There is no getting around the fact that when the IPad hit the market a few weeks ago, it was a genuine phenomenon.  It has to drive the powers that be at Google and Microsoft crazy how easily Steve Jobs at Apple seems to be able to put their fingers on what "the next big thing" is and get that to the market. What remains for the other giants of the computer industry to do is to play catch up.  That means getting a pad technology out on the market that has a chance of taking down the IPad.

Google is currently in the design phase to plan a device to hit the market and steal some of the popularity from the IPad.  This is a common trend when it comes to technology. Any time a new and revolutionary technology comes out, the big powers that are not part of that new wave scramble to put out "wanna be" technology that is almost as good as the original.

The only window of opportunity that Google has to beat the IPad in their own market is to exploit any weaknesses that the Apple technology has and put out a product that is not as good as the IPad but better.  For example, one complaint that many IPad owners have is that they fork out $500 for the device and then they get hit with add on after add on to make the IPad more durable and able to do what they want it to do. A cover to protect the sensitive IPad screen costs extra. 

Those "gotchas" that Apple has in place to generate revenue from hooked IPad users irk that user community.  So Google can beat Apple in the add ons game by delivering a product that is durable and functional "as is".  That might mean a cover for the Google version of the IPad that is standard with the original price tag of the unit.  Or it might mean delivering a pad technology that has a touch screen that is just as good as what the IPad can do but much more resilient so a special cover for the screen is not as necessary.  That is a clear better value that Google can exploit to beat the IPad at their own game.

Good Stuff Day One

The software packages that fire up with the IPad are an area of weakness that Google can exploit to win over a lot of people who are still waiting to see what device they will buy.  Google has a nice application suite in Google Docs that can give users a lot of functionality the minute they take the Google version of the IPad out of the shrink wrap.  IPad users have to purchase a similar version of that same application suite to get some very basic functionality on their fancy new IPad units. That extra charge irritates users who already shelled out $500 for a device that is so application poor that it really doesn’t do a whole lot day one.

Another weakness of the IPad that Google already has the lead on is GPS and mapping technology.  The IPad allows users to basically use Google maps at a very basic level. But without buying additional applications, you cannot get full GPS service on the basic IPad that will guide you to turn here and turn there to get to your destination.  This is another great tool that the Google version of the IPad can hand to users day one and then exploit that strength in their marketing to win over users from the massive Apple army of devotees.

The Basics Without a Fuss

The IPad looks and acts like a real computer but there are some very basic functions of computing that are very difficult to do on this first release of this sophisticated new technology.  Those basic functions are USB support and printing.  That means that the only way for users to get documents out of their IPad units into other devices or onto paper is for them to email them to themselves and then print or store them from their home computes or laptops.

This is a tremendous inconvenience to users if the IPad that Google should jump all over with the first release of their technology. Users should not have to buy an accessory to simply plug in their flash drives to safe off a document or to read a PDF file they downloaded at home.  Putting the ability to use your flash drive and to use that USB connectivity to plug and play to a printer to print off work you may have done on the airplane, that makes an IPad competitor product look much more intelligent and user friendly than this first release of the IPad itself.

Multitasking Like a Real Computer

When users buy into a new technology, it has to line up with what they are already used to.  One aspect of the IPad that fails in this objective totally is the ability to do more than one thing at a time.  By simply empowering their IPad competition to multitask, the Google version of the technology comes off looking smarter and better designed from day one. 

Yes, Apple has committed to deliver multitasking to the IPad later in 2010.  But that delay only frustrates users who thought they were getting futuristic new technology in the IPad only find that the device can't even do something they could do on their home PC many years ago.  That perception of incompetence added to the perception that Apple is going to charge them for every little basic functionality and the impression that the IPad is all hype with little bang for the buck are all areas where Google can swoop in and steal away a good sized chunk of this market.  If Google can get their IPad version on the market quickly to capitalize on these disappointments in the IPad technology, they may be in for that major market coup that they are hoping for.

Application Development for Mobile Computing Explodes

Unless you live in a cave, you already know that the huge surge of popularity for mobile applications is the next big technological paradigm shift.  The days when a mobile phone was only a phone are long behind us now.  And judging by the speed of technological development in the mobile markets, we may never see those days again.

To even call a modern mobile device a cell phone only understates the multifunctional nature of mobile devices.  And the sector of the economy who are not underestimating this explosion of functionality at the mobile level are hardware and software developers who see this explosive development environment as the next great market for them to tap for greater profits.  And such a huge surge of creativity and productivity is bound to yielded some very big winners and some very big losers along the way.

