trap

Feds snoop on social-network accounts without warrants

Federal police are increasingly gaining real-time access to Americans' social-network accounts -- such as Facebook, Google+, and Twitter -- without obtaining search warrants, newly released documents show.

The numbers are dramatic: live interception requests made by the U.S. Department of Justice to social-networking sites and e-mail providers jumped 80 percent from 2010 to 2011.

Documents the ACLU released today show police are using a 1986 law intended to tell police what phone numbers were dialed for far more invasive surveillance: monitoring of whom specific social-network users communicate with, what Internet addresses they're connecting from, and perhaps even "… Read more

Flashing headlights is your Constitutionally protected right

No good deed goes unpunished, as they say. A man who tried to warn others of a speed trap by flashing his vehicle's headlights at motorists was ticketed by police. But a Florida judge ruled this week that flashing headlights is free speech protected by the First Amendment, according to an article in the Orlando Sentinel.

Ryan Kintner was ticketed last year for warning motorists of a speed trap waiting for them down the road. The Lake Mary, Fla., resident was at home when he noticed a police officer with a radar gun near his house, and decided to … Read more

Brazil sues Twitter users over speed trap and traffic tweets

Twitter might have to decide quickly whether to start its new policy of removing tweets on a country-by-country basis.

Today, the attorney general of Brazil filed a preliminary injunction to block tweets and suspend the accounts of Twitter users who use the social-networking site to warn people about radar locations, speed traps, and DUI checkpoints in the Brazilian state of Goias, according to the news group O Globo.

The Brazilian government claims that these Twitter users are putting people in danger since police can't properly do their jobs and that the users are also breaking the country's penal, … Read more

Free the Mouse with your logic skills

Mouse Trap is an addictive puzzle game that tests your logic skills as you help a trapped mouse find his way through a thoroughly obstructed exit. Your job is to move the obstructing blocks either vertically or horizontally (never both) in order to clear a lane for the trapped rodent. As you progress through the game's hundreds of levels, the configurations of blocks get increasingly complex, requiring additional brain power to clear them.

Mouse Trap is a classic puzzle game similar to other hits like Unblock Me and Traffic Jam. But what sets this game apart is that there … Read more

Update to Trapster lets Android users vet road hazards

The Trapster app for Android has received a major update with a new user interface, a new widget for your home screen, and an emphasis on helping users confirm or deny reported road hazards with a turning of a digital thumb.

New to this version 3.0 update (dated July 21, according to the Android Market) is a refreshed interface that makes it easier to report road hazards while on the go. The map can now display satellite and terrain data in addition to the standard street data. New onscreen elements include icons on the left edge of the map … Read more

TrapCall gets wrong day to earn Apple approval

After 201 days under review in the Apple's iTunes App approval process, the new TrapCall found an awkward news day to emerge onto the market.

The TrapCall app from Teltech Systems goes hand in hand with the $5-per-month service of the same name. Users who receive calls from any blocked number can tap the sleep button on their iPhones twice to decline the call and pass it over to TrapCall. The service runs the declined number and sends the user a text message with the name, telephone number, and address of the mystery caller.

With Apple's approval, TrapCall is now available for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android. TelTech claims its service and app are unique. The most obvious question vexing the app (a good band name) is, if the owner of the blocked number chose to keep their identity a secret, is the app a violation of that privacy?

It certainly doesn't help when--just as TrapCall finally got its moment in the sun yesterday--darkness fell on other popular apps like Pandora as federal prosecutors in New Jersey announced an investigation into how honest developers were in what information they were gathering about users--and what they were doing with that data.… Read more

Navteq buys Trapster speed-trap reporting service

Police speed-trap and road hazard reporting service Trapster was purchased by map and traffic data provider Navteq earlier this week.

Trapster is a cross-platform mobile app for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices, as well as a Web service providing data to other smartphones and standalone GPS devices. While driving, users submit the GPS locations of spotted police speed traps, road checks, red-light cameras, and other roadway hazards using the app's interface and receive live updates on the 3.5 million traps reported by the service's 9.5 million users, potentially avoiding unnecessary speeding tickets. Garmin and TomTom users … Read more

Trapster app steers you clear of speed traps

It's been nearly a year since the debut of Trapster, a controversial but popular app that alerts you of nearby speed traps, cameras, and the like.

Version 3.5 just hit the App Store, bringing with it some impressive--and, for many users, long-awaited--new features. Here's the rundown:

Improved interface Five features (some of them new) are now accessible by tapping blue icons that span the right side of the screen. Bluetooth audio If your car supports Bluetooth, you can pair Trapster to your stereo to get audio alerts over your speakers. Even better, if your car supports A2DP (i.e. stereo Bluetooth), you can take advantage of: Built-in iPod controls Tap the little musical-note icon to slide open Trapster's iPod audio controls. Obviously, you don't need stereo Bluetooth to use them, but it sure is a nice combo.… Read more

Police chief slams iPhone-driven speeders

Oh, what lack of 'appiness have the iPhone app-ers caused now?

Well, the police chief of Washington, D.C., Cathy Lanier, is rather upset that wicked, venal humans have been downloading an iPhone app that enjoys the peculiar talent of telling you where speed cameras are.

She told the Washington Examiner that this was a "cowardly tactic."

"It's designed to circumvent law enforcement--law enforcement that is designed specifically to save lives," she said.

Could anyone possibly argue? Well, perhaps.

Morality is a slope with many slips these days. Technology is moving at a pace far … Read more