Free Republic

The traffic version of Willard Scott and Al Roker will be coming soon to the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. Motorists on the state’s two biggest highways will be provided high-tech traffic "forecasts" to alert them about potential bottlenecks before they happen. Using complex computer models that have been said to predict traffic flows with up to 93 percent accuracy, the Turnpike Authority plans to put its new "Traffic Prediction Tool" into use early next year. Drivers would see the forecasts on existing highway message signs or via e-mail or text. Motorists get real-time alerts now, but...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A former hospital worker is suing Clarian Health after she claims her supervisor made her complete Christian-based homework. Dana Wilson worked at Clarian Arnett Hospital in Lafayette in April 2009 as a phlebotomist, a technician that oversees blood draws...

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch is embarking on an ambitious plan for a new national digital newspaper to be distributed exclusively as paid content for tablet computers such as Apple Inc.'s iPad and mobile phones. The initiative, which would directly compete with the New York Times, USA Today and other national publications, is the latest attempt by a major media organization to harness sexy new devices to reach readers who increasingly consume their news on the go. The development underscores how the iPad is transforming the reading habits of consumers much like the iPod changed how people listen to...

A woman in Ohio using her cell phone to videotape police questioning her boyfriend caused deputies to fear for their lives because she could have easily been holding a “cell-phone gun.” After all, cell-phone guns have become the latest rage in the criminal underworld; everyday occurrences that threaten officers at every turn. At least according to Delaware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III: "In a statement, Delaware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III said that cell-phone guns are an example of everyday items that have been altered into deceptive weapons that endanger the safety of officers and the public." However,...

SNIPPET: "Police are working to figure out the origin of the rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip Saturday evening and exploded near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, without causing damage or injures. A total of four rockets and two mortar shells were fired at Israel on Saturday, causing no injuries. An initial examination revealed that the rocket fired at Nahal Oz was manufactured using professional means, most likely outside of the borders of the Gaza Strip. The rocket had a diameter of 115 millimeters, and police sappers were working to locate fragments of it to be tested."

SNIPPET: "A gunman threatened to detonate a car bomb and claimed links to al-Qaida while robbing an American Express office on the Magnificent Mile this afternoon, police said. About 4:20 p.m., a man approached a female employee in the American Express travel service office at 605 N. Michigan Ave. at first trying to buy euros and showing her a gun in his waistband as he demanded money, said Near North District Captain Leo Crotty." SNIPPET: "The man, described as 6 feet tall, 200 pounds and possibly of Middle Eastern descent, went on to instruct all the office employees they had...

Sometimes, government programs, subsidies and entitlements need no embellishment. In 2008, TracFone Wireless of Miami began distributing free cell phones to people who get food stamps, welfare or other government assistance. Recipients of the free cell phones are allowed to earn up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or no more than $33,075 a year for a family of four. The phones provide 68 free minutes a month and, in the words of The Philadelphia Inquirer, "they're paid for, in part, by charges on phone bills that the federal government allows carriers to levy." The free cells are...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/news2010/harrison.ind.htm JULY 9, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BLACK MARKET TRAVEL AGENTS 38 DEFENDANTS INDICTED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR FRAUD LOCAL INVESTIGATION EXPOSES NATIONWIDE NETWORK THAT USED STOLEN IDENTITIES, CREDIT CARDS TO PURCHASE AIRLINE TICKETS KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that 38 defendants from across the United States have been charged in a series of indictments that allege an extensive network of black market travel agents who used the stolen identities of thousands of victims as part of a multi-million dollar fraud scheme...

Here is video of a Yankees fan getting hit right in the face by the baseball because he was talking on his cell phone. As one of the commentators in the video says, “You got to go hands free at the baseball game.” Actually, you might just try going “cell phone free” at the baseball game.

ALBANY, Ga. — Spread the word, but don’t text it if you are driving. Two new distracted driver laws take effect in Georgia tomorrow. One law prohibits drivers from “using wireless telecommunications devices for writing, sending or receiving text messages while operating a motor vehicle,” according to the website drivinglaws.org. The other prohibits a driver under 18 years old with a driver permit or a class D license from using a wireless communication device. Breaking either law can result in arrest and a $150 fine with a point put on the license. “This only applies to drivers on the road,”...

