous cell phone. However, because of the cell phone tracking evidence, Jones was convicted last month. Read the rest of this entry »

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: Molycorp Mine Reopening

Colorado-based Molycorp says it’s reopening its Mountain Pass mine in California. Their aim is to product as much as 20,000 tons of rare earth elements (REEs). This would constitute about 20% of China’s output and help the US become less dependent on China for the REEs. While REEs are not truly rare, they are hard to extract. China pretty much has the monopoly on REEs, enjoying the fact that over 90 percent of rare earths are mined and processed there. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Rare Earth Elements

An integral part of that cell phone you can’t live without is neodymium. Neodymium is used in magnets for computers, audio speakers and of course cell phones. Another rare earth mineral, Holmium, has the greatest magnetic strength of any element and is used in medical and dental lasers. In addition, many technologies and US military weaponry rely on a group of these rare earth minerals. So what you may ask? The big deal is that we rely on China for most of these rare minerals. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Android SMS Bug

Are your SMS messages going to the right person? Have you been sending messages to one phone number, only to have it received by someone totally different? Apparently this has been an ongoing bug in the Android SMS App system for about 6 months. As of today Google still hasn’t fixed the problem. Read the rest of this entry »