A new instrument in the study of the sociology and anthropology of crime: In the Cellphone Era, a New Picture of Stupidity Emerges (pdf)

In the olden days of stolen cellphones — say, three, four years ago — the best you could do was call yourself. Dial your own number and hope that a good citizen picked up, while you imagined the phone’s possible locations. On the street? Under a barstool? Wedged in a Metro seat and bleating out weak rings as the battery . . . slowly . . . died?

Now, a whole number of applications and services have made it possible for you to Follow That Treo, follow it straight to justice.

For NBC’s ‘Lipstick Jungle’ the Problem Is Ratings (pdf)

During an interview this week about “Lipstick Jungle,” the teetering NBC drama in which she stars, Ms. Shields embarked on an arcane discussion of the show’s performance in the Nielsen ratings, specifically its gains in the category of “live plus 7,” when measured against “live plus same day.” Translation: Among viewers 18 to 49, the group prime-time advertisers most wish to reach, the show’s ratings increase by about 29 percent — or by 652,000 viewers, to 2.3 million, according to the most recent Nielsen figures — when the numbers include people who take as many as seven days to watch an episode on digital video recorders as opposed to those who watch it live or within hours of its broadcast.

No prime-time program gets a bigger boost in viewership from long-range DVR viewers, according to an NBC analysis of the Nielsen data. And that has been something of a lifeline for the series, which chronicles the ups and downs of three stylish, high-achieving New York friends played by Ms. Shields, Kim Raver and Lindsay Price.