Tag: smartphone

Pennsylvania State Senate Passes Bill to Help Schools Ban Cell Phones

Tom Pappert
Student with Cell Phone

The Pennsylvania State Senate on Wednesday passed SB 1207, which seeks to amend the Public School Code of 1949 in order to establish a Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program that would encourage schools to restrict cell phone use among students.

Introduced by State Senator Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster), the legislation would “provide funding to cover the costs of purchasing secure cell phone lockable bags,” which will be available to schools throughout the commonwealth who establish a “policy that prohibits the use of cell phones during school time” and requires students to store their phones in “lockable bags.”

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TikTok Not the Only China-Controlled App Thriving in America: Report

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The top four downloaded applications in the past 30 days in the U.S. Apple App Store and Google Play Store are owned by Chinese-tied companies, according to data from Apptopia analyzed by Axios.

While these Chinese-tied apps are thriving in the U.S., American apps are typically not permitted to operate in China due to the country’s strict censorship, according to Axios. China has over one billion internet users according to Statista, so the U.S. is missing out on a massive market while China has exclusive access to it.

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Trump Bans Dealings with Chinese Owners of TikTok, WeChat

The Associated Press

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered a sweeping but unspecified ban on dealings with the Chinese owners of consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, although it remains unclear if he has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the U.S.

The twin executive orders — one for each app — take effect in 45 days. They call on the Commerce Secretary to define the banned dealings by that time. While the wording of the orders is vague, some experts said it appears intended to bar the popular apps from the Apple and Google app stores, which could effectively remove them from distribution in the U.S.

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Commentary: TikTok is Just the First Chinese App the Trump Admin is Eyeing for Crackdown Over Spying

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TikTok Social Media

Two days after President Trump told reporters that he plans to ban TikTok from the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested in an interview with Fox News that executive action may soon be taken against many other apps owned by Chinese firms.

Trump remarked to journalists aboard Air Force One on Friday that he could ban TikTok “with an executive order,” suggesting that the president has made up his mind about the popular short video platform. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance, has been at the center of a months-long debate over whether the data that it collects from American users could be exploited by China’s government.

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Let Me Take a Selfie: Gill Discusses the Public’s Phone Fascination with Chaos and Disaster

Julie Carr
Steve Gill

Throughout Tuesday’s broadcast of The Gill Report – live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville – conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill was beside himself as he described the unconscionable phenomenon of selfies and the public’s fascination with taking out their phone in the midst of horrific public tragedies. He continued: I gotta tell you, I’m not a big fan of selfies. Maybe it’s the kind of duck-lipped-pouty pose that so many posts are kind of the hand held high I guess trying to hide the double, triple, or quadruple chin. I tend to like the more posed photos that are then posted on Facebook or Instagram. Rather than the sort of selfies that have seemed to become in the grip of a nation. And then you add the fact that people seem willing to video or photograph anything that happens as it happens. I’ve been amazed at some of these incidences on airplanes including plane crashes where people immediately grab their phone turn on the video because they want to record for posterity, maybe the end of their “sterity” the death that comes with a plane crash. Maybe it’s the thought that “oh it will…

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Six Apps to Add Blockbuster Special Effects to Your Smartphone Videos

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And…action! Add professional effects by simply tapping your phone’s screen. David Nield/Popular Science The smartphone revolution hasn’t just put a video camera in your pocket. It’s given you a whole movie-making studio in one compact package. With the right apps, you can add special effects and filters that the Hollywood experts would be proud of—and you…

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