By Paul Thomson :: 8:57 PM
The state of California’s rules and regulations prohibiting the use of cellular telephones while driving also extend to using the maps application on the device, according to a recent judicial ruling.
In a decision made by the Fresno County appellate division of the Superior Court, holding the cellphone in your hand to access the mapping application counts as using the phone while driving, and is a violation of the law.
The ruling doesn’t prevent the use of the mapping app while driving, but suggests that it needs to be done without the driver holding the phone in their hand. It must be secured to a holder, or in a window or dash mount. The ruling did not make any mention of similar mapping functionality of GPS devices, and whether drivers holding GPS systems in their hands while driving would also violate the law.
California’s hands free cellphone law was enacted in 2006, and has been revised several times since then. The latest text of the law is below:
Hand-Held Wireless Telephone: Prohibited Use
23123. (a) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.
(b) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a base fine of twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense.
(c) This section does not apply to a person using a wireless telephone for emergency purposes, including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity.
(d) This section does not apply to an emergency services professional using a wireless telephone while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties.
(e) This section does not apply to a person driving a schoolbus or transit vehicle that is subject to Section 23125.
(f) This section does not apply to a person while driving a motor vehicle on private property.
(g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 4:17 PM
Facebook caused quite the stir in the breastfeeding community online over the past several days, as it blocked a mother for submitting pictures that depicted her breastfeeding her child.
User Kristy Kemp was kicked off of Facebook for 24 hours after posting pictures that the social network claimed were in violation of the company’s image policies and guidelines. Kemp also runs a Facebook group for women who breastfeed, Breastfeeding/Mama Talk, which has about 5,300 members.
After Kemp was blocked from Facebook, a number of supporters and friends from her Facebook group posted images of support to the group wall, including pictures of children being breastfed. In addition to blocking Kemp, Facebook also prevented her from managing her Facebook group.
“It’s not right,†Kemp told her local Fox News affiliate. “I’m trying to do good for mothers and I’m getting kicked off for posting pictures of the most beautiful act a mother can do for her kid.”
After the backlash, Facebook issued an apology to Kemp, and restored the images to her account and to her group that it had removed.
By Gilbert Falso :: 2:01 PM
Search giant Google may be looking to get in to the messaging business, as rumors are picking up pretty quickly that the company is in talks with Internet messaging service WhatsApp. Some sources say that the acquisition price talks are in the $1 billion dollar range.
The WhatsApp messenger application is a cross-platform mobile messaging system that allows users to send and receive messages without having to incur text message or SMS fees. The app is available on iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia platforms. In addition to basic messaging functionality, WhatsApp users can create group messaging channels, as well as send images, video and audio messages to other users.
Although Google does have Google Voice for a messaging service now, that backend relies on the traditional wireless carrier phone network for sending and receiving text messages. With WhatsApp, all of that is shifted away from the carrier network, and on to the data side of the plan.
If Google successfully acquires WhatsApp, it will fill a significant chunk in its digital/mobile communications portfolio. By purchasing WhatsApp, it saves itself the time and money of building a new app from the ground up, or completely reworking how Google Voice handles text messaging.
WhatsApp has a solid user base, the application is in use in over 100 countries across over 700 mobile network providers. According to numbers released by WhatsApp, the service saw 18 billion messages processed last New Year’s Eve – clearly they have the number of eyeballs on their app that Google would be interested in.
As usual with these merger and acquisition rumors, no one is talking on the record about anything. But, seeing as this is the second time that Google and WhatsApp have been to this dance, and that WhatsApp has also been courted by Facebook in the past, the timing may be right for everything to come together over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.
By Paul Thomson :: 9:16 PM
With the NCAA Final-Four matchup of Michigan and Syracuse set to tip off in just a few minutes, let’s take a look at the Twitter accounts of both schools to see if we can pick a winner from how they use social media.
Time in the Game
Syracuse University first launched its Twitter account (@SyracuseU) on March 23, 2010, but Michigan beat them by a few months, opening @UMich on November 10, 2009. Point to Michigan.
Number of Tweets
Although Michigan has been playing a bit longer on Twitter than Syracuse, this battle clearly goes to the Orange. Syracuse has racked up about 19,500 Tweets, while Michigan trails with a lackluster 3,681. And, SyracuseU has been actively Tweeting throughout the day today in the run up to tonight’s game. Michigan only Tweeted once today, and the Tweet now shows an inaccurate start time for tonight’s game. Point to Syracuse.
Who has the Klout?
Points here go to Michigan, but barely. The Mitten State school pulls a 94 on Klout. Syracuse is only just behind, at 93.
Is anybody listening?
Points to Michigan here again – with 37,825 followers, they have 17,700 more than Syracuse, clocking in with 20,125 followers.
So it looks like Michigan has racked up quite a few more points in these categories than Syracuse has. Tune into the game, starting at 9:20 PM tonight to see how the teams do on the court. Will Michigan’s dominance on Twitter carry over to the game?
By Gilbert Falso :: 6:58 PM
CNN has given its homepage a minor redesign, adding some color, switching the background from white to a light yellow, and renaming some of the section components.
The redesign, which rolled out late on Thursday and early on Friday, applies only to the cable network’s homepage at this point, and it is not clear if subsequent article pages or inside section pages will also receive the new look and treatment.
Along the top of the new homepage, users are treated to “CNN Trends” – news stories that are popular at the current moment, replacing what used to be “In the News.”
Further down the page, CNN has added some splashes of color to the headlines calling out stories in individual sections.
Two screenshots below show the old site on top, with the new site on the bottom:
