MetaFilter posts tagged with Phone and mobilephone

Social Networking, Mobile Phones, and Crisis Communication

divabat — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:12:12 -0800

Can social networking be used to effect positive social change? Ushahidi (meaning "testimony" in Swahili) is one such project that harnesses mobile technology to empower local citizens to report on crucial and crisis situations in their area. Started as a mashup of user-generated reports and Google Maps on the post-election crisis in Kenya, it has now been deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. They are currently working together with other organisations, such as Kiwanja, which uses mobile technology to assist NGO communications and outreach, mobile programming education, and gorilla conservation. Currently they're collaborating on prototyping the "ultimate activist tool". MobileActive is a dedicated blog that tracks such technology in international development and advocates for the use of mobile technology in crisis situations and disaster relief. (This post is a collaboration between divabat and infini.)

Molly Walker Need Not Apply

chuckdarwin — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:42:39 -0800

WIRED: A ~~cell~~ mobile phone helped police find the body of missing student Kelly Nolan. "The average citizen is not aware that they are carrying a location-tracking device in their pocket..."

Is it really time to upgrade your mobile phone?

nthdegx — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:37:40 -0800

Dead Ringers: the Science Museum asks us the question "should we upgrade our mobile phone?" "No" and "no" say the Times and the Observer, but we still do: on average every 18 months. What's the problem? Well it isn't just the lead, arsenic, beryllium and brominated fire-retardant cases (pollutants all) disappearing into our land fills (which are not covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive [WEEE] in Europe). Coltan also goes into our phones. It occurs mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and as such our demand for upgrades has been contributing to a war (despite mobile phone companies' claims to the contrary, coltan is not regulated like timber). If we must upgrade, we can at least recycle or hack our old phones.

Blake — Sun, 24 Mar 2002 09:09:25 -0800

Study: Mobile Phone Users Worse Than Drunk Drivers
It took mobile users half-a-second longer to react than normal, and one-third of a second longer than when they had been drinking.
They were also less able to maintain a constant speed and found it harder to keep a safe distance from the car in front. Participants in the study stated that they found it easier to drive drunk than when using a cell phone.
Here's the fun quote:
"Eventually," said Dominic Burch, road safety campaign manager at Direct Line, "we would like to see the use of mobile phones when driving, both hand-held and hands-free, become as socially unacceptable as drink driving."
Nice graphic Here that explains the time/distance it takes to stop. That fraction of a second = +46 feet stopping time over normal, and +33 over being drunk. More Here and The Full Report[PDF].