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Cindy Baker-Williams held a "Hang Up and Drive" banner over Aurora Avenue North in Fremont when Washington's handheld cellphone ban for drivers began on the first of July. She and her family hoped the new law would change drivers' behavior. It did at first. "The initial trend we saw was less people talking," said Baker-Williams. Then cellphone use started creeping back up, said Sgt. Freddy Williams of the State Patrol, who has carried on his own informal off-duty study of driving-and-talking. He can't think of another law that's been flouted quite like this one. "I've seen people walk out of...

Butcher, baker, candlestick maker -- all noble professions, indeed. Stay-at-home Mom? Well, get a real job. At least, that's what one Australian mom was told when she went to buy a cell phone. Lyndal Fair, a thirty-six-year-old mother of three, wanted to purchase a mobile phone, presumably to keep track of her brood, to call their schools and doctors and to be available in an emergency. Not good enough, said Vodafone -- they don't sell phones to moms. In fact, the store employees suggested she get her husband to purchase the phone under his name for her. Sound familiar? "I...

Nearly one-fifth of all U-S homes (18%) have cut the land line connection and use only a cell phone for their communication. That is a big increase from the seven percent using only a cell phone in 2005. How about you - Do you plan to dump the land line? And when? No - I'll stay with Alexander Graham Bell's wired version. Yes - Within the next six months. Yes - Within the next year. Yes - But I'm not sure when. Select your option and vote

COTABATO — Authorities in Mindanao have arrested a Pakistani with alleged links to a Southeast Asian extremist group for making bombs, it was announced yesterday. Muhammand Alpariz was arrested at his apartment in Shariff Kabunsuan province by joint police and military operatives on Tuesday, local 6th Infantry Division spokesman Lt. Col. Julieto Ando said. Found in his possession were "two 60-millimeter mortar shells rigged to improvised explosives devices" and two howitzer shells ready to be attached to similar bombs, said Southern Mindanao police head Chief Superintendent Pedro Tango. "These bombs, if exploded, would cause extensive damage," he added. "He did...

Driving his John Deere tractor Saturday, Richard was suddenly thumped with a pain “like a hard punch jumped up” and bit him in the heart. He bent over and grasped his sweater. Then he took it off to get a closer look. A .45-caliber bullet casing tumbled out, clattered onto the tractor and fell on the ground. He’d just been shot. It was a stray bullet, and it tore through his sweater, leaving a 1/2-inch hole, where it entered into the top center pocket of his coveralls and hit his cell phone. The bullet, coming in at a 45-degree angle,...

The Secret Service is investigating an Internet advertisement as a potential threat against President-elect Barack Obama, but the people who created it say a technology glitch was responsible, and they feel terrible about it. Ads for a company that sells mobile-phone ring tones that appear on the Yahoo News Web site, teased viewers into taking an IQ test. But when viewers scrolled over the ad's picture of Obama, the words "When Will You Die?" flashed across the image. The Secret Service said it had known about the ad for "a couple of weeks." Yahoo, on the other hand, as well...

SIERRA VISTA — As the holiday season approaches, members of the local chapter of the Stampede USA Mustang Club are thinking about deployed GIs and needy area families. The group’s concern will turn into a Nov. 15 benefit to allow people to turn in cell phones and associated equipment to be used to obtain calling cards for military members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and for donations of food to be made to assist the Good Neighbor Alliance food bank. The Sierra Vista Chapter of the Stampede, which has existed for two years, co-sponsored by the Nogales Chapter of the...

In a war where information can be more powerful than massed forces, the cellphone is a weapon. Insurgents the world over use cellphones to transmit messages, record photos and videos, and sometimes just to chat. They can record video of an attack, and transmit that video within a minute. U.S. and other technologically adept forces use machines to target cell phones. This is no secret. Not to the enemy, at least. I am especially careful not to compromise operational security (OPSEC). There are many photographs and potential dispatches that will never be published here because I do not want to...

A British teenager called the U.K. equivalent of 911 in an attempt to escape her kidnapper minutes before being raped and murdered and her body dumped at a roadside, a jury heard Tuesday. Hannah Foster, 17, dialed the emergency services in the hope that the operator would be able to hear the nature of her conversation with Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, a man said to have snatched her off a Southampton street as she walked home in 2003. However, Winchester Crown Court was told, the operator could not hear what was being said and Hannah could not speak directly to...

Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain. GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre, has already been given up to £1 billion to finance the first stage of the project. Hundreds of clandestine probes will be installed to monitor customers live on two of the country’s biggest internet and mobile phone providers - thought to be BT and Vodafone. BT has nearly 5m internet customers. Ministers are braced for a backlash similar to the one caused by their ID cards programme. Dominic...

The cell phone bill says "9-1-1 Service Fee": $1.20. You pay it every month to New York state. But only 6 cents end up at a 911 center. Instead, the state spends the money on itself: overtime, fringe benefits, travel, vehicles, new boots, clip-on ties, sun block, spray paint, groceries, dry cleaning and other daily expenses for agencies ranging from the state police to the departments of corrections and parks, state records show. [...] The state imposed the fee to raise enough money to upgrade 911 technology so dispatchers can find you when you call from your cell phone and...

Victor may be excited about HTC's upcoming Windows Mobile phone, but I'm far more curious about a model that will run on Google's Android operating system. The stars all seem to be lining up just in time for a major launch, rumored to be slated for Oct. 17. Google is finally finishing work on the operating system itself, and although developers say Google is a pain to work with, they also report that the platform's deep integration of GPS, Internet and search technology makes it a powerful platform for exciting software. T-Mobile, meanwhile, should be offering 3G service in 21...

The state agency responsible for train safety voted unanimously today to direct railroad operators to immediately ban the use of cellphones by on-duty engineers, conductors and other rail workers. Officials with the Public Utilities Commission said the deadly Metrolink crash in Chatsworth last week was at least the third train accident in which the use of cellphones may have been a factor. Twenty-five people died and 135 were injured when a commuter train ran through a warning signal in Chatsworth and collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train. Federal investigators said this week that records from Metrolink engineer Robert...

If someone asks to borrow your cell phone, or you leave it unattended, beware! Unless you actually watch them use it, they may be secretly grabbing every piece of your information on the device, even deleted messages. If you leave your phone sitting on your desk, or in the center console of your car while the valet parks it, then you and everyone in your contacts list may be at risk, to say nothing of confidential e-mails, spread sheets, or other information. And of course, if you do not want your spouse to see who you are chatting with on...

Despite the warning signs placed near West University Elementary School, two drivers were caught by surprise this morning as police began enforcing a new ordinance banning cell phone use in the school zone. Parents who were bringing children for the first day of classes praised the new law, which prohibits the use of cell phones or other electronic devices during one-hour periods in the morning and afternoon.... The ban is in effect from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Violators could be liable for a fine of up to $200 for the first offense and...

Many political pundits, and the media, have been trying to ascertain why B. Hussein Obama's poll numbers are not higher than they are at this point of the campaign. Carter, Dukakis and Kerry all had higher poll numbers in August of their Election Years. I've rejoiced in this fact, but now, I have a grave concern. Could Obama's poll numbers be unrealistically low because the Youth Vote is a large number of voters who have cell phones only and do not get polled? If so, this could prove disastrous, on election night, for those of us who cannot stand the...

A 25-year-old driver in Cass County offered a lesson Sunday in what not to do while driving. When pulled over by a sheriff's deputy, not only was he traveling at speeds near 80 miles per hour, but he also said he'd drifted into the wrong lane because he was text-messaging, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said Monday. As if that weren't enough, he was arrested on suspicion of drinking and driving. "This is the kind of traffic event where almost everything that could go wrong, did go wrong," said Nathan Bowie, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety....

After a week of intense media foreplay, Obama has finally embarked on his magical mystery tour. As he boarded the plane that took him on the first leg of his anxiously awaited Middle East and European tour, a pair of uniformed Air Force officers saluted simultaneously, as they do each time President Bush boards Air Force One. As the media-anointed President in waiting, Obama is virtually guaranteed superstar non-stop media coverage as he makes his taxpayer financed 'fact finding' tour this week. Joining him on this excellent adventure are all three of the major network anchors who will cover his...

