Lost Iphone

So there is a story that has been recently released about the new iPhone 4.0 being left in a bar by an Apple employee. The prototype was sold to a tech website who released the story initially. From the looks of it the only changes so far are cosmetic but Apple finally failed at keeping something a secret, and of course the employee was fired and the prototype was returned.

Ipad breaks 500,00 sales mark

Read an article a few minutes ago off of a digg link that talked about apple selling 500,000 units of their newly released Ipad already. To me, that is completely mind blowing because of all the features a device like that doesn't have. For $500 you get a large iPhone that can't take pictures or edit them, can not multitask which businesses these days rely on, and it is no more mobile than a standard laptop. So in short, if you already have an Iphone and access to a computer...then the iPad is really not needed and if you dont already have smartphone, then the iphone or android devices will meet your needs better.

Job Hunt

Started looking around for a part time summer job today, guess I kind of got a late start but I find it more important to do well in school than to have a few months worth of experience. I already have a weak gpa at 2.5 but a 3.0 in upper div classes. Registered to take summer classes a few days ago and to re-take a class I failed when i was not taking school seriously for my last semester. Hopefully I can get out of here with a 3.5 but I am so burnt out on school that I have struggled with my grades this semester and dropped from a constant A/B on my final grades to what looks like a few B's with mostly C's. People say grades aren't everything but grades are the only thing that your first employer has to go off of. I guess I will be happy if i get out with a 2.8 but I feel like I will have a hard time getting a job despite how hard I have worked the last 2 years of college, that one year that I didnt do anything will look worse that the 2 years I aced everything from calculus to stats to networking.

CCNA

Started catching up on my CCNA book again today, a lot of interesting things still to learn. I still feel like I should be learning some kind of new programming language or mastering a language that i have already learned the basics to like VB or C# if i want to get a job quick after graduation. But i would rather do something i enjoy that going to a 9-5 everyday doing something i hated to do in college, but i guess sometimes you just gotta suck it up and do what it takes for a while.

Neural Network Applications

From what I understand neural network applications are an artificial way for technology to predict, simulate, perform functions such as playing chess, recognizing patterns as seen in facial recognition, or something as practical as email spam filtering in which people use everyday without even realizing it. One real word example would be sales forecasting, this lets a company know what to expect about a product or their whole line of products future sales. This is a very popular application that has shown to be very useful for companies. Another example would be risk management which will show the risks that a company might have when investing in another company, product, or just from a change day-to-day operations.

Healthcare

im still not sure why so many people are upset about healthcare, I dont think people utilize the right resources or any for that matter to form their own opinion. If you do or don't like it, that's fine but if I ask why then I don't expect something that came straight for CNN or Fox News.

10 Ideas for the next 10 years

Bandwidth is defined as the capacity to move information through a channel, so the more information you move through a channel the more bandwidth you use. So with all the smart phones out like an iPhone watching videos and downloading apps are requiring more bandwidth than expected. Some companies already saw this like Apple and implemented a Wifi option into their iPhone and encourages users to use this option when they can. So the problem becomes can we rely on companies like Comcast and AT&T to upgrade their services in order to keep up with the demand, and if they don't then customers will go to the company that will, assuming one does. If not the minor information traffic jams we get today might turn in to a full scale information traffic jam later down the road. So if we keep using the internet as much as we like, which it seems that there is no indication that we will anytime in the near future, then someone will have to figure out a way to solve this problem if we all want the advantage of having a high-bandwidth connection to the internet.

Social Networking

I never realized how much useless time I spend on social networking sites like Facebook without actually gaining any useful knowledge what so ever. Although it is nice to be able to quickly talk to friends and family, the information being posted on some sites is completely and utterly useless. I do however think some sites like Twitter do at least to some degree offer useful knowledge. I am a follower of many big IT companies like Cisco, that I like to read whats new and what is their take on whats happening in the IT world. I guess it all depends on the person and what their outlook on social networking is.

How far can just having a degree actually take you?

