Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are a new service from U.S. weather service and FEMA. Starting in June, they will send a text message with a strange tone to your mobile device if you are in range of a Tornado Warning, Tsunami Warning or other major event (in the U.S. only). Major events include "Presidential Alerts." You do not need to sign up. Washington Post Capital Weather Gang has a few more details.
posted by LobsterMitten on May 24, 2012 - 62 comments

Cheating at exams is hardly new, but last week a user on Yahoo Chiebukuro in Japan (Yahoo Answers) audaciously posted questions online during university entrance exams and received answers before the exams were over. [more inside]
posted by adrianhon on Mar 1, 2011 - 59 comments

Will mobile phone porn be banned before reaching the mainstream? Startup Companies as well as established veterans alike have been itching to make a buck from the mobile market. Will they ever get the chance? Not in Israel.
posted by analogue on Mar 3, 2005 - 30 comments

Sidetalkin provides humorous photos that force us to ask the question: Has Nokia's NGage redefined phone ergonomics or simply provided a humorous diversion for a slow Friday afternoon?
posted by donovan on Dec 5, 2003 - 14 comments

Among the most confusing dilemmas facing today's consumer is the question of which cell phone carrier is right for you. Even though Consumer Reports just published an article rating different carriers, the results are far from conclusive. I've been searching for web resources to cut through all the crap, and I thought I'd share a couple with the MeFi community, since typing "compare cell phone plans" into Google brings up a load of pop-up laden vendors thinly disguised as dispensers of advice.

• PhoneScoop.com offers the most comprehensive lists of cell phone features I've seen, a handy comparison tool, and a good number of intelligent user reviews.
• LetsTalk.com suffers from a bit of that thinly-disguised-vendor syndrome, but it is useful for comparing different services and getting clearly presented, itemized lists of each service's features. Be wary of the service comparison tool, because it's rather incomplete, but it's a good starting point to compare plans.

posted by grrarrgh00 on Jan 23, 2003 - 16 comments

"Ultimately, the system should be offering data that discloses a cell phone user's geographic location, mood and availability." Thought this might be something to think about and speculate on. Fascinating/Creepy, as so much is these days. Reminds me of Erik Davis's piece in the (possibly) late lamented Feed on the erosion of privacy.
posted by aflakete on Jun 9, 2001 - 3 comments

This make sense. Farm workers are an ideal market for cells. It's weird how fast the way we relate to a technology changes. What do Mefi'ers think that cell phones meant when they first appeared and how has their meaning changed over the years?
posted by rdr on Jun 7, 2001 - 45 comments

cell phone rings? the next napster. (could, could, could. do you think record companies will actually pursue this?)
posted by rebeccablood on Apr 24, 2001 - 23 comments

"U R STINKY"? From one of those surveys: "14% of the seven to 16-year-olds interviewed had received a bullying, deliberately hurtful call or text message on their mobile phone." Beyond the observation that bullies are nothing if not creative, why the hell do these kids need the bloody things?
posted by holgate on Apr 22, 2001 - 17 comments

Whoa. Does this guy ever answer his cell? I guess this is a lesson for everyone to be careful what kind of voice mail messages you leave.
posted by JFunk2800 on Mar 23, 2001 - 34 comments

Erik Davis on Feed: "I feel compelled to mention the strangely underreported fact that, thanks to the FCC, all U.S. cell phones will soon be required to pack GPS units (or some equivalent tech) that will allow their location to be fixed the moment that 911 is dialed... the FCC has also ruled that wireless carriers, and not users, own GPS location data, and can freely sell it to third parties... your radio-cum-PDA-cum-cell phone... may want to tell you about the great deal on Beanie Babies or Canon’s 15 x 45 image-stabilized binoculars that awaits you two shops down to the right."
posted by Tubes on Jan 22, 2001 - 19 comments

<drool> Oh boy, do I want one of these. Unless, of course, the idiots at Kyocera/Qualcomm blew it again, and *didn't* make it capable of using CDPD to get to the Internet. [calls, gets wrong answer, screeches loudly enough that everyone on MeFi can hear...]
posted by baylink on Nov 29, 2000 - 17 comments

I should like to purchase this sexy phone, but am I gonna get a brain tumor if I do?
posted by aladfar on Aug 9, 2000 - 15 comments

Dack provides a pointer to the growing backlash in the US against cell phone use. While "conspicuous" phone use can certainly at times be annoying, the general level of distaste and phone rage seems to be a phenomenon confined to the United States.
People in Europe, Australia and Asia, took to mobile technology like the proverbial ducks to water and haven't developed anywhere near the same irritation levels.
Is this just a difficult transition for a country slow to adopt a technology or says something deeper about the American psyche? Afterall, we are talking about the country that invented Dick Tracy and Maxwell Smart.
posted by lagado on Aug 3, 2000 - 14 comments

The Last Refuge... invaded... Yes, I have a cell phone. Yes, I use it. But, I turn if off any place it would be rude to be having a full-voiced conversation, because I hate it when people make or take a call in those situations. I'd always sort of enjoyed the fact that the airlines claim they'll screw up navigation systems; whether they do or not, it means I don't have to listen to a dozen suits around me trying to out-do each other a-wheelin' and a-dealin and a-squealin' up and down the aisles. Guess I won't be flying Virgin Atlantic again any time soon...
posted by m.polo on Jul 6, 2000 - 17 comments

Want to learn WAP (wireless application protocol) without buying a $300 PCS phone and paying for airtime? WinWAP is a free WAP-capable browser that runs on win9x/NT and allows you to see pages built for cell phones.
posted by mathowie on Dec 28, 1999 - 3 comments