Schloesser mit den Namen von etlichen Liebespaaren sind am Donnerstag, 23. April 2009, am Gitter der Hohenzollernbruecke in Koeln zu sehen. Seit Silvester 2008 haben Paare hier ihre Liebe manifestiert und aller Welt kundgetan, indem sie ein Schloss mit ihren Namen an der Bruecke befestigt haben. Bei dem Schloesser-Trend handelt es sich um einen Brauch aus Italien. In Rom befindet sich eine alte Bruecke, die Milvische Bruecke, die ueber den Tiber fuehrt. Diese Bruecke ist ein regelrechter Wallfahrtsort fuer verliebte Paare. Dort werden Schloesser, auf denen die Namen des Paares eingraviert sind, an der Bruecke fest gekettet und der Schluessel wird in den Tiber geworfen. Dieser Brauch soll die Haltbarkeit der Liebe untersuetzen. (AP Photo/Roberto Pfeil) --Padlocks with the engraved names of lovers are fixed to the fence at the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, western Germany, Thursday, April 23, 2009. In an old ritual, padlocks with lovers names on it are fixed at the Milvian bridge in Roma, Italy, and the keys are thrown into the Tiber river to symbolize endless love. (AP Photo/Roberto Pfeil) (AP GraphicsBank)
Got safety?
Your smartphone may know you better than you know yourself: It accesses your banks, knows where you live, stores your passwords and more. So protect it -- and use it to secure your other belongings and surroundings as well.
These three apps can reduce the risk of having your personal information stolen, be your eyes and ears at home when you aren't there, and make your community a better place to live.
Lookout Mobile Security
It knows your exact location and what you look like, it knows your friends, it reads your emails, it knows your last Google search … who is this sleuth? Oh, it’s just your smartphone. Worry less about info getting into the wrong hands by downloading the Lookout Mobile Security app for safety.
It protects all of your personal information -- including your contacts, photos, and financial info -- from hackers, viruses, malware and spyware. The cloud-connected app will scan any other apps you download as well as emails and uses a safe browser to stop threats before they happen.
In the case of a missing or stolen phone, Lookout can remotely track the location of your phone on a map and even wipe and lock your device. Or scare off a thief by activating a loud alarm. When you're (hopefully) reunited with your phone or get a new one, Lookout can easily restore all of the information it once held, as it backs up all of the content for you.
Download Lookout Mobile Security from the Android Market.
Here’s how it works:
Security Cam
Protect your home or other property by turning your phone into a monitoring device with the Security Cam app. For $9.99 -- that's much less than a security system -- you can capture video or still images by either setting your phone on motion- or audio-detection trigger or "frequency capture" mode, which takes an image every so often.
You can easily export the images with one click, with a date and time stamp attached to let you see exactly what happened and when. Conceal your set-up by putting your phone on “stealth mode” to turn your iPhone display off. This app may be most valuable in the kitchen; who's been eating all those cookies from the cookie jar?
Download Security Cam from iTunes.
Citizen Request Tracker App
Stay engaged with your community, report non-emergency issues to your local government, and actually track the status of how your concern is being dealt with using the Citizen Request Tracker app.
Using GPS location detection you can quickly submit civic issues such as potholes, graffiti, or an abandoned car by taking a picture of the problem and including a description of it. Your request for clean up or a check by the authorities is immediately routed to the correct municipal staff who will then send you an email confirming that they are looking into your matter and will update you on the status.
Download Citizen Request Tracker from iTunes.
Here’s how it works:
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