Lady Gaga's new social network demonstrates how artists are forging their own paths outside an increasingly old-fashioned music industry, but finding and building an audience still is a tenuous affair for many musicians.

Media-Mind is our column charting how technology's opportunities and challenges transform traditional media and entertainment, for better or for worse.

Lady Gaga recently unveiled her own social network for her fans, in a move that may give social media giants like Facebook and Twitter pause. The "Little Monsters" platform, named after Gaga's own nickname for her devoted followers, is in beta and is invite-only. The site features a Pinterest-like interface and includes chat rooms with built-in translators that allow users to talk to one another in different languages.

The Little Monsters platform is the first product by Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup Backplane, co-founded by Gaga manager Troy Carter, with the aim of taking fan clubs and fan pages to the next level. The site will feature exclusive Gaga content, and could conceivably offer chats, performances and inside information directly from Mother Monster herself, giving it an advantage over services like Twitter and Facebook, where the pop singer already has strong presences.

With over 50 million followers on Facebook and 25 million on Twitter, the eccentric pop star demonstrates a remarkable mastery of new media, and though she enjoys healthy digital and CD sales, a tailor-made social platform shows Gaga as a new-millenial musician able to think outside the box -- and increasingly independent of an outdated music industry machinery that has failed to adapt to the times.

But it's not just Gaga who is striking a deeper independence from the recording industry. Grizzled punk legend Iggy Pop is releasing his new record, a collection of interpretations of French cafe classics by Serge Gainsbourg, Edith Piaf and Georges Brassens, directly to fans via digital outlets like iTunes. Pop's label Virgin EMI rejected "Apr's" after the artist offered it to them, as he is contractually obligated to do.

"[The label] didn't want it," Pop said at a Paris press conference earlier this week. "They didn't think they would make any money, they didn't think my fans would like it... They would have preferred that I do a rock album with popular punks, sort of like 'Hi Dad!' I was not going to do that!"

Instead, Pop seems happy to keep his creative independence and offer music directly to his fans, outside the purview of the traditional music industry. "What has a record company ever done for me but humiliate and torment and drag me down?" Pop said.

The Making of an Old-School Rock Star

Pop's disparaging comments about his record label reflect a long-fermenting malaise of artists towards an increasingly outdated music industry machine, which has failed to adapt to the new digital era. Instead, artists are now wondering exactly how much to take part in the system, and what purpose that system serves anymore.

It wasn't always this way. The recording industry was the only game in town for a musician aiming to sustain a long-term career. While the recording industry has its share of one-hit wonders, most of the profits in the long-term are from so-called "career artists," who build a fan base eager to buy records and concert tickets throughout and even well past the musician's lifetime.

Building an artist's career, however, isn't easy, and a whole industry sprung up around the production, distribution and promotion of music. In signing with a record label, a musical artist joined a large, efficient machinery, and record companies played a vital role in helping musicians build and connect with an audience, able to pump large amounts of capital into the process.

The cycle was quickly established: an artist records songs for a record; the record gets promoted on radio and video with selected singles from the collection; and then an artist embarked on a tour spanning the globe, which lengthened the life of the record.

All of these activities need a huge cash investment, and record companies would often advance artists the money for recording and touring, in addition to paying advances to artists based on future profits.

For a while, the system worked, especially since the channels of music distribution remained narrow and confined to record stores, record clubs and formats remained predominantly physical forms like CDs, tapes and vinyl records. But as technology mutated the music industry -- and consumers began often illegally downloading product -- the machinery began to break down.

Screw the System

It's tempting to say digital downloading ruined the music industry, and the business as a whole did take a hit from the shift to digital. But in truth, the system was dysfunctional for all but the very top artists, criticized by the very musicians within it long before Napster was an apple in Sean Parker's eyes. The economics of music were already becoming unsustainable. Recording and touring costs add up in the millions, and promotion costs -- getting videos on MTV, getting songs on the radio -- added up as well.

All of these costs were ultimately billed back to artists, though often masked by byzantine, arcane accounting methods and sometimes draconian legal contracts. As a result, even a best-selling artist is often left with just a modest slice of the pie after paying back management and record companies.

An artist with a string of Billboard hits may seem as if on top of the world, but in truth, it can take a few years for them to break even in terms of paying back the record company they owe. This is why artists like 90s R&B girl group TLC went bankrupt at the top of their game, owing to a poorly negotiated recording contract and onerous management costs.

In this light, it's no surprise that a diverse group of musicians have decried the music industry, with artists like Prince going so far as to write the word "slave" on his face during performances and Hole's Courtney Love going before Congress to liken the system to "sharecropping," well before digital downloading became the scourge of the music industry.

Is it any surprise, then, that a generation of artists, both new and long-established, are eschewing the traditional record company in favor of the opportunities offered by a new digital-based landscape?

Music Everywhere, Anywhere

As it turns out, distribution poses no problems for musicians looking to strike their own path. Platforms like Amazon and iTunes offer ways for musicians to distribute their work without the middle man of record labels or music distributors, bringing music directly and immediately to fans and letting artists cut themselves free of record labels.

Digital distribution has allowed artists British alternative rock group Radiohead, for example, to forego conventional recording contracts in favor of digital releases and limited-scope distribution deals. Since its departure from EMI in 2007, Radiohead has released records like "In Rainbows" through its website and signed distribution deals for physical distribution with British company XL Recordings.

Social media has also transformed how artists can build passionate, engaged fan bases to fuel sales and concert tours, giving many artists an autonomy previously unheard of in the industry.

Lady Gaga is one of the most influential musicians in this new arena, and her social media acumen and large followings on Twitter and Facebook have largely insulated her from the ups and downs of record sales and radio play. Album sales for "Born This Way" dropped dramatically after the first week, and while its singles may not have garnered the chart positions of her earlier efforts, her large following frees her from the typical industry cycle imposed by a record company.

The artist hasn't commented on how she intends to use her social network, but should the site scale and attract the millions of followers she's gained on Twitter and Facebook, Gaga will have a direct pipeline to her fans, without needing to rely on a third-party site.

She may be contractually obligated to offer any new music to her record company, but once her contract is up, she'll likely have an accessible, eager audience gathered in one place via her site -- a pipe dream for any artist hoping to sustain a lifelong career in music, but without the industry.

What About Touring?

Despite all the shifts towards autonomy enabled digital music distribution and social media, touring remains an analogue affair, and its centrality to a musical artist's career has yet to be replaced. Artists continue to make most of their money from touring and later merchandising. Since the digital era of music, the emphasis of an artist's revenue has shifted to concert tours, which is why ticket prices for top artists have skyrocketed.

The stronger emphasis on touring is giving rise to powerful new concert promoters and management companies that handle the day-to-day operations of tours. When Madonna's deal with her label Warner Bros. ended, she signed a landmark "360" deal with concert promoter Live Nation in 2007.

No terms were disclosed, but the deal is said to give Madonna $120 million over ten years and encompasses future music and music-related businesses, including albums, touring, merchandising, digital endeavors, DVDs, music-related television and film projects, and associated sponsorship agreements -- facets reflecting a musical career built on far more than record sales.

"The paradigm in the music business has shifted and as an artist and a business woman, I have to move with that shift," Madonna said at the time of the deal's signing. "For the first time in my career, the way that my music can reach my fans is unlimited... the possibilities are endless."

Madonna's strategy may pay off handsomely: while sales of her record "MDNA" have been called lackluster, her summer tour, kicking off on May 31 in Tel Aviv, has already sold out many dates, with nearly 1.4 million tickets sold.

Touring may be the lifeblood of an artist's career, but even that may transform with technology, especially as live Web broadcast technology improves. This spring's Coachella Festival concerts, for example, were streamed live on YouTube, and smaller artists like Swiss electropop musicians Tim & Puma Mimi became the first band to perform a series of "long-distance" concerts via Skype.

Artists can conceivably offer backstage access or extra-footage via webcast, perhaps charging for exclusive or premium content or an entire series of shows. This direction has not been fully explored by a music industry still catching its breath from the digital revolution, but it offers rich opportunities for forward-thinking artists and endeavors.

Where Does This Leave Record Labels?

