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The Telecom Digest for April 26, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 115 : "text" Format

Messages in this Issue:
 Teens and Mobile Phones                                                         (Monty Solomon)
 Winfrey: Dnt Txt N Drv                                                          (Monty Solomon)
 Be There or Be Square: The Rise of Location-based Social Networking             (Monty Solomon)
 Re: Please do not change your password                                         (Gordon Burditt)
 Re: Batteries, when to charge (was Re: batteries (was Waiting for Verizon..)    (Joseph Singer)


====== 28 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ====== Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:58:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Teens and Mobile Phones Message-ID: <p0624084ec7fa3e8fbd0e@[10.0.1.4]> Teens and Mobile Phones by Amanda Lenhart, Rich Ling, Scott Campbell, Kristen Purcell Pew Internet & American Life Project Apr 20, 2010 OVERVIEW Daily text messaging among American teens has shot up in the past 18 months, from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February of 2008 to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009. And it's not just frequency - teens are sending enormous quantities of text messages a day. Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. Older teen girls ages 14-17 lead the charge on text messaging, averaging 100 messages a day for the entire cohort. The youngest teen boys are the most resistant to texting - averaging 20 messages per day. ... http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:28:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Winfrey: Dnt Txt N Drv Message-ID: <p06240852c7fa9b6f816f@[10.0.1.4]> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/opinion/25winfrey.html OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Dnt Txt N Drv By OPRAH WINFREY April 25, 2010 Chicago WHEN I started out as a TV reporter in Nashville in 1973, a death from drunken driving was big news. One person killed by a drunken driver would lead our local broadcast. Then, as the number of drunken driving deaths across the country continued to rise, the stakes for coverage got even higher. One death wasn't good enough anymore. Two deaths - that would warrant a report. Then a whole family had to die before the news would merit mention at the top of the broadcast. The country, all of us, had gotten used to the idea of drunken driving. I just kept thinking: How many people have to die before we "get it"? Fortunately, we did get it, and since 1980, the number of annual traffic fatalities due to drunken driving has decreased to under 15,500 from more than 30,000. But in recent years, another kind of tragic story has begun to emerge with ever greater frequency. This time, we are mourning the deaths of those killed by people talking or sending text messages on their cellphones while they drive. Earlier this month, I visited Shelley and Daren Forney, a couple in Fort Collins, Colo., whose 9-year-old daughter, Erica, was on her bicycle, just 15 pedals from her front door, when she was struck and killed by a driver who was distracted by a cellphone. I think about Erica's death and how senseless and stupid it was - caused by a driver distracted by a phone call that just couldn't wait. Sadly, there are far too many stories like hers. At least 6,000 people were killed by distracted drivers in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the number is rising. A lot of good work already is happening to try to change this. President Obama signed an executive order banning texting while driving on federal business. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is pushing for tougher laws and more enforcement. States are passing laws, too. Local groups are gaining strength, spurred by too many deaths close to home. But we are hesitant to change. I saw this firsthand when I instituted a policy at my company that forbids employees from using their phones for company business while driving. I heard countless stories about how hard it was for people to stop talking and texting while driving. Everyone is busy. Everyone feels she needs to use time in the car to get things done. But what happened to just driving? It was difficult for my employees to adjust, but they have. Life is more precious than taking a call or answering an e-mail message. Because even though we think we can handle using our cellphone in the car, the loss of thousands of lives has shown we can't. So many issues that we have to deal with seem beyond our control: natural disasters, child predators, traffic jams. Over the years, I've done shows on just about all of them. But this is a real problem we can do something about and get immediate results. All we have to do is hang up or switch off. It really is that simple. Once we do that, not another son or daughter will have to die because someone was on the phone and behind the wheel - and just not paying attention. So starting from the moment you finish this article, and in the days, weeks and years that follow, give it up. Please. And to those who feel like this is asking too much, think about your own child just 15 pedals from your front door. Struck down. Oprah Winfrey is the chairman of Harpo Studios and the host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:31:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Be