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As the head of the nonprofit activism organization DoSomething.org, Nancy Lublin reaches out to teens via text messages, hoping to get them to — as the name suggests — do something.
It may be donating protein-rich peanut butter as part of the Peanut Butter Jam Slam. It’s a competition with two teams — Team Crunchy and Team Smooth — and the benefactors are local food banks. Or it may be an educational campaign to fight teen pregnancy using a game that involves a virtual “baby” that wakes up at 6:30 am and requires frequent care. The lesson being, “If you can’t take care of a pretend baby on your phone, you might want to keep your zipper closed,” Lublin said. The organization announced today that it had reached one million teens via weekly text messages that are proving remarkably effective: More than 2.4 million U.S. teens participated in Do Something campaigns in 2011. About 97 percent of messages sent are opened.
Getting Teens to Help — And Helping Them — Via Text
The official Indian version of “Sesame Street” is expanding its reach with new mobile services that work on all phones. The hope is that Sesame will now have a better way to educate children in rural areas, where mobile devices have greater penetration.
Sesame Workshop Shows Off Mobile Experiments in Rural India, Augmented Reality
[Commentary] Dish now controls billions of dollars’ worth of unused wireless spectrum that it obtained from the federal government as well as through a series of acquisitions, such as its $2.9-billion spectrum purchases last year from failed satellite operators DBSD North America and TerreStar Networks. Under the terms of a deal cut in December with the Federal Communications Commission, Dish now has seven years in which to start operating a wireless network covering at least 70% of the population. If it fails to do so, its wireless license from the FCC will expire. Dish's attempt to purchase Sprint isn't about serving customers. It's about positioning the company for a wireless future that, regardless of what role the company plays, will be worth a bundle.
Consumer advocates remain wary of the ongoing trend of consolidation among telecom companies. "These Frankenstein-style mergers among weaker players are no substitute for real competition in the mobile, broadband and video markets," said S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press in Washington. "Until something is done about the market power that companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T abuse daily, consumers will be stuck paying higher bills for mediocre services," he said. The reality, however, is that sky-high bills and mediocre service have become hallmarks of the U.S. wireless industry, and there's little anyone can do to change that.
Taxpayers failing to get their fair share of wireless gold rush
The head of the Internal Revenue Service denied that his agency searches people's e-mails without a warrant.
"The short answer is we are not taking that position," Steven Miller, the IRS acting commissioner, said in response to questioning from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) during a hearing. Miller said that for criminal investigations, his agency obtains a search warrant before requesting the contents of emails from an Internet service provider. He said investigators do not request email content information from service providers for civil investigations.
IRS denies searching emails without warrant
Top national security officials will participate in a briefing for House members on cybersecurity April 16. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, FBI Director Robert Mueller and National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander are slated to attend the briefing, which comes as the House is in the midst of voting on a package of cybersecurity-focused bills this week, according to a House aide.
It's unclear whether the administration officials will brief House members on information regarding the bombings that ripped through the Boston Marathon on April 15. The House will begin consideration of anchor bill in the cybersecurity legislative package, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), on April 17. CISPA is designed to make it easier for industry and the government to share data about malicious source code and other cyber threats with one another in real time so firms can thwart cyberattacks. The bill has drawn criticism from privacy and civil liberties advocates, as well as the White House. They argue that it does not include sufficient protections to safeguard people's personal information online and prevent that data from being shared with the military.
National security officials to brief House members on cybersecurity
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has amended a proposed amendment to the Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) to make it clear that industry can use automated processes to remove personally identifiable information prior to sharing cyberthreat info with each other and government. That came in submitting the amendment to the Rules Committee, which is setting the rules for House floor debate April 17 and 18 on CISPA. Schiff tried unsuccessfully to get the amendment adopted in markup of the bill last year, which is why he tweaked the amendment to clarify that the information could still be shared in real time via automatic processes. Republicans have been concerned that the requirement of removing PII before sharing could slow sharing when time is of the essence. Rep Schiff was one of a quartet of Democratic legislators who said that without that and other changes to the Republican-backed bill, they could not support it.
Rep Schiff Tweaks Personal Info-Sharing Amendment to CISPA
The New York Times led the Pulitzer Prizes with awards in four categories, including investigative reporting, while InsideClimate News won for the first time for its coverage of regulation of oil pipelines. The New York Times also was awarded for explanatory reporting, international reporting and feature writing. InsideClimate News, based in Brooklyn, New York, was given the prize for national reporting. Javier Manzano, a freelance photographer, won the prize for feature photography for an image of two Syrian rebel soldiers. The Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, won in the public service category for its investigation of reckless speeding by police officers. InsideClimate, a non-profit, online news organization, won for its reporting on the “flawed regulation” of the nation’s oil pipeline, according to the Pulitzer committee. This is the fourth time a digital-only news organization has won journalism’s most esteemed prize.
New York Times Leads Pulitzers as InsideClimate Wins First
In the chaotic minutes and hours following the Boston Marathon attack yesterday, Cheryl Fiandaca of the Boston Police Department made an unusual request. Fiandaca, the police department's social media director, issued an official request for anyone with video of the finish line to contact Boston Police. The Federal Bureau of Investigation will be handling the Boston attack, but the Boston Police request to the public still stands.
The Modern Tool in Terror Investigations: Your Phone Boston Uses Tech to Communicate After Marathon Explosions (Government Technology) Social Media Plays Role in Response to Marathon Bombing (nextgov)
A Sony-backed ISP in Japan has launched a 2Gbps Internet service, which it said is the world's fastest for home use.
So-net Entertainment began offering its "Nuro" fiber-based service on Monday to homes, apartments, and small businesses in Tokyo and six surrounding prefectures. Nuro will cost AY=4,980 ($51) per month on a two-year contract, plus a AY=52,500 installation fee that it is currently offering for free for those that apply online. The upload speed is 1Gbps. The company said the service includes rental of an ONU (optical network unit) designed to handle the high speeds. ONU devices are commonly used in homes and business to convert fiber to broadband Internet. Individual users of the service are unlikely to see 2Gbps speeds on their devices, as it exceeds the capacity of most consumer network adaptors. The Japanese government has strongly backed fiber connections to private residences, and the country is now among the world leaders.
Sony ISP launches world's fastest home Internet, 2Gbps
Twitter users reacted fast to the explosions that ripped through the Boston Marathon Monday, but the incident also revealed how social media can only be so reliable in such situations. Twitter spread news of the blasts quickly and was a useful communications tool for public authorities such as the Boston police and the marathon organizers. But information on social media sites can also be questionable or just plain inaccurate, noted Greg Sterling, senior analyst with Opus Research.
"It cuts both ways," Sterling said. "It allows you to get the information out more quickly, but it can also fan hysteria." The Boston Police Department's Twitter log showed a positive side of social media. It was updated minute by minute in the aftermath of the bombings, often with instructions about which areas to avoid, or information about where the most police officers might be stationed. There was also misinformation, however. A report was circulated quickly on Twitter that police had shut down cellphone service in Boston to prevent detonation of further blasts, though it ultimately turned out to be inaccurate, according to network operators.
Boston blasts show two sides of social media Boston Uses Tech to Communicate After Marathon Explosions (Government Technology) Social Media Plays Role in Response to Marathon Bombing (nextgov)