As I noted when I reviewed Social for the iPad , Facebook makes one of the most popular iPhone apps in the App Store, but to date the company hasn’t released a native iPad app. That’s created an opportunity for third-party developers to attempt to fill that iPad-sized Facebook void. Those developers aren’t just competing with each other; they’re competing with Mobile Safari, too.

I tried out Facely HD , a $3 app from G-Whizz Apps . The app, which previously was available under the Facebook Touch HD moniker, essentially provides a customized, skinned view of Facebook’s touch-based mobile site . And the end result is merely OK.

That touch-based mobile version of Facebook is pretty good to begin with, and Facely HD attempts to build on it. The app lets you tweak its colors and font. By default, it’s an elegant red, Helvetica mix, but you can go the hot pink, Zapfino route if you’re so inclined.

Facely HD handles a lot of typical Facebook navigation and usage well. Pages load fairly quickly-though loading screens appear between taps, they vanish after a second or two. In an improvement over Facebook’s own native iPhone app , Facely lets you like comments, in addition to posts. Commenting, unfortunately, gets a bit wonky: After I tap one in, the comment thread disappears (and the number of comments indicated for the post doesn’t increment). If I click to expand the comments again, mine is there-it truly has saved-but the experience of posting comments always feels a bit disconcerting, as if they’re vanishing into the ether.

In testing Facely HD, one question nagged at me repeatedly: If you like this experience, based almost entirely off Facebook’s touch-based mobile site, why not just hit that site directly via Safari? (And since Facely is a universal app, why would iPhone and iPod touch users opt for this app over the free official Facebook app?)

There are a few reasons, to be sure. Facely can incorporate push alerts for Facebook notifications, which Safari can’t do. Facely offers the aforementioned colorful theming options, if that floats your iOS boat. And Facely lets you upload photos, which you can’t do via Safari, either.

Frankly, I too frequently miss features from the main site when I use the touch-based one-like the ability to share another person’s posts. I find that the main Facebook site works great on my iPad; like Social before it, Facely HD provides few compelling reasons to switch. That said, if you don’t enjoy the Facebook experience in Safari-since it’s certainly harder to delete posts, and some navigation elements don’t work quite right-Facely HD is worth a shot.

Macworld contributor Lex Friedman hopes you “like” him.

Chances are, when you bought your cell phone service, you were also happy to gain access to an unlisted number. Unfortunately, today there is no such thing as privacy when it comes to your cell phone. For example, anyone can perform a reverse lookup for mobile numbers and find out who you are. At the same time, they can also find out where you live, as well as all kinds of other information.

Stopping the Erosion of Your Privacy

Typically, if you do not tell politicians what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, they will not address your needs. In particular, when it comes to invasions of your privacy, you will find that politicians may be reluctant to find ways to keep your cell number as private as possible. Therefore, you will need to create petitions, and try to introduce bills that will help restore your privacy. While this may be a complicated process, at least you will be doing something constructive.

Class Action Lawsuits

Aside from giving politicians some useful forms of instruction, you also need to look at the monetary side of reverse lookup for mobile numbers services. Without a question, these database providers sell your information for a hefty profit. Therefore, you may want to join with other cell phone users and launch a class action lawsuit. At the very least, you should demand a certain percentage of money for every query that is made about your mobile phone number.

If you are concerned about identity theft and invasion of your privacy, it is very important to investigate the impact of mobile phone reverse number directories. Once you understand how these services can harm you, it is important to alert politicians, as well as class action lawyers. Even though it may take some time to gather the support that you need, you will also find that the majority of consumers will support your efforts once they realize what is at stake.

