Steve Jobs has passed away...

Steve Jobs
1955-2011

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

(taken from Apple's website in remembrance of Steve Jobs)

It was the best of times and the worst..

In remembrance of one of the greatest men of our time..

From Mirko to Steve.....

Thank you Steve for giving us so many amazing things in our lives.

I can say that our lives will never be the same and we have definitely become better because of it. You have given us the opportunity to grow world wide as an Apple family.

Our bond transcends all race, sex and boundaries world wide.

Namaste,

Apple unveils iPhone 4S

(image found on AppleInsider.com life feed)

In a latest round of new goodies Apple has unveiled the iPhone 4S. Same look on the outside but a revamped engine deep inside. Now the iPhone 4 comes with the same chip that is found in the iPad 2 (A5) offering twice the performance offered in the current iPhone 4 models.

With faster graphics performance game developers are able to give more dynamic and powerful rendering offering dynamic light rays in real time, taking gamers to a new depth of experience.

The new iPhone 4S also offers a new updated wireless system to offer better reception. The new stainless steel antennas are also designed to offer better call and data transmission with data speeds reading 4G boundaries of 14.4 Mbps downloads on your phone.

This unit will be also offered in both GSM and CDMA, giving it a world wide network compatibility for consumers.

The camera has also been upgraded to a 8MP unit offering resolutions of 3264 x 2448. This offers current iPhone 4 users a 60% better pixel photo then what is currently being offered on existing models. There is also a new backside illuminated sensor that will allow up to 73% more light per pixel.

The capture rate has been sped up to 33% faster performance with a Hybrid IR filter installed for better color accuracy and nicer quality images.

Video recording will now be offered in 1080p, giving the user HD recording capability.

Chinese Farmer Creates Working Flying Saucer

Photo found on the Nation

A self educated 46 year old Chinese farmer has created a home-made working flying saucer. Shu Mansheng of the Hubei Province created a working craft (shown above) that he was able to get up to two metres off the ground while sitting in the center cabin. The craft is powered by eight propeller engines (modified motorcycle engines) with an invested cost of 60,000 yuan ($9,400 Dollars US).

With this device he is planning on visiting schools and showing children the amazing things someone can create when they set their mind to it. Hoping to inspire young minds with his flying craft. He has also mentioned an interested in opening a school for children who have an interest in his various projects. He has said "My dream is to establish a special school where kids would be able to learn all sorts of things they don’t teach in ordinary schools.”

Photos found on odditycentral.com

Shu a man with basic school education taught himself electronics and mechanics. In the past Shu tried building another flying saucer but unfortunately it didn't take off. He had also created two jet engines to thrust two planes up into the air but because of technical difficulties they crashed and burned. One had a tire fault while the other plane crashed on take off.

I think its pretty amazing to see what people can do that take the time to self educate themselves and be productive in society. I look forward to seeing what other interesting devices Shu and his students will create in the future.

Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space on April 12, 1961

Google main page art today celebrates Yuri Gagarin as he becomes the first man in space on April 12, 1961 .

(image found on cnet)

"Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a 27-year-old lieutenant in the Soviet air force, blasted off aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft at 6:07 a.m. GMT on April 12. He completed one orbit around the world before re-entry, ejecting from his descent capsule and making a successful landing by parachute.

The one-hour, 48-minute flight was an international sensation, giving the Soviet Union a widely perceived lead in the infant manned space race. Alan Shepard would complete a brief sub-orbital flight aboard a NASA Mercury-Redstone rocket on May 5, 1961, but Gagarin's orbital flight was viewed by many as a daunting achievement of Soviet technology, spurring the development of increasingly sophisticated spacecraft."

Dr. NakaMats, an amazing man and inventor

Today while at home i was watching Andrew Zimmerman on the Travel channel. He was in Tokyo, Japan on this eating adventure. The interesting thing about this show was he spent sometime with a man named Dr. NakaMats. As Andrew was on the street waiting to meet the good doctor, along comes this interesting unique vehicle. It was part pedal power and part water power.

Dr. NakaMats said it was a one off invention of his. He allowed Andrew to take it for a spin, which he really enjoyed . Then they went to visit the Docs house. It was an interesting experience just finding out how to get into the house. Then as they walked threw it was one amazing sight after another of all sorts of amazing ideas, devices and contraptions. I think Dr. NakaMats is one of the most interesting inventors of our time.

His claims to fame are pretty mind blowing: (see the listing below from his website)

★ International scholar of philosophy of Creativity & Inventiveness. Doctor of engineering, law, medicine, science, and humanities.

★ Graduated at the University of Tokyo. (Enrollment limited to supremely skilled students only.)