Despite the disruptive changes wrought by technology and social media, record labels will still have a place at the table for some time, since they still continue to control a huge catalog of material.

They also still have significant negotiating power, built over years of relationships and partnerships with radio and other musical outlets, and this likely will continue to be the case, even as new digital avenues open up. And, as streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and Rdio take off with consumers and create a new avenue for music consumption, these services still largely negotiate with record labels to license music, as opposed to individual artists.

Landing a powerful label can boost artists' search for an audience, since record labels still have powerful marketing prowess, able to get their artists on radio, commercials, TV, movie and video game soundtracks, all of which give musicians valuable exposure in an often crowded market.

Still, loosening up the structure of the music industry is a boon for musicians who aim to follow their muse, outside the concerns of selling records or pleasing label bosses -- even letting old punks like Iggy Pop release classic interpretations of French songs, no matter how odd the idea may be.

"[Virgin] didn't want [my record]," said Pop of the conflict between him and his record label over his new direction. "They didn't think they would make any money, they didn't think my fans would like it -- very sensible attitudes for a sensible sort of person -- but that's a different sort of person than I am."

Media-Mind: How to Make It in the Music Biz originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu May 24, 2012 12:46 pm.

PayPal is taking the express lane to in-store mobile payment dominance -- but competitors' efforts and consumer suspicions may block the road to success.

PayPal is joining forces with several major retailers, including Toys R Us and Barnes & Noble, as it solidifies its retail presence to boost its movement into mobile payments.

The eBay-owned company signed deals to partner with sixteen major retailers in total, starting with Home Depot several months ago. PayPal also inked a deal with VeriFone Systems, which will help it establish smooth in-store services using VeriFone's payment software.

"An important part of our future is to get to ubiquity," PayPal exec Don Kingsborough explained. "There will be 40 million terminals eventually to let consumers buy in stores with PayPal. That's one of the big building blocks we have to get to ubiquity."

PayPal is off to a solid start and has an established online payment history behind it, but the company will have to reprove its security credentials to entice in-store customers visiting brick-and-mortar retail locations.

The company is buddying up with large, trusted retailers and gradually adding waves of partners to ensure success in this arena, but it still faces stiff competition from upcoming mobile payment alliance Isis. PayPal's name recognition and a strong reputation alone won't be enough to topple Isis, which is making a concentrated, comprehensive effort to offer exemplary security. The big banks and phone carriers attached to the Isis project may convince people to give Isis a whirl.

Both mobile payment options, along with rivals Square and Google Wallet, must contend with consumer reluctance to trust mobile payment systems and fuel their adoption. PayPal's decision to directly link to trusted stores may assuage some wariness, but if the company's security is compromised even once it could devastate its reputation.

Inking the retailer deals set the company on the right path, but to surge ahead of Isis and other rivals, the company needs to keep making alliances with retailers and cementing its place as a convenient and safe payment option.

Why PayPal May Be the Future of Mobile Payments originally appeared at Mobiledia on Fri May 25, 2012 11:35 am.

Let's face it, Chris Brown isn't the most liked celebrity. But now, even iPhones hate him.

In honor of Geek Pride Day on May 25, which happens to fall on the anniversary of the release of Star Wars, rock climbing fans can purchase custom-made Star Wars climbing holds.

Geeks who don't like Star Wars or rock climbing can watch the latest Siri ad parody, which pokes more fun at controversial musical artist Chris Brown than it does the voice assistant. Or they can check out Jennifer Egan's new story -- it's being posted in its entirety on Twitter.

One police chief won't be having any fun on Geek Pride Day, since he's under investigation for wasting police resources on tracking down his son's stolen iPhone.

Apple's Siri Not on "Team Breezy"

Siri might hate Chris Brown, at least according to a new viral video by comedy troupe Jest.

In the video, Siri lambasts Brown for his glib attitude towards his past sins, and reluctantly helps Brown compose a text to Rihanna. The video also pokes fun at Brown's narcissistic Twitter persona, which is sure to enrage his shockingly robust legion of loyal fans.

A variety of comedy groups have taken aim at Zooey Deschanel's Siri ads for Apple, but they're generally in good fun, where this latest parody pointedly questions why Chris Brown still has fans -- and doesn't seem to find an answer.

Son's Lost iPhone Drives Police Chief to Distraction

The chief of police in Berkeley, Calif. is in hot water after news came out that he sent 10 drug task force and property crimes officers on a hunt for his son's iPhone, which someone stole from his school.

Michael Meehan, the police chief, took the petty theft seriously enough to use taxpayer money to pay some of the officers overtime on the search for the phone, which was not recovered.

The incident was not reported, but news spread as some police officers took umbrage to the inappropriate amount of time and energy spent on recovering the phone.

New Yorker to Tweet Entire Story

Jennifer Egan, the award-winning author of "A Visit From the Goon Squad", wrote a story specifically designed to be released on Twitter as a series of tweets.

Egan herself is not an avid Twitter user, only composing four tweets from her own handle. She likes the idea of people reading her story on their phones.

The story, called "Black Box," follows the adventures of a spy, and will also appear in the New Yorker's fiction issue with a special font. The tweets will run from 8 to 9 PM in ten installments before appearing in print, and @NYerFiction will do the tweeting.

Like Star Wars and Rock Climbing?

Apparently there's a niche of Star Wars and rock climbing enthusiasts large enough to support a company that makes Star Wars-themed climbing wall holds.

Hang Fast Adventure Structures, based out of the U.K., sells the holds online and can do custom paint jobs, so anyone wondering what an orange Millennium Falcon looks like can finally achieve their dreams.

The holds run from around $60 to $250, suggesting only die-hard fans will go the extra mile and buy enough of them to pepper a fully Star Wars-y climbing wall.

Geek Pride Rising

A survey conducted in honor of Geek Pride Day, which is May 25, revealed more people than ever before have a little bit of geek in them.

Although only 17 percent of survey respondents classified themselves as geeks, over 70 percent met the criteria for having a tech addiction, telling researchers they would have a hard time functioning for a day without mobile devices.

Self-identified geeks were actually bigger fans of old-school media than the non-geeks. The study also backed up the idea that Millenials are the most plugged-in demographic, as they were most likely to judge people based on their technology choices and the most obsessed with their smartphones.

The Chat Room: Even Siri Hates Chris Brown originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu May 24, 2012 4:00 pm.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is making inroads in Silicon Valley while President Obama is falling out of favor in some tech circles. How will this affect the presidential race?

Obama's presidential re-election campaign continues to rake in huge numbers, but Romney's super PAC is gaining steam in Silicon Valley just as Obama's donor pool in the tech epicenter dwindles.

The president held successful fundraisers this year in California's Silicon Valley, but the number of tech sector donors to his campaign is smaller than the first time around, and overall, his campaign is $1 million short, compared to 2008 election cycle figures.

One major defector is Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape, who donated a large sum to Obama's campaign in 2008. This time around, he donated $100,000 to Romney's super PAC.

Silicon Valley generally leans left, but a number of tech scions are frustrated by Obama's decisions to push for increased regulation. Tech companies are trying to assert themselves in Washington to avoid stringent regulations, with Facebook funding its own PAC to gain more political influence.

Even though he was vocally opposed to SOPA and PIPA, Obama's regulation policies coupled with his pushes for increased taxes for the wealthy, are alienating some tech bigwigs. People like Andreessen look at Romney's business background and see a candidate less apt to push regulation and more lenient on taxes.

Since government regulation is on the minds of all major tech players, how they give speaks to how they want the government to oversee their business moves. The upswing in Romney contributions indicates more tech giants are hoping for a Republican-controlled White House.

Romney is definitely making inroads, and there's no doubt Silicon Valley's support for Obama is far more tempered this time around. At the same time, Obama is still more popular in the Californian tech hub than Romney, and the area will likely still vote blue come Election Day.

Obama probably doesn't have to worry about losing California, but the fact that an influential sector of society that formerly supported him enthusiastically is splintering off may be a bellwether for how other powerful groups will treat the re-election campaign -- and how they will vote.

Meet Mitt Romney: Silicon Valley's New Sweetheart originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu May 24, 2012 1:47 pm.

