T Mobile

Finding that the risks of building a cell phone tower near tennis courts and athletic fields at Randallstown High School were too great, the Baltimore County Board of Appeals overturned yesterday a zoning commissioner's ruling to allow the project. The three-member panel debated the proposal for about an hour before unanimously agreeing that T-Mobile should not be allowed to lease a patch of land on the high school campus to build the tower. "I don't think a school is an appropriate place for a cell tower," said Margaret M. Brassil, chairwoman of the panel considering the cell tower case.

A finding by the state attorney general's office suggests that Maryland law could be changed to ban cell phone towers from public school properties in Baltimore County, a state senator assured a group of residents hoping to thwart plans for a tower at Randallstown High School. It is possible to draft such legislation in a constitutionally sound format, and possibly apply it retroactively to void a contract between the school system and T-Mobile, state Sen. Bobby A. Zirkin told about a dozen residents at a community meeting this week in Randallstown.

In the long, dubious history of celebrities shilling for products, one of the strangest pairings has to be Tiger Woods and Buick. Kirstie Alley shills for Jenny Craig and you think: OK, she let herself go a few years ago, gained all that weight, spoofed herself in that Fat Actress reality show, then turned to a well-known weight-loss program to slim down. Makes sense. Burt Reynolds appears in those "Man Laws" Miller Lite commercials and you think: Fine, aging macho actor with a bad hairpiece, had a big rep as a person who partied, still likes to kick back with a couple of cold ones.

What happens when the chief cost cutter gets cut? Chief Executive Officer Kai-Uwe Ricke of Deutsche Telekom AG assumed that firm's top post in 2002. It is best known in the U.S. for its T-Mobile cellular service hawked by actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. Ricke recently announced a plan to cut more than 30 percent of his firm's production costs by 2012. This extended staff reductions he'd already begun in order to trim its heavy debt load. "By 2010, we intend to be Europe's largest telecommunications company in terms of revenue and earnings and be the leading service company in the industry," Ricke said.

Cycling T-Mobile hires American manager T-Mobile will replace manager Olaf Ludwig with American Bob Stapleton in November, shaking up its team in light of cycling's doping scandals, including Tour de France winner Floyd Landis' positive test for a testosterone imbalance. T-Mobile said yesterday that it lacked faith in the present management to deal with scandals rocking the sport. Longtime star Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, was recently fired after being linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Many people who know Nicolas Jacobsen said last week that they were surprised the young man had been accused of hacking into a huge cell phone network that guards millions of private messages. Former neighbors, including some who witnessed his arrest last fall after federal agents arrived at their aging Santa Ana apartment complex, said he was just too bright to do such a thing. "He could talk about politics. He knows about the law," said Victor Gonzalez, 60, a retired construction worker.

Retooled Sidekick phone a small step toward all-in-one, on-the-go gadget A small company in Palo Alto, Calif., with the silly name Danger (www.danger.com) is introducing the significantly improved Sidekick II, a handheld smart phone sold by T-Mobile. The original Sidekick has achieved a modest level of success among its target audience - urban twentysomething trendsetters - but hasn't enjoyed anywhere near the popular acclaim of the Palm Treo 600, today's smart phone of choice for well-heeled gadget freaks.

THE COOLEST thing about The T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone is what happens when it rings. The other cell phones on the block go beep-beep-beep or play an electronic bagpipe version of the "William Tell Overture," but the phone I've been testing really rings. As in "Brrrring, brrrrring." Just like an old-fashioned phone, if you're old enough to remember one. Retro ring tone aside, this $500 bleeding-edge gadget is a digital tour-de-force that combines a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) with a cell phone and wireless Internet appliance.