Everyone thinks that just because they have a degree that they are entitled to a job wherever they apply. But what a lot of people don't realize is that nine times out of ten if your applying for a job fresh out of college against someone who maybe went to one year of college or never went but has a some experience in what the company is looking for or if he spent the 4 years while you were in college learning programming languages or cisco based switches while you were learning about accounting or writing an english paper. I simply hate the fact that I come to college and waste two years of my life on these general education requirements that are so easy and simple that I didnt even have to do anything but show up for tests. I took the hardest classes possible in high school to "prepare" myself for college because I was told that was what was best for me. Then i get here and sure enough im sitting in a college algebra class which was easier than algebra 2 in high school then sitting in a calculus class which I learned in high school as well. Why does MTSU waste my time testing my knowledge on math when I can ace the classes that are "required". Please someone explain to me while im setting up a network will i need to know about how the body breaks down sugars, or if I am doing database work when will that accounting class come in handy? If i was being taught 4 years of relevant knowledge instead of being tested again on material I already knew to begin with then I would be better off when I graduate.

Top PC maker?

Who exactly does make the best home computer while having a reasonable price? Dell? no, despite their insane amount of sales, buying a dell is basically buying a computer that was mass produced with cheap parts and sold for cheap to schools and businesses based solely on their price. I have never seen a dell machine that I thought would be a good buy. HP? While Hp does make a good computer, they do have their own problems, not as bad as dell but I can always find one little thing that just irritates the piss out of me about an HP computer. How about Apple? I swear if apple cut the prices of all their computers in half then all the critics would shut up. But apple wont ever do that, especially with all the idiots running out to buy anything new apple puts out despite the price. With the price of a regular macbook, you can buy 2 laptops that will outperform the macbook for the same price. I have yet to find one company that just astonishes me with their products and realistic price.

Apple Store

I went into the apple store today in green hills mall to look at keyboards for my MBP, why is it Apple can charge $70+ for a wireless keyboard and people will actually buy them when you can get one from wal-mart that will work with your mac from $20. If you are one of the ones that actually purchase this overpriced crap, your just dumb.

IT jobs

I looked around online this weekend out of curiosity to see just where IT jobs rank right now and surprisingly they are one of the top 5 hottest fields in the country. Makes me feel even better when computer science majors think CIS is just the easy version of their major, yet I can ban my 2 roommates who are CS majors from the wireless internet here and they have no idea what is going on from a simple mac address ban, better yet I like to keep an eye on the traffic every now and then on one of our connections simply because I can and see what sites they are going to. After that though I see why so many CS majors are horrible at social interaction. So CS majors keep coding, I'll be transferring the money from your bank account to mine while your doing that.

Networking

So friday is finally here, couldn't be happier about that. Big weekend ahead, need to catch up on the CCNA book some more. I don't understand why MTSU doesnt just cut out all the classes that aren't really relevant to a IT major anymore. I shouldn't be forced to learn VB if I want to do networking or database work. I feel as if I am teaching myself because my school only offers one class that is in the field in which I am wanting to pursue. Im basically getting a little knowledge about everything, but to be successful in this field you have to know everything there is to know about databases if thats what you want to do or if your like me you need to be certified for networking jobs.

Google OS

Hopefully the new Google OS is a little more just a beefed up version of chrome. But being able to run an online only OS does sound a little exciting but will everything be compatible to take full advantage of things like docs. I know when going from a windows created word document to an OSX machine certain things can get left out. So im curious to see if I created a file on their OS and tried to open it in OSX's Pages if something might be "left out".

CCNA

Bought a CCNA study guide over christmas break and started reading it again today, I thought I knew a decent amount about networking, turns out I have a lot to learn. At least now I know what I need to learn before I graduate so I can have some advantage over others when applying for a job.

Router Firmware

If you have ever messed with your router settings and have thought this doesnt do exactly what im looking for then i suggest trying DD-WRT or Tomato firmware. Its a third party firmware designed to basically turn a $60 router in a $1000 router. But beware of the risks when installing the firmware, if you mess up then you will brick it. I had a power outage at the exact time I just happened to be installing dd-wrt firmware and ended up having a $60 paper weight now.

