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GP · 09-30-2011, 03:35 PM

Smart Phones are more and more becoming the norm nowadays.

What apps do you guys recommend that could be helpful and are hobby related?

I recommend google voice.

b-lo shmoe · 09-30-2011, 03:51 PM

I like google voice, can change your number when ever and still get calls and texts to your main phone.

GP · 09-30-2011, 05:33 PM

The one thing I DO NOT like about google voice is it is limited with text messages. They are strictly text only. No PICS. I have not ventured into google voice plus, so not really sure what that does.

I have tried various contact managers along with apps that are supposed to "hide" info or contacts, but none I have had any real success with.

Jon Colden · 09-30-2011, 08:52 PM

It's not directly on point, but a recent AP news story:

Document shows how phone cos. treat private data

Sep 29, 6:36 PM (ET)

By PETER SVENSSON
NEW YORK (AP) - A document obtained by the ACLU shows for the first time how the four largest cellphone companies in the U.S. treat data about their subscribers' calls, text messages, Web surfing and approximate locations.

The one-page document from the Justice Department's cybercrime division shows, for instance, that Verizon Wireless keeps, for a year, information about which cell towers subscriber phones connect to. That data that can be used to figure out where the phone has been, down to the level of a neighborhood. AT&T has kept the same data continuously since July 2008.

The sheet is a guide for law enforcement, which can request the information from the carriers through legal channels. The North Carolina section of the American Civil Liberties Union obtained it through a Freedom of Information Act request, the ACLU said. Wired.com reported earlier about the document, which is dated Aug. 2010.

The document was released by the ACLU Wednesday, but has been hiding in plain sight on the website of the Vermont public defender's office. It can be found there through a Google search, but only if the searcher knows the exact title of the document.

A few data points from the sheet were known outside law enforcement circles, but wireless carriers have not been open about their policies. They aren't required to keep the data, and they keep the same information for varying lengths of time. Some don't keep data at all that other companies store. For instance, it says T-Mobile USA doesn't keep any information on Web browsing activity. Verizon, on the other hand, keeps some information for up to a year that can be used to ascertain if a particular phone visited a particular Web site.

According to the sheet, Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Virgin Mobile brand keeps the text content of text messages for three months. Verizon keeps it for three to five days. None of the other carriers keep texts at all, but they keep records of who texted whom for more than a year.

The document says AT&T keeps for five to seven years a record of who text messages whom _and when, but not the content of the messages. Virgin Mobile only keeps that data for two to three months.

The carriers don't have recordings of calls, but keep information about calls that are made and received for at least a year.

The ACLU said it believes people have a right to know how long phone companies keep records of their activities.

Although the sheet is dated August 2010, Tom Slovenski, a private investigator specializing in cellphone data, said it is still accurate.

Sprint spokesman Jason Gertzen said he couldn't comment on the specific figures in the sheet. Normally, he said, a subpoena, court order, or customer consent form from a recognized law enforcement agency is necessary for the carrier to hand out data. However, Sprint also responds to emergency requests, as in missing persons cases, if the police can document their need, he said.

metasex · 10-01-2011, 12:00 AM

Not that I have a reason to use it but when I looked into Google Voice I didn't like the fact that they potentially could turn voice calls into machine readable text which they do do for voice messages as part of their service if I recall correctly. I think voice calls are the safest though the person you called and the time is saved "forever" and it is interesting that location is tracked, as discussed above, if your cell phone is on. If I were to ever call a provider and detect that she is using Google Voice I would not leave a voice message and would tend to fear what Google might do to txt messages as well. For the same reasons I don't like email and have seen evidence of email addresses I use to communicate becoming targets of phishing scam emails which means anything in my emails could also be avaiable to whomever since they are getting my email address from those emails. Even this website and many others with "private" areas are not secure to webcrawlers used by search engines and I am sure this post could be tracked using the IP address of the computer I am using which is why everything I have discussed is hypothetical even if it appears I am referring to real events.

For some reason I am reminded of this quote: "There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing secret that will not become known and come to light." It used to be that this was interpreted to mean that God knew everything. Now we just need Google and a few government agencies (un-named so they don't flag this post). If I go UTR you know what happened.

GP · 10-01-2011, 05:37 AM

That is why you, I and everyone should be using disposable email accounts and hobby phones. Yes, google voice does have the ability to transcribe your voice mails to text. It works well sometimes. Sometimes not so much.

Please guys, we are all aware of risks involved (at least we all should be). Lets try to keep this thread on the topic of smart phone apps that can be beneficial to the hobby.

Another app that comes to mind for providers is one that allows them to become "merchants" and do credit card transactions on site. I forget the name of the app, but I think there are a few of them.

Jon Colden · 10-01-2011, 01:24 PM

I'm looking into CATE. Not sure it's going to work, though.

http://www.cateapp.com/

GP · 10-03-2011, 06:33 PM

I guess not many of you have smart phones.

Sam54 · 10-03-2011, 07:51 PM

I still have a rotary dial cell phone!!!

jokacz · 10-03-2011, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GP

I guess not many of you have smart phones.

I have one, but unless I shut down everything that makes it "smart", I'm lucky if the battery lasts a day.

Jon Colden · 10-03-2011, 10:23 PM

That's the damn truth. Mine, too. It's in the charger all the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jokacz

I have one, but unless I shut down everything that makes it "smart", I'm lucky if the battery lasts a day.

Jon Colden · 10-03-2011, 10:32 PM

This is my hobby phone:
(it's corded, but it works; batteries never run down; and the wheels are VERY handy)

brutusbluto · 10-03-2011, 10:37 PM

Sam54 · 10-04-2011, 05:38 AM

[QUOTE=Jon Colden;1716555]This is my hobby phone:
(it's corded, but it works; batteries never run down; and the wheels are VERY handy)

Hey Jon....how did you get a picture of my cell phone?!!!

Jon Colden · 10-04-2011, 08:24 PM

You have one, too? They're popular. I just used mine to set up an appointment with a new provider. She calls herslf "Buzz." Husky voice, but sexy. I called her and she was cool, kept calling me "Woody" (I liked that). The call was a little staticky, but I think she promised to take me "to affinity and beyond," so I scheduled some time with her.

Want her number, Sam? It's preprogramed into the phone, I tihnk.

[quote=Sam54;1717055]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Colden

This is my hobby phone:
(it's corded, but it works; batteries never run down; and the wheels are VERY handy)

Hey Jon....how did you get a picture of my cell phone?!!!