Peace Now releases 'Facts on the Ground' application in which the settlements are marked in blue, the outposts in red, and clicking on a place name displays demographic statistics.

Want to know what's happening in the West Bank settlements in real time? In addition to 'Sudoku' and 'Street Fighter,' iPhone owners will now be able to install the "Facts on the Ground" application, which monitors the expansion of settlements in Judea and Samaria, created by Americans for Peace Now.

“This new app shows the unfiltered realities that settlements create on the ground of the West Bank. While people are entitled to their opinions on this divisive issue, there is only one set of facts, and our app makes these facts available in unprecedented clarity and detail,” said Debra DeLee, APN’s President and CEO.

Settlements are symbolized by little blue houses on the map. Clicking once on the icon gives its land area. A second click brings up a window with more details: the year it was established, population, ideology (or lack of), character (secular or religious), amount of 'private Palestinian land' it occupies, and a graph that tracks its population growth.

iPhone users can also zoom in on outposts marked in red. The map includes the route of the Green Line, Jerusalem's municipal boundaries, and the various zones under different security arrangements, Area A and Area B.

“One of the things that make this tool so powerful is that it democratizes data,” DeLee said. “In the past, not many were able to tour the settlements with an expert guide. With the introduction of our app, anyone can explore the West Bank with just a click of a mouse or a touch of a finger.”

APN intends to update the map regularly with new information, including the establishment of outposts and their dismantlement, and violent incidents on the part of Palestinians and settlers. Their intention is to turn the app into a "comprehensive real-time view of what is happening on the ground in the West Bank."

The application is currently only available in English for the iPhone and iPad, and for a desktop or laptop web browser, but Americans for Peace Now has said that a Hebrew version of the mobile phone app is under production, and that they are in the process of porting it to the Android operating system.

The application can be downloaded here.

(By Natasha Mozgovaya and Haaretz)

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• Apple iPhone vs. Google Android - Mobile Software War Between Google and Apple - Popular Mechanics

Google is hoping to transform cellphones the way it did the Web, but if it really wants to dominate the mobile market, it will have to prove that it can out-do (or get third parties like HTC to out-do) Apple's iPhone.

In the last two months I received countless spam emails, ads and invitations to join iPhone groups such as those at Facebook, all of which entice me to buy the new Apple mobile called, iPhone.

Until couple of weeks ago I didn't even think of it, when a friend of mine showed me his new iPhone which he just got 'unlocked' to work on our Zain network. To be honest, I liked the phone and the crazy feature I tested. In fact I was waiting for the 16G iPhone to purchase it. All until I came across this disturbing news from Greenpeace.

According to "independent laboratory" tests cited on Greenpeace's International's website, about half of 18 tested internal and external components of the iPhone contain bromated compounds. What does this mean? Let's first have a quick look at this short clip:

"An independent scientific laboratory tested 18 internal and external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone's antenna, in which they made up 10 percent of the total weight of the flexible circuit board. A mixture of toxic phthalates was found to make up 1.5 percent of the plastic (PVC) coating of the headphone cables." [Source: Greenpeace]

Here is the scary part:

Dr. David Santillo, Senior Scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, commented, "Two of the phthalate plasticisers found at high levels in the headphone cable are classified in Europe as 'toxic to reproduction, category 2' because of their long-recognised ability to interfere with sexual development in mammals. While they are not prohibited in mobile phones, these phthalates are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the use of these chemicals from its products range."

Greenpeace reveals that "The tests uncovered two types of hazardous substances, some of which have already been eliminated by other mobile phone makers." They called upon Apple to truly revolutionize the mobile phone by producing an environmentally friendly handset for the iPhone's European launch.

OK. We might not agree with Greenpeace on everything, but it safer to stay away until proven else.

But what if it was true? Yes, iPhone is sexy, but can't give it the chance to replace MY SEX? :-)

Greenpeace post includes a slide show, pointing to various iPhone internal components and noting where the hazards might be.