This newest explosion of both platform and software innovation is comparable to the huge surges in the technology sector such as the initial spread of the internet, the arrival of WEB 2.0 applications and the development of social networking.  In fact, each of those monumental paradigm shifts in how we see technology were necessary steps that lead up to this latest change in the technological landscape toward mobile computing.  The speed at which the capabilities of mobile devices has changed has created a need for mobile applications.  That need creates huge opportunities for systems developers worldwide.

The genres of application development are tremendously diverse.  The most obvious applications that get a lot of attention are games, music and video applications and tools to enhance social connectivity such as the use of Facebook and Twitter.  But as more applications become available, developers and companies who sponsor that development are being presented with an unprecedented ability to market their developments to their markets. 

The reason that the time to market has been cut so dramatically lies in the nature of mobile computing.  Because people can access their favorite apps libraries and shop quickly and anywhere they go, applications reach customers much more quickly and move more rapidly from developer to customer as well.  And because online payments has become so routine, the resulting marketing paradigm is a systems developers dream.

There is good reason to pay attention to this explosion in marketable mobile applications.  It is a golden opportunity to use your skills to put together some very cool applications that can get to this huge market quickly.  To put it succinctly, if you are thinking about how to cash in on this huge technology explosion, you can bet someone you know is. 

Whether you are a programmer, a writer, an internet company or just someone who has some friends who are plugged into what is "right now" in technology, right now is the time to strike gold in this market.  You may not have been able to buy Cisco at $1 or get in on the Google paradigm shift.  But this new mobile marketplace is anybody's game and anyone who can get to it fast with great new applications, can win big!

It’s a Wide Open Playing Field

Probably the players who are going to grab the biggest pieces of the mobile application pie are big technology companies who have the resources to develop applications quickly.  When a developer begins to brainstorm what applications could be the "next big thing", its good to broaden your view.  To try to go after the markets for video players and games is fine but that is a limited application group.  The variety of apps that are taking off is far more diverse including…

• News server applications that allows mobile customers to stay up to date on the weather, sports, keep up with blogs and access online information sources like encyclopedias or dictionaries at a moments notice.
• Tools for staying organized on the go including schedulers, calendars, post it note utilities and alarm services.
• Any application that enhances the social networking environment or takes shortcomings in Twitter, MySpace, Google Buzz or Facebook and makes them better is going to get a lot of attention.
• Mobile computing is taking off in the business world just as much as it is among college students and teenagers.  So tools for business people to manage contact lists and network with each other will have a natural market waiting for it.
• Because users will develop a diverse assortment of web sites and services they like to use on their mobile devices, any application that makes it possible to organize user names and passwords and does so in a secure way will be welcome.  Mobile users know they should not use the same user name and password but they will without some help.
• Financial applications will see greater and greater demand as more people who use their mobile devices to manage their financial empires expands.  This includes applications to keep up with stock movement, applications that safely speeds up the management of online financial accounts, spreadsheet applications and checkbook tools to keep things balanced even while on the go.
• Applications that connect the mobile device to home computers or the local network at the office or at home so a user can manage those worlds while on the go.

Get Yourself Some Tools of the Trade!

In order to quickly develop and deploy mobile applications, you will have to become proficient in the newest development tools.  This is a routine practice for anyone who has developed applications for the web before because the toolsets change frequently.  But the toolsets are not difficult to get used to.  It isn't like you have to learn to program an IBM mainframe in binary code.  The learning curve is pretty fast.

The IPhone environment is probably one of the biggest markets for applications that is happening right now.  So learning how to develop and distribute apps to that world will prove to be a profitable move.  The good about the IPhone is that once you conquer the development tools, that will open up applications possibilities to the youth markets and to the professional world at the same time.

It is always smart to keep an eye on Google to see what they are putting together for new markets.  For better or for worse, Google works hard to maintain the cutting edge in anything cyberspace related.  Right now Google Android is a resource for development tools that you can put to use quickly.  Keep your fingers on the pulse of Google because as quickly as this development paradigm changes, Google will probably be on top of it.

It is a challenge to stay up to date with the shifting markets in cyberspace.  This new application world in the mobile computing setting is just another in an ongoing flow of technological innovation and change.  The skills you learn to adapt and capitalize on this technological shift will serve you well because as sure as mobile computing is taking over the world today, something completely new and unforeseen will take over again tomorrow.