Datapalooza, a conference that pairs eager developers with a treasure-trove of government healthcare data, is aiming to spur mobile initiatives and create apps that impact our lives.

The Health Data Initiative, a public-private collaboration funded by the Institute of Medicine and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will host its third annual Datapalooza, set for June 5 to 6 in Washington D.C., to showcase the latest mHealth innovations forged with open health data.

"It's a phenomenal time to be an innovator at the intersection of data and health care improvement," said Todd Park, chief technology officer of HHS about Datapalooza. "I'm incredibly excited by the rising tide of innovations we're seeing -- new products, services and features being invented by entrepreneurs across the country, fueled by open health data."

The HHS provides access to the federal government's vast data collections on topics like hospital performance, community health, and FDA recalls, for example, and converts published data in PDF format or books into machine-readable formats, which include APIs for third-party developer use.

At the yearly Health Datapalooza, the entrepreneurs discuss their best products and services. The innovators team up and compete on the stage, in an American Idol-style face-off. But instead of performing songs, these contestants present mHealth innovations mined from the Health Data Initiative's public release of data sets.

The mobile healthcare, or mHealth, market is expected to reach $5 billion by 2014, and more than double by 2020, according to the Center for Technology and Aging.

By aiming to put widespread access to healthcare within the reach of those who need it the most, mHealth is changing the traditional delivery of health care, allowing for more continuous, pervasive health care anytime, and opening up broader swaths of data to developers is expected to spur a growing number of innovations.

For example, last year, the HHS unveiled two non-smoking apps for its mobile health initiative. QuitNowTXT and SmokeFreeTXT are part of the agency's $5 million investment in the Text4Health program, created in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute.

The HHS is also pursuing public-private partnerships to create apps for pregnant women, children and those who need emergency care, understanding text messaging is widely available, inexpensive and allows for immediate delivery of information.

Also, Johns Hopkins is sponsoring 49 different studies in support of the Global mHealth Initiative to identify the apps that best help patients, doctors and the medical community by comparing them to traditional methods.

While many are aware of breakthrough medical technologies, the HHS estimates that roughly 95 percent of the potential entrepreneur pool isn't aware that these vast stores of data exist and can help with future innovations, so the agency is working to increase awareness.

Companies like Google and Microsoft are pitching in, holding health-data-code-a-thons and Health 2.0 developer challenges. These corporate collaborations produced applications for managing chronic diseases, finding providers, and locating clinical trials -- all using the government's open data -- in a fraction of time it historically has taken.

There is big push to coordinate the layers of government healthcare data into one open, comprehensive database that public innovators can manipulate. The thinking is these vast stores of data can be joined and used to promote public welfare, following the trail blazed by another government agency.

Nearly three decades ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decided to release its data to the public, and the move resulted in a flurry of innovations, like mobile apps, websites and forecasting research tools, which transformed weather into a booming industry.

Datapalooza is designed to duplicate NOAA's success by opening reams of information for innovation to spur development of a wealth of medical tools and creations to help people improve their health and use the healthcare system more effectively.

How to Spur Healthcare Innovation originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu May 24, 2012 12:59 pm.

Tablet owners may soon unlock their devices using biometric sensors, as security technology progresses beyond traditional passwords.

Napa Sae-Bae, a graduate student at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, is creating an iPad app to verify users' hand shape and finger length. Sae-Bae's biometric analyzing algorithm has already yielded a 90 percent accuracy rate, suggesting her innovation may have widespread application when it debuts in a year.

This project improves on Sae-Bae's existing tablet app, which unlocks iPads in response to hand gestures like palm rotation.

"Unlike gestures, fingerprints are physiological physical traits that you can't change," she explained about her current research. "There's the feeling that these are supposed to be secure and private."

Biometric identification research like Sae-Bae's may revolutionize the mobile industry if it succeeds, as consumers demand new and better ways to protect their data against hackers.

A hospital in Canada already uses fingerprint scanners to verify doctors' identities, allowing them to reach medical records with one swipe rather than entering long passwords.

Fujitsu, a Japanese company, is developing another kind of biometric sensor called PalmSecure that recognizes users' vein patterns instead of fingerprints or hand length.

The company maintains that hand veins never change, while fingerprints and other external hand features may fade or scar over time.

Echoing Fujitsu's logic, researchers at the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan are building heartbeat scanners to identify mobile phone and tablet owners. Every person's heartbeat is unique, making this biological marker an ideal password.

These seemingly foolproof innovations are designed to prevent the increasing incidence of hackers stealing or cracking personal and company passwords. Recent hacks against worldwide governments and corporations suggest no traditional password is safe, not even those at the Pentagon or FBI.

Despite the danger, many mobile phone owners and IT departments still use convenient security codes like "password1" or "1234," leaving them easily susceptible to malicious intrusions.

But while a palm or retina-scanning app may end the need for such passwords, this technology could also backfire.

For example, the facial detection system on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus is easily fooled by a picture, negating its usefulness as a security tool.

Biometric identification may discourage today's hackers more effectively than traditional passwords, but like any security tool it will likely challenge a new breed of hackers to twist it for their purposes.

Using Your Fingers Instead of Passwords originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu May 24, 2012 12:48 pm.

The "World Series of intellectual property cases" is over, and Google emerged with a winning verdict from its lengthy patent showdown with Oracle.

In Brief boils down complex events to give you the heart of the matter -- today and what it means for tomorrow -- clearly and simply.

What's Happening: The jury in Oracle's trial against Google found the search giant did not infringe on Google's patents because it could not decide whether Google's actions fell under fair use laws.

In 2010, Oracle sued Google for patent infringement on three separate patents. Google admitted it used Oracle's Java programming language, but insisted with equal vigor that the use fell under fair use laws.

Initially, it looked like Oracle would emerge victorious, as the jury decided earlier that Google had used Java's patents -- but the jury could not conclude that the company violated fair use laws, so it handed the win to Google.

What's Really Happening: This case has big implications for the Android platform. Had Oracle proven Google's Android operating system improperly used Java, Google may have been ordered to dole out royalty payments for years to come.

Now it doesn't need to make any changes, which is fantastic news for both Google and Android phonemakers like Samsung, as a ruling in favor of Oracle may have led to product bans.

This case was expected to set a benchmark in regards to how much money Google would have had to pony up in the future regarding patent infringement cases. Before the trial, Google offered Oracle $2.8 million in damages up front, with more paid every year. Oracle wanted a bigger check, demanding around $1 billion in copyright damages altogether. With the verdict in, there's no chance Google will cough up that kind of money any time soon.

What's Next: Google still may have to pay Oracle some money, depending on the way U.S. District Judge William Alsup rules on one of the last components of the case. But the amount is likely pocket change compared to what was on the table before the verdict.

The case with Google and Oracle was not the only contentious patent battle going on in the tech world, with Google's rival Apple is suing HTC and Samsung for patent infringement. While the iPhone maker is not suing Google directly, the cases have echoes of similarity: Apple believes Samsung and HTC have infringed on its patents, though it could be argued the phonemakers' adoption of Apple-esque technology falls under fair use.

Oracle confronted Google directly instead of engaging in a proxy war through one of its Android phonemakers, which is how companies generally wage war with Google over Android patents. The fact that Google's legal team turned the Oracle case around in their its client's favor demonstrates the legal muscle the search engine giant can flex, and this may scare off potential adversaries from taking Google to court -- including Apple.

The Takeaway: Google's victory will have major implications for how programming language can be used, and sends the powerful message that the search giant is a formidable legal foe.

This trial also demonstrates the complexities of intellectual property cases, especially since the jury thought Google was wrong for using Java without the proper patents but could not prove it due to the complicated wording of both the patents and the laws.

The jury's verdict could discourage tech companies from pursuing these kind of suits in the future, since it illustrates how a plaintiff could still lose a case even when the jury sympathized with their plight. Moreover, the foreman noted that Google's argument that it viewed Java as open source collaborative software swayed some of the tech-savvy jurors, suggesting jurors in the future are likely to pass down similar verdicts.

In Brief: What Google's Big Win Against Oracle Means for Patent Law originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu May 24, 2012 12:15 pm.

