Congress Passes Another Anti-Robocall Bill.

“The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, or the TRACED Act, empowers the federal government with new abilities to go after illegal robocallers. Once TRACED is enacted, the Federal Communications Commission could fine robocallers up to $10,000 per call. It also would require major carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to deploy a new technology called STIR/SHAKEN into their networks, which will make it easier for consumers to know if they’re receiving a call from a spoofed number.”

— “Robocall fines rise to $10,000 per call under newly passed law,” Makena Kelly, The Verge

More:

“Senate passes anti-robocalls bill; Trump expected to sign,” Tali Arbel, Associated Press

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The Future of Reading

“Ever since the first hand-held e-readers were introduced in the 1990s, the digital-reading revolution has turned the publishing world upside down. But contrary to early predictions, it’s not the e-reader that will be driving future book sales, but the phone.”

— — “The Rise of Phone Reading,” Jennifer Maloney, Wall Street Journal

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Mobile is Murdering the Cyber Café

Internet Cafés are an endangered species. Why? Because everyone has a smartphone now, even in Rwanda, Bangladesh, China, India and Nigeria. In the USA, some cyber cafés are staying solvent by offering an extra amenity: Illegal gambling.

More:

“Internet cafes in the developing world find out what happens when everyone gets a smartphone,” Newley Purnell, Quartz

“No takers: After the smartphone boom, cybercafés dying a slow death in Mumbai,” Debasish Panigrahi, Hindustan Times

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Image (“Au Cyber Cafe, after Jean Béraud”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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4 Million Pre-Orders for iPhone 6

There were 4 million pre-orders for Apple’s iPhone 6 mobile phone, which becomes available this week. If you’re picking one up, expect long lines.

 More:

“Apple’s 4 million iPhone 6 pre-orders in context,” Dan Frommer, Quartz

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Photo (Eastern Market Radio Shack, 717 D Street SE) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Your Cell Phone Bill Should Be Going Down—But Isn’t

“How much do you really know about 4G data service on your smartphone? Did you know that it not only provides you with faster data, but is also cheaper for cellular carriers to deliver? And yet it still costs you the same or more as slower 3G service?”

— “Why Your Cell-Phone Bill Should Be Going Down—But Isn’t,” Lauren Orsini, ReadWrite

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Image (“Portrait of Maria de Medici with her iPhone, after Agnolo Bronzino”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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US Backed ‘Cuban Twitter’ to Foment Unrest

The US State Department’s USAID development agency secretly set up an anonymous SMS text messaging network in Cuba, according to an AP story this week. The service, called ZunZuneo after the Cuban Emerald Hummingbird, allowed users to send messages to multiple recipients, and system administrators to data-mine their content and information on subscribers, In its 2-year run in 2010 and 2011, ZunZuneo had as many as 40,000 users.

Sex & Cell Phones

A new study indicates that 62% of women have checked their cell phones during sex. As one wag puts it, that gives a whole new meaning to the term “phone sex.”

More:

“New study finds that 62% of women ‘check phones during sex,'” Michael Blaustein, New York Post

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Cell Phones & High Blood Pressure

The highlight of the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension this week was a study suggesting that mobile phone calls may raise your blood pressure. The study, conducted at Northern Italy’s Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, found that subjects talking on their telefonini had a significant rise in blood pressure, from 121/77 to 129/82. Frankly, we wonder if BP rose because subjects were irritated when their phone calls were interrupted by blood pressure tests.

More:

“New research shows what raises and lowers blood pressure: Cell phones, salt and saying om,” EurekaAlert

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East Village Recovery Efforts Look Like This

New York’s Alphabet City, Wednesday (Photo: Sean McPhillips, Salon).

Further downtown, bucket brigades carry diesel fuel up to a 17th floor generator to keep a data center online:

“After Sandy Knocks Out Power, Rescue Keeps Data Center Alive,” Gerry Smith, Huffington Post

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Cell Phone Robocalls?

Wouldn’t it be nice if telemarketers could call you day or night, at your own expense, on your cell phone? Big business thinks it would be lovely, and is behind a Congressional bill that would make cell phone robocalls legal.

If you enjoy intrusive and unwanted robocalls to your cell phone, do nothing. If not, tell the House Energy and Commerce Committee not to refer the bill for a full House vote by signing the petition here and sending this link to your friends — http://bit.ly/twzZZk

More:

“Telemarketers, Collectors Could Target Cells Under “Mobile Information Call Act”: Chuck Schumer,” NY Daily News

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