The Beginner's Guide To Choosing a PDA

For everyone thinking of buying their first PDA, this guide's for you! A gentle introduction to these devices should be all you need. PDAs aren't like other computers - they're compact, user-friendly, fast, featureful, and even fun!

The first thing you have to do is figure out what you want to use a PDA for. The most common use is as a datebook or appointment planner, a purpose for which PDAs are suited like no other device. Address books are the second most common feature, and something else that are very well-managed on a PDA. A calculator is a given. Email and Bluetooth/ WiFi connectivity is usually required as well. PDAs also make great eBook readers. And for jotting down quick notes or sending text messages, an onscreen keyboard or stylus with handwriting recognizer.

What other fancy features would you like? A USB connector will let you hook up your peripherals. A backlight is essential if you won't always have full light. And then there's the entertainment value - quite a few games are being written for the PDA platform, and multi-media applications will let you watch movies or listen to music. And web browsers have also become standard with the platform.

All of these will be things to keep in mind when you go shopping. Be sure to ask around your social circle for the model you're interested in; chances are you know someone who has a model they'll let you look at. Work is an especially good environment for shoulder-surfing PDAs.

Major brands include the Windows Mobile Classic PDAs, ASUS - Asus P750 3G/ HSDPA/ GPS PDA Smartphone, Hewlett-Packard - HP iPAQ 212 Enterprise Handheld PDA, 4P - 4P FDA300 - Intrinsically Safe PDA - CE5 / Barcode / GPRS / Atex, Zypad - Zypad WL1100 Wearable Industrial CE6 PDA with GPS, Pocket PC, and the Blackberry. Of course, the market is always changing, and new manufacturers are always coming and going. Some of the PDS market is getting absorbed from either end into the smartphone category at the lower end and the UMPC (think mini, mini laptop) on the high end, so you might consider these devices as well.

Some quick care tips for after you get your PDA: Use furniture polish to clean your PDA, buffing out any scratches. An inexpensive alternative to a screen protector is to use a swatch of clear vinyl tablecloth from a fabric store, cut to fit the screen, stuck on with a few drops of water and using your fingers to smooth out the bubbles. In case your PDA ever gets lost, set an alarm to go off once a week and briefly flash your phone number and address on the screen, to help people find it and return it. And when worse comes to worse, remember that a hard reboot, not a soft reboot, will reset the device just like hitting Control-Alt-Delete on your home computer reboots it.

What Accessories Are Available For a PDA?

In light of the explosion in PDA's popularity in the past decade, it's kind of surprising how many people are still running around with just the bare unit. They might keep the AC adapter/charger that came with the unit, and might even drop it into a leather pouch when they think of it, but otherwise they miss out on a whole array of gadgets to make their PDA experience something more enjoyable.

Carrying cases are of course one of the most common accessories. It's worth it to get a durable one that looks good and is even stylish. After all, if the thing is going to follow you around every day, it might as well look good while it's doing that! Cases range from simple pouches to little purses to holsters that clip on the belt (for the "I'm Batman!" factor). More durable cases run to aluminum and other metals, for the rugged bush-dweller. Styles range from mod to hipster to snooty goth.

Bluetooth PDA accessories add a whole new dimension to a PDA. With Bluetooth speakers, it can become your personal music station, or with a Bluetooth headset it can become a communications tool.

Data storage options for PDAs are a must-have accessory. Typically a USB-plugged external drive can store anywhere from 128MB to a few Gigs. This extends the functionality of a PDA, and since they're so affordable, a new trend is appearing: the USB thumb-drive ring. This is a keyring with multiple USB thumb-drives on it, so you can keep them organized and have one for documents, one for video files, one for games, and so on.

You also don't have to limit yourself to using a stylus or twiddling your thumbs over an onscreen keyboard. Keyboard accessories, using either a USB plug or Bluetooth, can extend the functionality of a PDA, letting you type in comfort and accuracy on-the-go. Other input accessories include gaming console devices, including mice and joysticks. PDAs are getting powerful enough now to afford a portable gaming solution.

Screen cleaners and screen protectors are another essential accessory. These come in a wide range of solutions designed to do their job well without getting in the way.

One last accessory worth mentioning is the replacement stylus. Yes, sure, you can order the plain black ones - they point, and for some that's all you need. But recently there are modified devices that include a stylus, such as pen combinations, and even laser-pointer combinations, as well as styluses that clip to your pocket and are styled more like a high-end pen. Practical and fashionable.

Christmas Shopper Poll - The Favorite Gadgets...