Robots danced and one cruise ship employee learned the hard way about Apple's cloud technology this week. In the U.K., a child blogger inspired change in her school while Apple's Jonathan Ive received the highest accolades.

And one viral video mocked Facebook's Timeline, as well as how much people hate it.

Student's Food Blog Inspires Healthier Meals

A 9-year-old student in Scotland decided to write a blog about her school lunches, complete with pictures. The pathetic lunches caused a national uproar and drew the attention of celebrity chef and healthy eating advocate Jamie Oliver.

Martha Payne, the student, started the blog in April, and it quickly gained attention for highlighting the sorry state of school lunches, which rarely included vegetables and doled out suspiciously small portions.

In response, the school amended its cafeteria menu to include healthier food, including generous servings of fruits and vegetables. Perhaps Payne will inspire young bloggers across the ocean in the U.S. to write about their cafeteria lunches, as American children continue to struggle with high obesity rates and poor nutrition.

Apple's Jonathan Ive Gets Royal Approval

Princess Anne knighted Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive at Buckingham Palace this week, bestowing the British designer with the honor of knighthood for his contributions to technology.

Ive, who lives in San Fransisco but grew up and went to school in the U.K., chatted with Princess Anne about her iPad after he received the honor.

He also emphasized how highly he thinks of British education and how often he comes back to visit, perhaps underlining his devotion to his homeland despite his ex-pat status.

Facebook's Timeline as a Disease

A new Funny or Die video portrays the slow but inescapable move to Timeline as though it is a contagious disease, highlighting how frustrated users get when they get forced to upgrade to a feature they do not like.

Facebook's habit of forcing users to update to a newer version is often met with anger and derision, though not enough to convince people to quit the social media site.

The parallel between Facebook's Timeline and a contagious disease is clearly hyperbolic, but raises a good point: people who are extremely upset about being forced to switch to Timeline should probably find something more important to obsess over.

Girl Schools IPhone Thief

When someone stole Katy McCaffrey's iPhone from a Disney Wonder cruise ship in April, she thought the phone was long gone. But then the pictures the phone bandit took automatically uploaded to her Facebook page.

Through the incredibly dumb move on the part of the thief, who is a Disney Cruise employee, McCaffrey could see snapshots from the petty criminal's life. She took the liberty of adding humorous captions to his photos.

Only days after McCaffrey made the album public, Disney took action and put the thief, "Nelson," on administrative leave. It shouldn't be long before McCaffrey gets reunited with her iPhone.

Robots Get Their Groove On

Choreographer Thomas Freundlich created a new show called "Human Interface" featuring dancing industrial robots.

It's actually much more graceful than it sounds. The robots and the dancers move together in hypnotizing unison.

Freundlich's show features two robot dancers and two human dancers, and premiered in Helsinki this week. Industrial robotics company ABB supplied the robots, and is probably enjoying all the free publicity.

The Chat Room: School's Food Sucks? Shame Them With a Blog originally appeared at Mobiledia on Wed May 23, 2012 3:53 pm.

Mark Zuckerberg may be counting his cash a bit too fast, as a collapse in Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) stock price triggers regulatory investigations.

In Brief boils down complex events to give you the heart of the matter -- today and what it means for tomorrow -- clearly and simply.

Two top federal financial regulators said Tuesday they are reviewing the issues surrounding Facebook's IPO, after shares closed at $31, taking a drastic 11 percent drastic plunge Monday. The stock was priced at $38 per share originally -- and while a $7 difference may not sound like much, the $31 price tag means Facebook lost more than $19 billion in market capitalization.

While some analysts have dismissed the stock drop as the result of an optimistic view of Facebook's value, regulators are putting pressure on Facebook, lead underwriter Morgan Stanley and NASDAQ to get to the bottom of the matter.

What Happened?: According to Reuters, Morgan Stanley's consumer Internet analyst cut his revenue forecasts for the social network just days before the offering. However, the information wasn't disclosed to NASDAQ until the stock listed. While not illegal, the move is raising eyebrows among federal regulators.

In addition, last week, Facebook urged analysts at 32 underwriters, including Morgan Stanley, to lower estimates ahead of the IPO.

"Facebook changed the numbers. They didn't forecast their business right and they changed their numbers and told analysts," a source at one of the underwriters told Reuters.

The lower estimates came after a May 9 report, highlighting Facebook's continuing problems with mobile advertising, which may cause the company to be worth less than originally estimated. Facebook didn't warn that the IPO pricing would be less as a result, but the disclosure shows the social network may be worth less than its $38 per share initial price.

What It Means: Federal investigators are looking into whether Facebook and Morgan Stanley intentionally left smaller investors out of the loop while disclosing that the social network's financial forecast.

Facebook isn't commenting, but Morgan Stanley spokesman Pen Pendleton said the company followed the same rules for Facebook as it always does for IPOs, and it complied with all regulations.

Morgan Stanley wasn't the only firm to change its forecast, though. Other lead underwriters JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, along with Merrill Lynch, all revised their estimates after hearing Facebook's results.

What's Next?: If the lead underwriters were selectively picked and informed, that's a matter that may bring Facebook -- and Zuckerberg -- under scrutiny it may come to regret. While the company was privately held, Zuckerberg could spend as he pleased, including using $1 billion on a surprise purchase of Instagram in April.

But after the IPO, Facebook agreed to open its books and practices to federal scrutiny, and Zuckerberg, as the majority shareholder, may find that going public means paying with his, and his company's, financial privacy.

Selective disclosure is "a matter of regulatory concern to us and I'm sure to the Securities and Exchanges Commission," said Richard Ketchum, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's chairman and chief executive. "And without saying whether it's us or the SEC, we will collectively be focusing on it."

In addition to the federal investigation, Facebook and Morgan Stanley are facing state investigations as well.

In Massachusetts, Secretary of Commonwealth William Galvin subpoenaed Morgan Stanley in connection with investor discussions about buying into Facebook, and in Los Angeles, a lawsuit has already been filed seeking class action status against Facebook and the underwriters about how it disclosed its financial information.

The Takeaway: Although the storm clouds are looming over Facebook's IPO -- and how much information Zuckerberg and company disclosed and when -- technically, the company wasn't legally obligated to share its forecasts with anyone.

Publicly held companies must make their finances known under the federal Regulation Fair Disclosure rule, but if Facebook gave its underwriters information before Monday's IPO, then its books weren't open for public scrutiny yet.

In addition, there is some gray area between when Facebook filed its revised prospectus and when it told analysts that the stock estimates should be lowered.

Meanwhile, NASDAQ itself may be in trouble after Facebook's debut was delayed by about a half hour. A lawsuit was filed late Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to seek class-action status to anyone losing money through what's being described as a technical glitch.

NASDAQ, though, says that even with the glitch, the Facebook IPO was the market's largest ever, and denies the problems with have a long-term effect on either Facebook stock sales or the market itself.

However, the problems surrounding Facebook and its IPO may give other privately-held tech companies pause before they go after the big dollars that can come with going public. The IPO made Zuckerberg a billionaire several times over -- even with the problems that are continuing -- but legal fees will likely chip away at his newfound riches.

Furthermore, the scrutiny will cast a cloud over a company that, until now, seemed to make no missteps in its rapid climb, and remind its founder that he's no longer playing games in his Harvard dormitory room.

In Brief: Facebook's Price for Going Public originally appeared at Mobiledia on Wed May 23, 2012 1:45 pm.

AT&T and Verizon are both trying to boost revenue with the same tactic: shared data plans. But the strategy comes with hidden consequences.

Right now, family plans allow members to share voice minutes, but carriers allot separate data plans for individual devices. That will change soon on these two major U.S. carriers, which will give plans with multiple devices one pool of data to use later this summer. The new plans are designed to make data more affordable to consumers, and could likely relieve heavy traffic congestion and spectrum strain for carriers as well.

Roger's, one of Canada's major carriers, already adopted the approach and saw a boost in data usage, so AT&T and Verizon likely expect the same thing happening for them.

But the strategy carries two distinct risks.

1. Data Sharing Could Lose Money

The plans might not bump up costs for consumers, which means the carriers won't increase profits. Frugal families may end up paying less for the combined plan than they did with multiple data packages if they choose a small group package and don't go over the limit. If that happens, AT&T and Verizon will not benefit from the change.

