53% of violent thefts in the Paris métro and public transit involve smart phones, including the ubiquitous iPhone. City officials even call it the “iPhone effect.”

This is easy to understand. My wife lost her iPhone on the Muni bus here in San Francisco. The thief scoped the phone users near the middle of the bus and as the  doors opened, he grabbed her phone and ran out the door. The doors closed and she barely knew what happened. I could see this easily happening in Paris. On the other hand, your odds aren’t so bad. If you’re standing at rush hour, you’re usually surrounded by ten other people staring at their little screens. Still, a word to the wise…

A crime wave involving the devices – has prompted Paris’ transit system to hand out flyers in four languages warning travelers about the risk. French consumers are some of the world’s most prolific users of the iPhone: France Telecom has sold more of the phones than any company other than AT&T.

[From 53% of violent Paris transit thefts tied to phones]

Related articles

• Smartphones Lure Sticky Fingers in Paris (nytimes.com)
• Parisians Told to Hold IPhones Tight After Thefts on Subways (businessweek.com)

We haven’t gotten any shots out here in far-flung San Francisco, so we’ve been waiting anxiously for a wave of swinish flu to break over our shores. So far, lot’s of other childhood coughs and sniffles, but no porcine fevers. However, to be on the safe side, and be four more defense links in the chain, I’d love to get us all innoculated. I doubt France is selling these through Amazon though.

France wants to sell millions of surplus flu shots
PARIS
Sun Jan 3, 2010

PARIS (Reuters) – France is looking to sell millions of surplus vaccines for the H1N1 flu strain after ordering many more shots than it actually needed, officials said on Sunday.

[From France wants to sell millions of surplus flu shots | Reuters]