There or Be Square: The Rise of Location-based Social Networking Message-ID: <p0624085ac7faa14ee1de@[10.0.1.4]> Be There or Be Square: The Rise of Location-based Social Networking Published : April 14, 2010 in Knowledge@Wharton To find the hottest restaurant, bar or concert venue in town, many young adults are no longer checking in with their friends. They're "checking in" virtually via Foursquare, a location-based social networking site. Participants log onto the site and "check in" via smartphone to let contacts who are fellow users know where they are. At the same time, they learn what those users are doing -- whether a co-worker is eating at the restaurant next door, or if friends are gathering at a nightclub across town. As "check in" alerts are traded between phones, the people attached to them instantly become aware of the spots that are popular in their social circles. Foursquare, which was founded by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai, was introduced at the March 2009 South by Southwest music and interactive media festival in Austin, Texas. In recent weeks, the New York-based company has made headlines by gaining about 100,000 users in 10 days during this year's South by Southwest event. Web traffic to Foursquare has increased by 400% since October 2009, according to the research firm Hitwise -- and that doesn't even count users who access the service via third party mobile applications. The site currently has more than 800,000 members "checking in" at locations around the globe. In addition to sharing their location with contacts, check-ins earn users points and digital merit badges through Foursquare's built-in game. For example, a "Bands on the Run" badge was offered to South by Southwest visitors who checked in at seven concerts in one day. The most coveted title is that of "mayor" -- rewarded to the most frequent visitor to any given location. ... http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2468
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:57:52 -0500 From: gordonb.h5yl6@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Please do not change your password Message-ID: <2-OdnaQOaL2NeEnWnZ2dnUVZ_hednZ2d@posted.internetamerica> >Not to mention the whole "forgot your password" secret questions. I seem to >recall an article a year or two back in which researchers were able to >utilize social media data to answer supposed secret questions. You should never answer a secret question with an answer that could be true for anyone (human or not). For example, a birthday, date of birth, wedding anniversary, etc. should never be a date. Your place of birth shouldn't be a location, even one on Romulus. It might be "filet of teleph0ne solicitor with mus-tard topping". Also, make some obvious mistakes. So far I haven't run into a system that actually requires a date as an answer to a question that seems to want one. They usually allow a fairly long response, so you can use a passphrase. If you're really, really sure you will never have to answer the secret question to a human being, you might try some phrases that represent sexual harassment (to both sexes), death threats, confessions to crimes, etc. Your favorite pet, to take a phrase from the old "Clue" game, might be "Abraham L1ncoln, in Chrysler's theater, with the 457-terawatt kumquat". I don't think passwords are really that insecure if you write them down and put the piece of paper in your wallet, next to your cash and credit cards which you are (hopefully) used to not losing. Don't put the passwords and what they go to on the same piece of paper. Don't use the same password for unrelated systems. For example, don't use the same password for Facebook, your bank, and that missile launch code for work.
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:16:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Batteries, when to charge (was Re: batteries (was Waiting for Verizon..) Message-ID: <330412.98268.qm@web52702.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:37:33 -0700 (PDT) Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote: > Thanks for the explanation. But now I'm confused: What is the best > way to maximize battery life in a cellphone? Wait until it runs > down, or, recharge it at a different level? (I don't use my > cellphone very much, so my recharge cycles are about 1-2 months > apart. So far I'm getting four hours of talk time on a charge. I > usually have the phone turned off unless I'm expecting a call, so my > standby time is brief). For modern cellphone batteries i.e. if they're lithium ion or lithium polymer do not let the batteries get completely flat. You can pretty much charge them at will once you've initially "conditioned" them. Do you arrange for people to call you at specific times so you never have your phone on unless someone specific is going to call you?
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Bill Horne. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne. Contact information: Bill Horne Telecom Digest 43 Deerfield Road Sharon MA 02067-2301 781-784-7287 bill at horne dot net Subscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=subscribe telecom Unsubscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=unsubscribe telecom This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Copyright (C) 2009 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
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