According to TSA, the one on the right is more dangerous. (Photo Credit: Public Domain/U.S. Army/Wikipedia)

Red State reports the story of a company of gun-toting soldiers who recently returned to the United States after a tour of Afghanistan. Despite the fact that U.S. Customs had already inspected the solders’ possessions and separated them from their ammo before putting them on the flight out of Afghanistan – and the soldiers hadn’t left the plane before touching down in Indianapolis – TSA confiscated nail clippers from one of the soldiers once the plane was on U.S. soil.

The threat of nail clippers versus an M4 carbine rifle

While TSA was technically following the rules, the tiny nail clippers that were confiscated pale in comparison to the M4 carbine rifle the solder was carrying. Even without ammo, the butt stock of the weapon in the hands of a highly trained soldier would clearly be more disabling to an opponent than a pair of nail clippers. Such as it is, this incident is yet another opportunity for the media to have a field day with TSA, an organization that has been in the news quite a bit lately for full body scanners, groping pat downs and the people who are fed up with it all. Now there’s even a Twitter-based contest called #touchedbytsa, where the prize is an iPod Touch.

More of the TSA nail clippers story

According to Red State, when the plane landed in Indianapolis, all 330 people on board were evacuated by airport security and taken to a holding area. All the soldiers on the flight – at least 100 – were carrying firearms, from M4 carbines and M9 pistols to M-240B machine guns. The weapons weren’t loaded, and all ammo was cleared and secured by U.S. Customs. TSA reportedly considered making all the soldiers unpack heir baggage for piece-by-piece re-inspection, even though Customs had already screened it.

According to Red State, it took an hour for bomb-sniffing dogs to go over the soldiers’ luggage. Then the soldiers sat for a couple of hours before TSA inspected them again –and the nail clippers were discovered. TSA hadn’t known about them up to this point. So far as Red State and other media sources can tell, this was a thinly disguised TSA power trip. The nail clippers were perhaps just a bonus for them, sources suggest.

Sources

Red State

The true danger of nail clippers

iPhone users, get ready for the Opera Mini!

Users of the iPhone now have a way to browse the internet quickly in congested urban areas – Opera Mini for the iPhone. The Opera Mini app was approved by Apple for its App store on Monday, rather unexpectedly. The Opera Mini app markets itself as a web browser, but the Apple App store specifically forbids alternative browsers. So, like low interest loans for bad credit, Opera Mini managed to find a way around bad circumstances.

Opera Mini remotely renders pages

The Opera Mini browser is an Apple iPhone app that creates a web-browser-like experience — without actually being a web browser. Instead, the Opera Mini app for iPhone does not render web pages on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Instead, when the Opera Mini app calls up a web page, it is rendered remotely on the Opera Mini servers. The Opera Mini servers then send the web page to the iPhone using OBML markup language. This means that the Opera Mini App for the iPhone functions more like a document reader than a web browser.

Opera Mini App released already

Though the approval process through the iPhone store took a while, the Opera Mini App for the iPhone should be available Tuesday morning in the iPhone store. Not only is the Opera Mini App free, but it should help save you money. You won’t need to get an online payday loan to pay your cell phone bill anymore, because Opera Mini compresses web pages, reducing the data load on your cell phone plan.

Opera Mini will help in congested areas

Even though the Opera Mini does basically exactly what Apple has said it would not allow, the Opera Mini was most likely approved because of user experience issues. In large urban areas with heavy iPhone usage, web browsing and many applications have been running very slowly. Though AT&T has promised they will increase network coverage, the Opera Mini’s compression and remote-rendering system will help reduce the network load of all those iPhones. To download the Opera Mini App, just go to m.opera.com from any web browser – including the one on your iPhone.

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grilledcheese/ / CC BY-ND 2.0)

The home screen of an iPhone OS4. Image from Flickr.

