Twitter, Google Street View, AT&T, and Apple whiners

Reading the news headlines these past couple weeks makes me shake my head in wonder. I'm amazed at the ignorance of people out there that spew their opinions based on nothing more than fear, misinformation, and ignorance. What do I mean? Read on.

Twitter has been getting a lot of hate lately. Comments range from I don't care to read when someone eats or goes the bathroom to I don't want to know the inane details of people's lives. As a Twitter user, I can say that I've never read a tweet like any of those mentioned above. I only follow people I know, and they tweet things with substance. We are a group of friends separated by hundreds of miles and this is a way we can keep in touch, plan get togethers, or meet up with each other if we are in town. Other people on twitter use it to follow news, or world events. Sure, if you read unfiltered tweets you may run across the lame "eating dinner now" tweet, but most people don't use twitter like that.

Google Street View is in trouble again. This time the Swiss are making a stink about privacy concerns. I guess what gets me is these people complaining must not realize that if they are outside, their life is no longer private. If they stop at a light, their picture is taken, if they go shopping, they are on surveillance cameras. People have picture phones, cameras, and even spy cameras so your photo can be taken at anytime while you are in public. I don't see anyone coming to the defense of celebrities when photos of them are taken by paparazzi and published in magazines across the globe. But when it happens to you, and you are put on a web site oh my gosh, end of the world. Get a grip. Nobody cares if they see someone they don't know. If you are outside, don't expect privacy. It's almost like saying your privacy has been invaded if someone looks at you. Stop being retards.

AT&T whiners have a somewhat valid thing to whine about if they also happen to own an iPhone. Where is the MMS? Where is the tethering? I am anxious for MMS. Sure, it was something I could deal with not having, but I am sick of not having it now. But I can wait until it rolls out. Those groups that are suing are just retarded. These are the same people that wonder why insurance rates are so high, why malpractice rates are so high, and why lawyers are a dime a dozen.

Apple has been getting hit with a bit of bad press lately. I've given them some myself. Lately I've been seeing two sides to their coverage. Those that bash the "fanboys" and those that want to write an article based on nothing more than speculation and rumor. Stop it already. Everyday I see 30 articles about what Apple may be doing or thinking. And at the end of those articles are people chiming in with their two cents...twittering if you will as it amounts to the same thing.

What Apple says about Google voice; and why I call BS

So in Apple's letter response to the FCC they state that they did not in fact reject the Google Voice App. They state that they are still pondering it because of the following reasons: It duplicates the iPhone's call and SMS features, which could confuse users and it transfers contacts to Google servers, making Apple question how secure that would be.

Now here is why I call bullshit. First, Google Voice at this time is by invite only. Users of this service are more tech savy than the casual user. Meaning I think they would understand that if they click the Google Voice App that they downloaded it would be giving them different phone features than if they clicked the iPhone phone App.

Reason two of why I cry bullshit is this. If a user chooses to sync their contacts with Google, or Yahoo they are in effect putting their contacts on those servers. I know at this time I sync with Google and any contact on my phone is automatically and almost instantly synced to their server from my phone. This is my favorite feature as it backs up all my contacts in a second place.

So for Apple to specifically site the contact sync as a reason for stalling is complete and utter bullshit because they already allow it. I only hope someone from the FCC reads this and asks Apple to clarify why it is OK for it to happen with an Apple app, but not a Google app.

I am very curious why Google opted to keep part of their response private. I can only imagine that it slams Apple in some way and they did not want that public. Part of their letter was blatant in the fact that they had no restrictions on App approval for their Android store, nor was the Android store the only means of getting apps for Android based phones. This thinly veiled slam against Apple makes me think even more was said not viewable by the public.

Obama and National Healthcare...

I have blogged about this before, but with recent events it seems worth a small revisit. Tempers are hot on both sides of the debate, and seemingly both sides have valid points. Here is the thing, from my perspective and limited knowledge. Me talking from my ass if you will, although I'm doing it from the standpoint of I have done some research in this matter. More so than the average American anyway...

First and foremost, to date our GOVERNMENT has bankrupted social security, made a mess of Medicaid, and has passed huge bailout money to failing companies that have deserved to fail due to shady business practices. Do we really trust them to run yet another healthcare/welfare program?

On one side of the aisle people will scream about the 20 million Americans without healthcare. The one fact though is anyone that really needs to see a doctor can not be turned away, even if they are uninsured. So in reality everyone can get healthcare if they need it.

