'Second Screen'. Super Bowl marketers bet on mobile

In what is being marketed as the first "second screen" Super Bowl, the game's promoters and advertisers are offering interactive experiences aimed at getting people to spend more money and time on mobile phones and devices. USA Today reports.

Roughly 60% of Super Bowl viewers will use their phones during the game, says a survey by Velti, a mobile marketing firm. An E-Trade survey says 31% of viewers expect to use Facebook and 6% will be on Twitter. "This is the first year where you'll see fans using the cellphone more often than the remote," says Krishna Subramanian of Velti. "Advertisers are trying to figure out how to leverage the second or third screen."

Read more.

Texting Daughter's Nude Photo To Teach Her A Lesson

Someone needs to revise his parenting skills... Forbes reports on one of the more (misguided) sexting stories yet.

Eugene Foster, 31 found a naked photo of his girlfriend’s daughter on her phone. After an argument about the photo, he decided to “teach her a lesson” about what could happen and “sexted” it out on her behal. He sent the photo to [38] contacts in her phone.

Now Foster is learning a lesson — that’s it’s illegal to send naked photos of minors. He’s been arrested for sexual exploitation of a minor, reports 3TV. It’s unclear whether he’ll also be charged with distributing child pornography.

[Forbes full article via azfamily.com]

Smartphones exposing children to porn

Around 1.2 million children have looked at violent or pornographic websites on their mobile telephones, according to a study that reveals the extent to which parents struggle to monitor their offspring’s activity online. The Telegraph reports.

Children as young as eight are using smartphones to browse illicit content on the internet, the research found.

The poll of just over 1,000 children aged eight to 15, conducted by YouGov for Carphone Warehouse, found that nearly half owned a smartphone such as the iPhone.

... Nearly nine out of 10 children questioned had no security settings on their telephones, and 46 per cent of parents were unaware that they were even necessary.

Read full article. Image from Digital Life'ss article How to block Internet porn from your kids.

Beware of Malicious QR Codes

Cyber criminals have taken advantage of the proliferation of quick response (QR) codes on posters and marketing material by putting their own malicious stickers over the top of legitimate ones, warns security vendor AVG Australia and New Zealand. PC World reports.

In its latest report, entitled AVG Community Powered Threat Q4 2011, the company warns that cyber criminals are now producing their own QR codes which contain text and URLs with hidden malware. For example, one piece of malware called 'JimmRussia' sends costly SMS messages to premium numbers and also redirects to a URL which downloads a malicious file.

Read full article.

New Apps Help Activists Sharing Video To Remain Anonymous

A pair of new apps, launched via a collaboration between WITNESS, The Guardian Project, and the International Bar Association, are attempting to ensure better "visual anonymity" and "visual privacy" for activists -- but also to preserve that video for posterity. Radio Free Europe reports.

ObscuraCam, which is currently only built for Android, allows users to post videos online with pixilated faces to protect their identities. It can also delete potentially incriminating metadata attached to the video.

InformaCam, a plug-in to ObscuraCam. For the sake of posterity, the app allows the user to add context; for instance, whether or not the subject of the video gave their permission to be filmed. It can also provide information about the creator's intent, how the media was acquired, and "if a particular image or video is a duplicate of another." InformaCam also allows the user to send the image or video to "trusted destinations," which could be "an organization, a news outlet, or any friend whose PGP key is known to you."

Read full article.

Related: apps for activists and related articles:

-- Activist app Protest4 gained 50,000 users in 17 days

-- Inhuman Microphone app lets protesters spread the word

-- Wall Street Protests Use Go App to Coordinate Anonymously

-- Occupy Wall Street inspires the 'I'm getting arrested' app

-- Wall Street protesters use social media app Vibe to communicate anonymously

-- Twitter buys Whisper Systems Which Creates Privacy Tools for Activists

iPhone 4S camera reportedly removed from Singapore carriers

The camera of the iPhone 4S is usually touted as a highlight feature, but Singapore's carriers may soon be offering Apple's flagship phone with both shooters removed — thanks to some aftermarket modding. CNet Asia reports via The Verge.

It's said to be part of an initiative from Apple's three carrier partners in Singapore, who hope to sell the iPhone to military personnel prohibited from carrying phones with cameras due to security concerns (RIM has provided camera-free BlackBerry devices in the past for similar reasons).

Read full article.

App sends latest images of Mars straight to your cell phone

An app called Mars Images can send the newest pictures of the red planet taken by the Opportunity rover straight to your iPhone, iPad, or Android phones and tablets.

[via Tecca.com]