★ Selected by U.S. Science Academic Society as one of five world No.1 great scientists in the history who are Archimedes, Michael Faraday, Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla and Yoshiro NakaMats.

★ Received Congress Award from US Congress

★ Lectured as professor or senior scholar at the following universities and academies: Univ. of Pennsylvania. Columbia University, Syracuse Univ., Royal Academy of Sweden, University of Tokyo, St. Louis University, Washington University, Chicago Medical University, Southern California University, University of Arizona, Drexel University, Stanford University,San Diego State University, University of Philadelphia, CETYS University in Mexico, University of New Orleans, Carnegie Melon University, CEOU, TESLA Society,

★ First invention was age of five (Automatic Center of Gravity Stabilizer).

★ The only person who licensed 16 patents to IBM (Floppy disc, Hard Disc, Tape Transport, etc).

★ Invented 3,200 plus (Thomas Edison 1093) including Floppy Disc. Fuel Cell, Cinemascope, Digital Display, Kerosene Pump, CEREBREX, etc.

★ Received More than 41 world No.1 Grand Prix Awards at Intn’l Invention Contest.

★ Appointed International Jury in America and Russia.

★ Representative of Japan for the United Nations Earth Day

★ Appointed to be an international member of Japan Pen Club

★ Received "Innovative Pioneer Prize "which is the highest innovative award at a dinner party given by U.S. President.

★ Enshrined to "International Hall of Fame "in Atlanta for the first time in the world.

★ President of Dr.NakaMats World University

★ President of Dr. NakaMats Innovation Institute

★ Chairman of Newport Asia Pacific University (Hawaii)

★ Founder of Business School of NAPU

★ Vice president of Newport Asia pacific University (California)

★ Became an honorable citizen of America: Philadelphia, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Pima, Tucson, New Orleans, St. Louis, La Mirada, Monroeville, Maryland, Tijuana, Empanada, etc.

★ The following states and cities in U.S.A. proclaimed "Dr. NakaMats Day" City and County of Denver (March 25) Seattle (April 21), Sun Jose (May 8), Tucson (April 13), Pittsburgh (April26), New Orleans (May 3), Missouri State (May 5), St. Louis (May 5), Los Angels (June 26), San Diego (Sept. 8), Maryland State (Nov.13), New York State (Nov.26)

★ Awarded: Personal letter from former U.S. President, George Bush, U.S. Presidential prize, American Innovation Grand Prix, Gandhi World Peace Award, Schweitzer Award, Japan minister of science & Technology Award .　Korea culture Grand Prix.

★ Appointed US Sheriff

★ Schweitzer Award

★ Vice president of World Association of Inventors (New York), Vice president of American Invention Society, member of American Scientific Research Society, Chairman of the World Genius Convention, President of International Invention Society. Director of World Film Institute (Hollywood)

★ Appeared at American nationwide TV program, "Life Style of Rich and Famous", and at NBC, CBS, ABC, BBC, RAI in Italy, in addition to Japanese TV stations such as NHK, NTV, TBS, and commercial films.

★ Selected by NEWSWEEK as one of 12 men of great eminence and highest lecture fee in the world, appraising his lecture fee as $10,000 per hour, who is the only person from Japan.

★ Threw the first pitch at the baseball game of Pirates under the American Major in place of American President.

★ Over 40 written Books: Three Time Life - CP publishing
　How to become a superman lying down - Management-sha
　Hurrah for breaking the common sense - Best Sellers
　Creation from Xero - Kosai-shuppan-sha
　Invention of Politics - Yamate Book
　Think by SUJI, PIKA and IKI - Johosenta-Shuppan
　101 ways to improve brain activity - Best Sellers
　Super way for Child education - Jiyu-kokumin-sya
　Environment, excise and food to bring up a smart child - CP
　Background of mysterious phenomena - DHC
　Mechanism between space and earthquake - Tairyu-sya
　Life habit to make child's head better - Bokuyo-sya
　Handbook for super personal computer concept - Seishun Publishing
　The Brain Revolution - Wave Publising
　Duper Creativity - Kosai Publising
　Lecture of Philosophy of Creativity and Innovativeness - CP
　Creative Thinking - Nippon Noritsu Management Center
　Rebody - CP
　The Legend of Dr. NakaMats Inventions - CP

I was pretty blown away as i looked down the listings of his life's achievements and wanted to share it with you. enjoy

81-Year-Old Dr. NakaMats May Have Invented Nearly Everything You Hold Dear - Gizmodo

Happy 137th Birthday, Harry Houdini!

