Moscow Subway To Use Devices To Read Data On Phones

The head of police for Moscow's subway system has said stations will soon be equipped with devices that can read the data on the mobile telephones of passengers.

In the July 29 edition of "Izvestia," Moscow Metro police chief Andrei Mokhov said the device would be used to help locate stolen mobile phones. Mokhov said the devices have a range of about 5 meters and can read the SIM card.

If the card is on the list of stolen phones, the system automatically sends information to the police. The time and place of the alert can be matched to closed-circuit TV in stations. Read more >>

The Effect of Cell Phone Coverage and Political Violence in Africa

Cell phone use in Africa has increased significantly in recent years; its nearly 649 million mobile users in 2011 made it the second-largest market for mobile phones in the world after Asia.

Furthermore, the continent has the fastest-growing cell phone market in the world, maintaining an annual growth rate of almost 20% since 2007. This has substantially contributed to economic development within the continent as a result of various innovations and improvements, from mobile banking to faster communications between merchants and customers, as the World Bank notes.

In Kenya, the success of the mobile banking system M-pesa has opened the door for a multitude of mobile phone tech startups, prompting some to refer to the country as the “Silicon Savannah.” (It should be noted, however, that mobile phone technology in Africa frequently does not afford robust Internet access, with all its innovation potential.)

The benefits of mobile technology in other regions are widely hailed. The availability of cell phones and use of social media is often credited with playing a key role in the Arab Spring, which toppled dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia, and sparked protest movements throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Read more >>

Obama phones sold for drugs, shoes, handbags and cash

Undercover video shot in May by a conservative activist shows two corporate distributors of free cell phones handing out the mobile devices to people who have promised to sell them for drug money, to buy shoes and handbags, to pay off their bills, or just for extra spending cash.

The 'Obama phone,' which made its ignominious YouTube debut outside a Cleveland, Ohio presidential campaign event last September, is a project of the Federal Communications Commission's 'Lifeline' program, which makes land line and mobile phones available to Americans who meet low-income requirements.
Lifeline was a $2.19 billion program in 2012.

Recipients most commonly demonstrate their need by flashing an Electronic Benefits Transfer card to verify their eligibility for welfare payments, or by bringing tax statements to a phone provider.

The phones' legitimate purposes include poverty-level job applicants' use as contact numbers for job interviews and emergency contacts for children of single parents.

But when James O'Keefe, whose Project Veritas is a perennial thorn in the side of progressive policymakers, sent an undercover actor into a Stand Up Wireless location in Philadelphia, the man's stated purpose was to buy drugs.

'Once you guys give me this phone, it's my phone?' he asked an employee inside a Philadelphia brick-and-mortal Stand Up Wireless location. 'I can, like, sell it and stuff?' Read more >>

FCC looks to regulate text messages

The mobile industry’s at war over cellular privacy—or free speech—depending on how you look at it.

The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that it’s accepting comments on a petition that seeks to have Internet-to-phone text messaging declared a type of autodialing. The technology, which collects cell numbers without consent and then messages them via created email addresses, isn’t currently covered under the Technology Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and some consider it a loophole for those who want to spam your cellphone.

Scott Goodstein, founder of the mobile firm Revolution Messaging, filed the petition back in January of this year, but it wasn’t until this week that the FCC offered any signal it may move on the request. Goodstein says he’s out to protect the privacy of mobile users and put a stop to spammers. Read more >>

Company develops eye-control software for phones, tablets

 A Danish company hopes to clinch deals with major mobile phone and tablet makers after developing software that enables users to control their devices by moving their eyes, it said Wednesday.

"You can use it for basic control, such as turning to the next page in an e-book, and playing games with your eyes," chief executive and co-founder of The Eye Tribe, Sune Alstrup Johansen, told AFP.

The software uses infrared light reflected from the pupil of the eye, which is recorded by the device's camera, enabling users to scroll or click on their screens with their eyes.

When you are reading an e-book and get to the bottom of the page, the software will know to turn to the next page, or if you look away from the screen it will dim it.