In our latest popularity poll, we didn't ask what the most useful gadgets were. Or the highest quality, or the most expensive, or the cheapest. No, our sole metric was "How much do you just love the crazy thing?" And in our informal office poll, this is what we came up with:

1. Music players. Number one with a bullet, out way ahead of number two. Apparently the whole human race was waiting to have a device the size of a pack of mints that stored gigabytes of MP3s, so it could get out and boogie in the street. 80-year-old grandmas and 5-year-old kids love it! Even the dog loves it! And it's so much more convenient than the 10,000 other methods of portable music that came before it. After all, if you remember the 1980s when people carried refrigerator-sized boom-boxes around just to have music with them, you realize just how important music is to people.

2. Handheld video games. These, too, have been popular since we first came out with the concept. Electronic handheld games also go back to the 1980s. (Where's Merlin now?) (And where's that Nintendo GameBoy?) Now that handheld video games have taken several leaps in graphics and sound quality as well as game depth, they're more indispensable than ever.

3. GPS. We'll all be telling our grandkids that in the old days we had to use actual paper maps to find our way around. And you'd have to follow a grid system from an index of streets on the back, and read a legend where a purple line meant a bike path and a dotted yellow line meant a road they haven't built yet! And you'd have to unfold these things and spread them out all over the car... You might as well try to make them believe that you navigated the ocean with an astrolabe and compass.

4. Speakers. Along with music players, it was widely agreed that the highest quality speaker or headphone contributed greatly to the pleasure. Bad, low-quality speakers with tinny sounds and scratchy static are, however, the most hated device.

5. Texters. Strangely, text messaging is beating out mobile phones for popularity. It seems that phone shave been around for so long, that everybody just takes them for granted. Texters, on the other hand, keep our thumbs busy ticking out dozens of little telegrams daily. It's never too noisy to read a text message, you don't worry as much about reception, and you're not as tempted to use one while driving. United States president Barrack Obama said it best when he said he'd never part with his Blackberry, so the White House would just have to change the telecommunications infrastructure to accommodate him. Except we're sure his exact quote was "I H4V 2 UZ BLKBRY! U F1T 1T N2 YR SYSTM!"

Exploring the World of Windows Mobile

There is no doubt that the mobile phone software market has become more competitive in the last decade. Microsoft has had to compete with both the iPhone and Google Android mobile software. But, unlike the case with the desktop (where Microsoft still rules with an iron fist), the competition has inspired Microsoft to live up to its best reputation on the mobile phone platform.

Microsoft has undertaken a balanced approach in the Windows Mobile operating system. Since it falls into the gap between high-end tinkering geeks (on Linux-based systems) and pampered elites who want a self-contained system (on Apple systems), Microsoft makes a system that appeals to the broadest middle demographic. So you will find a system that is ready to stand on its own two feet, but can also be modified for special purposes if you really need them.

One of the purposes where Microsoft has traditionally triumphed is games. Video games continue to be one of the top reasons people say they use the Microsoft platform, as there simply isn't any other platform which the game industry so routinely supports. Between the Microsoft XBox - a guaranteed source of ports - and the reputation which has half-jokingly earned Windows the nickname "Wintendo," Windows Mobile has a wide array of games from simple casual puzzles to 3D adventures, first-person shooters, simulators, and strategy games of all stripes.

Web browsing is another "must have" Windows Mobile app. While Microsoft's own Internet Explorer remains the default choice, both Mozilla Firefox and Opera have browsers available for Windows Mobile. Both run with speed and grace on Windows Mobile, being very finger-friendly.

Media players are another area where Microsoft has stayed competitive. Particularly the video and Flash spheres, where users can get their wish of having something "just work" without having to activate or install some obscure codec. This goes leagues towards helping Microsoft keep the convenience of the user its first priority.

However, the place where Microsoft really shines is its app availability. Apps have been the source of some media buzz lately. In particular Apple and AT&T have not been friendly to developers. Microsoft absolutely courts developers, so a huge variety of apps are available in a thriving ecology on the Windows Mobile platform. Both practical and obtuse, silly and serious, useful and entertaining, there's an app on the Windows Mobile platform for anybody and everybody.

What Can You Get in Bluetooth Devices? 

Information technology kind of hit a jackpot with Bluetooth. For once, we have an extremely useful telecommunications protocol which became an open standard, and to this day enjoys an open existence while not being owned by any company in particular. That is, the Bluetooth special-interest-group is actually a conglomerate of electronics manufacturers. So it isn't tied up in patents, and it isn't licensed from some company threatening to sue everybody, and it isn't closed-up proprietary abandonware that nobody in the modern day can crack... we got lucky.

