Mine has a location next to UC Berkelely. But, that's the only out-of-the-ordinary location I found. I suspect that the database was seeded with it.

I believe you are correct: known locations of cell towers and WiFi access points -- depending on which table you look at.

I posted a longer explanation above. But, you are the first posting I've found that seems to be on the right track.

I managed to find the data on my Windows laptop, thanks to a suggestion from another poster. By searching for the string "WifiLocation", I was able to identify the SQLite database that contains the data. That DB also has a CellLocation table.

The WifiLocation table has a entry for every MAC address, presumably of the WiFi access point that it found. And there's also a timestamp, latitude, and longitude. The timestamps are bunched, so I'm not sure how accurate it may be.

I already had a script that built a Google map with markers at designated points (by lat/long). I modified that to dump the contents of either the cell or wifi location tables. Both provide a map of where I've been in the past year or so. The cell location map is actually a better representation, although it has fewer data points. I presume it's because the iPhone only logs WiFi access points when it tries to use the WiFi location-assist. By filtering the WiFi datapoints to ones that were only at least 1 mile from the others, I reduced about 15,000 rows to about 400 rows.

Here's the interesting part: it's logging both cell phone tower locations and WiFi locations that are NEAR where I have been, but up to a block or two away (in the case of Wifi) or several miles (in the case of cell towers). I suspect that the iPhone is not recording YOUR location, but is instead recording the known location of the MAC or cell phone tower. Where would it get this? In the past, Apple used Skyhook wireless to derive location from WiFi MAC addresses. I don't know if they still use it.

I suspect that this SQLite database is nothing more than a localized cache, to be used for assisted GPS. When you first launch the Google Maps app, you'll notice it start with an accuracy radius that is about the size of a cell phone tower's footprint. Then the circle gets smaller, as it first uses WiFi to refine the position, and then finally lock on to multiple GPS satellites.

The location of these WiFi access points and cell base stations are in an online database. Apple is probably just storing the location on your phone the first time that you happen to "hear" that particular transmitter, after querying the database over your 'Net connection. Then, the next time your phone needs to use that MAC address or cell station ID to determine your location, it already has it in your local cache.

The WiFi location cache must be seeded with one location: The corner of Berkley Way and Oxford St, on the edge of the UC Berkeley campus. I've never been there, but it's in my WifiLocation table.

If one has a Mac. I can't read the interesting parts of the downloaded package, so I tried to back-track to the referenced Python script. It looks like similar data is stored on Windows in \Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup, but the filenames have different suffixes and aren't in the same format.

I'm expecting one from Walgreen's and Marriott soon.

We were recently notified by Epsilon, an industry-leading provider of email marketing services, that an unauthorized individual accessed files that included some of our client and consumer information. Epsilon sends marketing and service emails on our behalf but does not have access to sensitive client data such as social security numbers. They have assured us that only names and email addresses were obtained. We take your privacy very seriously and want you to be aware of this.

Please remember, Ameriprise will never ask you for personal or account information through email. If you receive an email that appears to be from Ameriprise asking for personal or financial information, do not respond. Instead, please immediately forward the email to us at: anti.fraud@ampf.com.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056197/quotes?qt=qt0285056

Your faith in government to responsibly manage nuclear power is misplaced:

Hanford Site

If you are going to launch into a political screed against someone you don't like, you really should pick an issue a bit more substantive than solar panels that were dismantled to repair the roof.

You discredited your entire posting with a bogus claim that can easily be refuted:

White House Will Not Replace Solar Water-Heating System

The panels of the system had been dismantled to fix the roof underneath. Dale A. Petroskey, a White House spokesman, said Friday, ''Putting them back up would be very unwise, based on cost.''

[CITATION NEEDED]

Mod the parent up. The error is in the original article, as well.

AT&T charges $25/month for the 2 gigabytes/month data plan for the iPhone. Adding tethering increases the charge to $45/month for 4 gigabytes/month. However, if you are currently on the $30/month "unlimited" plan, it's only $15/month more to change to the 4 gigabytes/month + tethering plan.

I switched from the unlimited dataplan when iOS 4.3 was released, as I could finally replace my Sprint MiFi hotspot with my iPhone. I didn't feel like I was giving up anything significant, because I never used more than 200 megabytes/month on my iPhone alone.

When I used the MiFi all day at a client, I never exceeded 100 megabytes/day, and was usually in the 50-60 megabyte/day range. I could use 100 megabytes/day all month, and still have 1 gigabyte/month left for my iPhone usage. In the unlikely event I exceed the 4 gigabyte/month cap, it's only $10/gigabyte, or 1 cent per megabyte -- and I can live with that.

The rental car companies have the exact same requirement: You must make the reservation with a credit card, although you can eventually pay the bill with a debit card. The reason was so they could put a hold on enough funds to cover the payment plus the damages if you totaled the car (note this is not the value of the entire car, but the limited "deductible" you agree to in the contract).

Very often, when they put a hold on this amount on a debit card, it pushed the underlying checking account into overdraft, or at least locked up enough funds that the card holder couldn't use the card for anything else. With a credit card, this doesn't cause problems unless the cardholder has nearly maxed out their credit limit.

Perhaps Blockbuster was putting a hold on the amount of money needed to replace the game if it wasn't returned? With a debit card, they would have encountered the problem I described above, albeit on a lesser magnitude.

And I'm guessing that you aren't an RF engineer.

It is extremely difficult (and nearly impossible, at a reasonable cost) to design and build a transmitter that only radiates RF on the fundamental frequency. It invariably radiates on harmonic frequencies (integer multiples of the fundamental). FCC regulations limit the acceptable power level for harmonics, but if the transmitter's primary power output is high enough, the harmonics can still interfere with a nearby receiver -- depending on the local strength of the intended signal.

In addition, there is the potential of "intermodulation", or mixing of two transmitted signals to produce a third signal that is a different frequency than either of the originals.

[Disclaimer: I'm not an RF engineer, either. But, this was basic knowledge required for an amateur radio license in the US, at least back when I got mine]

I know that the 4.3 betas allowed use of the Personal Hotspot on AT&T, but is the feature actually available on the released version?

I'd like to drop my Sprint MiFi card and replace it with an iPhone 4 hotspot. But, I don't want to switch away from the unlimited data plan (to the 4 GB limit), only to find that it doesn't work.