With AT&T and Verizon effectively killing off unlimited data, people are likely to keep an eye on their data usage to prevent caps, and if they notice the family plan could increase their fees, they may overhaul their data usage to save money. Data consumption is rising in general among consumers eager to stream movies and perform more tasks on tablets and smartphones, but awareness of data usage could also grow, curtailing revenue growth in this avenue.

2. Data Sharing May Drive Customers Away

AT&T and Verizon are trying to sell this change as something consumers want, but the only way it will benefit the carriers is if it charges customers more money to generate revenue, which may breed contempt and cause defections. Both major U.S. carriers are taking a bet and assuming the payoff is worth the risk of alienating customers, but it may give smaller companies like Sprint room to edge into the competition.

Sprint is still offering unlimited packages as a way to differentiate itself, but A&T and Verizon both throttle or slow data when users reach certain limits, so if the family plan strategy backfires on the two major carriers it could help Sprint gain more traction in the market.

For its part, T-Mobile has disavowed family data plans. T-Mobile believes consumers don't want a "one size fits all" approach to shared family data plans, according to T-Mobile's senior vice president of marketing Andrew Sherrard. T-Mobile is instead boosting a new prepaid mobile broadband data plans for tablets, which allows customers pay in daily, weekly or monthly installments for data, starting at 300-megabytes per week for $15 and going up to 5-gigabytes per month for $50.

All carriers are banking on rising data usage to fuel revenue streams in the future, but the dilemma is how best to offer the service to consumers. AT&T and Verizon are betting on shared family data plans as one way to entice more consumers to adding data to their plans, but Sprint and T-Mobile offer other approaches that could help them gain a footing with consumers turned off by the "one bucket for everyone" plans.

Risky business, indeed.

2 Ways Shared Data Plans Can Backfire originally appeared at Mobiledia on Wed May 23, 2012 1:35 pm.

Some Indian farmers now use cell phones to activate their irrigation systems, highlighting just how vital mobile technology has become in developing countries.

The $56 Nano Ganesh service connects farmers' mobile phones to electric pumps in their fields, allowing them to remotely "call" the irrigation system rather than manually turning on each pipe.

Santosh Ostwal of Pune developed the technology after watching his 84-year-old, crippled grandfather walk several kilometers every midnight to turn on water pumps.

As India's electric supply is notoriously unreliable, Ostwal's grandfather was often forced to make multiple return trips through the snake-infested fields. After witnessing this hardship as a boy during the 1970s, Ostwal began a lifelong journey to help rural Indian farmers water their fields more easily.

He first tried using an alarm clock to activate irrigation pumps and then switched to radio frequencies. But the second attempt required a large investment and Ostwal barely had money for food, so he made a desperate gamble on mobile technology.

"I can tell you within 15 minutes, I got the result using the bulky Motorola T 180 mobile," he recalled.

Ostal's 2009 invention is now spreading throughout the subcontinent as well as to Egypt and even Australia, where it benefits the environment by reducing overwatering and saving power. The service may also do well in Africa, where farmers already rely on cell phones for medical help and to prevent crime.

Nano Ganesh is just one example of developing countries' growing reliance on mobile technology, which has become especially vital for rural farmers who sometimes lack the infrastructure to access vital resources for their endeavors.

MKrishi, another Indian agricultural service, lets farmers snap photos of diseased crops with cell phone cameras and text them to experts for advice on proper pest control.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently began assisting rural Indians by funding mobile inventions, like Ostal's, which help farmers living on less than $2 per day.

In Kenya, KickStart helps farmers buy seeds and fertilizer via a text-based layaway program. Using the M-Pesa money transfer service, they can even buy costly irrigation systems in piecemeal payments without running up large debts or consigning away future crops.

As mobile farming inventions like Nano Ganesh catch on in developing countries, those previously living in poverty may finally gain the freedom to think beyond daily necessities with a solution that is literally at their fingertips.

How Indian Farmers Use Phones to Water Crops originally appeared at Mobiledia on Wed May 23, 2012 12:42 pm.

Therapy is moving online, removing traditional obstacles like location, affordability and privacy and becoming a convenient source for counseling services.

Is This Thing On?, or ITTO, is our Wednesday column showing how everyday people use technology in unexpected ways.

New online platforms are pioneering different and less expensive ways to deliver counseling services to a wider, global audience. Governments and other organizations are taking notice, giving a big boost to these emerging programs, and solving some of their own budget problems at the same time.

Group and One-on-One Sessions: A Combination Approach

Start-up Talktala is an example of two-pronged online counseling service targeting those who face common life challenges in group and one-to-one sessions conducted by certified therapists.

The site offers a wide-range of general topics intended to address common life challenges for a person who may be inexperienced with counseling, but may still need some help. Some topics include "Our relationship lost its spark" and "I'm losing control over my drinking."

Most sessions start at $10 each, last 45-90 minutes, are therapist-moderated and available through video, audio or chat. Each of the approximately 50 approved therapists had their license and malpractice insurance verified before they being allowed to offer sessions.

Talktala co-founder Oren Frank told Mashable current online therapy sites "only address people who know what they have and are diagnosed. They don't approach all those people who say, 'I don't know if I need therapy, but I could certainly talk to someone.'"

The group session allow the Talktala therapists to charge less expensive hourly rates than other counseling platforms. So if a person has no history of therapy, but is having some marital problems, for example, they can take part in one of the affordable group sessions, and if needed, possibly move from there to one-on-one counseling.

It is an affordable way to experience different therapists and their styles to find the best fit, but this approach stands in contrast to traditional counseling methods, where patients move from singular consults into a group setting. Still, Frank doesn't see that as a negative, but more as an adaptation to the digital age.

Online Benefits

One big advantage of this kind of counseling is choice, since the patient can choose a therapist for reasons beyond their location. And, some people may actively select a therapist from across the country, for the very reason they may feel more comfortable with someone who doesn't have local-area connections. Finally, consumers have the convenience to conduct their sessions from their own home, which increases the sense of privacy for many.

These benefits are fueling a growing number of organizations to roll-out their online-counseling programs. Canada's Thunder Bay Counselling Centre, Children's Centre Thunder Bay and the Catholic Family Development Centre banded together to launch community online counseling services this spring, proclaiming anyone who can navigate the Web can enter the world of online counseling.

The Canadian program screens all patients to make sure more serious cases get handled face-to-face, but its online component is based on confidential email exchanges and provides secure website registration information and transcripts for all sessions. The online accessibility should bring the services to people in isolated and remote locations that would be unable to get traditional assistance.

Across the pond, the U.K.'s Online Therapy Institute offers Mootu, a national network of over a hundred U.K.-based professional counselors and psychotherapists who offer one-to-one and face-to-face for counseling and psychotherapy online via Skype video.

As private firms gear up to expand their online services, the public sector in the U.S. is taking a look at the programs to save money.

Online Counseling for Inmates

A greater percentage of correctional facilities' growing populations need mental health services, and state governments dealing with delivering this service amid growing cost concerns are looking for alternatives.

In response, correctional healthcare providers are deploying a two-way telehealth V2VIP service to deliver low-cost, face-to-face mental health consultations over mobile devices across the nation. Similar to general online counseling, these programs reduce travel expenses, in addition to minimizing the risks and liabilities for on-site visits, inmate transports and reducing disruption to prison routines.

Also, Wind Currents Communications, one of the providers of these systems, estimate a monthly savings of $30,000 to $40,000 per state using the service, which includes a hosted VoIP platform, video software and special videophones.

In addition to state prisons, there are a growing number of local jails and facilities exploring digital communication tools.

For example, Minnesota's Dakota County Jail recently tested an online video chat service using Skype. With the service, families can visit inmates without taking their children to jail, which are often upsetting.

The program, offered through Wisc.-based TurnKey Corrections, is convenient for inmates' loved ones, but the jail is benefitting too, and could result in reduced spending for taxpayers. County jails in Oregon, Idaho, North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri also have the service.

With Internet access, a computer and a Web camera, inmates' friends and relatives can register to use the service. The company monitors all calls to make sure no inappropriate behavior, like women undressing, occurs. Prison officials can revoke the privilege for inmates, too.

