Student safety on college campuses nationwide has become an increasingly serious concern. This week Rodger Desai, the CEO of Rave Wireless, announced during his panel at SXSW Interactive an initiative by Security On Campus, Campus Progress and Rave Wireless to make college and universities a safer place.
Purposefully launched during women’s month, by texting the word “Safety” to the short-code 30644 users are able to sign a petition that will be presented to University CIO’s around the country and help ensure that colleges and universities are doing all they can to keep students safe.
The service will also allow you to text in your email address in order to receive updates from Security on Campus and Campus Progress when action is needed to be taken around an issue of Campus Security. The campaign was then later marketing with interesting flyers shedding light on crime statistics (like the one above) and with banners and cocktail napkins at the Singlepoint, Rave Wireless, Mcommons and Distributive Networks party that night.
The campaign also helped shed light on Rave Wireless’ mobile phone solution for campus safety with its Rave Guardian application, an application that allows a student to put a timer on their phone that will broadcast the phones GPS location to the campus police if it is not reset. Rave’s Rave Guardian application propelled Montclair Sate University to win the 2006 Clery Award for innovation in Campus safety and is also a finalist in this years Wireless Innovation Contest’s Taking Care of The Community category at CTIA.
Do your part now to ensure our kids are safe at school. Text “Safety” to 30644 now!
I know you have been there with me… you are in a new city, you just need to feed your caffeine addition, but you cant seem to find a Starbucks… All you want is a Starbucks to start off your day.
Starbucks has made a few efforts to help out in these dyer situations. The coffee behemoth has launched a new cell phone-based service that lets you efficiently locate the nearest store through SMS and they added a WAP version of their site.
Try it out: text your zip code to “MySBUX†(697289).
I think this is a great start, but I see just a few problems. In the times you can’t find a Starbucks you are probably in a place you don’t even know the zip code. They should add a search by city name and state. And yes, you could now use the WAP site when you don’t know the zip code, but we all know how long using Internet on your mobile takes! Finally, I think the shortcode is a bit hard to remember. I can totally see myself asking what that abbreviation they used was again. What I suggest is that we start seeing the abbreviation “sbux†ALL over the store so we get used to it.
Hey, thats not my dog. What is it doing in my Flickr gallery! That is what this guy who has a blog called the Practicalist (yes, he even has quotes from Richard Rorty) was saying to himself after his cell phone was stolen and who ever it was that stole his cell phone was taking pictures and loading them up to the original owners Flickr account via Shozu (one of my all time favorite mobile applications).
He has some pretty nifty insight on the philo/socio importance of this happening
My cell phone was stolen last Friday. I had it disconnected and arranged to get a replacement. It had been set up with the excellent service from ShoZu to automatically upload all pictures taken with the phone to Flickr. So today, completely surprisingly, I find pictures on my Flickr account of the family of the person who took the phone. I’m not sure they knew what was happening (they replaced the SIM card with their own, clearly, but probably didn’t notice ShoZu), I have no way to find my phone with these pictures, and I’ve disabled my ShoZu account so it won’t happen again. See update, below.
But: what a great illustration of how social media, inadvertently or not, blows away all normally private separate identities and separate worlds! I don’t just know something about the person who took the phone, I see some of the more intimate details of their family and life. Social media and applications create conditions which would otherwise be impossible. These technologies are only beginning to have a profound impact on social norms and behavior. The photos are below.
Its also interesting to note that my buddy Andy Tiller (CTO of Shozu) points out that if the guy had enabled Shozu’s contact backup then all he has to do is sign into his Shozu account to see the thief’s friends and family backed up on the blog.
Came across this post the other day about a technology developed to intercept text messages from a specified number and then send the text to your handset. This is what company X claims:
We can now install, remotely anywhere in the world onto their mobile phone (providing it is a compatible model) a program which when they receive or send a text, you will at the same time receive the exact same text with the number it is being sent to and received from… This feature is an extremely powerful and covert application that is 100% trace resistant.