Happy 137th Birthday Harry Houdini

Today (March 24, 2011) is the great magician Harry Houdini's 137th birthday. Even though Harry has passed away some years ago, we still remember all the amazing entertainment he brought into our lives over the years from movies, clips and books about his amazing tricks he performed. He was one of the worlds most amazing escape artists. It would be interesting to see if he had been born now what kind of amazing tricks he would be coming up with today.

Happy 10th Birthday Mac OS X

image found on MacRumors.com

Today (March 24, 2011) marks the tenth birthday of Mac OS X. It made its first debut on March 24, 2001 as the memorable Mac OS X 10.0. Mac OS X was a major change for the famous Mac OS. It integrated NeXT company technology (OPENSTEP OS) and FreeBSD UNIX. In the beginning it did have some issues as quoted below, but what company's great products doesn't have some little bumps along the road to greatness.

"Mac OS X shows tremendous promise, which is a nice way of saying that the 10.0 release is not quite ready for prime time. This is most certainly an early adopter's OS release. Interface responsiveness and effective stability are the two biggest fundamental problems, but missing features and compatibility issues rank just as high if you actually intend to use OS X as a full Mac OS 9 replacement: the 10.0 release cannot view DVD movies; printer drivers are still scarce; CD burning is not yet supported, even by Apple's own iTunes CD authoring application; and a lot of hardware (like my G3/400's serial port adapter to which my printer is attached) seem destined to be orphaned forever."

Mac OS X Public Versions:
10.0 - Codename: Cheetah, released March 24, 2001
10.1 - Codename: Puma, released September 25, 2001
10.2 - Codename: Jaguar, released August 24, 2002
10.3 - Codename: Panther, released October 24, 2003
10.4 - Codename: Tiger, released April 29, 2005
10.5 - Codename: Leopard, released October 26, 2007
10.6 - Codename: Snow Leopard, released August 28, 2009
10.7 - Codename: Lion, expected released Summer 2011

The next install of Mac OS X is known as Lion (10.7) and is expected to come roaring through sometime this summer with the theme of "Back to the Mac", an effort to come full circle with some of the great features we know and love in the iOS platforms.

So Happy 10th Birthday Mac OS X, you've come a long way and it shows. We all love you and wish you a bright and happy future..

Mozilla Unveils FireFox 4

Well ladies and gentlemen today Mozilla unveiled Firefox 4 for people to download and enjoy. The updated design definitely makes it feel like it is in the drivers seat again. As you launch your browser for the first time after the upgrade you will first see a totally revamped layout in front of you. The browser gives you more room to view for starters.

The pull down tabs are all the way at the top. If you are on a mac you will notice it just to the right of your apple logo. On a PC it will vary since on my Windows XP machine its become very, very small at the top. Where as the Vista and Windows 7 pull downs are hidden in an orange button in the upper left hand corner that when clicked reveals all its new goodies to choose from.

The tabs are then right under neath with an option to "pin" webpages. A feature we noticed before in Google's Chrome browser. It gives the user a chance to pin the tab into a small marker to the left so you aren't plagued by tons of large apps. To activate this feature simply right click on the tab you wish to pin. Then choose "Pin as App Tab". Then wala..

Another cool feature is the Syncing option. If you're like me you have several different devices you use. Well Firefox now gives you the option to sync your bookmarks, browsing history, passwords and other data on all your computers running Firefox.

To use this feature, you need to go to tools > options > Sync (tab). Click on the "Set up Firefox Sync" button. This will open up the Firefox Sync box. Firefox will give you a "Sync Key". Write it down and save this key. You will use it to access your Sync account on another PC or Smartphone device. Warning, if you loose it, you are screwed. It can not be recovered.

Outside of this the speed is definitely noticeable in the new version. If you have loved using Firefox like me over the years its a great idea to download and install it. Plus, just to give you an idea of how popular it is. In the first three hours of its availability, over 1 million plus downloads. That's got to tell you somethin, enjoy.

Cocos2d beta templates available for Xcode 4

If you are like me and the many out there that jumped into the new release of Apple's Xcode 4, you got an interesting surprise when you made the upgrade from 3.x.x to 4.x.x. It was a totally new IDE and everything was integrated into one multi-functional interphase. The layout did make it easier to go from code into your xib files and back.

Now, it did take a little getting used to. But, the biggest surprise came when you started looking for the Cocos2d Template. They were not there. The forums online were filled with the eternal question, what is going on????

Many people tried re-installing it only to be told it was still there. You could open, build and run files and it worked. But, there weren't any new project templates available when you first started the program unless you opened an old one or an old template version and did a bit of cleaning up in the code. The word came out that Xcode 4 handled things a bit different. So cocos 2d was installed but the templates were not showing up.