The popular video chat calls cost inmates 35 cents a minutes, which generates revenue. The first few months of this year in Dakota County, officials estimate the program, which costs about $12,000 for equipment and installation, generated just over $2,600, a percentage of which the county receives from TurnKey.

In addition to making it easier for family members to visit inmates and generate money for the jail, the program is also credited with fostering communication and bonds with family and friends for those behind bars, something studies show makes them less likely to become repeat offenders.

Government Initiatives are Taking Notes

Use of online counseling by consumers and correctional facilities is paving the way for adoption of the technology for other projects.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama helped unveil the Alzheimer's Foundation of America's Plan for Providing Solid Stepping Stones Towards Substantial Change program.

Part of the New York-based AFA's plan aims to "ease the daily toll on American families" to make sure "all elements of the plan are implemented and that new strategies and practices are considered."

To achieve that goal and still "be realistic about available dollars," the AFA recommends a whole host of options for optimal care and services to people, caregivers and families confronting dementia. The agency's summary lists counseling by licensed social workers via a toll-free hot line and Skype as an available service, a signal that will add to online counseling's adoption and momentum in the future.

Nobody believes online counseling will replace traditional face-to-face sessions in a therapist's office, but the technology can be used to efficiently and affordably address more general counseling needs in many different settings, features that will continue to make its way to a webcam near you soon.

ITTO: Digital Therapy in an Analogue World originally appeared at Mobiledia on Wed May 23, 2012 11:59 am.

Thinking of buying those shoes with your iPhone? Make sure you're protected from identity theft first.

Neal O'Farrell, the executive director of the Identity Theft Council, gave a talk called "The Hackers Are Coming -- Why the Small Business is the Big Target and What You've Got to Lose" to highlight the dangers of mobile banking for small businesses.

O'Farrell believes the dangers can jeopardize a large segment of businesses and people, explaining, "Eight out of ten mobile banking apps have security flaws, but Apple and the banks don't want you to know that. I'll wait another 20 years to stick my toe in that pond."

Even users with Macs can get their information stolen, and recovery is often problematic. Identity theft via online banking is on the rise, but police investigate less than 1 percent of the crimes.

O'Farrell advocates using a separate, cheap netbook for money transactions, so more frequently used mobile devices won't have the sensitive information on them.

Online banking is far from safe, and mobile finance systems taking stabs at winning loyal users will meet difficulty if people realize how vulnerable their security is to attempted hacks.

O'Farell's advice is at odds with the intentions of a variety of up-and-coming mobile payment systems including Isis and Google Wallet. These businesses will only succeed if consumers feel comfortable with online financial transactions, but O'Farrell points out the need for caution. Isis could have an easier time because it went to great lengths to round up an expansive coterie of security backup, but it still may not outsmart greedy hackers.

In addition to plumbing smartphones and tablets for financial information, hackers also recently targeted medical data, highlighting how identity thieves are liable to explore lots of options to gather sensitive information.

The medical records contained information the hackers could use to figure out passwords and banking information, so although it was not a direct attempt to steal money, identity theft was the end goal. This suggests hackers could also breach smartphones without banking information on them and use other sensitive data to puzzle out account information anyways.

Mobile banking is convenient and consumers have a growing number of options for transactions on the go, but every transaction brings a real identity theft risk. Even though companies are pouring money into ways to make mobile payments mainstream, the continued rise of smartphone-related identity theft may curb adopting this type of transaction unless companies can prove their mobile systems are secure.

Buyer Beware: Why You Should Be Wary of Mobile Banking originally appeared at Mobiledia on Wed May 23, 2012 11:45 am.

Facebook-haters at WikiLeaks started their own social network, while Facebook fans made waves by posting a loving tribute video following the IPO.

Richard Dreyfuss might want to team up with WikiLinks, because he revealed his disdain for Facebook as well at the Webby awards.

And PayPal's founder saw his pet project launch a rocket into space, as Spanish scientists watched robot fish patrol their shores.

WikiLeaks Launches Social Network

WikiLeaks introduced an encrypted network called Friends of WikiLeaks (FoWL), meant to facilitate conversations between supporters of Julian Assange's controversial muckraking website.

WikiLeaks took to Twitter to announce the site, which it called "encrypted Facebook," and the tweets described why FoWL served its users better than Mark Zuckerberg's social media juggernaut.

In true WikiLeaks fashion, it lambasted Facebook as a surveillance device and outlined how FoWL went to great lengths to ensure its users privacy. No word yet on how many people are signed up for FoWL.

Some People Really Love Facebook

A group of people, many of whom have never met in person, collaborated to create a fan video honoring the social media site on the occasion of its IPO.

"I'm taggin' you, you're taggin' me, and we're making history" sing the video's stars, who are genuinely enthusiastic about the social network.

Deborah Torres Patel, Gianluca Verrengia and Jeffery Anaba wrote and sang "Thank You Facebook," which is available on YouTube and has its own Facebook fan page. Something tells me they won't be particularly interested in WikiLeaks' social network, seeing how enamored they are with the original.

A Corporate Space Race?

PayPal founder Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX launched an unmanned space capsule at Cape Canaveral, becoming the first private company to do so.

SpaceX's Dragon space capsule and Falcon 9 rocket are moving towards a space station, where they will deliver supplies to astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA does not send people to the ISS, so SpaceX will grant the U.S. access to the site, which was only accessible to Russia, Japan and Europe. Other U.S. companies have considered doing a similar launch, but SpaceX is the first to successfully make it happen.

Attack of the Robot Fish

In Northern Spain, researchers developed robotic fish that scan the water for pollution and can bring data back. The robotic fish have chemical sensors capable of sniffing out pollutants, and their design helps the robots navigate through shallow waters with ease.

The robotic fish have an advantage to humans taking samples because they will constantly be in the water, so they can offer a more comprehensive idea of how polluted the water is at all times.

The only glitch: the battery life for the robotic fish is not very long, so they have to be taken out and recharged frequently. Once they get a better battery, the fish may become fixtures in Spanish waters.

Facebook and Google Founders Mocked by "Jaws" Actor at Webby Awards

Actor Richard Dreyfuss took a few pot-shots at Mark Zuckerberg and Google executives Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin before launching into a tribute to Steve Jobs at the Webby Awards.

Dreyfuss took a moment to accuse Zuckerberg and the Google execs of invading privacy, and made sure to let the crowd know he was not joking around.

The "Jaws" star went on to fondly recollect his relationship with Jobs, contrasting his harsh opinion of tech's current superstars.

The Chat Room: A Facebook for Hackers originally appeared at Mobiledia on Tue May 22, 2012 3:39 pm.

Jurors in the infamous Rutgers bullying trial relied heavily on a damning trail of digital evidence to convict former student Dharun Ravi, but in his surprisingly light sentencing of the defendant, the judge pointed at the evidence's limitations.

In Brief boils down complex events to give you the heart of the matter -- today and what it means for tomorrow -- clearly and simply.

New Jersey Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman sentenced Ravi to 30 days in jail for spying on his gay college roommate, Tyler Clementi, with a webcam and writing about what he saw from the device on Twitter.

The judge could have given the 20-year-old student up to 10 years, but used his discretion as well as considered a filing from the prosecution, which indicated it also didn't support the most severe punishment.

18-year-old Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge days after learning Ravi had announced on Twitter that he'd seen him "making out with a dude," and had invited friends to a "viewing party" to watch Clementi on a second date in their freshman dorm room.

The case marked the first time Twitter, Facebook, text messaging, e-mails, surveillance cameras, and swiped university identification cards combined to play such a major part in a conviction. But while this data played a role in the trial, it wasn't paramount in the sentencing phase, suggesting that what seems like rock-solid electronic evidence might not convey the full picture, and individual actions and motivations must still be interpreted.

What's Happening: The digital footprint was not in dispute, as both sides basically agreed to the well-documented dates and times of events. Instead, Berman's sentence reflects contemplation of the defendant's intentions and behavior, and in that regard, he found certainty.

"I do believe he acted out of colossal insensitivity," Judge Berman said in handing down his sentence.

