As some of you have read I’ve made my share of rants in which I declare that if Microsoft keeps doing or not doing something or heading in particular direction I dislike that my next phone will without any doubt be Android as soon as someone makes a GSM version of something like the Nexus One but with a hard keyboard. I don’t want to look soft. I need to preserve my street cred up in here and to do that I need to make good on these Google phone threats soon. Not interested in the Droid, no one seems to be in love with its keyboard plus I’m in Luke Wilson’s camp about talking and surfing at the same time being a key component to a fulfilling life. And now that Google’s selling AT&T versions of the Nexus One, the only thing (other than $529) keeping me trapped into a world of nonstop reboots and GPS tweaking adventures is my need for a hard keyboard. But damn, the Nexus One, good to go on AT&T right now, who knows how long I’d have to wait for a successor with a keyboard. If I could just get over my fear of soft keyboards then I could talk trash with twice the authority having finally seen the promised land. Seems everywhere I look I see people using soft keyboards and they appear to be happy with their lives and no matter how fast I type they just won’t look at me and my badass keyboard. They won’t look. Could anyone please talk me into outgrowing the hard keyboard? Doug Simmons Continue Reading »

We all know the power of the Internet for good. It offers a wealth of information, connects people who are miles and cultures apart, and allows news to be disseminated instantly. But I recently learned of a young man whose reputation, and perhaps his life, has been devastated because of information, later proved to be erroneous, that was circulated through email and social media. His story illustrates the dark side of information in the 21st century and confirms our need to ensure that, in our real-time, instant-access world, the information that is spread through cyberspace is both timely and accurate. Here’s what happened. This young man, I’ll call him Steve, was stopped by police in a small Midwestern town in which he grew up following reports of suspicious behavior (he was taking photos of houses and businesses as part of research for documenting his family tree). A search of the man’s car revealed rope, duct tape, a ski mask, a pair of black gloves, and a hammer in the trunk (the supposed tools of the trade of kidnappers and child molesters). But, as there was no evidence of a crime, Steve was allowed to continue on his way. Nothing that unusual or untoward so far. Here’s where things start to get out of hand. After the stop, the local police contacted the police department of Steve’s current town of residence and that town’s police mistakenly told them that he was a suspect in a 2002 local child abduction/molestation case. Despite the fact that this information was wrong and Steve had no criminal record beyond a few traffic violations, one of the police officers passed this information, that included his name and photo, on to administrators at the local schools via an email. In response, school officials copied parts of the officer’s email into a notice that was sent to parents. From there, the high-performance engine of social media took over. Out of genuine concern I’m sure, someone posted the notice that included Steve’s identity and the unfounded allegations on Facebook and the misinformation went viral. There are several unsettling aspects of this unfortunate use of social media. First, as I have noted in a previous blog post, the speed and ease of spreading information online can preclude people from taking the time to think deliberately about issues and decisions before acting on them. The result? A lot of poor judgments and bad decisions with the associated collateral damage. Second, as we know from media events from the recent past, once information makes it into cyberspace, regardless of its veracity, it will remain there and can haunt people in perpetuity. Third, research has shown that information that makes it to the Web continues to be believed even when later information is posted that demonstrates it to be false. So, no matter how hard people who are sullied by misinformation or downright lies try to clear their name, there is no way to remove that harmful cyber footprint. Would much of this sad tale have happened without social media? Of course. Bad things happening to good people and people making poor decisions didn’t start with the public launch of the Web in 1994. But, to paraphrase the Oscar-winning film, The Hurt Locker, the blast area wasn’t nearly as large nor the damage as extensive. There have been more egregious examples of how social media can be used as weapons, for example, the growing problem of cyberbullying through mean-spirited web sites and texting as tragically exemplified by the suicide of Megan Meier in 2006. But Steve’s story demonstrates how the reputation and perhaps life of an innocent person can be summarily ruined as a result of an equally innocent, yet misconstrued, occurrence, poor due diligence and decision making on the part of people who should know better, and, ultimately, the power of social media. Note: Some of the information included in this post was obtained from a local newspaper article reporting on the story. Ordinarily, I would include a link to the article, but to protect Steve from further attention, I am not doing so. Continue Reading »

OpenMobileMaps is an app that is being developed by Cipher over at XDA. This app is very similar to GoogleMaps but it relies on openstreetmap.org. Some of the features of this app are:

• showing map in fullscreen
• finger friendly user interface
• map tiles are automatically downloaded if internet connection is available
• map tiles are stored locally for offline use
• GPS support and GSM triangulation
• show actual position on map
• follow-mode to automatically scroll the map
• search addresses (testing)
• calculate routes (not yet implemented)
• gps and gsm tracking (not yet implemented)
• choose between different OSM servers (not yet implemented)

Download this app here. It is still a work in progress. So try it out and give the developer some feedback at his XDA thread. Continue Reading »

Here is a cool graphic that I came across over at focus.com,  an online business research and media company. This graphic gives us information regarding several different categories of the internet; such as, how many men and how many women use the internet, age group, income level, education level, blog world, and daily usage. I edited the image so that I do not take up too much space on the home page (Dr. Jim ) but if you want to see the whole image just hit the “click here to read more” link. Any speculations on any of this stuff? Or which mobile providers the last graphic is talking about? Continue Reading »

We have certainly criticized AT&T in the past for everything from poor signal to even worse customer service. But, being the fair-minded blokes that we are (no, I’m not a Brit, just seemed like a good fit for us), we must also give credit where credit is due. As reported at engadget.com, tests conducted by PCWorld in 13 U.S. cities ranked AT&T #1 for upload and download speed on the its 3G network. In many cases, speeds were upward of 25% faster than Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. So, here’s to you, AT&T, for a job well done! Continue Reading »