Now Pay Close Attention —

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Welcome to the 411, my column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have similar queries, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

Question: I am in a family plan with my brother and mom through ATT. I have an iPhone 3GS and the other two are not smartphones. Our bill is $185 with me=$78 mom=$85 bro=$23 with 1,400 minutes and 2 of us have 200 texts per month. The bill is high, seeing as my mom doesn’t text and my brother only calls and texts. I have unlimited data and never go over 2GB, but I don’t want to lose it just in case. I’ve been waiting for the new iPhone to come out but I’ve read it may be a nano iPhone, which I wouldn’t want. What do you suggest we do to get a cheaper bill? Should I switch to Verizon for the iPhone 4? My mom wants me to get my own plan so the bill is cheaper for them even though I pay my portion every month. I don’t want to get another phone; I love the iPhone, but alone it will cost at least another $30 more. — Peter, via e-mail

$185 is a lot to pay a month, Peter, especially if you can get something cheaper. I looked over what the current ATT family plan pricing is for 1400 minutes ($89.99), a 200 messaging plan for two people ($20), and a legacy unlimited data plan ($30), and it should still add up to around $139.99 a month, not the $185 that you quoted. Perhaps there are additional fees that your family has incurred, or maybe you need to call ATT and negotiate a new deal.

Aside from that, I would look into your monthly calling habits. If most of the calls your family make are to other mobile phones, then I would suggest looking into a cheaper minute plan. ATT offers unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls to any carrier, so the monthly minutes you buy only apply to landline calls. If you don’t make a lot of landline calls, I think you can get away with a 550- or 700-minute plan that costs $30 to $20 less. Also, I know you like unlimited data, but if you never go over 2GB, then you could also consider going to a $25 monthly plan to save some extra money. If you’re running into overage charges with texting, I would suggest moving up to an unlimited family messaging plan, which is only $30 for everyone.

As for whether you should switch to Verizon, that’s completely up to you. In the overall scheme of things, I don’t see it saving you much money. As you say, you have to pay around $30 more a month anyway, and Verizon has even said that it won’t likely keep its unlimited iPhone plan for very long .

P.S. And about that nano iPhone rumor: Please note that it’s just a rumor. Nobody aside from Apple really knows what the next iPhone will be just yet.

Question: What would be the best headphones to use while driving? I drive a truck over-the-road and would like to listen to my iPad , but can’t find any that allow you to drive while using them. — Bob, via e-mail

Bob, I hope you didn’t mean to write that! You absolutely should not use headphones while driving–it’s dangerous! Now, if you’re asking about a mono Bluetooth headset, I can certainly recommend a few from our Best Bluetooth headsets list–the Jawbone Era is good, as is the Plantronics Voyager Pro Plus . You could even go the wired headset route, as long as you remember to only use one earbud. Even then though, I suggest not listening to your iPad that way; it’s safer if you use some kind of an auxiliary jack or an FM transmitter, so you don’t need to fiddle around with the headset.

Makers of applications that locate drunk-driving checkpoints are misunderstood, defenders said Wednesday, a day after four U.S. senators called for smartphone makers to pull applications from their services.

The applications do more than identify drunk-driving checkpoints set up by police, and the DUI (driving under the influence) checkpoint functionality actually aids police, said Joe Scott, CEO and founder of PhantomALERT, one of the companies targeted by the senators.

“They’re misjudging us,” Scott said Wednesday. “It’s a safety tool. It’s approved by a lot of police departments . How is that we’re being sanctioned? It just doesn’t make sense.”

When users of PhantomALERT report DUI checkpoints, it often appears to users that there are more checkpoints than actually exist, Scott said. The result is the app “deters people from drinking and driving,” he added. “We’re like a force multiplier for them.”

The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), a Washington, D.C., trade group, also questioned the request from Senators Harry Reid of Nevada, Charles Schumer of New York, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Tom Udall of New Mexico. The four Democrats sent a letter to smartphone software vendors Apple, Google and Research In Motion Tuesday, asking them to stop selling DUI checkpoint apps.

The letter didn’t name the DUI checkpoint software, but PhantomALERT was one of several companies targeted, a Senate spokeswoman said. Similar software includes Cobra’s iRadar, Trapster and Fuzz Alert.