What's Really Happening: Surprisingly, in a case built so firmly on digital information, the sentence didn't stem from the solidity of that data. In addition to the sentence, Berman ordered 300 hours of community service, counseling and restitution of $10,000 that will go to an organization providing help to victims of bias crimes.

These requirements support the notion that the interpretation of the facts, and not so much the facts themselves, were critical in determining justice. Initially, many saw Ravi as an evil villain, but the defense portrayed him as a tolerant person not inclined to gay bias, but one who used very poor judgement.

Prosecutors offered Ravi a plea deal in December that would have spared him any prison time, but he rejected it. And the jury's conviction of Ravi in March only added to the bigger conversation taking place around the country about the tragic events.

The sentencing phase contributed to the national discussion, as it presented an opportunity for parents of both students to speak.

Ravi's mother said since her son's arrest, he has lost more than 20 pounds and is devastated and broken into pieces. The victim's family called Ravi's actions reprehensible, but didn't explicitly state what punishment they thought the defendant deserved. Both sides used the opportunity to express their sorrow and heartbreak.

What's Next:Though the prosecution vowed to appeal the case, for now the jury's verdict, the pleading statements from the families, and the judge's sentence are all part of the tapestry in this cautionary tale about acceptance, transparency and poor judgement in the digital age.

Many will complain the verdict was too lenient, while it satisfied others. Some will also think it adds to the debate over technology and privacy, or contributes another nuance to the problem of hate crimes. And as electronic evidence plays a larger role in courtrooms, the case poses questions of how much juries and judges can glean from it when it comes to verdicts and sentencing.

The Takeaway: Court-watchers of the Ravi case expected the role of the digital data to be at the forefront, to showcase how people's electronic trails can follow them into a trap of their making. While that was certainly true and was highlighted in this trial, the judge's sentence took the case beyond that, to the most indecipherable places of all, the human heart and mind -- and divining those motivations, intentions and understanding is something technology is still a long way from accomplishing.

In Brief: Why Rutgers Bullying Is a Cautionary Tale originally appeared at Mobiledia on Tue May 22, 2012 2:24 pm.

Curious teenagers who wanted to look at pornography used to hide a stolen Playboy under a mattress -- but they're now able to satisfy their interests more immediately with mobile technology.

The easy, all-the-time access has experts worried new technology is creating a new generation of people addicted to hardcore pornography.

Internet pornography isn't anything new, and most parents of teenagers are tech-savvy enough to know the pitfalls that come along with the privileges of having high-speed Internet in their homes. Many people have taken the necessary precautions of keeping computers in an open place in their homes, installing protection software and monitoring their children's online activities.

However, smartphones, tablets and even video games are making it easier for teens and even younger children to look at pornography when they want -- and they're looking. A recent study of 14 to 17-year-olds says 58 percent of them have watched pornography online or on their phones.

And of those, a quarter of the teenage boys surveyed said they watch explicit scenes at least once weekly -- and five percent admitted they watch pornography every day.

"I'm very concerned," said Jeff Schultz, a counselor with the Sonoran Healing Center, a Phoenix clinic that treats sex addicts, to KTAR.com. "They can watch this material in complete anonymity," Schultz continued, adding, "You can be pretty much anywhere with a smartphone and no one would know."

What They're Learning

Remember in the old days, when most teenagers said they learned about sex from their friends? Well, with online pornography, their knowledge is taking a darker turn through mobile technology. After all, smartphones and mobile devices mean that teens are no longer just stealing a Playboy from Dad's secret stash. More than a third of teens say they're not only getting sex advice from friends, researchers say, but increasingly, from the Internet.

Schultz said the combination is dangerous and encourages ideas about sexuality that are not healthy.

"It also increases the dominating and controlling aspects of behavior, especially for teenage boys' [actions] towards teenage girls," said Schultz.

While some might dismiss the activity as being just more teen curiosity over sexual matters, the addictions may also affect the innocent.

A report by researchers at the London School of Economics, Open University and the U.K.'s Institute of Education, found a third of under-18 texters received a lewd sexual image by text or e-mail.

On top of that, the focus group research revealed a substantial portion of young males had dozens of sexual pictures of their peers on their mobile devices, indicating their habit of sharing explicit photos with each other.

"Girls are being pressured by text and on BlackBerry Messenger to send 'special photos' and perform sexual services for boys from an early age. In some cases they are as young as 11. Even while we were interviewing them they were being bombarded with these messages," Institute of Education researcher Jessica Ringrose said.

But I Have Everything Protected

You do? Think again.

The number of people who have a smartphone is growing -- and many parents, when buying their child that first phone -- are bypassing feature phones altogether and allowing that first smartphone. After all, a Gartner survey showed teens would rather have a smartphone than a car, and parents, hoping to keep in contact with their children are providing them with smartphones. Take a casual walk through any shopping mall and look around, and you'll notice most of the teens you see are texting, taking photos, or talking on their smartphones.

Most parents are at least somewhat tech-savvy. After all, Internet access has been around for some time, and by now, parents likely know they should set up some protection software on the home computer.

But the days are gone when a person had to sit in front of a computer screen to use the Internet. With smartphones, the Internet is in the user's pocket all the time -- which experts say is a recipe for disaster as far as pornography addiction is concerned.

But My Kid Doesn't Have a Smartphone;

Most teens seem to have a smartphone, but there are still many who don't. However, parents shouldn't relax, because mobile technology reaches to far more devices beyond smartphones. Many other devices allow Internet access, and while a teen's parents might think he's just reading "The Hunger Games" on his Kindle, he might be feeding some other kind of hunger altogether.

Video games like the Wii and XBox 360, e-readers like Nooks and Kindles, and the iPod touch can all access the Internet, but according to studies, few parents have extended Internet controls to those devices.

What You Can Do

Talk to your child, but don't wait until he or she is a teenager. With younger children -- including babies -- playing around on iPads, the chance that your child will be exposed to pornography at a very early age is highly likely, even if only through a simple Internet search.

Then, take stock of the devices in your home that are Internet-capable. Even that Blu-ray or DVD player your kids are watching their cartoons on? Those are Internet-capable too.

You can go through every device in your home and individually set the parental control settings, or you can even consider filtering your whole network at home through a network filter such as OpenDNS, which allows users to block content categories, such as pornography or even instant messaging.

There are also filtered Web browsers for smartphones and mobile devices that replace the standard ones -- if you can wrestle the phone away from your teen long enough to install it.

But even if you have everything blocked, don't forget that one of your neighbors -- or even the local Starbucks -- often have open Wi-Fi connections, and a tech-savvy teen could easily learn a way to get around any pesky blocks Mom and Dad have installed at home.

What If it Doesn't Work?

There's no magic solution to this problem -- because there's no magic solution to a teen's curiosity when it comes to sex. Basically, it's up to parents to teach their children about the birds-and-bees, or risk them learning about it on the street, or on their smartphones.

Also, even the most advanced blocking software likely won't stop a determined teen from borrowing a friend's phone -- or for that matter, even going out and buying a prepaid phone of his own.

So, even with all the modern technology at everyone's fingertips, sometimes the old ways remain the best ways. Keeping the lines of communication open -- through open, frank conversations -- may be the best tool of all when it comes to how your child learns all about the facts of life.

Smartphones and Porn: Is Technology Creating a Generation of Addicts? originally appeared at Mobiledia on Tue May 22, 2012 1:35 pm.

People who text while driving are responsible for the accidents their distracted behavior causes -- but what about the people at the other end of the conversation, who aren't driving?

A New Jersey couple out for a motorcycle ride almost died after a young man texting while driving stopped paying attention to the lanes and sideswiped them.

David and Linda Kuber each lost a leg and sustained life-threatening injuries. The driver, Kyle Best, pled guilty to the charges brought against him. But the matter still isn't over: the couple's lawyer is making a case against the woman sending messages to Best during the ill-fated drive, arguing that her actions are akin to aiding and abetting a crime.

The lawyer argues that, based on the pattern of texts, Shannon Colonna knew Best was driving at the time of her texts and still expected him to respond, which encouraged him to break the law and cause the bloody accident.

Distracted driving causes a substantial part of car accidents, and while erring drivers are often charged for their crimes, this case will set a precedent for assigning guilt to the people on the other end of the text conversation.