Wireless n

Why do companies exaggerate so much on the distance these new standards can reach. I think "n" is said to be able to reach up to 450 ft but every router I have ever bought never even got a quarter of that. When I bought my Linksys N router I had trouble connecting in just another room of my apartment. I would love to see a router broadcast a single for what they say it can.

Iphone apps

I finally got around to buying a dev. book on making iPhone apps, trying to get any advantage I can when I graduate next winter. Although learning the android language would be a good idea as well, maybe later in the year i'll pick up a book on that as well.

Ipad for business or casual use?

So will the iPad be more of a "business" oriented product or will just casual people pick it up? From what I have read so far, it seems that there is no point for a business person to pick one up if they have an iPhone and if they don't then the iPhone is still the better choice.

Up late studying...

Trying to find decent websites that can explain the output design and data flow diagrams more in depth... surprisingly, not many hits so far.

Packet Analyzing

Is it bad to analyze packets from other user's on your own network? It is my network after all, they have the option to not use it. I feel if you use my network and your someone that I don't like to begin with. Why not mess with your connection some? Why not randomly kick you off? Is it morally wrong to steal information from a roommate that is using my connection? Maybe. But is it illegal. No.

3-D TV's

Recently heard on a podcast about upcoming announcements from to TV manufactures on a new line of 3-D TV's. Sounds like a good idea to me, but didn't LED just come out. And do consumers have to wear 3-D glasses all the time? Whats the cost of these new TV's? Is it going to be outrageous or at least affordable for those of us who don't have thousands and thousands of dollars laying aroud.

Google OS

Ready to see Google's new internet based OS. Hopefully its more than just Chrome being touted as an OS. Would like to see some new features be upgraded like Google Docs before I make any switch.

Facebook Virus

Read an article on Digg today about a virus being spread through a "Facebook" anti-virus app. Why would anyone be so neive to download an anti-virus app from a social networking site?

Ubuntu...again.

Installed Ubuntu again today, not a huge fan of Linux. But I love the fact I can crack WEP and WPA keys without any needed programs. To bad it takes days to crack a good WPA password.

Mac vs PC

By now we have all seen the famous "Mac" commercials degrading PC's on all their downfalls but is there really any need to do so or better yet is there even a point to it? Im a mac user, I love my macbook pro, I dont know what I would do without it. But i also own a PC for school work and gaming. Mac users argue that their macbooks never break down, which mine did due to a bad battery and I also had to have my shell replaced along with a new network card. A main point Mac users use is that mac's dont get viruses, which is a huge misconception. A Mac can get a virus or else Apple would not have tried to secretly implement anti-virus and anti-spyware software into their latest Snow Leopard upgrade. There is a difference in not getting viruses due to the lack of hackers not coding viruses to attack Mac's and Mac's simply just not being able to get any. While PC users have to deal with malicious attacks constantly along with a slew of vulnerabilities and problems from the Windows operating systems. Coming from a person that uses both systems equally, they are equal. One is not better than the other. Each just offers certain advantages and disadvantages that i might discuss in another post. But for know if your a Mac user, your thousand dollar macbook is not better than the HP or Dell laptop the guy sitting next to you owns just because you have overpriced parts which is another topic for another day. You as a Mac user spent the money for the advantages of having a Mac not because your smarter than the guy who bought the PC. Remember this, if Mac's were so superior to PC's and OSX is SO MUCH better than Windows XP/Vista/7 then why in the world did Apple implement Bootcamp and why do so many companies develop VM software so Mac users can run Windows along side OSX? Oh wait, my macbook pro cant do everything that my PC can including run MS Office effectively, play 99% of video games, and even access some websites properly. On a final note, when you are thinking your smarter and better cause you have a Macbook, I bet the guy sitting next you is thinking how dumb you are for spending so much money on a computer that is inferior to his and he paid half the price.

Is Itunes killing music?

