What's Woody Doing Now

Stop Texting For One Minute to URGE YOUR SENATOR to support the Congo Conflict Minerals Act

Did you text anyone between 12pm and 1pm YESTERDAY?  I didn't!  I bet most of you didn't either.  BUT you probably did not realize (like me) that you asked to stop texting for one hour to call attention to the Congo conflict.

The silent majority is DEAD!  YOU MUST TAKE ACTION TO BE HEARD.  I am asking to take a positive active action to be heard.  Follow the link and urge your senator to support S.891, the Congo Conflict Mineral Act of 2009.

Take Action Now!  Urge your Senators to support S. 891, the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009, as a good first step towards addressing the causes of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

 

Stop Texting, to Save Lives (in Africa) | OneWorld.net (U.S.).

Activists asked cell phone users to stop texting for one hour today -- not to save energy or focus on the road, but to call attention to one of the deadliest and most underreported conflicts in the world.

The so-called "Cell Out" campaign is part of Congo Week, a series of actions being held worldwide between Oct. 18 and 24 to call attention to what many believe is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world -- the ongoing war over resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Coltan, a mineral needed for many electronic devices, including cellular telephones, is at the center of the conflict in the DRC, which the United Nations has called the deadliest conflict anywhere since World War II.

Power Users Beware

If you want to do more than just talk on your smartphone or PocketPC, power users beware.  All PocketPCs are not created equal.  All PocketPCs are not treated equally by AT&T.

I added an enhanced data feature to my Samsung Jack.  The feature allow me to use the my phone as a modem for my laptop.  Now I do not have to look for a free Wi-Fi hotspot like Panera Bread, the library, or etc.

However, the enhanced data feature also allows you to use freely AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots like at Starbucks and McDonalds.  Cool beans!  Not so fast, Mr. PowerUser.  Do you have a tethered handsets?

Tethered Handsets—Connect your AT&T handset to your laptop and talk and connect to the Internet at the same time.

AT&T offers a number of data-capable handsets that can be used as wireless modems. Click here for a list of devices compatible with AT&T's tether solution.

My PocketPC, the Samsung Jack, can be tethered to my laptop.  It can be used as a modem.  But it can be used at Starbucks and McDonalds Wi-Fi locations.  Beware!  A new release of the AT&T's Communication Manager is rescheduled to be release on August 15.  This newer version suppose to allow the Samsung Jack access to Starbucks and McDonalds Wi-Fi locations.

READING: How To Hijack 'Every iPhone In The World' - Forbes.com

iPhones come under fire.

How To Hijack 'Every iPhone In The World' - Forbes.com.

If you receive a text message on your iPhone any time after Thursday afternoon containing only a single square character, Charlie Miller would suggest you turn the device off. Quickly.

That small cipher will likely be your only warning that someone has taken advantage of a bug that Miller and his fellow cybersecurity researcher Collin Mulliner plan to publicize Thursday at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. Using a flaw they've found in the iPhone's handling of text messages, the researchers say they'll demonstrate how to send a series of mostly invisible SMS bursts that can give a hacker complete power over any of the smart phone's functions. That includes dialing the phone, visiting Web sites, turning on the device's camera and microphone and, most importantly, sending more text messages to further propagate a mass-gadget hijacking.

READING: iPhone Vulnerability May Expose Sensitive Data

iPhones and other GSM network phones (AT&T and T-Mobile) may be vulnerable to attack via SMS and MMS.  Your sensitive data may be exposed.

Last week, I discovered that anti-theft program on my phone was sending SMS messages to an international number.  I have since uninstalled the program and contacted the vendor.

If it had not been an international number (and charged an extra fee), I would have reviewed my SMS/MMS messages sents on my bill.

BEWARE!

Some SMS Networks Vulnerable to Attack - Business Center - PC World.

The iPhone tool, which runs on a jailbroken version of the device, lets them send SMS messages with data that should normally only be sent from the carrier network, the source said. "They have found a new attack vector by which people can try to exploit phones based upon invalid assumptions the network operators and the phone operators have made about the security of this communications channel."

The attack works on the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)-based networks used by carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile, but does not work on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks, he said.

It's not clear how dangerous such an SMS-based attack could be, or what exactly the researchers were able to do with their spoofed messages, but carriers use SMS to send basic configuration to the phones. In theory, an attacker might be able to use this technique to redirect a phone's Web browser to a malicious server or change voicemail notifications.

Reading: Religion and Technology Divide — Social Edge

There is a religion and technology divide!

Religion and Technology Divide — Social Edge.

Faith-based groups (meaning the full range of formal and informal religious communities) are among the most active social sector organizations in many parts of the world. If religious orgs are serious about building and enhancing community, why are they so behind in leveraging the latest and greatest technology tools to do so? And if nonprofit and do-gooder techies are serious about social change, why aren't they tapping into some of the largest and most effective community-based organizations out there – which are faith-based? It's a missed opportunity IMHO [Note: social media jargon for In My Humble Opinion].