Cell Phone Camera Fazes Flasher

Until then, of course, you have me to look around for this kind of thing. I came up with a good one too:

"At Monday night's Hollywood Bowl performance by James Taylor, for instance, the audience lighted up during the folk singer's classic 'Fire and Rain,'" the Los Angeles Times reported on August 24. "As smoking wanes and cellphone use skyrockets, 'the cellphone has replaced the lighter,' said Janette Baxa, spokeswoman for the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City. 'It's pretty incredible when you look around and see thousands of people light up.' At last year's 'Sound of Music' sing-along concert at the Bowl, most of the 18,000 patrons lighted up their cellphones as they sang and swayed to 'Edelweiss,' venue spokesman Mateo Velasco said. 'It's better than lighters because you see blue and green and other colors glowing,' he said. 'And it's safer.'"

I haven't been to an arena show in years, so someone needs to update me. Don't people get high at concerts anymore? As we all should know by now, marijuana's ill effects on health are overstated while cell phones will make you grow repulsive tumors in your head. So they say, anyway...

No More Kilt Fetish!

You wouldn't know it by the brilliant nature of today's column, but so far this is the slowest day of the slowest month when it comes to technology news. What's out there has been done before, so I have to cast my newsgathering nets all the way to Scotland -- a reliable warhorse when it comes to scaring up some tech stories.

I wasn't disappointed as I discovered a proposal to ban violent pornography on the Internet. The Scotsman reported: "A new offence of possession of violent and abusive pornography would mean any images acquired electronically would be illegal. Such images are already banned in traditional printed form under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. ... The plans were applauded by Metropolitan Police Commander and Association of Chief Police Officers' representative Dave Johnston." He said: "'The investigation into such matters proves to be very difficult due to the fact that many of the [Web] sites are abroad and outside the jurisdiction of UK law enforcement agencies. Creation of new offences to deal with these matters would assist greatly in preventing the spread of such material.'"

How is this so if the sites are located outside the United Kingdom?

Anyway, victims of spyware pop-ups can take heart, the BBC reported: "The new laws would not affect people who came into contact with pornographic material by accident." ... or, presumably, "investigators" such as Pete Townshend.

Send links and comments to robertDOTmacmillanATwashingtonpost.com.