The Eye Tribe is made up of four PhD students who founded the company a year ago. They received $800,000 (615,000 euros) in funding in August to develop the technology. Read more >>

Mobile phones can cause brain tumours, court rules

Innocente Marcolini, 60, an Italian businessman, fell ill after using a handset at work for up to six hours every day for 12 years. Now Italy's Supreme Court in Rome has blamed his phone saying there is a "causal link" between his illness and phone use, the Sun has reported.

Mr Marcolini said: "This is significant for very many people. I wanted this problem to become public because many people still do not know the risks. "I was on the phone, usually the mobile, for at least five or six hours every day at work. "I wanted it recognized that there was a link between my illness and the use of mobile and cordless phones.

"Parents need to know their children are at risk of this illness."

British scientists have claimed there is insufficient evidence to prove any link to mobiles. But the respected oncologist and professor of environmental mutagenesis Angelo Gino Levis gave evidence for Mr Marcolini — along with neurosurgeon Dr Giuseppe Grasso. They said electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile and cordless phones can damage cells, making tumours more likely. Read more >>

Smartphone of the future will be in your brain

Swiss army knives with a wild variety of functions and features. They are replacing the watch, the camera, the standalone GPS, the alarm clock, and many other tools.

But what will the smartphones of the future look like?

Here's what we envision ...

AT&T Blue Z221 GoPhone Prepaid Cellular Phone - Z221 (Google Affiliate Ad)

In five years, the Patent Wars are over and Apple emerges victorious. The company has trademarks of many design features, including many types of curves. As a result, competing smartphone manufacturers resort to triangular or angular forms.

Fast forward 15 years. With Google's pioneering work, smartphones evolve into wearable devices with augmented reality. These smartglasses provide a constant stream of content and advertisement directly into the user's field of vision. Read more >>

It will soon be feasible to record and store everything everyone says or does

Data Storage Could Expand Reach of Surveillance
SCOTT SHANE

John Villasenor, an electrical engineer at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied the plummeting cost of computer data storage and reached an astonishing conclusion: It will soon be technically feasible and affordable to record and store everything that can be recorded about what everyone in a country says or does.

And there is plenty of data to store. The average person today leaves an electronic trail unimaginable 20 years ago — visiting Web sites, sending e-mails and text messages, using credit cards, passing before a proliferating network of public and private video cameras and carrying a cellphone that reports a person’s location every minute of the day.

Mr. Villasenor, also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, estimates that to store the audio from telephone calls made by an average person in the course of a year would require about 3.3 gigabytes and cost just 17 cents to store, a price that is expected to fall to 2 cents by 2015. Tracking a person’s movements for a year, collected from their cellphone, would take so little space as to carry a trivial cost. Storing video takes far more space, but the price is dropping so steadily that storing millions of hours of material will not be a problem soon. Read more >>

U.S. Police Engage in Warrantless Electronic Tracking

A new study found that police all over the country routinely ignore the Fourth Amendment by tracking cell phones.

In fact, departments are ignoring the Fifth Amendment as well, because much of the tracking takes place without a warrant, according to the results of a survey issued in early April by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The survey found that "many" of about 200 departments surveyed said they tracked cell phones without being permitted to do so by a court. While some departments like Wichita, Kan., and North Las Vegas, get warrants first, others - such as the Kentucky State Police - "said they use varying legal standards, such as a warrant or a less-strict subpoena." More...

Federal Ban Sought on Cell Phone Use While Driving

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called on Thursday for a federal law to ban talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of vehicle on any road in the country.

Tough federal legislation is the only way to deal with what he called a "national epidemic," he said at a distracted-driving summit in San Antonio, Texas, that drew doctors, advocates and government officials.

LaHood said it is important for the police to have "the opportunity to write tickets when people are foolishly thinking they can drive safely or use a cell phone and text and drive." More...

Trash collectors to serve as eyes and ears in the street for police

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWaste Management workers are out and about when almost everyone else is not. Except someone who might be up to no good.