The folks at Cocos2d have heard the masses and put out a beta version for us to install and use as a temporary fix: cocos2d-1.0.0-beta_templates.tar.gz

If you go to the Cocos2d website: http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/

You will notice an option for downloading and instructions on how to install it too. I went, downloaded and installed it as the instructions mentioned. Everything went very smooth. So now when i start my Xcode 4. I have Cocos2d options under my iOS devices. But, as they said on the site the Mac and file options are not available yet.

I'm sure in the new few weeks we will have another build to download and use. So if you are an Xcode developer who has moved over to Xcode 4, make sure you get your Cocos2d template now so you can start your projects a bit easier now. enjoy...

Verizon announces iPad 2

image taken from Verizon wireless website

Verizon wireless has now announced on its website that it will be carrying the iPad 2 on Friday March 11, 2011. They join the ranks of other companies carrying it for sale on the launch day. Retail stores such as Best Buy, Sam's Club and Wal-Mart are also scheduled to be carrying the device on its launch date of the 11th. Apple should be very happy with all the companies it will have making its new awesome iPad 2 available to the public on its March 11th release date.

The only ones we haven't heard from yet is AT&T. It is speculated they will have it on the 11th but there is no word yet on their website.

Steve Jobs and Apple unveil the iPad 2

Apple iPad 2

On March 2, 2011 Steve Jobs and Apple unveiled the iPad 2. It was a real surprise to see Steve back on stage presenting again. After his recently leave from Apple many people weren't sure if we'd see him again. But, as usual Steve knows how to blow our minds.

Today he walked out on stage and introduced the new iPad 2 along with a few other goodies.

The iPad 2 is the next step in iPad evolution. It sports a thinner more sleeker design with options in both white and black color on the front of the unit. The iPad 2 also has the new A5 processor. Making it the first dual core tablet to be shipped in mass quantity. It will also have a multi-purpose cover available in multi-colors too.

The following options will be available for it:
(information from apple.com)

Models: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+3G (Verizon and AT&T)

Size:
Height: 9.50 inches x Width 7.31 inches, Depth 0.34 inches

Weight:
Wi-Fi model: 1.33 pounds (601 g)
Wi-Fi + 3G model: 1.35 pounds (613 g) AT&T,
1.34 pounds (607 g) Verizon

Storage: 16GB, 32GB, 64 GB

Wi-Fi will be 802.11 a/b/g/n

Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Technology

Display: 1024 x 768 resolution with Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating offering display support available in multiple languages and characters simultaneously.

Processor: Apple A5 chip, 1 Ghz Dual-core custom designed chip with high performance, low power consumption system on a chip.

Cameras:
Back mounted camera: HD 720p up to 30fps with audio, still camera with 5x digital zoom

Front mounted camera: VGA Video recording up to 30 fps with audio, still camera VGA quality

Battery: offering up to 10 hours of use.

Input/Output : 30-pin doc connector port, 3.5 mm stereo headphone mini jack, Built-in Speaker and Microphone. note: 3G models will have a Micro-Sim card tray.

It will also feature a Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer and Ambient light sensor.

The iPad 2 will arrive on March 11th.

Apple unveils new line of Macbook Pros Today

image found on Apple.com Macbook pro info website

Apple in its traditional sense of blowing our minds with new items really set a new bar today. As we all celebrate Steve Jobs birthday today. Apple came out with a whole new line of Macbook Pro laptops for us to choose from. The whole line of MacBook Pros (13, 15 and 17 inch) has been revamped with more power and speed for us to really blow our minds when we use them.

The 13 inch Macbook Pro now comes with a core i5 or i7 processor, which is great news for many people who were disappointed with the previous 2010 release with just options up to a 2.6 dual core processor. This in itself is great news but what is really blowing peoples minds today is the new Thunderbolt connection. When you look on the side profile of the laptop. You will noticed the typical connection ports.

But, not the Mini Diplay port option. That port now has a little Thunder bolt icon next to it. The Thunderbolt high speed connector is the Intel previously named light peak technology. This port can be used for video but also data too. Its designed to be daisy chained together. Plus, its going to offer up to 10 Gbps data transfer rate. This speed alone will drastically reduce backup times.

On top of this the company Lacie today has unveiled its first thunderbolt drive. They are the first company offering this on the market. Its rumored that the drive will offer two 250 GB SSD drives inside to help give the performance speed desired. No date has been given for when these will be available for the public.

