Journalism student chooses a news-worthy route

[TC] Twitter Saves Man From Egyptian Justice:

UC Berkeley graduate journalism student James Karl Buck was arrested on April 10 without any charges in Egypt for photographing a demonstration. He used his mobile phone to twitter the message “Arrested” to his 48 followers, who contacted UC Berkeley, the US Embassy and a number of press organizations on his behalf.

The impressive part? People read the message and actually did something instead of resuming their World of Warcraft activities.

Billshrink saved me no money on my phone bill

[TC] Billshrink Launches to Save You Money On Your Phone Bill:

Billshrink, the new startup that aspires to simplify the often painful process of choosing and comparing mobile plans (and eventually other services), has launched in beta. … The site offers an ostensibly impressive feature-set.

Let’s take a step back. There are only four mobile phone operators in the country (AT&T, Spring, T-Mobile, and Verizon). Chances are, only two of them get decent reception in your house anyway. Sure they slowly started launching unlimited plans in the last few months, but other than that their plans have been the same for the last five years and you already know what they are. Thanks Billshrink, you’re really helping us out here.

With all the AJAX they stuffed into their website, it’d be nice to at least see the phones. Nope, that’s not an option.

Coverage map, on the other hand, is an option. Now I can finally see which carriers have blessed me with their coverage. Let’s bring one up:

So who has the worst reception in greater New York City area? Turns out it’s Verizon. Perfect 3-bar coverage from Midtown Manhattan to central New Jersey! Are we just picking random numbers here? Apparently so. I love it when they lie right to my face. Is that how they get their funding?

TringMe discovers Flash technology

[TC] TringMe Develops Its Own Flash Phone:

The TringPhone, as it is called, really is more of a technology demonstration than a full-fledged service. TringMe is hoping to license the technology to VOIP providers and help make Web-based telephony as simple as visiting a Web page.

Sure it’s a different technology than DialPad, but is that why it’s featured on TechCrunch? Or is it because they have a widget, which means they’re Web 2.0, which means their stuff is somehow revolutionary? AT&T beware. Now I can make calls from my MySpace profile.