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We were heartened to hear that the European Union and cell phone manufacturers have reached a deal for the companies to standardize the chargers for cell phones. In the future, all European cell phones will be compatible with Micro-USB chargers.

In an editorial we're writing for next week, we'll express tremendous hope that the same standardization comes to American cell phones and other rechargeable electronic devices.

Members of the General Assembly on Monday grilled the state's information technology chiefs, and things are even worse that people thought. Data breaches, secret meetings, missed deadlines, poor inventory management and weak service all came out during hte hearings.

We're writing an editorial for later in the week in which we will urge lawmakers not to let up. Something stinks with this deal, and responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources demands that it be fixed.

Tuesday, we'll remind readers that texting while driving will become illegal in Virginia on Wednesday, when a new law goes into effect. To be effective, though, drivers will need to be aware of the change and acknowledge the dangers of inattentiveness while text-messaging.

The word is that former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis is President Obama's top choice to be the nation's cyber security czar. If he gets the job, he would be responsible for defending the nation from attacks over the Internet. At least that's the scoop according to Time magazine.

Davis represented Norther Virginia in Congress for more than a decade leading up to this year. He chose not to seek reelection.

Davis also is a Republican, so no doubt Obama figures to buff his bipartisan cred by appointing him. That, and Time reports that Obama wants a Washington insider who knows about technology but can get things done.

The problem, as reported by Wired, is that Davis is an insider who knows his tech but who also abuses it. He helped write the REAL ID law, the national identification standards that many states have rejected.  He has supported legislation to make it easier for the federal government to tap U.S. citizens Internet comunication without oversight.

In short, he has shown disregard for Americans privacy. Is that really the sort of person to put in charge of cybersecurity?

Rural cellular phone providers are asking Congress to outlaw exclusive cell phone deals.  These are the sorts of deals that mean, for example, that AT&T is the only company that offers Apple's iPhone. If this change were made, Verizon could sell it, too, and AT&T could cell the Blackberry Storm, which is exclusive to Verizon.

The rural companies' case is that because the big carriers don't offer service in a lot of communities, people cannot use the newest phones.  More broadly, in many communities only one carrier is available with reasonable coverage, so only its exclusive phones are available.

The argument against this is that cell phone companies offer their exclusive phones at a discount and subsidize development of the new technology. This is the case made in a piece over at Slate.com.

I'm of two minds on this and curious what people think.

On the one hand, this can be spun as interfering in the marketplace. This is how things have shaken out, and most carriers t offer some sort of smart-phone, even if it isn't the one someone necessarily wants.

On the other hand, it seems like inovatoin in delivery of service. If all companies could offer the same phones, then cell phone companies would have to compete on quality of service not who has the hottest exclusive. That would be good for areas like Southwest Virginia. Here, if someone wants the iPhone, he can sign up for AT&T and be sure to have lousy coverage.

My experience with several carriers is that only Verizon and U.S. Cellular work remotely well in many parts of the region. Plus no one offers the high speed data service comparable to many other areas.

Thoughts?

Well that didn't take long.  The Internal Revenue Service announced last week that it intended to get tough enforcing a tax law from 1989 that says workers who make personal calls on their work-issued cell phones must count the value of those calls as income.

Sure, the federal government needs the money, but sheesh.  Cell phones have come a long way since they were the brick-sized tools of executives in the 1980s.

Today, the IRS backed off its plan, asking Congress to change the law.

Hop to it, Congress.

We're writing an editorial for Wednesday about the odd goings on at the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. After the director started raising tough quesitons about a public-private contract, he was canned.  Now the agency is being led by Gov. Tim Kaine's secretary of technology, which means a political appointee is serving in what's supposed to be an a-political job.

At the heart of the drama, though, is a $2.3 billiion contract Virginia signed with Northrup Grumman to provide all of the state's computer services.

Now, a Senate committee is investigating the whole thing.  In our editorial, we'll welcome that investigation and urge senators to check with end-users about how good the service from Northrup Grumman has really been.

Gov. Tim Kaine today released the state's first map (large pdf) of where broadband services are available in the commonwealth. (Press release below.) It shows that broadband's reach is fairly extensive.  The areas of white (with no service options) are few. Honestly, it makes me wonder about the need to invest tax dollars so heavily in stretching broadband to these few, sparsely populated areas.

That aside, I wish the map were a little more finally grained. For example, revealing what type of wired service quality is available, maybe showing top upload and download speeds. Also, where fresh technologies like FiOs are available. Still, it's a start.

Press release: Read more »

The question is this: May police attach a GPS device to someone's vehicle and track them without having to show probable cause and obtain a court warrant?

Appeals courts disagree.

In Wisconsin, a court ruled that the practice is fine. People have less expectation of privacy in their vehicles than in their homes. Police could just follow them on the roads, so this is not any different. (Read the decision.)

Meanwhile, a court in New York, ruled just the opposite. This is an invasion of privacy in violation that requires a warrant just like any other search. It goes farther than just observing a vehicle on public roads. (Read the decision.)

The editorial board has discussed this issue in the past in light of a case from Maryland that's going through our own district appeals court. We disagreed, so never wrote on it. Personally, I side with the New York court that police should get a warrant before doing this.

One thing is certain: this issue needs clarification from the Supreme Court.

What do you all think?

Last week, hackers broke into state computers that contains records about doctors.  This week we find out they also broke into a database containing more than 8 million patient records and 35 million presecription records. The hackers now demand $10 million for their return.

In an editorial we're writing for Wednesday, we'll touch on several issues raised by this incident.

• Don't pay the ransom.
• Beef up security.
• Where's the backup of this data? It should have been stored in a secure, off-site location.
• Aneesh Chopra, Virginia's Secretary of Technology, has been tapped to serve as the nation's chief technology officer. He's got some explaining to do.
• While federal government pushes digital medical records as a means to save money and improve care, hackers will pursue other attacks. Security must be part of the digital transition.