3-15-15 Virginia:
A 14-year-old Fairfax boy is accused of creating a contest to generate child pornography.
The juvenile allegedly masterminded the disturbing scheme through the popular social app Kik, which boasts more than 200 million users who can share messages, photos and videos with made-up screen names.
“We talk to kids now and they say, 'Well my parents are on Facebook so we’re not using Facebook anymore.' And Kik is now what they’re using,” said Lt. James Bacon of Fairfax County Police’s Child Exploitation Unit.
Bacon follows the social trends and says Kik has become increasingly popular among young teens. "A predator is the fisherman, and Kik right now is the pond that’s stocked with all the fish,” he said.
A search warrant revealed a recent case involving the app.
A detective in Tempe, Arizona, began investigating a 12-year-old in that jurisdiction who had submitted nude images to the screen name “AAAproductions” on Kik.
“AAAproductions" claimed to offer the chance to win $30,000 for child pornography.
Police traced the IP address to a home in a Fairfax City neighborhood. ..Continued.. by David Culver
Showing posts with label ( .News-Apps 4 US. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ( .News-Apps 4 US. Show all posts
March 15, 2015
November 19, 2014
Cloverdale Police Department introduces new app
11-19-2014 Indiana:
CLOVERDALE -- Crime fighting is now at the fingertips of Cloverdale residents as the Cloverdale Police Department launched a smartphone app on Monday. The department is hoping that the new app, MyPD, will not only raise community involvement and awareness, but keep up with the ever changing ways people view information.
The free app, which can be used on any iPhone or Android device, aims to easily and quickly connect residents with its local law enforcement and public safety agency by not only allowing users to give feedback and communicate information to the department, but residents will also receive news and alerts when needed.
"It's a good way to connect with the community," Cloverdale Town Marshal Mike Clark said. "This allows us to be able to let them get information to us and us get information to them."
MyPD allows users to obtain push notifications directly from the Cloverdale Police Department in such situations as road closures or amber alerts. Users can also ask questions, submit tips, commend officers for doing a good job, check out the most wanted persons as well as access crime maps and such things as the sex offender registry.
"Citizens can make anonymous tips to us and they truly are anonymous because they actually go through a third party before they come to us," Clark explained. "We have no access to whoever submitted it if they do it anonymously."
Residents will also be able to ask Clark and Sgt. Charlie Hallam questions in a timely fashion as well as have access to the email addresses of all Cloverdale Police officers.
Clark noted that after doing some research to better connect the department and the community, he stumbled upon MyPD and later gained more information before moving forward with the new project.
"I'm always looking for ways to connect us more with the community," Clark added. "Cloverdale will be only the second department in Indiana to have it, with West Lafayette being the first."
Users are reminded that the app should not be used in true emergency situations and 9-1-1 should still be used. Users are also reminded that it is a crime to make a false report to the Cloverdale Police Department.
"We encourage people to download the free app," Clark said. "Hopefully we can work together." ..Source.. by LAUREN BOUCHER
CLOVERDALE -- Crime fighting is now at the fingertips of Cloverdale residents as the Cloverdale Police Department launched a smartphone app on Monday. The department is hoping that the new app, MyPD, will not only raise community involvement and awareness, but keep up with the ever changing ways people view information.
The free app, which can be used on any iPhone or Android device, aims to easily and quickly connect residents with its local law enforcement and public safety agency by not only allowing users to give feedback and communicate information to the department, but residents will also receive news and alerts when needed.
"It's a good way to connect with the community," Cloverdale Town Marshal Mike Clark said. "This allows us to be able to let them get information to us and us get information to them."
MyPD allows users to obtain push notifications directly from the Cloverdale Police Department in such situations as road closures or amber alerts. Users can also ask questions, submit tips, commend officers for doing a good job, check out the most wanted persons as well as access crime maps and such things as the sex offender registry.
"Citizens can make anonymous tips to us and they truly are anonymous because they actually go through a third party before they come to us," Clark explained. "We have no access to whoever submitted it if they do it anonymously."
Residents will also be able to ask Clark and Sgt. Charlie Hallam questions in a timely fashion as well as have access to the email addresses of all Cloverdale Police officers.
Clark noted that after doing some research to better connect the department and the community, he stumbled upon MyPD and later gained more information before moving forward with the new project.
"I'm always looking for ways to connect us more with the community," Clark added. "Cloverdale will be only the second department in Indiana to have it, with West Lafayette being the first."
Users are reminded that the app should not be used in true emergency situations and 9-1-1 should still be used. Users are also reminded that it is a crime to make a false report to the Cloverdale Police Department.
