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?

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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.

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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.

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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: Top Virtuous Cell Phones

Wonder what impact your cell phone has on the environment? GoodGuide has just published a report rating the top 5 “virtuous” cell phones. The ratings are based upon not only environmentally safe practices, but also takes into consideration the social attributes as well? “Social attributes?” you may ask. This rating has to do with the safety and labor policies of the company manufacturing the cell phones. GoodGuide ranks individual models and manufacturers on 3 levels: health, environment, and social attributes. 576 phone models were rated.

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photo credit: Link-to-Cell Cordless Phones

Link-to-cell technology may bring new life back to your home phone system. Have you given up your land line phone? Are you a mobile phone only user? The latest technology for cordless phones may just change your mind. Let’s face it—sometimes your cell phone just doesn’t get the reception at home that your land line phone did. Would you like to have the best of both worlds? The link-to-cell cordless phones may be your answer. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Southern California Storms Take Out Phone Service

100,000 customers throughout California lost land line phone service during severe storms. The state declared emergencies in numerous California counties, including Riverside and San Bernardino. During the storms between December 17 to January 4, storms soaked through to underground cables, disrupting service. AT&T had 70,000 complaints at the peak of the storm; Verizon had 32,000. Normally these outages are fixed within 24 hours, according to the PUC’s service quality standards. During this two and a half week storm period, AT&T and Verizon were unable to fix 90% of outages within that 24 hour window. Some customers were without phone service for as much as twelve days. Many of those people did not have cell phones. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: California Takes Back Cell Phones

California Governor Jerry Brown has directed the Great Take-Back to start June 1, 2011. Currently there are over 96,000 cell phones used by California State workers and paid for by the State. According to Lynette Luna, FierceMobileIT, Governor Brown estimates that the confiscations will result in the state saving $20 million annually. In addition, Brown wants every state department and agency to examine and justify all cell phone usage. He reasons that even with a 50-percent reduction, one-fifth of all state employees will still have cell phones. And he thinks that is too much.

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photo credit: This Alert is Only a Test

The FCC has approved a presidential alert system. This means that starting fairly soon, the Emergency Alert System (EAS) will be testing an alert that may show President Obama coming on your TV screen or mobile phone to warn you about terrorist alert. It will be much like the testing we saw as kids, “This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.” And then the screen would go blank or wavy, and a buzzing would sound out for a few moments. Of course this will be a more sophisticated alert, with a broadcast message from President Obama.

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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 »