On Wednesday, the senators reported that RIM would remove the DUI checkpoint apps. “Drunk drivers will soon have one less tool to evade law enforcement and endanger our friends and families,” the senators said in a statement. “We appreciate RIM’s immediate reply and urge the other smartphone makers to quickly follow suit.”

But the apps in question contain publicly available information provided by police departments as well as reports from drivers, said Morgan Reed, ACT’s executive director. The social-networking and law enforcement information makes the apps very popular, he said.

“While I applaud the senators for seeking to curb drunk driving, their criticism of online travel apps misses the point,” he said. “Law enforcement authorities have embraced these services, expressing their strong approval for products that reduce speeding and improve traffic safety.”

The apps provide drivers warnings about other potential roadway problems, Reed said. “Any one of the programs’ users can submit a warning about a traffic obstruction as simply as e-mailing a friend or posting a message on their Facebook profile,” he added. “The suggestion that the government should compel Apple, RIM, or other mobile application stores to block programs that simply allow users to report information based on location is misguided at best. Having the government act as arbiter of which products should be sold in stores is a slippery slope that few would welcome.”

Asked if the senators’ letter amounted to the government compelling action of the smartphone makers, ACT spokesman Jonathan Godfrey suggested it did. “When the Senate majority leader [Reid] and his senate colleagues send a letter urging you to do something, implicit is that they can have hearings and examine legislative fixes if you don’t address their concerns,” he said.

When police departments set up DUI checkpoints, they often advertise their plans, added Scott. “All we’re doing is we’re taking information and pushing it toward the drivers,” he said. “A lot of police departments are saying that part of the campaign is awareness. If PhantomALERT gets the word out … that’s going to deter a lot of people from drinking and driving.”

PhantomALERT, available since 2008, points out speed traps, red-light cameras, high-accident intersections, speed bumps and other traffic hazards.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant’s e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

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Covington Fire Department Capt. Chris Kiely said diners at Jeff Ruby’s Waterfront restaurant used cell phones to call for help Friday night as the restaurant floated about 100 feet downstream. Everyone on board, including former Cincinnati Bengals star Cris Collinsworth, was safe after the hours-long rescue, Kiely told The Associated Press. All were led off one at a time, wearing life jackets.

TV footage of the rescue showed dinner patrons pacing aboard the barge as firefighters put up the makeshift bridge of ladders that spanned swirling, debris-filled water. Work boats edged close amid the flashing lights of fire trucks nearby. Patron Kathy Kinane told the AP on Saturday morning that she and her husband had been finishing their dinner with another couple when they felt a bump. Her husband, Bill, looked out the window and saw that the usually stationary boat was moving.

“That was not a good thing,” she said. “We said, ‘Let’s get up and leave.’”

By then, a crowd had gathered by the exit. The walkway ramp had broken loose from shore. But rescuers and tugboats arrived quickly, and the fact the power stayed on helped prevent a panic, she said. Outside, the current was moving very quickly, though the Kinanes hadn’t been concerned about eating there because they had been there before when the river had risen, she said.

The Kinanes, frequent patrons of the restaurant, had worn snorkels and masks when they arrived to surprise the manager. They returned the gear to their cars – though Kinane joked they should have kept it with them.

“We were joking about the river,” she said. “Well, the joke’s on us now.”

Everyone on the boat had been completely cut off because all the gangplanks were torn away or damaged, Kiely said by telephone.

Emergency crews strapped the life jackets on those whose dinner of shrimp and seafood was abruptly interrupted. Women were taken to shore first, across the improvised ladder bridge, Kinane said. She said she had to take off her heels to make her way out.

Kiely, after returning from the rescue, said he saw Collinsworth – the former Bengals star wide receiver and NBC pro football commentator – among those rescued. Collinsworth, who was a star at the University of Florida, has long been associated with Ruby, who offers “Steak Collinsworth” at several of his restaurants.

On Saturday morning, efforts were continuing to keep the restaurant secured. Tree limbs and other debris filled the water and garbage piled against one end of the restaurant.

Rob Carlisle, one of the owners of CB Marine of Covington, directed efforts by one of his company’s towboats to secure the front end of the restaurant.