For those of you who don't know, Bluetooth is a wireless communications protocol which can currently send and receive at about one megabyte per second. It is perfect for short-range data transmission which doesn't have to be high-bandwidth. One of the technologies it's replacing is infrared signals.

Some cocktail-party trivia: If the name sounds unappetizing, the name comes from the nickname of King Harald I of Denmark and Norway, who ruled in the tenth century. He's responsible for uniting the tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom, which is sort of what Bluetooth does with digital devices. And the logo is actually a combination of two Germanic runes named "Gebo" and "Berkanan."

Now then, here's a list of devices and applications where you'll find Bluetooth technology in action:

Just about any mobile phone or headset. Just about any computer peripheral, using wireless mice, keyboards, and printers. Wireless networking between computers, laptops, PDAs, UMPCs, pocket-PCs, and mobile devices of every stripe. Speakers and headphones. These are all given, and not too surprising.

Lots of industrial applications. Bar-code scanners, medical scanners, police forensic equipment, traffic control equipment, some retail point-of-sale devices, GPS receivers, security equipment. Anything that uses OPEX (OBject EXchange, the binary file transfer protocol) as likely as not runs over Bluetooth.

And now for some of the more surprising and newer applications of Bluetooth:

Game consoles. Both the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PlayStation-3 use Bluetooth technology for their wireless controllers. This has helped to revolutionize gaming technology. The Nintendo Wii in particular has been noted for being revolutionary in having a controller which allows you to combine exercise and video gaming. In your hands, the controller can double for a tennis racket, golf club, katana, fishing rod, lightsaber, pool cue, laser cannon, and anything else you can imagine.

Small home accessories which use Bluetooth are also becoming possible as well. Bluetooth-enabled TV remotes and garage-door openers haven't yet become commonplace, but their day is coming.

Another growing field is "telehealth" devices. These are devices associated with remote patient monitoring, implanted devices, and sensory aides. Your future pacemaker or insulin monitor may use Bluetooth to communicate with a base in your home or the doctor's office.

Finally, Bluetooth has shown the ultimate sign of adoption - it's starting to show up in marketing! Yes, it is slowly becoming a common occurrence: you're at the mall, walking along by the shops and looking at your phone, when it suddenly displays an advertisement from a store you're passing. Hmmm, we hope that doesn't get too annoying, but even so, it still sounds kind of cool.

And just to balance the cool comment.. Here's the Microsoft driver model!

Comparing Touchscreens and Keyboards 

The home user has only to take a moment to consider whether they like touchscreens or keyboards, but the business owner and industrial provider has to ponder the question more deeply. The question changes when you're ordering for thousands of employees. We'll discuss ramifications for both here.

Keyboards have a lot of loyalty in tech circles. Especially the full-sized keyboards that go with desktop personal computers and workstations. The benefits are that human hands are most comfortable on a large keyboard, which provides the most comfortable typing. For those of us who grew up using computers in the "space cadet" or "bucky-bits" era, when you were expected to play four-and-five-key combos, nothing else feels quite as natural.

But time has marched on. In fact, the single greatest bottleneck to adopting mobile devices is the tiny keyboards we have to adapt to. UMPCs and Blackberrys are fantastic, but those tiny little buttons are suitable for little more than twiddling out one-line messages with the thumbs - and the thumbs get tired fast!

Touchscreens are a much better solution for mobile devices. One big reason is because a keyboard can be replicated in software, and then, unlike a physical keyboard, an onscreen keyboard can be changed to a different layout. It can not only switch between Querty and Dvorak, but to Icelandic or Chinese as well. In addition they can be adapted to using fingers or a stylus.

One red flag for touchscreens, however, is the large touchscreen surface. If you have a flat monitor in front of you, tapping and moving things on the screen can become tiring very fast. The syndrome has the nickname "gorilla arm," because the muscles in your forearm become strained if you're making gestures in front of your face for eight hours a day. Similarly, a large flat table surface looks really impressive in a demo, but again physically making those sweeping arm gestures day in and day out gets old fast.

But some applications are perfect for large touchscreens. One example is media. When CNN or BBC does a newcast about an election or a war and they have data spread out all over a big board, they can control it easily since all they have to do is manipulate it for thirty minutes or less in front of the camera.