The other side to include me states this. I make my own way in life, I do not need GOVERNMENT taking care of me. When you start letting the government run things for you those things become bogged down. Red tape is introduced in to your life, and so is a bit more government control. Look at welfare. Sure, it has helped many thousands of people that really needed it. But for every one person it has helped, it has created five more just looking for a free handout. Why work if someone else will? Now welfare limps along helping some and causing freeloaders of more. The scary thing is this mentality is passed down from parent to child and the cycle never breaks.

The side that is for social healthcare wants to point at the Netherlands. Look how great it is over there! We want that! Do they want the 60% or higher tax to go along with it? No, they only want to tax the "rich" ie those who make $250,000 or more a year. Well that "rich" number is getting lower with time. Why do you think Obama and the Dems want this rushed through so fast? So we the people don't realize how messed up it is until it is too late.

Lets look at the Netherlands again. They have been doing social healthcare longer than anyone else. The long term result of government control is cutting the budget because this system is expensive! In the Netherlands patricide and infanticide are common practice. "My parents are too old and can no longer function." Bye Bye. "I'm sorry, your son was born with deformities." Bye Bye. So what Palin may have been trying to say is just that. The end result becomes something we just may abhor.

My last and final point, and perhaps the strongest one of all is this. If social healthcare is soo flipping great then why are members of congress above it? If it isn't good enough for them, it isn't good enough for me or my family either. When congress can hammer out a social healthcare system that includes them, I will be all for it. But the fact they make sure to spell out they will be exempt from it tells me it isn't as great as they tell me it is. Until this changes, join with me and tell Obama "Thanks, but NO Thanks!"

Microsoft Word case and other anomolies

A judge has ordered an injunction against any sale of Microsoft Word until the case is settled. A lot of MS bashers are probably rejoicing at this news. The main problem I see with this case is a problem with our flawed legal system and our very flawed patent system. The so called patent sounds like it is trying to put a patent on XML, which is open source code and also what word is based on. I am sick and tired of second rate companies popping up out of the woodwork with a patent against a large successful company with their hands out wanting money. It is this type of behavior that has our legal costs, and insurance costs out of control. If you have a legit claim that is one thing, but I for one am tired of all these "broad patent filings" that are filed just to make a quick buck off someone else. Where was this company 10 years ago? 15 years ago? Word has been around for quite awhile and to lay claim to it now is just retarded. Why would you not open your mouth about a copyright infringement as soon as you were aware of it. Was this company in a cave with Bin Laden for the past decade or so?

Real Networks DVD copying software also has an injunction against sales on it. If you grew up in the 80's and dubbed your tapes and recorded songs of the radio raise your hand. If you copied VHS movies and recorded live TV raise your hand. It wasn't hurting the movie/music business back then, and it isn't hurting them now. So why are they making such a huge fuss over it? It isn't like the common consumer is out making thousands of copies for resale. Fair use is fair use. If I want a backup copy of something I own I should be allowed to do so!

In other news I just read an article that says the fancy telescope Spitzer caught a "rare" collision of planets. The article then states that in the solar system Peacock a 12 million year old star blah blah blah. How do they know it is 12 million years old? They can not even say for sure how old our star is. To state it as fact is ludicrous. To claim they can tell us how old a star is that is 100 light years away is insane. I mean, it would take 100 years at the speed of light to get there, yet they are telling us how old it is? Give me a break.

Trying my hand at the App Store

While looking through the Apple App Store I noticed an App that wasn't there that should be. Why should it be there you wonder? Because it is something that is quite popular, yet nobody has done it for the App store yet, that is why. So what is this mystery app that I speak of? Not telling you. Not yet anyway. I have to get it built first silly, or some random reader could steal my idea and get it done before I do. I believe that I have discovered an untapped niche on the App Store and plan on filling it nicely.

Actually my idea was for two separate Apps, but I decided it would be a better value to combine them in to one solid App. The only problem I had was I'm not a programmer. I don't know C, Progressive-C or any other variant. Lucky for me I remembered a good friend from my Air Force days that is becoming pretty slick with programming. A few emails later and I have a partner.

Now I'll see firsthand how rough or easy working with Apple can be. I'm curious how they will respond to my niche. Perhaps it is unfilled because they refuse to approve these type of Apps. Perhaps nobody has tried it yet. I will keep you updated on the process as things develop.