A former FBI agent recently trained all Waste Management drivers, helpers and technicians in Rensselaer and Albany Counties to act as a mobile community watch.

"They're on these routes every day so they're used to the normal situation so they are able to recognize a non-normal situation," explains Ken Bevis of Waste Management. Trucks are now armed with a cell phone, camera and incident reports so they'll have accurate information for police and, possibly, prosecutors.

"The drivers understand their main job is to observe and report and let authorities do their job," explains Bevis. More...

PositiveID - a microchip implant for health, I.D. and Credit

Jim Edwards

VeriChip (CHIP), the company that markets a microchip implant that links to your online health records, has acquired Steel Vault (SVUL), a credit monitoring and anti-identity theft company. The combined company will operate under a new name: PositiveID.

The all-stock transaction will leave PositiveID in charge of a burgeoning empire of identity, health and microchip implant businesses that will only encourage its critics. BNET previously noted that some regard the company as part of a prophecy in the Book of Revelation (because the HealthLink chip carries an RFID number that can be used as both money and proof of ID) or as part of President Obama’s secret Nazi plan to enslave America.

The most obvious criticism to be made of the deal is that it potentially allows PositiveID to link or cross-check patient health records (from the HealthLink chip) to people’s credit scores. One assumes that the company will put up firewalls to prevent that. PositiveID CEO Scott Silverman said:

“PositiveID will be the first company of its kind to combine a successful identity security business with one of the world’s first personal health records through our Health Link business. PositiveID will address some of the most important issues affecting our society today with our identification tools and technologies for consumers and businesses.”

Unless, of course, consumers don’t actually want to be implanted with chips, have their health records available over the internet, or have their medical records linked to their credit scores.

• Related:
• VeriChip TV Ad Confirms Critics’ Worst fears: They Want Everyone Implanted
• Microchip Implant Controversy: a Mark of the Beast or the Coming “Singularity”?
• Microchip Implant to Link Your Health Records, Credit History, Social Security
• Novartis Chip Implant Texts Your Phone When You Need Another Pill

Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.

Web Buzz:

• VeriChip TV Ad Confirms Critics' Fears: They Want Everyone Implanted

  BNET Pharma - 23 days 4 hours 38 minutes ago

  VeriChip's TV ad for its Health Link implantable microchip that connects to your online medical records has spawned a backlash on YouTube

• VeriChip acquires ID-security company

  Modern Healthcare - 3 days 20 hours 20 minutes ago

  VeriChip Corp., a Delray Beach, Fla.-based company specializing in radio-frequency identification systems for healthcare providers and patients, has acquired the ID-security systems company Steel Vault Corp

• Microchip Implant Controversy: a Mark of the Beast or the Coming "Singularity"?

  BNET Pharma - 36 days 1 hour 20 minutes ago

  The news that Novartis wants a deal with Proteus Biomedical to produce a microchip implant called "Raisin" that will text your mobile phone when

• VeriChip Takes Off on H1N1 Win

  Seeking Alpha - 54 days 10 hours 56 minutes ago

  Zacks.com submits: An announcement today regarding the exclusive license granted to controversial chip-implant maker VeriChip CHIP for H1N1 detection sent CHIP shares hurtling nearly out of orbit -- up 178%, or over $2 per share -- to around $3.20 by Monday afternoon. Other news reports have cited that

• CSR buys rival Sirf for £91m

  Financial Times - 276 days 22 hours 25 minutes ago

  CSR, a British chip designer for Bluetooth wireless devices, has taken advantage of weak stock markets by snapping up a US-based rival at a knockdown price. The UK group has agreed to buy Sirf, a maker of microchips for GPS systems, in an all-share deal that values the US group at about £91m ($136m), a 91 per cent premium to its share price

Orlando shooting suspect had recently filed bankruptcy

CNN reports
The suspect in Friday's shooting of six people in a downtown high-rise is a 40-year-old "man with economic woes that include a recent bankruptcy filing, federal records show.