"We encourage people to download the free app," Clark said. "Hopefully we can work together." ..Source.. by LAUREN BOUCHER
August 18, 2013
Some prisons let inmates connect with tablets
8-18-2013 Ohio:
Proponents say allowing inmates to use tablets will help reintegrate them into society and keep them from returning to jail.
Ohio became the latest state last month to allow inmates to purchase and use mini-tablet computers while incarcerated — a controversial move intended to better connect those in jail with their families and friends on the outside.
At least six other states, including North Dakota and Georgia, permit the practice, which proponents say will deepen prisoners' ties to their communities and keep them in sync with modern technology.
"We have anticipation and hope to make it a good educational tool," said Ricky Seyfang, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Opponents are concerned the tablets will be used for illegal activities or brandished as weapons.
"Our challenge is always how we give inmates the exposure to these tools while protecting public safety at the same time," said Douglas Smith III, chief information officer for the Florida Department of Corrections. Florida launched a pilot program last year to test Kindle devices for inmates.
Victims' rights groups say the devices make public safety increasingly difficult to achieve.
Kristy Dyroff, director of communication at the National Organization for Victim Assistance, said there is the potential for "unrestricted and unsupervised outreach where inmates can revictimize or continue to intimidate victims."
More than four in 10 offenders nationwide return to state prison within three years of their release, even as states are spending more than $50 billion yearly on corrections, according to a 2011 Pew report.
In the seven states that allow the tablets — Louisiana, Virginia, Michigan and Washington are the four others — inmates or their family members can purchase a $49.99 mini-tablet that allows them to send e-mails and listen to music, according to Tara Bertram, vice president of marketing at JPay, a mini-tablet vendor. The e-mails and any included attachments can be monitored by the state's department of corrections or the individual facility. ..continued.. by Kimberly Railey
Proponents say allowing inmates to use tablets will help reintegrate them into society and keep them from returning to jail.
Ohio became the latest state last month to allow inmates to purchase and use mini-tablet computers while incarcerated — a controversial move intended to better connect those in jail with their families and friends on the outside.
At least six other states, including North Dakota and Georgia, permit the practice, which proponents say will deepen prisoners' ties to their communities and keep them in sync with modern technology.
"We have anticipation and hope to make it a good educational tool," said Ricky Seyfang, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Opponents are concerned the tablets will be used for illegal activities or brandished as weapons.
"Our challenge is always how we give inmates the exposure to these tools while protecting public safety at the same time," said Douglas Smith III, chief information officer for the Florida Department of Corrections. Florida launched a pilot program last year to test Kindle devices for inmates.
Victims' rights groups say the devices make public safety increasingly difficult to achieve.
Kristy Dyroff, director of communication at the National Organization for Victim Assistance, said there is the potential for "unrestricted and unsupervised outreach where inmates can revictimize or continue to intimidate victims."
More than four in 10 offenders nationwide return to state prison within three years of their release, even as states are spending more than $50 billion yearly on corrections, according to a 2011 Pew report.
In the seven states that allow the tablets — Louisiana, Virginia, Michigan and Washington are the four others — inmates or their family members can purchase a $49.99 mini-tablet that allows them to send e-mails and listen to music, according to Tara Bertram, vice president of marketing at JPay, a mini-tablet vendor. The e-mails and any included attachments can be monitored by the state's department of corrections or the individual facility. ..continued.. by Kimberly Railey
July 29, 2012
Discover politics in your state. Find your legislators, see how they've voted and browse upcoming legislation and events.
Folks, I have this on a iPad and it works really slick. It has ways to search for upcoming legislation in your state then access the specific bills involved. This is quite good for folks who want to get involved.7-29-2012 National:
While Open States is in beta, for PC computers, and right now is only available for Alaska, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
In the meantime, you can get Open States for the iPhone and iPad to keep up-to-date on what's happening in your state legislature, from bills being considered and how to contact lawmakers, campaign finance and voting records, plus local news. ..Click for further information or to enter your e-mail to be notified when your state is available.. by OpenStates
October 20, 2011
iPhone spyware can snoop on desktop typing
10-20-2011 Global:
A team of researchers at Georgia Tech have demonstrated how they were able to spy on what was typed on a regular desktop computer's keyboard via the accelerometers of a smartphone placed nearby.
Normally when security researchers describe spyware on smartphones, they mean malicious code that can be used to snoop on calls, or to steal the data held on mobile phones.
In this case, however, researchers have described how they have put software on smartphones to spy on activity *outside* the phone itself - specifically to track what a user might be doing on a regular desktop keyboard nearby.
It sounds like the stuff of James Bond, but the researchers paint a scenario where a criminal could plant a smartphone on the desk close to their target's keyboard and use specialist software to analyse vibrations and snoop on what was being typed.
