Archive for April, 2010

Many years ago, more than I really want to remember, I wanted to be a teacher. In fact, it was my job of choice from the time I was in 3rd grade, until I graduated from high school.

Sometime in my sophmore year of college, I changed course. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I was pretty sure I no longer wanted to be a teacher.

I’ve been thinking about going to back to school for the past few years. I have never had the time to focus on continuing my education, but I think with the ability to obtain an online teaching degree or a degree in some other field, I could probably accomplish that goal.

Western Governors Online University has several online degree programs, all of which can be completed at your own pace, at a remarkable price. Who knows, I may become a teacher yet… That’s something I should have done 25 years ago.

The iPhone OS upgrade, not specifically this software, is the reason I am going to upgrade my iPhone this summer. Pretty soon everything will run off some sort of OS. Our kitchens, our bathrooms, our entertainment centers. Everything.

The ability to run background apps in Apple’s upcoming iPhone software update could make driving safer by allowing specialized distraction-preventing services to run on the popular device.

These products have taken off in the last few years as the dangers of distracted driving – blabbing or texting away on a cell phone – have become all-too-clear through studies and personal experience.

Now Illume Software, the makers iZUP (“eyes-up”) – an application that blocks texting, calling and Web browsing on mobile devices while driving – have announced that they will have a version of their product ready to work on the iPhone’s new 4.0 operating system when it comes out this summer.

Although, having this software on my phone wouldn’t hurt. Unless I was abducted and shoved into someone’s trunk, then I would want my texting and calling to work while I was moving.

I am sooo glad I haven’t purchased a MacBook Pro yet.

At last, the long-rumored revamp of Apple’s MacBook Pro notebooks has arrived, with the 15- and 17-inch models getting bleeding-edge Intel Core i5 and i7 processors while the 13-inch version sees graphics and battery-life improvements. Also new: a $100 price hike for one of the MacBook Pro configurations, plus $100 and $200 price cuts for two others.

The biggest news, of course, is the replacement of the older Intel Core 2 Duo processors on the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models (starting at $1,799 for the 15-incher — a $100 price hike over last year’s model — and $2,299 for the 17-inch MBP, a $200 price drop) with Intel’s next-generation Core i5 and i7 processors, good for a performance boost of “up to 50 percent” over last year’s lineup, Apple claims.

I haven’t been this worked up since I tried those thermogenic fat burners. Of course, now I want a MacBook Pro.

With the amount of data some businesses want to push through the intertubes, it might be time for some of them to consider cutting back, but then again they probably can’t handle the diet pill side effects.

Yahoo’s news site is launching a daily 90-second series based on its most popular stories.

Yahoo says it is teaming with Toyota and the production company Reveille to make “Who Knew?”. The feature made its debut Monday on the popular news page.

Like you don’t have enough to watch/read on the web already.

What the heck is Project Pink? Have I been outside the loop so long that I have no idea what that is? I don’t get it. What is the benefit of marketing items to kids who aren’t even old enough for acne treatment yet? They don’t have money!!!

Turns out all the leaked photos of Microsoft’s “Project Pink” phones were real. Targeted squarely at young “social” chatters looking to share their every waking moment with the world, the Kin One and Kin Two boast slide-out QWERTY keypads, Zune media players, multi-touch displays, and more social networking tools than you could shake a stick at. No app store, though.

Set for release in the “beginning” of May exclusively on Verizon Wireless (no pricing details or exact release dates yet), the Kin One and Two look like a combination of the T-Mobile’s old Sidekick sliders (which were developed by a company now owned by Microsoft) and Motorola’s new Motoblur service, which pushes an endless stream of Twitter, Facebook, Windows Live, and MySpace updates to Moto’s Android phones.

Oh, blech. Project Puke is more like it.

Good news for the guys at Atebits in the form of 401k and dental discounts, but bad news for the rest of us who prefer other Twitter apps that are not “official”.

Twitter has just announced that it has acquired Atebits, the company behind the Tweetie iPhone app and Mac desktop application.

In a blog post, Twitter CEO Evan Williams announced the move to acquire Tweetie and its creator, Loren Brichter. There is no word yet as to what Twitter will do with Tweetie, but it’s almost certain that the app will become the basis for Twitter’s official iPhone app.

One of the best things about Twitter has been the fact that there is no “official” Twitter anything when it comes to applications. The fact they chose Tweetie over Twittelator Pro shows they weren’t truly interested in focusing on innovative of killer apps.

Twittelator Pro is, and has been, the best Twitter app for the iPhone since I got my iPhone, and believe me, I have tried them all.

Boo on you Twitter for making anything “official”. That doesn’t mean it’s the best.

Vietnam has rejected accusations by Internet giant Google that Vietnamese computer users have been spied on and political blogs hacked into.

The US-based firm last week said infected machines had been used both to spy on their owners as well as to attack blogs containing messages of political dissent.

“These are groundless opinions,” Nguyen Phuong Nga, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told AFP.

When was the last time a hacker admitted hacking a computer? Duh.

This just in: Apple has sent invites to the press for a special event in Cupertino, Calif., on Thursday. The occasion: the unveiling of the next major version of the iPhone OS. Could multitasking for the iPhone — or even the iPad — finally be at hand?

Apple sent out the press invites Monday morning, according to Engadget. The invite itself is cryptic, as usual, with nothing more than the shadow of a large number “4″ stretching across a blue background, plus a caption: “Get a sneak peek into the future of the iPhone OS.”

I love it when Mr. Jobs adds features and fun to my phone. I wish he could add features and updates to my Canon camera. How cool would that be?

I can hardly wait to see what’s up.

Apple Inc sold more than 300,000 iPads on the tablet computer’s first day in stores, a strong showing that roughly matched Wall Street forecasts and mirrored the iPhone’s debut in 2007.

Despite a solid opening weekend, which prompted several investment banks to raise their earnings and revenue forecasts, the bigger test will come later this year, as consumers outside the company’s core fan base size up the iPad.

Questions remain about whether consumers will shell out $500 or more for a device that fits between a smartphone and a laptop, and which Apple hopes pioneers a new class of device.

If my A/C hadn’t gone out, they would have sold 300,001.

I haven’t seen one. I am smitten. I’m almost as smitten as I was when I found out that items at the big and tall clothing store were more affordable than I thought they were going to be. Okay, yeah, so, I am not very tall, but I was getting quite big.

US media outlets are gushing like star-struck lovers over the Apple iPad in early reviews as software makers hustle to ready programs for its much-anticipated sales launch on Saturday.

The few blessed by Apple to receive review copies of the iconic California firm’s latest creation were clearly smitten with the notepad-sized gadget.