In his filing last May for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, under which he sought to have his assets liquidated and his debts discharged, Jason S. Rodriguez listed his assets at $4,675 and his liabilities at $89,873.31.

His 2002 Nissan XTerra with 110,000 miles represented $4,000 of those assets. His personal property filing described the vehicle as having body damage on the right side, an air conditioner that did not work and a transmission that was slipping.

He said his monthly income as a "sandwich artist" at a Subway Restaurant in Orlando, where he had worked for nine months, was $890.67, and he listed his monthly expenses at $815.

A man who answered the phone at the restaurant referred a caller to company headquarters, where spokesman Kevin Kane confirmed that Rodriguez had worked for the company, but left six weeks ago. Kane said the company has a job title of "sandwich artist."

Before leaving Subway, Rodriguez's income had already taken a hit, dropping from $27,686 in 2007 to $13,936 in 2008.

Rodriguez estimated the value of his household goods -- a TV, microwave, bed, computer, dresser, two night stands, etc. -- at $500 and said his girlfriend owned the remaining household goods.

He faced an $11,085 claim of child support.

In addition, he was behind on his rent ($1,402.05), owed $450 to American Express, $110 to AT&T for his cell phone service and $343 to Florida Hospital Orlando for unspecified medical services, the document said.

Among his creditors were the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid 2005 and 2006 taxes totaling $2,415.

The largest debts were for student loans -- $8,500 to Wachovia, $28,912 to Sallie Mae.

Orlando lawyer Charlie Price represented Rodriguez in his case. "It's not that atypical from most everyone I see," he told CNN in a telephone interview. "That's how it is right now. He's a very typical client. Of people that are suffering through the economy right now, there's nothing extraordinary about him ... except that."

Price said he had had no contact with Rodriguez for several months, and added that his former client did not owe him money.

Pew Study Shows Gen Y Detached From Economic Reality

Despite the economic reality of an impending U.S. financial collapse, 76% of young adults between the ages 18 to 29 believe their personal financial situation will improve over the course of the next year, according to a recent Pew Research study. Adults under age 30 are more likely than those ages 30-64 to say they are very confident about getting through retirement with ease.

This overly optimistic attitude prevails even as four-in-ten between the ages 18 to 29 have cut back spending on alcohol or cigarettes, and a third report having changed to a less expensive cell phone plan or cancelled their service altogether. In Britain, the unemployment rate among adults ages 18 to 24 is 20% and climbing.

Additionally, the Pew study says one-in-five young adults in this age group have either moved in with a friend or relative or have had a friend or relative move in with them because of the recession. If the figures in this study are even close to being correct, Generation Y has a big surprise coming to them.

Many young adults have demonstrated remarkable independence and resourcefulness during this recession. USA Today sites an increase in sign ups for the entrepreneurial programs offered by youth-oriented groups such as Junior Achievement and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

"Kids are actively considering starting their own businesses," says Junior Achievement USA President Jack Kosakowski. "It might be out of necessity, since there aren't a lot of jobs out there. But they're also seeing parents and other adults that have been loyal to companies for years ... getting laid off, so these kids might be thinking, 'Hey, I might be better off being my own boss.' "

But the long slide down to nowhere is just beginning, and this pierced tongued, tattoo generation will be hit the hardest. Worth noting is almost all of the "Y"ers I've worked with are extremely intelligent and have an unusually heightened sense of awareness -- but their keen perceptions are soulless and efficiency driven. It's almost as if they have a secretly shared, collective mantra inspired by corporate dogma: the 21st century God. As Kunstler says, the tattoos are a sign of how deeply insecure we are as a nation, and a form of "non-conformist-just-like-you' consumerism".

I look on with much curiosity to see how the most consumer worshipping generation on Earth yet will react to the inability to consume. Will they rise to the occasion as some of their brethren have, or turn to stone -- shiny lifeless pebbles only to be used as fodder for the next world dictator. We'll find out when Apple sales go south.