Happy 56th Birthday Steve Jobs

On Thursday February 24th, Steve Jobs the co-founder and Chief Executive of Apple will turn 56. I think the whole Apple world will be celebrating with him and his family. I am happy to see Steve turn 56 and I am proud to say "God Bless you and your family Steve". You have given us so many amazing new wonderful things throughout the years and I wish you the best and most amazing year of your life. I believe you are a strong and amazing man that will over come any obstacles in your way.

I can say that my life has never been the same since I tried my first mac many many years ago and I feel blessed that I have been able to use Apple products in my life. Thank you Steve for all you have done and given us.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Steve, Happy Birthday to you

Apple sends out media invites for iPad 2 event

image found on AppleInsider.com

Well folks the wait is over for the new iPad 2. Apple has sent out media invites for a special invitation only show unveiling the new iPad 2 on March 2.

It will be interesting to see what never features will be available on one of the most popular tablets of our time. I have been hearing all sorts of things from a better display to more storage capacity to now 3 different versions coming in the flavors of Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi + CDMA and Wi-Fi+GSM.

Christmas comes early from Apple to stores

image found on Appleinsider website

According to a report from Apple Insider today it looks like some stores will be getting a sealed package from Apple this week. They also have strict warnings that they are not to breach the sealed pallets.

Could this be the new shipments of MacBook Pro's.....

Verizon iPhone 4 upgrade update

Well folks i got my Verizon iPhone 4 this week and this weekend i got it setup and running. After playing with it now for a while doing all sorts of things on it including using several different kind of apps all i can say is "i love my Verizon iPhone."

Even though it was a bit of a pain with my upgrade. I can honestly say i am a happy Verizon customer now. I am now joining the ranks of the other people who have been rejoicing and happy with the new Verizon iPhone.

I am looking forward to seeing what the new iPhone 5 will be coming out with and when a Verizon CDMA version will be available. I wouldn't be to surprised if it comes out with the AT&T GSM since a recent tear down online unveiled that the new Verizon iPhone had both circuit systems built on board, both GSM and CDMA. Also, i wouldn't be surprised if a world model is available soon with a software switch over for network version too.

Something to make you laugh a bit

I got this via email the other day and i thought i'd pass along the laughs, enjoy.

WRONG EMAIL ADDRESS

This one is priceless.....A lesson to be learned from typing the wrong email address!!!!

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston , a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: April 27, 2009

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in.

I've seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!!!! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P. S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!!

Think Different - Japanese version

Even though its in Japanese, it still has a way of touching me when i watch and listen to it.

IBM Watson Wins on Jeopardy

The folks at IBM can be very proud of their new supercomputer child dubbed Watson. After a three day bout of playing humans on the hit TV series Jeopardy, Watson wins.

Many people might say well its a computer, it knows all the answers. Yes and no. As brilliant as Watson may be there are still many things that we as humans take for granted in our normal speaking meanings. The other day Nova had an incredible special that took viewers for a walk into the world of IBM's Supercomputer Watson project. They gave us a great look at the good bad and ugly sometimes of what the Watson crew sees and deals with on a daily basis. Its isn't all ice creams and lolly pops, there is a lot of hard work that goes into this project and it shows.

When getting Watson ready for this challenge they created a mock up Jeopardy set with a smart allec host who at every chance made cracks against Watson when he made a mistake. Watson is still a child for all intensive purposes. But, he is learning and everyday getting better. We saw on the show how Watson had all this amazing information in his memory banks. Then by using logic went through the options to figure out what the correct answer would be to the question.

But sometimes he did have problems such as with roman numerals and even simple things like the word dead. Where a person says he is dead and Watson replys how does it feel being dead today? Not understanding when a person is dead they are dead. But thats ok, he is a growing supercomputer and getting better everyday.

So even though he may have made some mistakes, i think its an awesome achievement to have him win at the game of Jeopardy. Its definitely a step in the right direction. My hat goes off to all the people at IBM who helped make this great computer possible. Also, Watson you did fantastic and i'm very proud of you. Keep up the great work.

Pres. Obama has dinner with the tech giants

Photo found on CNN.com website

This morning the White House released a photo of President Obama having dinner last night with Steve Jobs (Apple), Eric Schmidt (Google), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) plus the heads of such tech companies as Twitter, Oracle, Stanford University, Yahoo and Netflix. The dinner was at the home of John and Ann Doerr in San Francisco Bay. It was held to discuss future issues in the tech world including the options for job creations too.

It was nice to see Steve Jobs sitting next to President Obama wearing his black mock turtleneck shirt.

smaller iPhone rumors squashed by NYTimes

For the past few days we have been hearing rumors of Apple working on a new smaller iPhone. Well this morning the NYTimes reported that a smaller iPhone is not in the works. But that Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone with voice command integration.

