DUBLIN: Taxi App Offers Free Ride To Polls

Taxi app Hailo has wrapped some its drivers' cars in rainbow hues and is offering Dublin residents free rides to the polls on referendum day. They write:

Next Friday 22nd May, we go to the polls to vote on the Marriage Equality Referendum. It’s a huge moment for Ireland – and on reflection of the diverse background of both Ireland’s population and the Hailo team – we want to get people out and #DriveForEquality to the polls. To help get as many people to the polls as possible – and to celebrate our new Prebook feature – we’re offering our customers a free trip to their local polling booth when using the new Hailo Prebook feature between 11am and 4pm on May 22nd. Have you seen one of our Rainbow Warrior cars on the streets of Dublin? Make sure you let us know when you do with #DriveForEquality.

(Tipped by JMG reader Gerard)

New Pay-To-Pee App Launches

Via Entrepreneur:

Airpnp is banking on the idea that people are willing to pay to pee and rent their toilet out to desperate strangers. Described as the Airbnb for toilets, the app allows users to search for available toilets at homes and businesses in the area and find out the price to use these establishments. According to the company blog, Airpnp started as a "quasi-joke" in early 2014, built around the concept of how difficult it was to find a place to pee while celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Within the first three weeks, more 300 bathrooms were added to the map. Airpnp locations range from toilets owned by entrepreneurial masterminds to kindhearted people offering a free place to relieve yourself. Antwerp, Belgium is extremely popular, covered in pins marking what must be the vast majority of places in the city where once can pee for free.

The Village Voice points out that the concept first got attention in a 2009 Curb Your Enthusiasm story arc during which George Costantza made (and lost) millions with his iToilet app. At this writing Airpnp lists only 15 pee-partners in New York City, most of whom are in tourist-heavy midtown Manhattan.

Grindr Turns Off "Distance" Function

Two weeks ago I reported that an unknown person had sent warnings to thousands of Grindr users in countries with anti-gay laws. The tipster warned that the user's exact location or address can be triangulated via the distance function, putting them at risk of being found by authorities or gay-bashers. Grindr responded to media inquiries by declaring that its distance function was a feature, not a security flaw.  Since then similar warnings have flooded the accounts of Grindr users in North America. John Aravosis reports today that Grindr has changed their mind: "In light of recent security allegations surrounding a user’s specific location, Grindr has made modifications to no longer show distance information for users. Grindr will continue to make ongoing changes to keep all users secure, as necessary." Growlr and Scruff continue to show distances, but it's not clear if the same triangulation methods put users at potential risk.

Tipster Warns Grindr Users That Their Exact Location Can Be Determined

NDTV Gadgets reports that an unknown person has sent warnings to thousands of Grindr users in countries with anti-gay laws. The tipster warns that the user's exact location or address can be triangulated, putting them at risk of being found by authorities or gay-bashers.

The anonymous spammer, who is presumably acting altruistically, includes links to a Twitter account, YouTube video and Pastebin text dump, which contain more information. He or she claims to have used a secondary flaw to be able to send messages to over 100,000 users in 70 countries with anti-gay laws. The messages and posts express concern that Grindr users might be targeted, persecuted or even murdered. Homosexuality is punishable by death in several countries and violence against LGBT people and those who support them is routine and even encouraged in many places, which makes users extremely vulnerable. According to the Pastebin dump, "officials at Grindr have been informed several times within the past months about these issues, which would seem to imply that the concept of 'social responsibility' is lost upon Grindr" (sic). "Knowing that Grindr-Users in countries such as these are being put unnecessarily at a high risk should be reason enough for Grindr to change its system," the author continues. The location data is allegedly so accurate that someone exploiting the flaw would be able to tell "if you were using Grindr in the bathroom or on the couch". While the app only shows users the distance between them and other users, specific location data can be extrapolated by querying Grindr's servers from three different places and triangulating the information received. This process can also be automated using commonly available tools, and the resulting coordinates can be overlaid on a map.

Grindr has responded to Pink News:

Grindr told PinkNews via email: “We don’t view this as a security flaw. As part of the Grindr service, users rely on sharing location information with other users as core functionality of the application and Grindr users can control how this information is displayed. “For Grindr users concerned about showing their proximity, we make it very easy for them to remove this option and we encourage them to disable ‘show distance’ in their privacy settings. “As always, our user security is our top priority and we do our best to keep our Grindr community secure.” Grindr users do have the option of turning off location information. The app has more than five million active users worldwide.

Commenters at Pink News claim that turning off the "show my location" function does not prevent triangulation. In the clip below, the tipster demonstrates how the triangulation can be used.

New App: Ignore No More

A new smartphone app allows parents to remotely lock up their child's phone until the child calls them back.

“If your children ignore your repeated calls and text messages to reach them, you simply lock their phones until they call you back,” says the description of the app. “When you lock your child’s phone with Ignore No More your child has only two options – he or she can call you back, or call for an emergency responder. No calls to friends, no text, no games, notta’ until they call you back. When they do, you can unlock their phone if you choose to do so.” The Ignore No More app supports a single household account, meaning that one account controls multiple “child” devices from multiple “parent” devices. The app does not interfere with first responder calls and is virtually impossible to be removed by the kids. If an unauthorized person attempts to uninstall or kill the app, the phone locks up. The parent will also receive an e-mail notification about someone attempting to tamper with the app.