MacBook Pro 17" review after 6 months of use

Roughly six months and some change ago I finally purchased a 17" MacBook Pro. At the time I also opted for several upgrades including 4 gigs of ram, the faster of the two available processors, and the 7800 rpm 320 gig hard drive. This setup is probably overkill for a typical user, but I do a lot of graphic intensive work so it was needed. Thanks to student loans I was also able to grab the 24" LCD monitor made just special for MacBooks.

So after using this setup for six months I thought I would write a type of follow up review. How does OS X work after lots of daily use for this amount of time? Has the laptop slowed down like windows does? Any issues pop up? Only these kinds of questions can be answered with time.

In short, I was at one time a loyal windows user. At one time I even hoped that Apple would just go away. Then Mr. Jobs came back to Apple and revived the company like nobody's business. In short, I most likely will never own a PC again. Yes, I like my MacBook that much.

The biggest love I have for my MacBook is the HUGE track pad. I love this thing. I have even stopped using my Wacom Tablet for everything but tasks that need the utmost accuracy. Surfing the web with that track pad is great. Two fingers up or down scroll the page. Three fingers left or right move you forwards or backwards in history, two finger tap for a right click. Four finger up or down swipe to see all open windows/programs and moving the chosen one to the front. It's perfect, easy, and quicker than a mouse. My only gripe is the three finger forward and back swipe isn't as responsive as it should be at times. But all in all this is truly a must have feature and I can't imagine not having it now that I've used it this long. As a side note, it makes going to a tiny PC track pad a nightmare as I'm constantly fighting with it as my fingers intuitively want to use the Apple gestures now.

When Apple says it just works, they mean it. I have an older Epson printer, copier, scanner deal. It will not work with a PC unless you use the included disk to install the software and drivers. With Vista I had to go online and find the Vista drivers after using the disk just to make it work. The entire process takes about a half hour or longer. On a whim I plugged it in to my MacBook Pro and wham, it recognized the printer and printed my pages out. No setup, nothing. Last week I had to print out a resume'. My printer was out of ink so I went next door to borrow my neighbors printer. His was even older and even though the driver for his model wasn't found, I used one that was close from the drop down list and bam, I was in business. This is just something Apple has done right that a PC can only dream of doing at this time.

The speed is still roughly the same as when I first bought it. Sure, at times I get the spinning wheel of death. Nothing is perfect, not even a Mac. Menus fly open, programs load quickly, so the speed side of things is great, still, after six months of heavy usage.

Battery life was never as good as advertised. But then again I don't use my system in the most battery saving way either. I like my screen bright when I edit photos or watch movies. I never use the slower of the two processors. I tried using the slower one for awhile but didn't like it. After being used to the speed of the faster one I just couldn't bring myself to wait those few seconds longer. With ample power around me why bother with it?

So what is a typical usage day for me? I usually have Safari open, Firefox, and iTunes open at all times. When I'm doing graphic design work I will also have open Adobe Bridge, Photoshop, and depending on what I'm working on also Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and sometimes Flash. My MacBook setup handles this with ease. I have the entire Adobe Creative Suite which includes 10 memory hogging programs. I opened and used all of them at once and barely noticed a slowdown in performance. With eight gigs of ram I know it would be even better!

So you may be wondering with all this good what is the bad? Well, the bad for me so far has been minimal. This baby runs hot with usage. At times it is almost uncomfortable on my lap. Sometimes software isn't developed for it as fast as for windows. (I'm still waiting for Chrome, Google!) Although it doesn't happen often, the spinning wheel of death is a pain. With the setup I have it shouldn't happen ever...at least not when all I have open is two browsers and iTunes. Many people hate the glossy screen. After using it for 6 months I like it. It does seem to attract dirt or get a greasy looking spot on it. I'm not sure how this happens as I never touch the screen, but it happens. My biggest gripe really is the keyboard. I miss the number pad to the right. I would have though it would be included on the 17" model due to the extra room. I'm one of those that learned to use it and I miss it not being there.

All in all though, I have found my user experience to be more enjoyable on a Mac than it ever was on a PC. Things just work. I don't have spyware or virus problems, and everything is still as speedy as the day I bought it even though I have loaded up on lots of programs. Sure, the initial investment was a bit higher. But I also got a lot of software included that I would have had to buy with a PC. In the end the cost evens out one way or another. With Apple you pay it up front. With a PC you spread it out a little.