Free Republic

AUGUSTA, Maine — Where state government goes, technology is not far behind: Maine is joining other states in passing rules to restrict text messages from electronic devices, hoping to stop lobbyists from calling signals from the legislative sidelines.

In the past few years, people seem to have forgone the conventional phone conversation in favor of punching in short text messages on tiny keypads, all while mobile phone carriers have cashed in lucratively. In 2008, 2.5 trillion messages were sent from cell phones worldwide, up 32 percent from the year before, according to the Gartner Group. But, what also went up in the last three years was the price — doubling from 10 to 20 cents per message while the industry consolidated from six major carriers to four. Sensing a potential rip-off, Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl, the chairman of...

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — A Gresham man has been sentenced to 6 years in prison for attempted rape after a mother discovered his inappropriate text messages on her 12-year-old daughter's cell phone. Prosecutors said 29-year-old Patrick Lee Kenney also pleaded no contest to attempted sexual abuse and furnishing obscene material to a minor. Kenney met the girl on the MySpace site.

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a law making it illegal to read or send text messages while driving in California. The bill by Sen. Joe Simitian imposes a $20 fine for a first offense and $50 for repeat offenders using any electronic devices to read or send messages, starting next year. Schwarzenegger says the law he signed Wednesday encourages drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

LOS ANGELES — Senator Barack Obama used one to announce to the world his choice of a running mate. Thousands of Americans have used them to vote for their favorite “American Idol” contestants. Many teenagers prefer them to actually talking. Almost overnight, text messages have become the preferred form of communication for millions. But even as industry calculations show that Americans are now using mobile phones to send or receive more text messages than phone calls, those messages are coming under increasing fire because of the danger they can pose by distracting users. Though there are no official casualty statistics,...

Texting behind the wheel impairs driving skills more than being drunk or high on drugs, according to new research. Reaction times deteriorated by over one-third, which was worse than alcohol at the legal limit or driving under the influence of cannabis.

CHATSWORTH, Calif. (CBS) ― Metrolink officials Saturday put the blame squarely on the engineer of the train for the deadly crash that has claimed at least 25 lives. They say he ran a red light. But a group of local teens, train enthusiasts, who know the engineer well doubt that he was to blame. They called their friend professional and caring and said he helped them learn about trains and being an engineer. To a man, they said he would "never" have been reckless or unprofessional or run a red light. But one minute before the deadliest crash in Metrolink...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, the cell-phone systems are likely to be overloaded. Please don't call into the affected areas: wait for them to call you. If you really want to get a message in to see if they are OK, send a text message. If you don't have a cell phone or don't want to spend the 10-20 cents per message to send and receive them, there are several ways to do so from your computer: If you know which cell phone service is used by the recipient, you can send it directly from that company's website: VerizonSprintT-Mobile...

Many Obama supporters never received 3am VP wake-up text By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews August 25, 2008, 12:30 PM "Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee," read the Obama campaign's early morning SMS message to his supporters. Trouble was, even by that time, many already knew it, and some weren't even getting the message. The original plan was for Barack Obama supporters nationwide to be the first to receive the news of his vice presidential running mate. But well over two hours before many of those supporters received what ended up being, perhaps in an...

SNIP Sen. Barack Obama enjoyed dinner with the family including his wife, Michelle, and two daughters. "Where's the text?" reporters shouted while holding out cell phones to get the presumptive Democratic nominee's attention as he walked into Roy's in downtown Chicago. At first, Obama, D-Ill., acknowledge the press but after some louder shouts, he relented and looked over with a laugh. As he left, the intrepid band of reporters following Obama's every move tried again. "How's Obama-Biden sound?" reporters yelled. "See ya guys!" Obama replied. The candidate has since returned to the Park Hyatt hotel in Chicago where aides advise...

I stumbled out of bed about 7:15 a.m. and there, on the cell phone I'd turned to "silent" for the night, was a note on the screen telling me I had 1 message from 62262. I knew his number by now: Barack. Frankly, I'd signed up out of curiosity, not really as a fan, but I still felt a small letdown, knowing that the news was already several hours stale. At the same time, I was relieved that the phone hadn't woken me up in the middle of the night. Joe Biden is not worth waking up for at 3...

Over the past few weeks, Barack Obama's campaign encouraged millions of mobile phone users to sign up to receive a text message so they could be "the first to know" who Obama's vice presidential choice was. It was a deft bit of techno-political marketing. But hours before the text was sent, the campaign's famously tight communications ship sprung a leak. So the first to know that Sen. Joseph Biden would be in Springfield on Saturday were not those who had signed up for a text message, but those who were watching cable television news programs at around 10:45 p.m. PDT...

Sorry for the Vanity but I have a great concern. It's been a good summer for McCain. The ads are good, the American public is starting to learn more about the "real" B. Hussein Obama and he's dropping in the polls. That's the good news. I think that on a level playing field, Mac can beat B. Hussein. But, has anyone thought about the strategy of the scheme to text Obama supporters and notify them of the VEEP selection. He now has hundreds of thousands of cell phone numbers. Visualize, on Election Day, a gazillion Text Messages going out over...

WASHINGTON - When Barack Obama announces his choice for vice president, the real payoff may come during the next few months — one text message at a time. Obama's campaign plans to break the news of the Democratic candidate's vice presidential pick to people who have signed up to receive e-mails and text messages from the campaign. It should give Obama's team access to tens of thousands of cell phone numbers that could be used to mobilize voters under 30 on Election Day. "What Obama is creating is this army of individuals, these grass-roots activists, who are out there trying...

The 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign is turning into the election year that mainstreamed wireless technology. Barack Obama’s campaign has announced its intention to let texters know who his running mate will be in the days leading up to the Democratic convention Aug. 25-28 in Denver.According to Obama website, voters can be the “first to know” who Obama’s vice president will be by going online and providing a cell phone number (or e-mail address), or by texting VP to 62262 to receive a text message with the breaking announcement.Obama\'s campaign has used wireless and Internet technology to build more of a...

Another sign of The Technological Times: Sen. Barack Obama announced today -- via Twitter -- that he would announce "the VP candidate sometime between now & the Convention by txt msg & email." This isn't merely a way to practice Hip Politics. As has been reported already, the Obama campaign has made tremendous use of text message, most notably by encouraging attendees of various campaigns events to send a text message to the Obama campaign. This allows the campaign to not only increase their supporter database, but also send potential Obama voters information about voting stations, dates, times and campaign...

Chicago — The warning came too late for Barack Obama's adviser: Don't walk and text at the same time. Obama aide Valerie Jarrett fell off a Chicago curb several weeks ago while her thumbs were flying on her Blackberry. wake-up call for me to be a lot more careful in the future, because I clearly wasn't paying attention and I should have." Jarrett got off easy and didn't need medical attention. Physicians warns of the danger of more serious accidents involving oblivious texters. The ER doctors cite rising reports from doctors around the country of injuries involving text-messaging pedestrians, bicyclists,...

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....

CHICAGO - As Illinois secretary of state, Jesse White's usual domain consists of licensing drivers, registering corporations and publishing the state's blue book manual. But he recently turned his attention to people walking across the street in addition to those in automobiles. According to an article on WBBM Radio's Web site, White wants the state to pass a law prohibiting people from walking across the street while using a cell phone. A bill along those lines has already been introduced in the Illinois House.

Have you ever wondered what it is that your kids are texting to each other? Here's a list of 50 that you need to know. Warning: mature language is being used. Click on the link for the list.