How to use your iPhone, iPad or Mac to borrow ebooks from the library
You don’t have to pay for ebooks on your mobile device or your Mac: your local library will lend you ebooks, digital magazine and audiobooks. Here’s a quick guide to getting set up.
UNLOCKING YOUR SMARTPHONE WILL BE ILLEGAL STARTING THIS WEEK
The Librarian of Congress determined in October of last year that certain actions involving mobile phones were illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The rules were revised to state that while it is legal to jailbreak smartphones, it is illegal to jailbreak tablets and illegal to unlock phones without permission from your wireless provider. A 90-day window was put in place that allowed consumers to purchase a phone and unlock it, however that window closes on January 26th, TechNewsDaily noted. Most carriers lock their phones to prevent them from running on competitors’ networks. Starting next week, U.S. consumers will no longer legally be allowed to unlock their carrier-locked devices without permission, though some smartphones such as Verizon’s iPhone 5 and the Nexus 4 are unlocked to begin with.
Apple has removed an iPhone app called Phone Story — a darkly satirical mini-game collection that exposes the ugly side of smartphone production — from the App Store, perhaps after realizing that the subject matter hit a little close to home.
Hacking Phones Is the Easiest Thing Ever
In light of news of Rupert Murdoch’s goons hacking dead people’s phones in England, you might be wondering about just how easy it is for people to snoop on your voice mail. It’s very easy. CNET’s Elinor Mills recruited hacker Kevin Mitnick for a demonstration, and within five minutes he dug up one of her old voicemailswith a simple script that allowed him to pretend his phone was hers. And that was actually even more work than what the News of the World creeps did—they just guessedpeople’s voicemail passwords or called up their phone companies and tricked them into resetting them to the default. Phone hacking—or “phreaking”—used to be the electronic mischief-maker’s favorite pursuit; maybe, after the NOTW scandal, phreaking will experience a resurgence? Though tapping into voice messages seems so quaint these days, just consider how much interesting information could probably be found on the average iPhone!
“A team at UCSF published a study last week that found further evidence that multitasking impedes short-term memory, especially among older adults. Researchers there previously found that distractions of the sort that smart phones and social networks present can hinder long-term memory and mental performance.”
Google Inc. is teaming up with MasterCard Inc. and Citigroup Inc. to embed technology in Android mobile devices that would allow consumers to make purchases by waving their smartphones in front of a small reader at the checkout counter, according to people familiar with the matter.
