Presidential Disconnect

Tonight I read an interesting article the New York Times published on the 15th. It was about President elect Obama having to give up use of his blackberry. Which is viewed as a prized possession for him, and I have no doubt that is, in fact, true reliable information. I realized tonight I have never really thought about the presidential duties from that aspect... Having to give up your simplest personal freedoms and choices to protect the security on one's home country. It wasn't to hard at all to understand. Having freely given up a great deal of my rights to serve in the Marine Corps. It is interesting though, how most of the world might not see minor things like this that make a great impact on those affected. The article mentions how his emails would be printed out and read without using a computer himself to check his own email.

The article also points out current President Bush's response to his semi-forced abandonment of personal email, requesting to cease all personal correspondence via email.

Source: NYTimes

5MP Cell Camera for T-Mobile

Motorola and Kodak teamed together to come up with the Motozine ZN5 which is build by Motorola, but uses Kodak's Perfect Touch technology to produce 5 MegaPixels with clearer, brighter colors. The phone is 99 US dollars with a 2 year service agreement. Features:

• Display: 2.4" 240x320 262k TFT
• 5-megapixel camera, autofocus, Xenon flash
• 350 MB onboard memory; up to 4 GB optional expandable memory holds up to 3,000 images
• Capture and edit modes: panorama, grayscale, sepia, negative, reddish, greenish, blueish
• Digital viewfinder
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• WiFi enabled/WLAN: 802.11 b/g/i
• FM Radio
• Kodak Easyshare Software included

The best feature is the 5MP camera with the convenience of WiFi, although that's my opinion. Do you know of any cell phones with those features... for 99 bucks?

Pictures and information: motorola.com

U.S. Gov Drops Advanced DOD Satellite Imagery Plans

The Department of Defense had planned to launch a program to produce advanced detailed satellite images for an estimated 1.8 billion. Private consumer companies GeoEye and DigitalGlobe have already commidted to produciting the same results for a much cheaper price. The DOD has arranged an agreement with these companies. The images will support the DOD for an undetermined amount of time, the US might advance it's capabilities in the near future. Making it more self sufficient.

Police use GPS as a Crime Tool

I'm a law abiding citizen 99 percent of the time... with a few "Shouldn't have gone through that yellow light" thrown in there. So why wouldn't I want police officers and detectives to use what's available to make this world we live in any safer? That's right I don't care, I want them to use the technology.

Recently in Pittsburgh, there's been controversy over use of GPS technology to track locations of criminals, suspects, or Megan Law violators. This technology has been of great use to law enforcement officers in the area. It is often much more effect and more efficient than sending out an officer to pursue the suspect. As in big cities and facing a large variety of underturmined escape routes if the suspect recognizes a tail behind him.

The case is being brought up to the supreme court for undermined specifics explained in Pennsylvania Law.

What ELSE affects Credit Score?

Everyone's heard pay your bills on time, pay back all your loans...
but what else affects your credit rating? This table shows you what
portion of each aspect effects your score. You may want to take note.

Lobbying in the United States

Be informed.

Newegg is now part Canadian!

Yes, really. If you count they now launched they're official Canadian site. For those of you who don't know what Newegg is... they sell electronics. They're a favorite of mine. Yes pretty lame blog post but hey... it didn't cost you anything. The Canadian link can be reached here: http://www.newegg.ca/.

Bailout, Rescue, Hello Debt?

Well, actually it's all three. We are in fact, bailing out those companies (which exactly get a portion of the moneys is to be determined) who are in disarray. Mostly the bank and housing area. The original 700 billion 3 page plan was written up and supported by most... Senator McCain and Obama both supported but each had their own individual stipulations that wished to be included. Although, in the vote Democrats and Republicans failed to pass the action. Now the new plan is 810 billion... not sure where they pulled that number from... but thats it. Wall street wants rescued... Do I feel like the government should get involved? Do you feel those companys should continue to run their businesses the way they have... or should they reevaluate and figure things out within? Or should they be bought out by another company looking to diversify or a competitor thats not struggling and has the resources to buy?
One thing is for certain... change.

King Android?