He told AP the restaurant had become wedged against the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, one of several linking Cincinnati with northern Kentucky.

“If the bridge wasn’t there it could have traveled down the river quite a ways,” he told the AP. Light traffic moved across the three-lane bridge, as did trains on an adjacent track.

Carlisle said authorities were discussing the possibility of a crane on a barge being brought in to help put the restaurant back in place as river levels permit in coming days.

Two other waterfront restaurants in Newport, Ky., had closed recently because of high waters from heavy rains. The Ohio River already was above flood stage and was expected to crest at 4 feet to 5 feet above flood stage. Low-lying areas just east of Cincinnati on the Ohio side have experienced some moderate flooding.

The restaurant is one of several along the river, on the Kentucky side just opposite Cincinnati.

Calls by the AP to phone numbers listed for the restaurant and restaurateur Jeff Ruby were not immediately returned early Saturday. He owns or operates several restaurants in Cincinnati and surrounding areas.

Driving under the influence? There are several apps for that – and several United States senators who are not pleased about it.

This week, four Democratic senators – Harry Reid of Nevada, Charles E. Schumer of New York, Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Tom Udall of New Mexico – sent letters to Apple, Google and Research in Motion (RIM), asking the companies to remove several unnamed apps that identify the location of police D.U.I.checkpoints and send warnings to drivers.

Such applications are not new. “PhantomAlert,” for example, has had a D.U.I. checkpoint feature since 2009. Originally created as a database of speed traps and red-light and speed cameras in 2008, the software is available not only for smartphones including the BlackBerry, the Apple iPhone and models based on Google’s Android software, but also is compatible with several portable navigation devices, including models from Garmin and TomTom.

In their letter, the senators assert that such software could be used by intoxicated drivers to evade police sobriety checks, “putting innocent families and children at risk.”

“With a person dying every 50 minutes in a drunk-driving crash, this technology should not be promoted to your customers,” the letter continued. “In fact, it shouldn’t even be available.”

The Apple App store contains “Buzzed” for 99 cents, “Checkpointer” for $4.99 and “Tipsy,” a free app. The Android Market includes “Checkpoint Wingman” for $1.99 and “Mr. D.U.I.,” a free program that not only includes checkpoint alerts, but also estimates blood alcohol content based on the number drinks a motorist has consumed. Its ostensible purpose, however, is to place the motorist in touch with a lawyer experienced in D.U.I. cases.

“PhantomAlert” is the most sophisticated program, with approximately 500,000 locations listed in its database, which grows as drivers send in real-time alerts that are subsequently corroborated by other users. Based on GPS data, the next driver who approaches the checkpoint area, and whose smartphone is running the app, receives a warning. This process is used to corroborate and warn of speed traps as well, all for $9.99 a month.

The software’s creators view their products as deterrents, not enablers.

“When people get alerts they are going to think twice before they drink and drive,” said Joe Scott, the founder of “PhantomAlert,” in a telephone interview. In the app’s defense, Mr. Scott cited the regular law-enforcement practice of publicizing planned checkpoints.

Such arguments do not sway the senators. “These applications are nothing more than a how-to guide in avoiding law enforcement and they provide drunk drivers with the tools they need to go undetected,” argued Senator Schumer in an e-mail statement. The senators’ letter also quoted other law-enforcement officials who shared their objections.

As for the companies that provide a platform for these apps – the smartphone manufacturers themselves – RIM, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry handset, has suspended sales of the “PhantomAlert” app, according to Mr. Scott, though what this meant for current users remained unclear.

A spokesman for Google would not comment about the issue for the record, but a close look at the company’s Android software content policies seemed to allow for such programs. Apple did not respond to queries in time for this article.

By shining a spotlight on the issue, the senators hope to effect change without employing legal action or legislation. Similar tactics have been used in addressing concerns about online privacy on social networking sites like Facebook. However, the extra attention trained on these apps may have the opposite effect.

“Downloads are going through the roof,” said Mr. Scott.