If the court finds Colonna guilty, it could prompt other victims of distracted driving to file suits against the people who texted their vehicular assailants, bolstering convictions against these people.

Colonna's lawyer argues she had no way of knowing when Best would read and respond to her text, but if the Kuber's lawyer can prove she knew he'd text back, they may have a successful suit.

With lawmakers across the U.S. honing in on the dangers of texting while driving, and one town in New Jersey outlawing texting while walking to curb accidents that happen to hapless pedestrians, the country is gravely concerned about the distracting nature of smartphones.

If the judge wants to make an example of Colonna, the verdict may influence a number of cases being brought against distracted drivers and jumpstart a change in the way courts find these drivers culpable, shifting some blame to the people texting them.

Technology designed to re-route phone calls and texts for people on the move may gain traction, and people will likely think twice about hitting "send" if they don't know the whereabouts of the text recipient.

The Kubers' lawyer raises some interesting questions, but it may be difficult to prove Colonna knew Best was in the car. In addition, as more young people use smartphones with mobile Facebook and Twitter apps, this case may raise more questions -- could people be held responsible for accidents that happen when a driver gets distracted by their tweet? The answer to that question will likely open up a gray area and complicate an already escalating issue.

Why Texting to Drivers May Land You in Jail originally appeared at Mobiledia on Tue May 22, 2012 12:39 pm.

Forgot your iPhone charger? If you're not too thirsty, just add water.

PowerTrekk, a portable system that uses water to generate hydrogen-based electricity, can re-charge a dying phone even if it is miles away from an outlet.

The system uses hydrogen cartridges, which contain a chemical that begins to produce energy when mixed with water. The cartridges, called PowerPukks, are biodegradable and disposable. Developed as an offshoot of a program to bring electricity to underdeveloped rural areas, outdoor goods haven REI will sell the kit for around $200, with hydrogen cartridges running around $3.

It would take an astronomical hike in natural gas prices to make the technology feasible for larger-scale projects, so for now, PowerTrekk's source of energy is best for extreme situations for individual users.

There are a bevy of unusual ways to charge iPhones cropping up, including a system harnessing energy from viruses and another from footsteps.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army is developing cloth that charges smartphones. These innovations demonstrate a demand for alternative ways to charge electronics, especially as they become linchpins for professional and military communication in areas without easy access to traditional power sources.

Those systems are likely less cumbersome than carrying around a PowerTrekk box, but the PowerTrekk box is extremely efficient, which may make it the best bet for use in emergencies -- as long as a the user can reach a viable water source.

Each cartridge will re-charge a depleted iPhone two times, and can power LED lights for weeks at a time, which could be crucial to an outdoor sports enthusiast in an emergency. The situation James Franco's character experienced in the film "127 Hours", for example, when he got trapped while hiking without a way to get into contact with anyone, would have turned out to be more like 3 or 4 hours if he'd carried the PowerTrekk.

Forgot Your Charger? No Problem, Just Add Water originally appeared at Mobiledia on Tue May 22, 2012 11:37 am.

Everyheartbeat.org aims to unite medicine and social networks, instantly connecting patients with doctors online to offer more personal, comprehensive care.

The Facebook-like medical network will allow people to upload their heartbeat data for expert analysis, according to Dr. Leslie Saxon of the University of South Carolina. The cardiologist says everyheartbeat.org can easily detect "all sorts of abnormalities" and will enable "unbelievably predictive analytics across populations" once the database grows large enough.

"I imagine this as a medical iTunes," Saxon explained. "The sooner in medicine we let patients learn for themselves and start to look at their data and understand it, the more sophisticated our own dialogue will be."

Saxon's creation, now in super-stealth mode with an expected launch in 2013, joins other social networks in uniting doctors with patients, in spite of difficulties like privacy concerns.

Facebook apps, for example, now joins sick people with matching kidney and blood donors in hours and not the usual rate of days or weeks.

Facebook and Twitter also host medical data at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic and Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida. Mayo's health care professionals have started using Facebook to schedule appointments, while Sarasota's patients simply tweet their doctors about health issues.

But the founders of HealthTap, a private social network connecting patients with over 5,000 doctors, say patient confidentiality must be a priority if such systems are to succeed. Medical data is subject to highly stringent federal data regulations, and possible breaches or leaks are a major risk.

"Facebook and Twitter are dangerous for doctors, but everyone wants to take part in social networking," said HealthTap CEO Ron Gutman, warning that even a slight privacy breach may cost doctors millions in lawsuits.

A solution to this problem may lie in tightly controlled social networks like Doximity, which pre-screens its doctors to avoid disastrous hacks like those against Utah's Children's Health Insurance Program.

The attack, which exposed 780,000 Social Security numbers, highlights the difficulties of maintaining a secure medical social network in the wild online world.

But if everyheartbeat.org can overcome these challenges, it may prove an extremely useful tool for both patients and doctors in diagnosing heart conditions.

Bringing Medicine and Social Networks Together originally appeared at Mobiledia on Tue May 22, 2012 11:31 am.

Mark Zuckerberg said "I do" to public stock options and a lovely bride this week, while Apple tried to convince Cupertino residents they'd like a gigantic new off-limits campus in their city.

One mother invented a genius punishment for her daughter's wayward Facebook behavior, while orthodox Jewish men whipped themselves into a frenzy trying to fix the Internet.

And even though summer is upon us, "Winter Is Coming" to Facebook -- a "Game of Thrones" game is on the way.

Mark Zuckerberg Ties the Knot

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a huge weekend -- in addition to the social media juggernaut's IPO, Zuckerberg married his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan in a secret backyard ceremony on Saturday.

Despite the social media scion's huge IPO payday, the wedding was an understated, intimate affair with less than 100 people, who thought they were coming to a party celebrating Chan's graduation from medical school.

Over 1 million Facebook users "liked" the couple's updated marital status, suggesting that no matter how the company's stock does, Zuckerberg will continue to have well-wishers.

Orthodox Jews Launch Anti-Internet Protest

40,000 male orthodox Jews congregated at the New York Mets' Citi Field to protest the Internet. Women observed the events from Brooklyn and and New Jersey at "viewing parties," to keep with the religion's gender-segregated behavioral norms.

The men at the event gathered to discuss the dangers of the Internet and how they could protect their communities. They believe society is damaged by exposure to pornography and reliance on impersonal forms of communication like Twitter.

The New York Times reported that the rabbinical group sponsoring the event is connected to a software company that blocks offensive websites, and that the rally decided that all orthodox Jews should install that type of software.

Game of Thrones Game Coming to Facebook

Facebook's gaming landscape will gain a lot of courtly intrigue once Disruptor Beam releases its upcoming Game of Thrones game for the social media site.

Game of Thrones, based on the series "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin, and now a popular show on HBO, pits noble houses against each other in an bloody, political epic.

The game will allow players to immerse themselves in the rich fictional world of Westeros, where the Iron Throne sits. No release date is set yet, but the game will put players in the middle of the action and allow them to choose a political alliance.

Mother Invents Unique Facebook Punishment for Daughter

A mother angered by her underage daughter's decision to post photos with alcohol-related content decided upon an appropriate punishment.

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, an author, decided to use Facebook to make her daughter learn a lesson about posting inappropriate content online.

She made her daughter pose for a picture with a sign reading "Since I want to post photos of me holding liquor I am obviously not ready for social media and will be taking a hiatus until I learn what I should + should not post. BYE-BYE."

Apple Puts Positive Spin on Giant, Exclusive Spaceship Campus

Apple is building an enormous new campus in Cupertino, Calif. Unlike its other facilities, this campus will be entirely off-limits to non-employees, and it will look like a giant spaceship.

Despite the fact that it doesn't clearly benefit people in the community, Apple is trying to get the neighborhood excited for the potentially loud and obnoxious construction project. CFO Peter Oppenheimer sent out a brochure asking neighbors what they thought of the upcoming project.

Residents are concerned about an increase in traffic, but the city of Cupertino is enthusiastic about the project.

The Chat Room: Zuckerberg Gets Hitched originally appeared at Mobiledia on Mon May 21, 2012 3:28 pm.