This is it... we've reached a point where every cell phone (almost) is leaping to get ahead or somewhat near the ever-so-famous iPhone. There's a reason for it. The iPhone is awesome. I'm not going to talk about it anymore.... Although, I am going to talk about Google's first cell phone. Which is seeming like the best alternative to that phone, to me anyways. Its got WiFi, GPS, bluetooth, touch screen, qwerty keyboard stashed underneath, four actual physical buttons, and a track ball. The buttons are great because it doesn't matter what screen your on you still have those dedicated buttons. It will be available the third week of October for $179 through T-mobile. My favorite cell company for texting plans. Head to http://www.google.com/mobile/index.html for information on Google and it's multi-cellular capabilities.

Update: (Oct. 30, 2008) Wal-Mart customers can now buy the handset for a discounted $148.88, for new customers who sign up for a two-year contract.

Government Control isn't always Bad

Sometimes the government intervenes in our free market society. Take for example Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, whom recently wrote a letter to the major wireless carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon) asking each of them Whats up with pricing? His letters ask specifically; Why have prices on text messaging doubled since 2005? The size of texts has stayed at 160 characters and the technology hasn't changed... so why the doubling of the price?

Thats what senator Kohl wants to find out. He doesn't think these companys should raise the cost because it takes away the competition from the consumers, whom rely on competition for the best prices. Kohl asked for a reply by October sixth, so we will hear more about this next month.

Depending on their replys, which most (if not all) of them will be loaded with bullshit excuses, will determine the reponse by the government...
Time will tell.

iPhone 3G Fix?

Good news could be here for iPhone 3G owners. Apple has released an update (2.1) to help fix the problem associated with the chip that switches from EDGE to 3G that so many users had complains about. Apples website lists twelve updated and/or fixed features.

Among them is support for "Genius" the new software that works in iTunes to create playlists automatically from your songs already in iTunes. All you do is pick one song you like and "Genius" arranges other songs that fit with the one you picked. Although, the process involves sending information about your entire iTunes library to Apple to get other users involved in the more perfect fit of "Genius" Playlists.

Another feature worth noting is: "Dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes". Who actually likes waiting for backups anyways?

For the complete list of improvements and how to upgrade, go to Apple.com.

Eyes in the Sky

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California was the site of a Delta II rocket launch that a variety of companies were involved with, including: ULA (a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin), GeoEye, Google, NASA, and General Dynamics (the builders of the satellite). This satellite named GeoEye-1 (GeoEye-2 is scheduled to be launched in 2011). This satellite will travel at 4.5 mps in space taking much higher resolution pictures than that available today. Although Google Earth will have exclusive rights to these photographs the public will not see such clear or close images for privacy reasons. The government will have access to these pictures and be able to see objects as small as sixteen inches in width from above.

You can visit geoeye.com for media and more information.

Music has a Buddy

A new website that sells music has come to my attention and it's very different that all previous services. Enter POPcuts. It gives credits (essentially money) to users who bought the song already after more people buy it. Example: New U2 single comes out at midnight on the site... Many people will probably buy it. So if your the very first person to buy it, everyone there after who purchases it (all songs 99 cents) will contribute a portion to your account.

Pretty cool isn't it? You can visit the site here: Popcuts

CarTube?

The second device isn't as cheap but comes at a different angle. DriveCam is actually two cameras in one that constantly record video forward of the vehicle windshield and behind it as well. Recordings over 10 seconds old will be erased and the camera continues this cycle until an "event" occurs. These events are hard braking, swerving, collisions, etc. The small windshield mounted unit also sends (wireless- through cell network) "event" recordings (every night)to a secure website for you or your parents to review. This system is priced at $899.00 US dollars directly from Drivecam.com or it's free (usage) for American Family Insurance automobile insurance policyholders. American Family Insurance is available in the following states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
If interested you can visit their program online at Teensafedriver.com. Note: This program does not change premiums.

Keep that Old Car Around!

There's some pretty sweet devices out there now-a-days for car insurance companies that benefit consumers as well. The first is from Progressive, which I am in no way endorsing... I just happen to like this particular road they've visited, pun intended. They call it MyRate, and the name fits well. Not only does this device install easily, it could lower a drivers insurance tremendously. It records miles driven, miles during high-risk times, and aggressive acceleration and deceleration. You just plug it into your car's diagnostic port under the console/dash (note: your car must be 1996 model or newer). There's a few bad things about it though. One, your rates could go up if you drive a lot or say... break erratically. Two, you must be (as this date) in the following states: Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Oregon. Three, your state might charge a 30 dollar technology charge for some reason.

I thought it was interesting. You can visit the site here: MyRate