However, the company do have a disclaimer on their site which states that the use of such facilities is illegal in the EEC and warns against customer use in this region. Nevertheless, it seems as if data-mining has returned to the (insanely rich) people, no? Bring out the James Bond in you. Lol. Somewhere there is an NSA or Australian government agent lifting an eyebrow.
The blogger would not post the actual website he was referring to… but did mention other sites like
Other interesting discussions on the matter can be found here, here and here. Actually, its pretty scary to see how many people on mobile forums have “wondered” about such technology with follow up questions of how to do it.
So, I was at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) here in New York City today to see the Dada exhibit. It was wonderful. While standing by Duchamps famous overturned urinal a security guard grabbed my shoulder as I took out my cell phone to put it on silent. He was going to confiscate my Nokia N70 because he thought I took a picture. I should have. It would have been in the Dada anti-art establishment spirit
Anyways, while perusing the gift shop I came across a rather interesting item left over from the museums “Safe: Design Takes on Risk” exhibit. The exhibit, which showed at the MOMA almost a year ago celebrated design as one of the most enlightened applications of human creativity by presenting a carefully selected array of objects that have been designed to protect body and mind from dangerous or stressful circumstances; respond to emergency situations; ensure clarity and information; and provide a sense of comfort and security.
The item I found, that is relevant to MOpocket, was Karrysafe’s “Phone Safe” mobile phone protector (modeled above). The arm strap provides stealth mobile phone storage for one of the most information heavy devices you carry with you on a daily basis. Perfect for traveling etc etc…
As the box states, one mobile phone is stolen every 3 minutes ( I have heard that statistic somewhere else as well, somewhere during 3GSM). Anyways, The English company Karrysafe makes sure your phone is not one of them.
From the back of the box:
Hands free carrying convenience for your mobile phone. The ‘Phonesafe’ can be worn under clothes or on show. You can use it in situ. You know where it is - it’s your choice if others do or not.
Bodycool fabric ensures cool comfort
2-way stretch fabric gives universal fit for most types of mobile phones.
See through PowerNet allows ‘on arm’ dialing and talking
Low profile design allows comfortable concealment and easy access.
I actually bought one figuring that this may be a useful item when traveling to certain areas of the world.
As the world of Wireless converged with the world of gambling during CTIA Wireless in Las vegas last month, it should come as no surprise that the topic of mobile gambling in relation to the already booming business of online gambling could be heard being discussed in the halls of the convention and the floor of the casino’s. It certainly was a topic often brought up in the entourage iI found myself spending time with.
Well, it seems as if someone in Vegas must of overhead us (sort of)
Apparently, the Nevada Gaming Control Board has open the doors of the wireless industry to casino’s allowing them to begin the process’ of proposing ways in which to make mobile gambling a reality. The bill was signed into law last June by Nevada governor Kenny Guinn. It allows casino’s to offer wireless gambling on their grounds only.
Numerous regulations are attached to the law however, including strict security and identification measures, which will monitor who gets to use the wireless devices and where.
Wireless gambling — or mobile gaming, as it is called by the industry — has the potential to radically change how casinos do business. (No casinos have formally announced plans yet.) Wireless gambling would allow players to free themselves from felt-topped tables and slot machines and multitask while they wager. They would be able to bet on a variety of games at once, perhaps while watching a show or eating dinner.
And the Casino’s, of course, love it because it increases the amount of time one can spend gambling making it an almost continuos and seamless experience.
Gamblers would provide a credit card to receive a Wireless Devices that hooked him or her up to various tables and other means of gambling around the casino. Wagered money is charged to the card but the winnings are are given when the device is returned (just remember to use some of it to pay of the credit card bill).
We should start seeing this type of thing in Las Vegas popping up around early next year (with chance sightings of beta beta testing here and there).