Periodical Review June 2010 – No. 1 This report summarizes the most prominent events brought up in the Jihadi online forums in the second half of May 2010. Following are the main subjects brought up in this report: • Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media institute publishes an interview with Anwar Al-Awlaki, calling to the Muslims in the U.S. Army to kill their friends. • Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula publishes a video calling the Yemenite tribes to join the Jihad campaign against the U.S. and the Yemenite government. • Ayman Al-Zawahiri publishes an obituary for the death of the...

Imagine the scene: three young women are traveling in a car. It is a sunny morning, traffic is light, and all are wearing their seat belts and are not intoxicated. They are talking about a friend — "You like him, don't you?" It is happy, benign teenager chatter. Then the driver decides to include that other friend in the conversation. While steering, she sends him a short text message on her cell phone. Suddenly, the car swerves into oncoming traffic and metal hits metal at high speed. Bodies are thrown. Glass breaks. Blood splatters. When the car finally comes to...

This is for my wife. She's got to upgrade to a 4 gig Iphone (or some such) that has, among other things, email capability. She/we will thus have to have unlimited phone calls, unlimited texting and graphics/pictures, and internet/email. At the present we have AT&T but have to pay extra for texting, pictures and email. What companies/plans would you recommend? thanx so much.

Researchers have attempted to study the affect of prolonged cellphone radiation on the sexual behaviour of male rabbits, and have concluded that there could be some harmful effects. In the research, the results of which have been published in International Journal of Impotence Research, the researchers divided a group of 18 male rabbits into three groups of six. One of which was exposed to radiation from mobile phones on standby (ie no calls were sent or received) operating at 800MHz for eight hours per day for 12 weeks; one group had phones that were switched off; and the third group...

HOUSTON—A federal grand jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas returned an indictment today charging Barry Walter Bujol, Jr., with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno and FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers announced today. “Protecting the American public from the threat of terrorism, both international and home-grown, is the highest priority of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas,” said U.S. Attorney Moreno. “Proactive investigative efforts and cooperation between the...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Cell phones may seem like a distraction when reading, but a Purdue University professor shows how they can be paired with novels that link readers to digital resources to create "ubitour" books. "Books open our minds, and now we can use technology to expand our reading experiences," said Sorin Adam Matei, an associate professor of communication and creator of the ubitour book series. "Cell phones are the digital devices that are used by most people, so it only makes sense that cell phones be an essential part of the reading experience."

We have had T-Mobile service for our family since before time it seems, and there are four of us sharing a plan that has worked quite well over the years and none of us are willing to abandon our cell numbers, nor would it be easy to do so. My problem is my cell. I hate the damned thing and either by error or unconscious purpose, I left it out on the patio bar the other day and it got rained on (along with my wallet) for about three hours before I discovered it. Since the little water detector boxes...

Bob St. Germain said he was not sure at first whether to believe the Verizon official who called to tell him that the balance of his $18,000 cellphone bill had been forgiven, ending the Dover resident's long-running dispute with the company over the staggering amount, which his son mistakenly accumulated over a six-week period in 2006. "Nice to see Verizon dismiss all the charges," St. Germain said. "But it's still on my credit report. Someone has to take the next step." According to Verizon, the settlement is indeed official: In a statement, the company confirmed it is no longer insisting...

HOUSTON (AP) -- A teacher who was recorded on cell phone video beating a student apologized Friday, saying she was "without excuse" for the attack on the 13-year-old. Science teacher Sheri Lynn Davis, who was fired by the charter school this week over the attack......

A Pakistani man was detained at the U.S. Embassy in Chile yesterday after field tests detected explosive residue on his hands and personal items, the State Department said today. A U.S. official tells ABC News the man had been recently added to a U.S. terror watch list, and as a result his U.S. visa was in the process of being revoked. In accordance with U.S. law, the man had been notified of the intention to revoke his U.S. visa and he was at the embassy to discuss the matter.