Shelly Palmer

Text Messages Send $1.2 Million in Aid to Haiti: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer January 14, 2010

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The shocking Earthquake in Haiti is getting relief from text messages. The Red Cross set up a text hotline where users are able to pledge $10 to the relief effort simply by texting Haiti to 90999. The hotline, which charges the donation to your mobile phone bill, raised over $1.2 million alone yesterday, a sign that mobile giving may be here to stay.

The Justice Department is keeping Kindles out of University classrooms until the digital reading devices are equipped for the Blind has halted efforts. Several collegiate institutions had begun using the popular Kindle in the classroom, however, a lawsuit over the lack of vocal control for the visually impaired. Until the manufacturer’s of eReaders add voice control, eReaders will not be allowed to be used for college classes.

After its recent cyber attack, Google is stepping up its GMail security. The company has automatically enabled HTTPS settings, effectively encrypting email in order to provide more protection for users. HTTPS encyrption has been available for a while, however, slow Internet connections kept Google from making it the default setting.