Itunes is a very popular online music store by apple if not the most popular. Through this application you can manage all your songs you have purchased or imported from cd's or other media. You may also buy music, which is the point of this blog. A user may buy a single song instead of buying a whole cd at your local store. This has been going on for years and people are just now seeing the effects of it. A music artist is not as worried about making a whole cd good, but making a single song a hit on Itunes. Music is no longer about telling a story or hearing about an experience similar to one you might have incurred. It has turned into which song will be downloaded and played the most on itunes and on the radio. An artist no longer has to spend months making a cd, but can make a single hit song then when the song starts to die down just release another one. I love Itunes, i dont wanna buy a whole cd if i only want to buy one or two of my favorite songs off of an album but is the price of getting lower quality music in the long run really worth it?

Direct Download

As i mentioned in my last blog, blu ray movie cost are through the roof. What is their competition now with hd-dvd out of the race a long time ago. Well it is DD or direct download. This service is pretty popular especially on popular gaming machines like the xbox 360 or even as far as the popular apple tv. You can download HD movies for half the price of that you would have to pay in a retail store while only sacrificing the fact that you wont have a physical copy of the disk. Will this new way of watching movies take off and leave blu ray behind like it never existed? Possibly. We will know soon.

Blu Ray

With all the talk about getting the best HD experience Blu-Ray has really taken off. The steep price it had a few years ago has really dropped off to a more affordable price for everyone. But the prices of the movies are not being managed very well. If you didnt know most if not all blu ray players can upconvert dvd's for a better HD experience, with that being said a new release dvd can be found for as cheap as 9.99 at your local best buy for a short period of time so they can boost the sales of the movie. While to get the "true" HD experience with the blu-ray version it will run you upwards of $30. Now thats a lot of money to pay for a movie no matter who you are, are movie companies really that dumb to think more and more people are learning how to pirate movies as every day passes. With a little knowledge and knowing where to look you can have the same movie for the sole price of a single blu ray, which of course will come out to be around $2. In my next post I'll talk about direct download or "DD" war going on with blu-ray.

Data, information, knowledge and wisdom

We often think of data as information, which is not what it is. Data is something we use as a way to obtain information, we use data to make decisions and to learn. When data becomes information, that information is used as a way of knowledge. Knowledge is the result we get from learning and using the information we obtained from the data. Data and information can be shared, but when knowledge is shared it becomes a much more valuable asset than when the previous two are shared. People then use one of the most revered assets on the planet, knowledge, and use it. When this knowledge is used it is thought of to be wisdom. When you are "wise" on a subject I would think you would have went through the process I described and in turn you have a very valuable asset.

Ipad

As Apple will call their new tablet PC. But will this new ipad set the benchmark for ideas and technology to follow or be just another big flop? I think as long as the ipad has only minor glitches and nothing major it will succeed.

Well I can tell school is back to normal..staying up late doing homework and always having something to do. Always busy between my home life, school, lacrosse, and weight lifting.

Apple

The Apple Tablet seems to be hyped to levels unseen since the Segway. Will mall security be the only people that use one?

Microsoft’s financial results and its deal with Yahoo have motivated Google to launch a marketing campaign aimed at Microsoft’s enterprise revenue. The marketing will escalate because Microsoft and Yahoo now threaten Google’s crown jewels of search and advertising. Google wants to gut Microsoft’s strongest money machines, which are its applications and enterprise software. Google has been moving slowly into a position from which an attack on Microsoft’s core assets could be launched. With the forces in place, Google’s on the offensive.

Google Nexus One

Just read an article about the new Google android based phone, the nexus one. But it wasn't a review, just an interview more so from a guy that should absolutely hate the phone, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Google released the phone with one intention, to out class the widely popular iphone. But Steve has confessed that his favorite gadget is Google's Nexus One. Ouch.

Recent news about Google says that you can now upload any file type to their popular online storage, Google docs. When will Google just code their own productivity suite to where you can do your presentation, paper, or database work all online? Everything would be easily managed, you would have a sufficient amount of storage for your files, access to your gmail account, plus everything else Google has to offer such as Google Books and Earth. All of this done on Google's soon to be released operating system using Google's own web browser, Chrome. Everything a business would need, all from one company in one complete, easy to use package. Plus if your using one of Google's new smart phones, you can have complete access to all this on the go.