DC Metro begins installing wireless service in 20 Metrorail stations

DC - Metro begins installing wireless service in 20 Metrorail stations

Metrorail riders soon will be able to use four major cell phone providers to make calls or access the Internet from 20 of Metro’s busiest underground stations.

Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile began installing hardware at designated Metrorail stations this weekend that will allow Metrorail customers to make calls, send text messages or surf the Web from 20 stations starting Friday, October 16.

During the next two months, the companies will install a wireless network at the following Metrorail stations: Ballston, Bethesda, Columbia Heights, Crystal City, Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Farragut West, Federal Center SW, Foggy Bottom-GWU, Friendship Heights, Gallery Pl-Chinatown, Judiciary Square, L’Enfant Plaza, McPherson Square, Metro Center, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Rosslyn, Smithsonian and Union Station.

Customers at those stations will begin to see large, cabinet-like enclosures that will house the hardware at the ends of station platforms or on mezzanines, in areas that will not impede the flow of customers or impact the safe operation of the Metrorail system. New cables and antennae also will be installed as part of this work, which will take place late at night when the Metrorail system is closed

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Deposit Checks Via iPhone?

USAA, a Texas-based bank, plans to release an update of its iPhone application this week that lets customers make deposits using the devices camera.

The app will work by letting customers take a photo of both sides of the check and then submitting it to USAA. According to The New York Times “customers will not have to mail the check to the bank later; the deposit will be handled entirely electronically, and the bank suggests voiding the check and filing or discarding it.” USAA also allows customers to make deposits using a scanner.

Although USAA has just one physical branch (but nearly 7 million customers), it seems like the type of application that could quickly catch on elsewhere, as it’s clearly a huge time saver to those of us that still receive lots of paper checks. It’s also another example of a growing trend of connecting camera phones to online services; for example, Amazon’s iPhone app lets you take a picture of a physical item, upload it, and then get back comparison quotes from other merchants.

Of course, with banking, security is a much more serious issue, and the Times notes that “to reduce the potential for fraud, only customers who are eligible for credit and have some type of insurance through USAA will be permitted to use the deposit feature.” Nonetheless, it gives a small bank in Texas a compelling feature that might make it attractive nationwide, at least to those of us that would rather not leave the house.

Check out a demo of USAA’s deposit feature in the video below:



From Mashable

Pee Wee Herman is Back!

Paul Reubens is planning to revive his iconic alter ego Pee-wee Herman. The actor will be performing in The Pee-wee Herman Show at The Music Box @ Fonda in Los Angeles from November 8 through the November 19 and all his old friend - Miss Yvonne, Mailman Mike, Cowboy Curtis and Jambi the Genie - will be there. "I've put part of him away for a long time, but part of him has always been here with me," says Paul, who starred in the late 1980s Saturday morning show Pee-wee's Playhouse. "I think it will be like riding a bike - which is not a bad analogy for Pee-wee, by the way," he adds.

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