The iPad has barely come out, and iPad apps are still the hottest download, but Apple has already moved on to the iPhone OS4. This Thursday at Apple Headquarters, iPhone OS4 will be previewed in a “sneak peek” press event. While no details have been officially released, the rumors are running wild – but don’t run out to get no credit check personal loans for the iPhone OS4 yet.

iPhone OS4 will operate iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

The announcement of iPhone OS4 will affect more than just the iPhone. Several devices, including the just-barely-released iPad run on the iPhone OS. Apple iPhone OS4 will be the first update to the iPhone / iPad / iPod touch operating system since June of 2009. Nothing is yet known for certain what the iPhone OS4 will include, but it’s sure to have some big changes.

Will the iPhone OS4 fix iPad problems?

The current Apple iPhone OS is the operating system for the newly-released iPad. While iPad apps are based on this iPhone system, there have been complaints. The largest complaint about the iPhone OS on the iPad is that multi-tasking is simply not supported. The rumor mill says that the iPhone OS4 may include multi-tasking based on Apple’s Expose. This would allow iPad apps to run at the same time. For example, iPhone OS4 may allow you to have a Twitter iPad app at the same time you’ve got your iPad debt consolidation calculator app open.

When will Apple iPhone OS4 be released?

Of course, the Apple iPhone OS4 details won’t be known before the announcement event. Based on the release of the Apple iPhone OS3, we will probably be waiting a while for the release of Apple iPhone OS4. OS3 was previewed in March of 2009, but was not released until June. So, most likely, your iPad apps, iPhone, and iPod Touch won’t be running the iPhone OS4 until at least June or July.

The Line2 App from Talktumi removes the need to keep this many cell phones on hand. Image from Flickr.

At a particular former job of mine, there were days I would end up carrying four cell phones, each with a different number and a different purpose. Line2 for the iPhone, created by Talktumi, takes situations like this and streamlines them into one iPhone. In addition, the Line2 app can turn an iPod Touch into a full-blown cell phone wherever there is WiFi. Line2 is the game-changing app that Google Voice and Skype for the iPhone were trying to be. The best part is, Line2 charges only $15 a month – so you won’t have to look into small cash loans to double your phone’s functionality. The challenge for Line2 is going to be keeping the momentum going. Yesterday, after showing off Line2 at the CTIA conference, Talktumi’s Line2 App was No. 1 in the iPhone app store. Today, they’ve taken the app offline to fight a DNS attack.

Line2 App uses two data networks

First and foremost, the functionality of Line2 is based on something that the iPhone was itching for – the ability to make and receive calls using either the 3G data network or WiFi. Line2 “prefers” WiFi connections, as they are more reliable, but if you move from one hotspot to another, it will seamlessly switch you, even mid-call.

The best part of this dual-mode Line2 functionality is that it allows you to make and receive phone calls without using your precious cell network voice minutes. Much like Skype or Google Voice on your computer, long-distance international calls are also much less expensive. At $15 a month and $1 for the Line2 App, it’s cell phone service that doesn’t require payday lending to pay the bills.

Line2 App does more than make calls

The Line2 App is about more than just turning your calls over to internet connections. Instead, the Line2 is a full-featured second phone line. You can set up a second cell phone number with Line2, routing a home and business number to the same phone. You can also set up a virtual phone tree – press 1 to reach A, press 2 to reach B, if you’re a business owner trying to keep things in line. Best of all, Line2 provides visual voice mail, conference calling and a choice of how to make incoming calls. It’s like having a second iPhone on your iPhone.

DNS Attacks on Line2

Line2 quickly rose the ranks of the iPhone app store to become No. 1 on March 25. Many were surprised that the Line2 App got approved by the Apple App Store – Google Voice for the iPhone was just recently rejected for providing a very similar service, which the App store claimed would compete for the “core business” of the iPhone – making calls.

Users who spent the morning of March 26 looking for the Line2 app were sorely disappointed. Talktumi took Line2 offline at about 9 p.m. Eastern Time March 25 due to a coordinated DNS Denial of Service attack. The company is providing up-to-the-minute updates on the Talktumi Twitter account, and hope to have Line2 up and running again soon.