According to reports if Apple was to create a smaller screened iPhone it would require many of the developers to re-write their apps to fit the new smaller screen size. Now that might and might not be the case. If Apple did make a smaller sized screen but, they were able to keep the proportion and screen size resolution to where it is now, developers might not need to have to re-size their apps. Then again it might be to difficult to maneuver around the device too.

The NYTimes did confirm some of the details that the Wall Street Journal was reporting earlier on Apple working on integrating voice commands for navigating the iPhone device.

There is still no word from anyone confirming the previously reported option of storing the majority of the iPhones contents in a cloud and then accessing it when required. The only big issue that will definitely come up with this option will be allocation of desired bandwidth.when people are calling up data. There has always been an issue with bandwidth but if users don't have many things like music and video on their iPhone as they do now, the bandwidth consumption will be even greater and tax the telecommunications industry even more.

So it might be cool to have everything in the cloud. But if it takes to long or isn't accessible because of bandwidth being a problem what good is having and using the device if it can't perform because the industry isn't up to par with what is required for it to function properly.

Who knows maybe Apple is also working on some new kind of packet compression utility to help compress packets of data when it sends it from the cloud to the device. Time will tell as we all eagerly await new from the mother ship.

my Verizon iPhone update

Well folks here is the update on my Verizon phone update.

I logged on the other day and tried to upgrade again!!!!!!
Guess what, still no go. So i went and called Verizon, spoke to a rep and he also said you should be able to upgrade. Well after waiting on hold for a bit, he was able to help me with my request.
I placed my order for my Verizon iPhone and got a shipping date of the 18th of this month.

From reading the early reviews it seems everyone is very happy switching from AT&T's iPhone to the Verizon phone... I am looking forward to getting it and letting you know how it works for me.

I am wondering now with people fleeing AT&T for Verizon will the network and dropped calls be different on AT&T or just business as usually. Only time will tell..

Apple Working on a New Smaller iPhone option

This weekend rumors started coming out from various sites on the net about a new, smaller, iPhone option. Its reported that this would be a cheaper solution without a contract for users. It would offer people an option to buy the iPhone for less than $200.

As more information comes out, it might not be what people think when they say iPhone. Granted it might look like a smaller version of its big brother iPhone. But, the reason why its smaller and cheaper is because it is being reported to have no memory built on board for storage of media. Everything will be on the cloud.

The device will have some memory installed but this is just for OS itself, critical system data reference, buffering media from the cloud and possibly for storage of photos or video on the device if a camera option is offered. If you want an example of this, Apple has already given us it with the Apple TV.

If these rumors are true it would explain Apples huge investments in creating data centers last year. There were some rumors of this leaking out then but they seemed to be nipped in the bud. All in all this isn't such a bad idea, especially with people loosing their phones. If a person does they don't have to worry about their data being comprimised as much. Since with the simple option of logging on to a website the end user can disable the link from the device to the cloud, making the new iPhone a nice paper weight.

This option does sound great but some questions do come to mind.

1. If we put everything in the cloud and it is streaming, have they come up with an idea of how much bandwidth will the average user require? This is an important question especially when one of the biggest problems with AT&T was users using to much bandwidth and having performance issues in the past.

2. Will it be 3G or 4G? With more and more talk of 4G will we finally see a 4G iPhone. Plus what will happen when you go from 4G to 3G? Will there be that 20 to 30 second lag in time many people have reported when it comes to switching networks?

3. What will the cost be for service on this phone? With the way some people use data on their phones it could cost them an arm and a leg getting data to and from the cloud and else where on the web.

4. Will this be available in both CDMA and GSM? The new Verizon iPhone tear down shows chips for both networks. This could be an interesting merger of the networks on one new hand held device.

5. How will privacy advocates feel about this? There is always a question of people being tracked as well as data. With implementing this the providers and Apple will know where and what is being done on the phone more and more.

All in all i think its a step in the right direction, esp with people loosing phones and being able to offer more for the consumer. Imagine putting your collection on the cloud, then when you need more space, you just pay for the allocation instead of having to buy a new device.

Something to think about..

Think Different 2008 Edition

Motivational Quote of The Day from NIGHTINGALE.COM

"The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make
ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy.
The amount of work is the same."
— Carlos Castaneda: Was an anthropologist and author

Ken Olsen, Computer Pioneer passes away

Kenneth Harry Olsen, Engineer
((1926-02-2 February 20, 1926 to February 6, 2011 (age 84))

Many people might not recognize the name but Ken Olsen was the founder and former CEO of a company called Digital Equipment Corporation or DEC. This company created one of the first digital computers that was used for commercial use.

