In case of emergency, President Obama will soon have a direct line to certain AT&T iPhones.

A mandatory upgrade is being pushed out to AT&T customer iPhones to enable what are called Wireless Emergency Alerts or WEA. It's a public safety system aimed at people with Smartphones.  Until now,  iPhones on AT&T have been left out of the mix. The upgrade will only be coming to the iPhone 4S and 5.

Your iPhone will be set to receive geographically-targeted, text-like messages alerting you of imminent threats to safety in your area. The alerts are sent to cell towers in specific locations which then broadcast the information to WEA-enabled devices.

There are three basic types of notifications: Amber alerts, emergency alerts about man-made or natural disasters, and "Presidential alerts."

You will be able turn off two of the three by going to the notification area of your settings.  You can probably guess which type of alert you can not disable.

That's right; messages from the President can not be muted. You can get more information on the program from the FCC's website.

Advertisers are looking at new ways to find out information about you and something that's gaining interest is called "device fingerprinting."

The use of advertising cookies to track what we do on line and find out information for marketers may soon be a thing of the past.  Many of us take steps to block or clear cookies from our browsers and use "Do Not Track" options.  Because of that, and the fact that mobile phones don't use cookies, advertisers are exploring other techniques.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says one technique that is getting traction is to take a digital snapshot of your device.  This device fingerprinting can show what software you have installed, the plug-ins, the font you use, your time zone and numerous other unique characteristics.  Much like real fingerprints, no two computers are exactly the same.

By analyzing these specific characteristics, advertisers could "theoretically" immediately identify you when you visit a website.

The EFF says several companies already sell products claiming to fingerprint web browsers and it's believed some advertisers could be utilizing this type of system, however so far none are admitting to it for fear of backlash. 

The EFF is demonstrating how much information can be obtained from the browser on your specific device on this website.  It's a little scary. 

"As you know with fashion, one day you're in,  and the next day you're out." At least that's what Heidi Klum says on the TV show Project Runway, and now an iPhone app can help you from being "out."  It's called Trendabl.

Trendabl is a photo sharing social network that works much like Instagram in both the way it handles images and in the way they are shared, but Trendabl’s focus is on fashion.

You use the app to share photos of your fashion favorites.  You can see fashion images from people who follow you and you can follow fashionistas, fashion magazines, brands and famous designers.

Photos can be tagged with the brand, store, color and price. If you see something you like, you can click on the image and find out all the information. You can also use the app to search for specific items from clothing to makeup.

The app is free for the iPhone.

We may have to find something else for prison inmates to do; metal license plates may become a thing of the past.

A company called "Compliance Innovations" has developed virtual license plates or "e-tags."   

Instead of metal, the plates use electronic paper - the same thing used in Amazon Kindle ereaders.  The company says not only could the virtual plates do away with metal license plates but they would also eliminate the need for registration stickers. The e-tags can be updated wirelessly to reflect if the registration is current.  They could also be used to notify a passing police officer that the car was uninsured.  They could even by used to send out Amber alert information.

The e-tags are powered by kinetic energy.  In other words, the vibration of the moving car keeps the plate activated.  It’s estimated a virtual plate could last ten years.

The company says by switching to an e-tag system states could save millions of dollars and guarantee much higher compliance with insurance and registration requirements.

South Carolina is going to launch a pilot program to test the e-tags in state-owned vehicles.