Salon.com > Cell Phones http://www.salon.com Sat, 25 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Weird news: Man texted cop about meth buy http://www.salon.com/2012/09/07/weird_news_man_texted_cop_about_meth_buy/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/07/weird_news_man_texted_cop_about_meth_buy/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:04:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13004931 LEWISTON, Idaho — An Idaho man apparently trying to get the most bang for his drug-purchasing buck accidentally texted a narcotics detective while he searched for people to join him in a methamphetamine buy.

Police in Lewiston arrested 37-year-old Aaron D. Templeton Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine.

Court records say one of the police detectives received a text Wednesday morning asking if he knew anyone looking for drugs. After determining it wasn't his co-workers playing a joke, the detective arranged to meet the man to deliver $150 that would be pooled with money from other buyers to enable a bulk purchase of meth.

Templeton was arrested when he arrived at the designated meeting place.

Police say it all started with a wrong number.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/09/07/weird_news_man_texted_cop_about_meth_buy/feed/ 0 Can cellphones save us from car accidents? http://www.salon.com/2012/08/26/can_cell_phones_save_us_from_car_accidents/ http://www.salon.com/2012/08/26/can_cell_phones_save_us_from_car_accidents/#comments Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=12991842 People have gotten good at multitasking, but sometimes this skill is taken too far, and the result can be deadly. Texting while driving a car is a prime example. Laws prohibit it, but many people still find it impossible to resist. Ideally, there would be a way to eliminate the temptation altogether, through safeguards on the cell phone itself. At the moment that’s not possible, but it may soon be.

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are studying how software on a cell phone could analyze keystrokes to determine when that phone’s user is distracted while composing and sending text messages. This doesn’t necessarily mean the person is driving, of course, but combined with GPS and other data, it may be possible to determine when a texter is behind the wheel. In that case, the phone could shut off texting functions automatically. Such a feature could take the form of a mobile app for any phone—independent of the manufacturer, operating system and wireless service provider.

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