Ken served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. He received his Bachelors (B.S.) and Masters degrees(M.S.) in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was known for have worked on a team that developed air defense technology and core memory while at MIT. He also directed the building of the first transistorized research computer.

In 1957 he founded Digital Equipment Corporation with an MIT colleague. In its glory days it had over 125,000 employees in over 86 countries. DEC was eventually urchased by Compaq in 1988 for $9.6 billion dollars.

During his life Ken was named the "most successful entrepreneur in the history of American business." by Fortune magazine. He also was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1990 and received the National Medal of Technology in 1993. Plus he was brought into the Computer History Museum in 1996.

For laughs.....

Someone sent me this in an email and i thought i would share it.

Enjoy the laughs... Mirko

WRONG EMAIL ADDRESS

This one is priceless.....A lesson to be learned from typing the wrong email address!!!!

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston , a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: April 27, 2009

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in.

I've seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!!!! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P. S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!!

Happy 183rd Birthday Jules Verne

If you have a chance folks you should stop by google.com and check out today fun interactive graphic. When you arrive on the site you will notice some portal openings showing a lively sea ahead with all sorts of goodies for us to see. Ahh but there is more. If you look to the right you will notice a lever. Give it a try and see where your travels take you.

Today graphic celebrates the great Jules Vernes 183rd Birthday. Now some people might be like ok so who is Jules Verne and is running to be as old as Methuselah? Well to answer the first question Jules Verne was a great french science fiction author. He was born on February 8, 1828 and died on March 24, 1905 at the age of 77 in Amiens, France.

Some of his best know works were "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1864), "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" (1870) and lets not forget "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1873). What is so great about Jules was his amazing vision he had about traveling to places where man had not even begun to really explore. His imagination helped us to envision some of the most incredible sights on our journey through his story.

Jules was refereed to by H.G Wells and Hugo Gernsback as the "Father of Science Fiction".

If you haven't had a chance to read or even see some of his books made into movies, please do so. You will not be disappointed. I recommend first reading the books then going to see the movies because many times the authors words help to paint a more detailed and incredible journey then film can ever create in our minds eye..

Happy Birthday Big Guy....

Google offers $20,000 if you can hack their Chrome browser at the Pwn2Own hacking competition

For all those who will be a contestant at the Pwn2Own hacking competition scheduled on March 9-11 in Vancouver the pot got just a little bit sweeter. The contest cash award fund was at $105,000. But, thanks to Google anyone who can hack the Chrome browser will get $20,000 on top of the $15,000 they will already win.

Along with Chrome there will be other web browsers open to being hacked at the event like Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox, and Apple's Safari browser too. They will be available on two operating systems only, Microsoft Windows 7 or Mac OS X (Snow Leopard). Both OS's running in 64-bit mode.

All contestants that win will also win the laptop they are given to use at the event too. The current roundup includes the following laptops: Apple MacBook Air 13", Alienware m11x, and a Sony Vaio.

Now for someone to hack Chrome it will require "escaping the Chrome sandbox using vulnerabilities only in Google-written code -- the competitor will win $20,000 and a Google CR-49 Chrome OS netbook."

Mobile device hacking will be also available. Offering devices like iPhone 4, Blackberry Torch 9800, Dell Windows 7 Phone and Nexus S running Android.

This competition should be an interesting sight to see, especially since so many of us use mobile devices and one of the above mentioned web browsers in day to day activities in our lives.

Information Week - Google Bets $20,000 You Can't Hack Chrome

The Register - Google offers $20,000 prize in annual hack-off

Verizon iPhone upgrade or NOT

This morning like other Verizon customers i was excited to pre-order my Verizon iPhone 4. But, i noticed i still had a few months on my plan and i was told a few weeks ago from a Verizon rep (called into Verizon) that i could still qualify since i had a mi-fi plan too which was eligible now, all i needed to do was switch it to place my order.

Well guess what i tried that this morning and it didn't allow me to order my iPhone 4 upgrade. Even though i could upgrade to all their other phones. So who knows when i will be able to order my iPhone 4 since its obvious Verizon's not on the ball for its existing customers.

I did try to call in this morning to see what was going on. The first call i made ended up switching me over to a busy signal, NICE real NICE. Then i called back a few times but they seemed to be busy. Hmm i wonder why. I wonder how many other Verizon customers are also being jerked around like this.

Its nice to know that loyal customers for years with Verizon are now getting jerked around. This definitely makes me think about going over to AT&T. Even though the calls aren't perfect at least i won't be getting jerked around with a BS upgrade option that isn't available.