Drivers who cause fatal accidents while on mobile phones face up to 14 years in jail Last updated at 11:09am on 15.07.08   Getting tough: The new sentencing rules target mobile phone use by drivers. Posed by model. Motorists who cause fatal accidents while texting or talking on mobiles could face up to 14 years in prison from today. Drivers involved in death crashes after drinking or taking drugs face similar penalties, as will those who were driving at greatly excessive speed over long distances. Under new sentencing guidelines sent to the courts today which come into immediate effect, there...

Over the years I have read stories on FR about reports of muslim males buying huge numbers of pre-paid cell phones, often triggering calls to law enforcement. While I don't generally discount reports from local media outlets (remember the OU bombing?), it seems crazy that this would be going on with nary a peep from other sources. Here is my odd story about this. ~3 months ago I was in New Orleans, and purchased a prepaid cell phone at a story on Royal street almost at canal (quarter-side). The store proprietors were obviously muslim, don't know if pak. or arab....

Mobile phones have become an essential component of modern living. However, the marked increase in the use of wireless mobile telephony throughout the world has also raised some serious health concerns, as mobile phones utilize electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range. While currently available data does not show any negative health effects resulting from the low levels of electromagnetic energy emitted by mobile phones, there is some conflicting scientific evidence that may be worth additional study, according to FDA. "We don't see a risk looking at currently available data, but we need more definite answers about the biological effects of...

I can't get cell phone service where I live because of environMENTALists' restrictions (cell towers aren't pretty), but would like to have a cell phone in my car for emergencies. Since I can't use the phone at home, I'd like the least expensive phone possible. Any suggestions?

Washington is poised to make driving while talking on hand-held cell phones illegal. New Jersey has already been down this road. The cell-phone ban for Washington will start Tuesday and will be similar to a New Jersey law that went into effect in 2003. Washington's law makes it a secondary offense. That means police must find a driver committing another violation such as speeding before stopping drivers for holding a cell phone up to their ear. New Jersey's law also began as a secondary offense. State officials there found the law toothless and difficult to enforce, said William Cicchetti,...

SACRAMENTO - Drop the iPhone and listen up, because the rules of the road are changing. Starting Tuesday, it's against the law to use a hand-held cell phone while driving in California. If you want to make a call, you're going to have to use the speaker phone or some hands-free device. Otherwise, tickets start at $20 and rise to $50 on subsequent offenses. But with that said, don't worry too much if you forget – the only hit is to your bank account. A ticket for this won't add points to your license. It'll be an infraction, not a...

Cell-phone-driving ban takes effect July 1 in Washington On July 1, the new law takes effect in Washington that bans driving while using a hand-held cell phone.   OLYMPIA, Wash. — On July 1, the new law takes effect in Washington that bans driving while using a hand-held cell phone.Drivers caught holding a mobile phone to their ear risk a $124 ticket. To talk on a phone drivers should use a handsfree headset or speaker phone. But, the law allows exceptions for people reporting an emergency or crime.The violation is a so-called secondary offense. That means an officer must...

Seven ninth-graders at Pascack Valley High School have been suspended for the rest of the school year for distributing racy photos of middle school girls via cell phones and school-issued laptops. A student who saw the photos on a laptop tipped off a teacher, and the administration alerted Hillsdale police last week, district Superintendent Benedict Tantillo III said today. More than 20 girls who are now in ninth grade were in the photos, the superintendent said. Some pictures appeared to have been taken two or three years ago, and some of the subjects moved to private high school instead of...

What it all means According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), specific absorption rate, or SAR, is "a way of measuring the quantity of radiofrequency (RF) energy that is absorbed by the body." For a phone to pass FCC certification, that phone's maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6W/kg (watts per kilogram). In Europe, the level is capped at 2W/kg while Canada allows a maximum of 1.6W/kg. The SAR level listed in our charts represents the highest SAR level with the phone next to the ear as tested by the FCC. Keep in mind that it is possible...

WASHINGTON - From Jeannie Harrison's perspective, the social lives of most teenagers tend to revolve around their cell phones -- even when they are behind the wheel. "People don't want to be inaccessible for even 15 minutes driving up the street," said Harrison, 19, a sophomore at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. "They're so used to being accessible all the time." Targeting inexperienced motorists, several states have passed laws during the past five years restricting cell phone use by teenage drivers. But an insurance industry study being released Monday that looked at whether teens are ignoring such restrictions contends enforcement...

