BlackBerry Storm

RIM has finally released the new Blackberry Storm, which should prove to be a worthy competitor for Apple’s Iphone.  The phone features many of the same abilities as the Iphone.  It has a very appealing touch screen, that from reviews thus far, seems to be better than the iphone.  It also comes with browser capabilities as does the iphone.  The network is 3G but instead of the iphone’s AT&T coverage, you get Verizon’s which has been reported to be more reliable.

The biggest downfall of the BlackBerry Storm is the lack of Wifi access that the iphone incorporates. Although the Storm lacks the wifi access, it does have some features not available with the iphone.  The new video recorder is a very large tweak up from the iphone.  The Storm’s camera is also a much nicer.  On the other side of muiltimedia the iphone kills the Storm obviously with the very nice combination of phone and ipod when you get the iphone.

The Storm may not be the best thing that’s ever happened to the cell phone world and could certainly use some tweaks, but at this point in time consumers are begging for another touch screen, as the iphone sells imply.  RIM has not found a perfect phone by any means but at least they are on the right track and are competing with Apple.

Dell decides against releasing new MP3 player

Dell has been in the process of creating a new MP3 player to rival Apple’s IPod.  Until now we were not sure when it could be seen in stores.  At least now we know that it will not be seen this holiday shopping season, Dell reports.  Dell planed on using the technology from Zing Systems, which they bough last year, for organizing and downloading music or videos from notebooks and desktops. 

Dell had previously attempted to enter the mp3 music player competition (if you can call it that with the IPod out) but it failed due to poor sales.  If you’ve been keeping up with the news recently you know that Dell hasn’t been doing so well, along with the rest of the world (Except Apple).  Maybe the thought of launching a new product that had failed no less than 3 years ago isn’t the best idea.  The thought of launching a new mp3 music player alone is probably not going to be the most profitable item considering how Apple has the market cornered.  Dell would need something truely amazing to enter this area of sales and they better do it before Apple thinks of something else. ( Or steals another idea from someone else)  Dell should probably be concentrating on the personal computer market and trying to improve their products and decreasing sales.

Air Force to ‘rewrite laws of cyberspace’

The Air Force has grown tired of countless attacks on their computer networks from users that cannot be traced.  In an article by Wired they plan to “rewrite the laws of cyberspace”.

The United States is a country we would like to think is safe from any kind of cyberspace attack or attempt to gain knowledge over our defense strategys.  This obviously has been a problem recently or the talks of the Air Force trying to rewrite the laws.  Some of the rewrites being considered are: Making hostile traffic inoperable on their networks, locating and identifying once-anonymous users/hackers., and enabling Air AForce servers to evade or dodge electronic attacks.  One would think that our nations computing and Internet defense could already have cracked this down, considering the ill outcomes that this projects. 

The easy part is talking about all this and saying that they will “rewrite” and make critical upgrades to network security.  The harder part is finding a way to do this.  Are they going to rewrite protocols?  That could send the Internet into chaos and will undoubtly fail.  One possibility is writing new protocols for their systems only.  The public will of course be left out of all the details, as we serve a major threat to their sensitive documents as anyone else.  The fact is, there will always be someone wanting to rewrite laws to their advantage or their likes but there are still going to be hackers that WILL find a way into any system that is part of an accessible network.  The only solution is to constantly keep updating the network security and keep a much closer eye on anything that tries to gain access.  Easier said than done…

Windows 7

Recently windows has announced a small layout of their upcoming operating system: Windows 7.  This comes at a relevant time considering apple’s success and recent quarter profits, and also while google is jumping into the mainstream market.  Windows 7 is said to be much faster and is leaving out Windows Mail, Photo Gallery, and Movie Maker.  They can however be downloading for free at microsoft’s website.  This should make the new operating system faster and more clean.  Talks are that the main reason behind this operating system is to take a leg up on the rival google and it’s search abilities, which is a very big task considering how large and productive google is.  Eventually if Microsoft wants to compete with  Google on the search aspect of the Internet then they much come up with a more user friendly and more productive search service.  Windows live has obviously not lived up to that standard.  The solution must be microsoft coming out with better and newer services and software.

Brian Benedict – Essay 3

          When Brian Benedict came to see our class, it had a great influence on me.  Brian talked about how he wanted all of the informatics students to have an opportunity to gain work experience in the field of informatics.  He had my attention at the beginning of his speech because he seemed very dedicated to us (the students).  I was encouraged by his speech and realized i needed to be in the information technology field, and soon.  After signing up for an account on informaticscareers.com.  About a week after posting my resume, I went to see Brian who helped me modify it.  A few days later I had my resume posted and could browse through jobs online.  After sending my resume to a few positions I received and email back for and internship and an on-campus job.  After the interviews i received offers for both, and now work on campus at the UITS.  

          Brian’s speech was a great motivation for me and I believe other students feel the same way.  He has a great influence on the informatics program and is doing a great job at getting students to get involved with the IT workforce.

Computer Literate – Essay 2

          Being computer literate in this day of age is a major advantage.  Computers are used everyday and are continuing to grow even more popular and useful.  Everyday new applications are being developed to help computer users accomplish tasks.  Being computer literate will help users make decisions, stay in touch with other people, and can save an enormous amount of time.  

