5 posts and columns on zip code

The Information That Is Needed to Identify You: 33 Bits

in News on August 4, 2010 at 9:20 am PT

With more than 6.6 billion people in the world, it’s easy to feel safely anonymous. Many data collectors assure consumers that they don’t collect or store personally identifiable information — things like full names, Social Security numbers or credit-card numbers. But researchers say it’s often possible to identify people even without that information.

NYC iPhone Fraud Epidemic Solved! AT&T Web Site Selling iPhones to New Yorkers Again.

in Mobile on December 28, 2009 at 12:08 pm PT

Looks like AT&T has gone and “modified its promotion and distribution channels” again. Either that or the carrier has a better handle on the “online fraudulent activity” that prevented it from selling Apple’s iPhone online to customers with New York City zip codes. AT&T’s Web site is once again accepting iPhone orders from potential customers living in Manhattan.
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Open House? Google Has Also Been Eying Trulia in Real Estate Search Play.

in News on December 18, 2009 at 4:51 pm PT

According to sources close to the situation, along with its pending bid for Yelp, Google has been in on-again, off-again acquisition talks with Trulia, the real estate search engine. It is unclear what price Google would pay, but sources estimate that Trulia’s valuation ranges between $150 million and $200 million, although there could be a big premium on that. Rumors about Google’s interest in the real estate search market–and specifically in Trulia–have been rebounding around Silicon Valley for the last year as the search giant focuses on the local arena.
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Web 2.0 Expo: Location Apps Come to Laptops, Desktops

in News on April 1, 2009 at 5:16 pm PT

Is this the year that location-based applications, already popular among mobile users, migrate to desktops and laptops as well? Ryan Sarver, director of consumer products at Skyhook Wireless, which operates a Wi-Fi-based positioning system, is betting so. “It feels like 2009 is a huge year for location on laptops,” he told the crowd of techies at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco Wednesday.

Switching Networks for an iPhone

in Mossberg’s Mailbox on April 1, 2009 at 3:40 pm PT

Walt answers readers’ questions about switching networks to buy an iPhone, how to forward an email in Gmail, and more.