What do brain surgeons know about cellphone safety that the rest of us don’t? Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears. “I think the safe practice,” said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an earpiece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.” Dr. Vini Khurana, an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University who is an outspoken critic of cellphones, said: “I use it on the speaker-phone mode. I do not hold...

Good news for luxury mobile phone lovers. Following Prada and Giorgio Armani’s example, Christian Dior is making their Diorphone available in their boutiques. For only €3,500, you can score yourself two phones for the price of one. Yes, the special thing about this phone, is you receive a mini phone with it.

<p>Sometimes, simpler is better — even in war and counterterrorism. Who would have guessed that a secret weapon in the fight to defeat terrorists and insurgents would turn out to be ... the mundane cell phone?</p> <p>As a general rule, insurgents worldwide don't much like the sight of a civilian holding a cell phone. All it takes is one quick phone call, and here comes the cavalry.</p>

A Texas service member and his son recently found themselves separated not only by an eight-hour time difference, several bodies of water and hundreds of miles, but by a teacher who tried to come between the two as the military dad called his son in his time of need during class.

London, March 30: Puffing kills. But a new study, led by an Indian-origin researcher, claims that mobiles phones are more dangerous than fags. "Though mobiles can save lives in emergencies, there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours (which can lead to cancer). "It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking," the study`s lead author Dr Vini Khurana was quoted by `the independent` newspaper as saying. Smoking kills some five million worldwide each year, according to the world health organisation....

Dr. Khurana says there may be broader health ramifications than asbestos or smoking. What? Now just think about that. Again, I foresee a huge higher tax on cell phone use and a higher health and life insurance premium. And maybe people (like me) that don't use cell phones unless its an emergency, would rather not be seated in bars and restaurants where cell phones are in use. Ah, can you say ban?

Study: Cell Phones Could Be More Dangerous Than Cigarettes Sunday , March 30, 2008 A study by an award-winning cancer expert shows that cell phone use could kill more people than smoking, it is reported. According to the U.K.'s Independent newspaper, the study, headed by Dr. Vini Khurana, shows that there is a growing body of evidence that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer. Khurana — one of the world's top neurosurgeons — based his assessment on the fact that three billion people now use the phones worldwide. That is three times...

The Hemisphere: Raul Castro is making hay from "reforms" allowing his subjects access to toasters and cell phones. Big deal. What Cubans need is cash to buy them. That can only come with real economic freedom.As befits a new dictator seeking to win some popularity, Castro is lifting ownership restrictions for ordinary Cubans on mobile phones, computers, DVD players, even toasters. But unlike the toasters that U.S. banks used to give away, these don't come free. Each of Raul's offerings to buy goods comes with a state-set price most Cubans have no realistic prospect of affording. Average Cuban salaries, minus...

Raul Castro is making hay from "reforms" allowing his subjects access to toasters and cell phones. Big deal. What Cubans need is cash to buy them. That can only come with real economic freedom.

HAVANA - President Raul Castro's government is allowing ordinary Cubans to have cell phones. The luxury was previously reserved for those who worked for foreign firms or held key posts with the communist-run state. Friday's decree officially lifts a major restriction on daily life in Cuba.

Former presidential candidates John Edwards and Fred Thompson will deliver keynote addresses on the final day of CTIA WIRELESS 2008®, Thursday, April 3 at 9:30 a.m. at the Las Vegas Hilton, Barron Room. CTIA WIRELESS 2008 takes place April 1 – 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. John Edwards was a candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President. Edwards served as U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1999-2005 and was John Kerry’s vice presidential running mate in 2004. Fred Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for President. He served as U.S. Senator from Tennessee from...

You might not know it, but as of January it became illegal in California for companies to require workers to have devices implanted under their skin that would reveal their whereabouts at all times. State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) called his legislation a safeguard against "the ultimate invasion of privacy." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law in October. But your privacy may not be completely safe. The same chip-based technology that California won't allow to be forcibly placed under people's skin will soon be ubiquitous in cellphones, which the telecom industry believes will be increasingly used as...