There are some technical concerns but the biggest one seems to be around preventing the hand-off of such devices to underage gamblers.
This is still not mobile gambling in the sense of bringing online gambling functionality onto a mobile phone which we probably wont see in the United States for a long long time being that the mobile networks are controlled by the carriers and that technically, online gambling is illegal in the United States. True mobile phone gambling would have to bypass the carriers and involve an offshore off-deck platform and could not take advantage of all the tools the mobile medium has to offer that easily.
Which is a shame. I mean, wouldn’t it be cool to text message a quarter into the slot machine? I guess the 10 dollar a month minimum that could be charged onto a cell phone bill would be a barrier. I do, however have some really kick-ass ideas on what either the Wireless networks or other organizations here in the United States can do with the concept of mobile gambling (and even make it legit) but I do not give out such advice for free.
Nevertheless, once better, faster and more capable phones hit and multiply in the US market one of these off-shore online Gambling sites is going to make a kick ass WAP application… you know it and I know it.
This story is not entirely about mobile but it does involve a mobile phone and I thought it was too cool a story not to report. The master illusionist David Copperfield used the tools of his trade and a cell phone to avoid being robbed this Sunday after his show at a West Palm Beach performing arts center. Apparently, he and two female assistants were held up by four teenagers riding in a black car while they were walking back to the tour bus.
One assistant handed over $400 in cash while the other assistant was forced to give up her purse which contained 200 Euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a Razr cell phone.
As the story goes, Copperfield says he turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing in them, even though he was carrying his passport, wallet and cell phone. The trick, Copperfeld joked with the Palm Beach Post, is called “reverse-pick pocketing.”
When the robbers took off, Copperfield read the license plate number to an assistant while she used his reappeared cell phone to call 911.
The alleged teenage robbers were eventually caught and all belongings returned to the assistants.
As cell phone theft and the security issues involved become more and more a problem… perhaps this is one trick that Mr Copperfield should share with the rest of us, as a public service
This post is dedicated to the magician of CTIA, wherever you are!
Concerned parents and suspicious wives have another alternative. World-Tracker.com , a UK based company, allows anyone to track a GSM cell phone as it wonders around the globe.
The technology apparently uses cell tower data (or GPS, when available) to track the location of just about any GSM cellphone (via a Google Maps interface).
The service costs 16 pence per request with no other hardware or software required (for either your computer or the phone in which you are tracking).
The service promises to track a mobile phone accurately between 50m to 500m, however the company says this may vary from network provider to network provider.
While cheating husbands should be concerned, the site also claims some great commercial usages for the service such as “locating your company mobiles at any time,” “utilizing your fleet more effectively,” “providing additional safety to lone workers,” and or “recovering your lost or misplaced mobile phone.”
But you just cant track any phone at whim. The first time you try to track a phone, a text message is sent to the owner, who must reply in order to enable tracking.
For now, the system only works in the UK and is only compatible with any handset working on the four main UK Network providers – O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile.
As the service has yet to hit the United States there is no word yet on the Civil Liberty issues that such a technology will most definitely bring to the table.
Student safety on college campuses nationwide has become an increasingly serious concern. This week Rodger Desai, the CEO of Rave Wireless, announced during his panel at SXSW Interactive an initiative by Security On Campus, Campus Progress and Rave Wireless to make college and universities a safer place.
The campaign also helped shed light on Rave Wireless’ mobile phone solution for campus safety with its Rave Guardian application, an application that allows a student to put a timer on their phone that will broadcast the phones GPS location to the campus police if it is not reset. Rave’s Rave Guardian application propelled Montclair Sate University to win the 2006 Clery Award for innovation in Campus safety and is also a finalist in this years Wireless Innovation Contest’s Taking Care of The Community category at CTIA.
I know you have been there with me… you are in a new city, you just need to feed your caffeine addition, but you cant seem to find a Starbucks… All you want is a Starbucks to start off your day.
