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SF takes first step to approve watered-down cellphone radiation settlement

A San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a watered-down settlement with the wireless industry over legislation that required cell phone retailers to distribute radiation warning materials.

As currently written, the settlement calls for San Francisco to agree to a permanent injunction against the "Right to Know" ordinance and promise that it will refrain from further litigation. In return, the CTIA, the wireless industry's trade association, will waive any claims to attorney's fees.

The proposed settlement now advances to the full board for consideration at its May 7 meeting. If approved … Read more

Wireless industry waits for SF's next move on cell phone radiation

The wireless industry isn't celebrating a victory yet, despite a federal appeal court ruling that struck down San Francisco's attempt to force cell phone retailers to distribute radiation warning materials with each phone purchased.

The CTIA, the industry's trade association, remained quiet on the ruling. A spokesperson for the CTIA said that the group had no comment on the ruling, which came down yesterday. The court said the city couldn't make merchants promote a message they disagree with.

The CTIA is no doubt waiting to see what San Francisco is going to do next.

The city … Read more

The 404 1,115: Where the streets have no name (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Pitchfork's People's List polls readers for the best albums of the last 15 years.

- The new rise of a summer hit: Tweet It Maybe.

- How Murder by Death became the No. 3 most successful Kickstarter music campaign ever.

- The Internet has finally met its match: Avril Lavigne engaged to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.

- Lights turning off at Nintendo Power?

- Custom BioShock pinball machine is Rapturous.… Read more

How tweets reveal where you live

Monday's top-story rundown knows where you live:

Just when you think it's safe to tweet, here comes WeKnowYourHouse.com. The site is a social media experiment designed to show how easy it is for tweets to be used against you. If a Twitter user has location turned on, and they send a message with the word "home" in it, then the site will display it along with a Street View image of the location. Similar to PleaseRobMe.com, it showcases how some users may not be aware of how much information they are sharing.

But you … Read more

Wireless industry attorney: San Francisco phone law 'laughable'

Updated at 12:56 p.m. PT: with additional information and background

An attorney representing the wireless industry said Thursday that San Francisco's attempt at educating the public about cell phone radiation was "laughable," asking the court to put a hold on the city's ordinance requiring cell phone merchants to distribute the materials until the industry is able to challenge the information.

The city's representatives continued to stand behind the ordinance, adopted in 2010, that created these fact sheets.

The two sides laid out their arguments before a judge during a hearing in the federal … Read more

The 404 1,089: Where we go the extra mile (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- Soccer to adapt goal line, ball-tracking technology.

- Friday's history lesson: AOL's longest running employee on the history of AOL chat rooms.

- British Airways will google passengers in preflight.

- Hillbilly Alabamians celebrate Fourth of July by shooting guns into air.

- Best Buy lays off 650 Geek Squad employees nationwide.

Bathroom break video: Super Moonwalking!… Read more

Awkward Facebook status updates in the public spotlight

Callum Haywood, an 18-year-old developer from England, is making waves in the Facebook privacy waters. His recently launched site, We Know What You're Doing, culls embarrassing status updates and catalogs them for the world to see.

We Know What You're Doing shakes out into four categories in the form of questions: Who wants to get fired? Who's hungover? Who's taking drugs? Who's got a new phone number?

All it takes to land in the spotlight is a fitting keyword and a failure to have your Facebook privacy settings locked down. Haywood pulls all the updates directly from Facebook's Graph API. For modesty's sake, all the new phone numbers given out over public updates are partially obscured.… Read more

The site that outs all your stupid Facebook updates

Facebook exists to help you unburden yourself from your most onerous thoughts -- and to burden the whole world with them.

Sometimes, though, the unburdening is ill-judged. Sometimes you wish that you could take back your words and swallow them whole.

Yes, Facebook announced recently that you can edit your posts. But one wonders whether your conscience will be quicker than the social consciousness of a new site called We Know What You're Doing.

For this site insistently displays all of humanity's Facebook foibles in one easily indigestible place.

Yes, there are categories like "Who wants to … Read more

Google resorts to ads to make you feel safer online

Someone at Google has been watching "Mad Men."

For whenever the company gets itself into a spot of bother, it turns, like cigarette companies of old, to traditional advertising.

After a touchingly devilish week in which Google attempted to force-feed Google+ to the socially overstuffed masses and overstepped the boundaries of commercial enthusiasm in Kenya, the company wants to make everyone feel safer online.

So, as the Los Angeles Times reveals it, Google is spending tens of millions of dollars on its new BFF: ads.

Yes, moldy-worldy ads, even more traditional than the TV spots that try to encourage the whole world … Read more