KABUL–Taliban attacks on telecom towers have prompted cellphone companies to shut down service across southern Afghanistan, angering a quarter million customers who have no other telephones. Even some Taliban fighters now regret the disruptions and are demanding that service be restored by the companies. The communication blackout follows a campaign by the Taliban, which said the United States and NATO were using the fighters' cellphone signals to track them at night and launch pinpoint attacks. About 10 towers have been attacked since the warning late last month – seven of them seriously – causing almost $2 million in damage, the...

Myth: If you use your Blackberry or cellphone in flight, the plane will crash. False: The FAA has tested all sorts of electronic devices for 25 years, at 100 times the RF interference levels—and nothing happened. The FAA simply states that no link between operating the devices has been proved. It's been left up to the airlines to determine their own policy—and that policy is to put away your Blackberry. By using your cellphone during flight, you risk interfering with a flight crew—but the plane won't crash.

A Harvard biology professor’s fascination with seafloor microbes has led to the development of a revolutionary, low-cost power system consuming garbage, compost, and other waste that could provide light for the developing world. Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Peter Girguis has developed a fuel cell run by the natural activity of anaerobic microbes. The cells can be manufactured for just a few U.S. dollars, putting them within reach of many of the world’s poor who today do not have access to electricity. Though the power output is relatively low, Girguis said it should be sufficient to run low-energy...

A burqa may not be the flirtiest garment ever invented for women. The highly modest head-to-toe robe even shrouds the eyes, so for centuries it's been difficult for women wearing them to send suggestive signals to men. But now a German designer has debuted a digitally-enabled burqa that can broadcast a photo of the wearer to nearby mobile phones. Markus Kison calls it the "CharmingBurka," and says it isn't forbidden by Islamic law. A model demonstrated a prototype of Kison's garment at the Seamless 2008 design and fashion show in Boston, a high-tech fashion event run with support from the...

Radiation From Mobile Phones Changes Protein Expression In Living People, Study SuggestsA new study on effects of mobile phone radiation on human skin strengthens the results of the human cell line analyses: living tissue responds to mobile phone radiation. (Credit: iStockphoto/Luis Pedrosa) ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2008) — A new study completed by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) on effects of mobile phone radiation on human skin strengthens the results of the human cell line analyses: living tissue responds to mobile phone radiation. Earlier studies have shown that mobile phone radiation (radiofrequency modulated electromagnetic fields; RF-EMF) alters protein...

The Taliban has made some strange demands before, but the latest has everyone scratching their heads. They now want cell-phone networks to go dark at night, and if they refuse, the Taliban will begin blowing up cell phone offices and masts: The Taleban have threatened to blow up telephone masts across Afghanistan unless mobile phone companies agree to switch off their signals at night. They say that US and other foreign troops are using the signals to track down insurgents. The Taleban have warned the masts and offices of the mobile companies will be destroyed unless their demands are met....

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

It's been dubbed the Mystery of the Missing iPhones. On Jan. 22, Apple reported that it sold 3.7 million units of its smartphones worldwide through the end of 2007. But AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone reseller and by far the largest buyer of the devices, reported that its subscribers activated fewer than 2 million units last year. The big question on the minds of Apple watchers is: Where have the other 1.7 million iPhones gone? The uncertainty has helped sink Apple's (AAPL) stock price to $130 a share, down 34% since the beginning of the year. That is far worse...

Cell Phone Sensors Detect Radiation To Thwart Nuclear TerrorismPurdue physics professor Ephraim Fischbach, at right, and nuclear engineer Jere Jenkins review radiation-tracking data as part of research to develop a system that would use a network of cell phones to detect and track radiation. Such a system could help prevent terrorist attacks with radiological "dirty bombs" and nuclear weapons by blanketing the nation with millions of cell phones equipped with radiation sensors able to detect even light residues of radioactive material. Because cell phones already contain global positioning locators, the network of phones would serve as a tracking system. (Credit:...

An Israeli doctor participating in an international study, has found a link between cellular phone use and cancer, and recommends that cell phone use be limited among children. The study was conducted in 16 countries, with Israel's Dr. Sigal Sadetzki, director of the Gertner Institute of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research at Sheba Medical Center concluding that standards should be reassessed and tightened to prevent radiation from cell phones. She said that current cell phone regulations do not relate to cancer caused by radiation, but rather to health risks posed by heat. The study, published Friday in the American Journal...