$1.99 on Google Play.

New Christian App: Shut Up, Devil!

From Charisma News, which last week declared that gay people are possessed by "putrid-smelling demons."

The Shut Up, Devil! app is an innovative resource that puts the power of the Word of God in your pocket. And because it's on your smartphone, which is almost always with you, you're ready to resist the devil whenever and wherever he attacks. Additionally the app features reminders that will help you keep the enemy at bay and silenced in your life. The app conception stemmed from Charisma House's upcoming book, Silence Satan by Kyle Winkler, which releases in September. Winkler is founder of Kyle Winkler Ministries, a media and teaching ministry broadcasting on the Christian Television Network.

And here's the tutorial.

(Tipped by JMG reader Scott)

Chubby Checker Vs The Chubby Checker

Via Reuters:

The singer Chubby Checker has settled a lawsuit in which he accused Hewlett-Packard Co of using his trademarked name without permission on a software app that purported to measure the size of a man's penis. HP denied liability in agreeing to settle with Checker, whose given name is Ernest Evans, but agreed not to make future use of his stage name, likeness or related trademarks. The settlement was disclosed in a Tuesday filing with the San Francisco federal court. Other terms remain confidential. It is unclear whether money changed hands. Checker, 72, is best known for his 1960 song "The Twist," a No. 1 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 that inspired an international dance craze.

The app, which HP did not create, began being sold in 2006 for the Palm.

NEW YORK CITY: Uber Temporarily Undercuts Fares Of Yellow Cabs

Uber has temporarily slashed its rates to just below those of New York City's licensed yellow cabs.

“UberX is now cheaper than an NYC taxi,” Uber proclaimed on its website on Monday. “From Brooklyn to the Bronx, and everywhere in between, UberX is now the most affordable ride in the city.” The move — an aggressive bid to capture an even bigger share of the city’s taxi riders — is a slap in the face to taxi drivers, whose prices are regulated. “Uber is taking over,” cabbie Ricardo Lopez, 60, a Staten Island resident, said after hearing the news about the Uber price cuts. “Uber is our biggest competition. They are making all the money for themselves.” “This is the type of competition that yellow taxis and green borough taxis cannot fairly compete with,” David King, an assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University, told the Daily News.

Uber's new fares are from $1 - $5 lower than yellow cabs, depending on the length of the ride. The company won't say how much longer the lower fares will last.

RELATED: There are currently about 13,500 licensed yellow cabs on the streets of New York City. The price of a taxi medallion can exceed one million dollars.

Angry Cab Drivers Gridlock Major European Cities In Protest Over Uber App

Via the Guardian:

Several major European cities ground to a halt on Wednesday as licensed taxi drivers took to the streets in mass protests against the smartphone taxi app Uber. Demonstrations in London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Milan and Rome caused travel chaos and long tailbacks, as taxi drivers protested against the app, which they argue is unregulated and threatens their livelihood. In London, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall were jammed from the start of the planned "go slow" at 2pm, as thousands of black cabs gathered honking their horns, bringing total gridlock to the centre of the capital, while supporters waved banners and started occasionally chanting: "Boris, out!" A spokeswoman for Uber, the US start-up which links minicab drivers to passengers via a GPS-based smartphone app, said the protests had boosted new users in London by 850%, as people tried to cope with the gridlock.

Uber App Is Now Worth $18B

Only four years after its launch, the company behind the car service app Uber is now worth more than Avis and Hertz combined. Via Forbes:

Uber’s meteoric rise has led to a recent round of valuation-guessing, which started at $12 billion and edged up to Friday, when the Wall Street Journal reported the company said it’s raising $1.2 billion — more than most startups are ever worth — at an $18.2 billion valuation. That valuation likely makes CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick a billionaire. It also means Uber, which raised $360 million in August at a $3.8 billion valuation, has almost quintupled its valuation in the past year. Uber is second, behind Facebook, in a list of most valuable venture-backed companies. Facebook raised a round in 2011 that valued it at $50 billion.

Uber's market cap now also exceeds those of United Continental Airlines, Sony,  and Fiat.

There's A Christian Boycott App

In a press release sent out on Friday, hate group leader Tony Perkins reminded his followers about the Conservative Shopper App, which ranks dozens of companies on a scale of 1-5 based on whether they have publicly endorsed same-sex marriage, have contributed to Planned Parenthood, have pro-environment policies, and if they ban customers from bringing guns into their stores. Companies lose up to a full point for each of those items. Embiggen the above image and  you'll see that among the lowest scoring companies are Starbucks, Macy's, Allstate, and Best Buy. Perkins' reminder came because the app has now added charities to its rankings. You'll be shocked to learn that the Family Research Council is the only non-profit to have earned the full five points. Hit the links and peruse the rankings.

Open Thread Thursday

Tell us about the most useful apps on your phone.

New App: Gay Haiku

Joel Derfner's hit book is now an iPhone app.