It's a quite beautiful twist on how bad guys could use microphones to "hear" keystrokes and spy on your passwords.
Patrick Traynor, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Computer Science, admits that the technique is difficult to accomplish reliably but claims that the accelerometers built into modern smartphones can sense keyboard vibrations and decipher complete sentences with up to 80% accuracy.
"We first tried our experiments with an iPhone 3GS, and the results were difficult to read," said Traynor. "But then we tried an iPhone 4, which has an added gyroscope to clean up the accelerometer noise, and the results were much better. We believe that most smartphones made in the past two years are sophisticated enough to launch this attack."
Indeed, a photograph of the researcher shows him posing with what appears to be an Android smartphone.
For the remainder of this story: by Graham Cluley
A team of researchers at Georgia Tech have demonstrated how they were able to spy on what was typed on a regular desktop computer's keyboard via the accelerometers of a smartphone placed nearby.
Normally when security researchers describe spyware on smartphones, they mean malicious code that can be used to snoop on calls, or to steal the data held on mobile phones.
In this case, however, researchers have described how they have put software on smartphones to spy on activity *outside* the phone itself - specifically to track what a user might be doing on a regular desktop keyboard nearby.
It sounds like the stuff of James Bond, but the researchers paint a scenario where a criminal could plant a smartphone on the desk close to their target's keyboard and use specialist software to analyse vibrations and snoop on what was being typed.
It's a quite beautiful twist on how bad guys could use microphones to "hear" keystrokes and spy on your passwords.
Patrick Traynor, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Computer Science, admits that the technique is difficult to accomplish reliably but claims that the accelerometers built into modern smartphones can sense keyboard vibrations and decipher complete sentences with up to 80% accuracy.
"We first tried our experiments with an iPhone 3GS, and the results were difficult to read," said Traynor. "But then we tried an iPhone 4, which has an added gyroscope to clean up the accelerometer noise, and the results were much better. We believe that most smartphones made in the past two years are sophisticated enough to launch this attack."
Indeed, a photograph of the researcher shows him posing with what appears to be an Android smartphone.
For the remainder of this story: by Graham Cluley
September 15, 2010
Many adults slow to adopt smartphone apps, survey finds
These Apps are also available for iPod Touch units. I have over 100 Apps and they go far beyond games, I use the legal ones in my research as well as many of them for home use. There are also some which allow printing from the unit if you have a wireless printer. PS: There is one GREAT game called "Angry Birds" which captures some of my time.9-15-2010 National:
(CNN) -- About 35 percent of U.S. adults have mobile phones that run software applications, or apps, according to a new survey.
But fewer than one in four adults actually uses those apps. And more than one out of 10 said they're not even sure whether their phone runs apps.
Those are the findings of the latest report from the Pew Internet Project. It says that while more American consumers are comfortable downloading apps and using them on their phones, the trend appears to be in its infancy.
"An apps culture is clearly emerging among some cell phone users, particularly men and young adults," said Kristen Purcell, associate director for research at the Pew Internet Project.
"Still, it is clear that this is the early stage of adoption when many cell owners do not know what their phone can do. The apps market seems somewhat ahead of a majority of adult cell phone users."
Using apps still remains relatively low on the list of things adults do with their mobile phones, according to the survey.
About eight out of 10 adults are cell phone users, according to the report.
Among the cell-phone users surveyed, 76 percent said they'd used their phone to take a picture, 72 percent had used it to send or receive a text message and 38 percent had accessed the internet with their phone.
Only 29 percent of them had used an app.
The average adult has 18 apps on a phone, according to the survey.
Games are the most popular downloaded apps, based on a separate Nielsen survey included in the Pew report.
About 60 percent of apps users said they'd used a game app in the past month, 52 percent said they'd used one to get news or weather and 51 percent said they'd used a map app.
"This is a pretty remarkable tech-adoption story, if you consider that there was no apps culture until two years ago," said Roger Entner, co-author of the report and a senior vice president at Nielsen.
"It's too early to say what this will eventually amount to, but not too early to say that this is an important new part of the technology world of many Americans."
Tuesday's report is the latest in a series of recent surveys from Pew that show Americans interacting more with technology.
The research institution recently reported on a rise in the number of older adults flocking to social sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It has also reported that the number of adults who send text messages is rising but still trails teens by a long shot.
The Pew report is based on a telephone survey of 2,252 U.S. adults 18 and older, conducted between April 29 and May 30.
The sample included 1,917 cell phone users, 744 of whom were contacted on their cell phones. ..Source.. Doug Gross, CNN
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