          Computers are very good at analyzing data, which can help make decisions.  Today many applications exist for helping a user gather data and analyze that data.  Computers can perform calculations at great speeds.  This can help many users depending on the task they are trying to accomplish.  For example, Microsoft Excel can be used to enter data and have the computer perform calculations and analyze that data.  It can then create graphs and charts.  The more computer literate the user is the more applications they can find and learn how to use them more effectively.

         Another great asset of being computer literate is staying in touch with people and staying up to date with the news.  Many users use RSS feeds to keep up with the news today.  There are an array of feeds available to all users.  Another useful concept of staying in touch with the world is through email.  Email allows users to constantly send messages relaying information.  This allows for much faster communications between users.  

Another advantage of being computer literate is the ability to save time using varoius methods of computer usage.  As mentioned earlier, computers can process great amounts of data in small amounts of time.  This can be helpful to businesses when computing different values and when performing analysis.  This does not only apply to people in the business world but also to everyday users working on any type of analysis.  Using computers also cuts down the margin of errors since computers calculations are always accurate depending on the users input.

          In todays world computer usage will continue to grow and no one wants to be left behind.  Computers play a major role in the everyday life of almost every business.  This is one area that will never decline and will keep producing new and better applications and ideas.

Email – Essay 1

         Today email is one of the most widely used applications available on the internet.  Not only is email very convienent but also effective.  It can be used for a wide variety of things.  Advantages include the ability to transfer files, it is a quick way of contacting someone, it is a cheap way of sending messages to people, and email is a very convienent way to send a message.

          Sending important documents over the internet is a neccasity that will always be needed.  Using email allows users to send types of files, including time sensitive, important, documents.  Email also ensures that the message will be sent relativley fast.  This is a major benefit for many users, from a simple setting to the corporate setting.  

          Another benefit that email provides is fact that email is free most of the time, unless signing up for certain email accounts with more features.  This also allows for emailing to be a convienent way of sending a message to someone at any distance.  All that is needed is an internet connection.

          Although there are many benefits of email, there are also a few drawbacks including: spam, viruses, privacy, and the possibility of a message being misunderstood.

          One of the biggest drawbacks of email is electronic junk mail, also known as spam.  Spam is everywhere on the internet and is a very big hassle to remove.  They can include annoying advertisments or some kind of phissing scams.  Viruses are also a vulnerability of email.   As mentioned earlier, email is a great way to send attachments.  Email is one of the most common ways to spread computer viruses.  Internet messages are also weak with privacy.  Emails are sent via the internet obviously, and anything that is sent over the internet is vulnerable to being intercepted by somone you wouldn’t want to be reading your email.  Last, is the concept of being misunderstood in an email message.  Email lacks person-to-person social contact and can be written in a form that is clear to one user but not to another.  This can lead to someone misinterpreting what the email is saying or is meant for.  This can effect all types of users in a negative way.

          After going through this advantages and disadvantages, it is clear that email can be a very useful tool when utilized effectively.

Browser Wars

         Mozilla has again realeased a new version of Firefox.  (Firefox 3.1 beta 1)  This comes after the well known launch of Google Chrome’s Beta version, and right after Internet Explorer released it’s new web browser.  Each company is trying to create some kind of monopoly with web browsing.  Of course this cannot happen, with each browser having their share of loyal users.  But, to an extent it may occur.  Each vendor has upgrades their web browser based on several characteristics, from the GUI to the speed and other performance issues.  

        Firefox has announced that it will be an open source web browser which will help in many ways.  Personally I us, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Mac Safari, and Google’s Chrome, to evaluate each browser and decide for myself.  I have come to think that Firefox is somewhat slower than the others, and after reading an article about CPU use I was proved correct.  To my surprise Internet Explorer had the best performance tests when it comes to the CPU usage.  Users are constantly looking for the next best product.  When it comes to a application used very often, like a browser, finding the best and fastest is a key to your internet use.

Web 2.0

         These days there are a vast amount of ways to find information or news.  Blogs, wiki’s, forums, file sharing sites, youtube, and the list goes on.  Personally I am not a big fan of blogging as when you read a blog you are purely reading the opinion of the blogger and in most cases this can be very far from the truth or even in the right direction at all.  People must understand that absolutely anyone with internet access can create a blog.  Blogs are not the only thing that can have bias though.  Forums also have their share, but some can be very useful if you pick the website with precision. 

         Other forms such as wiki’s allow users to update the webpages without having to be an expert of any kind.  Wikipedia for example will allow anyone to change the material on their website.  This is good because of course the amount of information can be infinite.  The down side is obvious that anyone could post anything they want.  Wikipedia on the other hand, has people checking anything that is updated and verifying it.  This improves the site reliability.  Youtube is another website where users can post almost anything.  This can be used for entertainment or educational purposes.  

         These websites make finding information much easier and faster.  Usually if the users is using common sense and will cross reference his or her facts he should be fine.

Visual Studio 2010

          Microsoft has announced the release of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.  It is always good news to programmers when Microsoft releases their visual studios, as they never fail to impress.  The newer version is set to include a ‘black box’ that will serve the purpose of debugging.  Once an application fails and crashes the program can help very much in the debugging process.  

          Also, added on to the new version will be many more features that will support the assist in projects.  This new application should be a break through for programmers, whom are always looking for the best environment to tackle tough and long projects.  From my experience Microsoft has always delivered a good product for this type of challenge, although the Visual Studio’s do seem to take a longer time to boot up.  This product should not bring any disappointment other than having to wait until the end of 2010 for the product to be shipped.