Oh but when i log into my account they do offer me an option to upgrade now at FULL PRICE. But, won't let me order any other way now. Nice to see they will give it to me at $700 plus price. I guess Verizon really does care about their customers, actions speak louder then words. Thank You Verizon for showing me what being with you for years gives me in being a customer.

I hope someone in the press picks this up. It would be interesting to see or hear their take on it. If this isn't an interesting story of Verizon jerking around their existing customers i don't know what is.

Verizon can ya hear me now, NOT very happy and definitely considering going to AT&T NOW.

**********************************update***************************************

Well after finally getting a Verizon rep on the phone it turns out the upgrade i was trying to do by using another units upgrade date is called a Buddy update. I will be able to make it on the 10th when the Verizon store is available in stores. So we shall see then in a week will i be able to get an upgrade or not.

Indiana Teen Creates Death Ray

I have always loved seeing what the inquisitive minds of today's kids can come up with. Today while looking through the online pages of Gizmodo, I came across this story "Teen Glued 5,800 Mirrors Onto Satellite Dish For SOLAR DEATH-RAY".

It turns out that an Indiana teen (Eric Jacqmain, 19 years old) created this portable death ray unit (for $90) on wheels using an old satellite dish and a make shift cart. He even went and made a You Tube video out of it to show off its use.

Pretty interesting idea....Check out the video below, enjoy the nice music with it too.

Gizmodo article link

Verizon gets the iPhone 4

Well folks its official, Can ya hear me Now.....

Verizon has the iPhone 4 on its network as a 3G phone.

This morning, Verizon had a press conference with Tim Cook, Apple's COO and Verizons Chief Executive Lowell Macadam on stage to give the presentation. Macadam spoke about how Verizon has upgraded its network and how their performance has been growing. Also, for over two years now they have been working with Apple.

But, today they are announcing that Verizon will be partnering with an industry giant "Apple". Then the official announcement "iPhone 4 Coming to Verizon Early Next Month!"The iPhone 4 has now been designed to work on the Verizon CDMA network. It will have all the features the GSM iPhone owners have come to enjoy, like a Retina display and FaceTime for video chatting. The unit will also have the same A4 chip, 5 MP camera, and integrated ecosystem that made the iPhone 4 so popular.

Beginning February 3rd, existing customers can pre-order the iPhone 4. Then on February 10th, new customers can pre-order the iPhone 4. The pricing will be the same: $199 for 16 GB, $299 for 32GB, with tethering included for up to 5 devices.

For the past year Verizon has been testing 1,000 CDMA iPhones on its network and the results have been very good. They couldn't be happier with the results. The leaked images of the re-design of the antenna were correct. This was done so it can work on the CDMA network.

Questions were asked about why they didn't come out with a LTE phone. Cook answered that the reasons were 1) The first LTE baseband controllers required changes to design Apple was unwilling to make. 2) Customers wanted the iPhone on Verizon ASAP.

There is one thing though, the Verizon iPhone users will not be able to be on the phone and use data at the same time. Cook doesn't believe Verizon customers will have an issue with this and will be willing to make the trade off.

That's all folks. The whole event was over in 30 mins flat...

Can Ya Hear Me Now.....iPhone

Well it looks like the rumors are now finally becoming more of a fact when it comes to the Apple iPhone coming to the Verizon network. On Friday it came out as a short trickle. Then the Wall Street Journal made it more official. By going into detail that Verizon was having a press conference with Steve Jobs on stage to so they can announce the new Verizon CDMA iPhone.


Today the WSJ (Wall Street Journal) was reporting that the Verizon iPhone will be available in stores by the end of the month.

The transition from the AT&T monopoly should be an interesting venture. One of the biggest problems before has been that time and time again customers would be complaining about network performance and pointing the finger with AT&T. As people do leave AT&T, it will be interesting to see if the network performance improves or degrades..

Part of me does wonder what Verizon will do with people who are already on their network when it comes to upgrading early. Will they make a rule to the exception and allow people to get their iPhone sooner or make them wait till their contract is up ?

I do think that Verizon will being Millions of users to the iPhone. But, the true test will be once the people have it and start taxing the network. Will it be the same problem AT&T encountered ? or will it be when someone says "Can ya hear me now" you will hear back Yep cause im on the Verizon network lol...

The other thing i wonder is what will happen with the typical iPhone upgrade coming to Apple will Verizon be part of this upgrade or will it have to wait since the CDMA phones are the new kids on the block. For months now rumors have been popping up of a CDMA/GSM phone.

If Apple came out with this option it could be an amazing phone to have, esp. for the world traveler where many of the places outside of the US use the GSM network.