Getting back to small devices, touchscreens have a couple of those drawbacks. The glass surface can easily get dirty from greasy fingerprints, and if somebody taps them with an object not suited for the task and damages the screen, there goes your device. You don't think of this until you see an engineer working in the field, who uses a screwdriver to tap his PDAs icons, since one's already in his hand.

One more thing to consider is repetitive motion injury. With large keyboards, the microcomputer revolution discovered a new disease: carpal tunnel syndrome. This is when the nerves in the wrist become pinched as a result of too much typing on those large computer keyboards. Another kind of repetitive stress comes from using a mouse, which is why many mousepads now come with gel pad wrist supports.

At the very least, you should try out a model for yourself. Whatever interface you decide on, try using it for a day or so. Note what works and what fails for your particular case. But also take into account the various needs of your staff, if you have to make such a decision.

P.S. If you're still sold on a keyboard, don't forget there's hybrid touchscreen keyboards coming - just to confuse the issue even further!

"Our ship is broken. Can you make it go?" - the Pakleds, Star Trek the Next Generation, episode 'Samaritan Snare'

Every now and then in our exciting world of technology, we pause amidst the rapid pace of change to notice those technology innovations that don't seem to catch up. The what-ifs, the might-have-beens, and the has-beens. Herein, we present a list of ideas that captured our imaginations at one time, but have since seemed to fade into obscurity. Maybe someone will try to spur them along to give them a fighting chance?

eBooks

This is the least-failing of the lot - ebook readers are still selling fairly well, and ebooks are at least surviving. But you'd think they would have picked up the pace a little! The ebook sphere is choking on some 20 incompatible formats, so you can't guarantee one book will work in another reader. Sites like Lulu.com are standing by to publish your ebook at no cost to you beyond a commission of the sales, but so far, we have yet to hear of a world-class author who got their start on ebooks. We're waiting.

Online Currency

When we want to buy or sell something online, we're still stuck with running real-world money through the web - a clumsy technology involving everything from wire transfers and PayPal to credit cards. The Internet should really be treated like its own country - you log on, exchange your cash for web cash, and thereafter can spend it out of a virtual wallet, without having to worry about exchange rates between marks and yen. In trying to implement this idea, we've seen the flop of Beenz, E-Gold, Flooz, and countless other bright young companies that were all ambition and no follow-through. The latest attempt is Ripple, but its future is so far in the dark.

DRM

That's "Digital Rights Management", although it could also stand for "Damned Rip-off Media". Honestly, we really do think that artists should be paid for their work. We don't want to see piracy of music or film any more that the next bloke. We just wish the industry could manage to put in a reasonable system that doesn't come off like a two-bit hustler that bails us up in the corner and leaves us robbed blind. For every DRM implementation that has been successful, there's two more where the company tried, failed, and gave up, leaving everybody who'd purchased media in the meantime up the creek. Yahoo music store is the latest example. File incompatibility, license incompatibility, technical failures, and then it doesn't work half the time and the other half somebody hacked around it anyway. Get it right or go home!

Voice Recognition

Somehow, this isn't working out like in the films. In movies like '2001 A Space Odyssey', we had computers that could understand people just like people talk to each other. Now, here's a real conversation with a computer today: "Please answer the following question: Would you like to pay by money order, credit, debit, or PayPal?" "CREDIT CAAAAARD!!!" "You answered 'credit card'. Is this correct?" "YEEEESSSS!!!" "Please answer the following question..." Need we say more?

Linux on the Desktop

No, you didn't see this. We did not suggest, for a minute, that Linux isn't ready for the desktop. Please do not send us 100,000 flaming emails from Ubuntu servers. We really didn't say that. But we notice that sites like Slashdot and ComputerWorld keep asking "Is Linux ready for the desktop yet?" for the past ten years or so, and we're about to get sodding tired of hearing it. What is "ready for the desktop", anyway? Does anybody even have the to-do list ready?

Antivirus Systems

Of course, computing security will always be an issue. And you Apple and Linux fanboys can pipe down, because even your platform isn't bullet-proof. It's just that, so far, antivirus software has had one model for 15 years: wait for an attack to happen, find out what the file name of the attacking program is, enter that file name in their database, and then make every one of their customers contact their database every day to download the new list of attacking files, and then the antivirus software scans your computer looking for the matching files. This is like if the police consisted of one man in uniform who went from house to house with a fugitive list and took roll call. It's obtrusive, expensive, and systems get infected anyway. Will there ever be a better way?

I am an iPhone fan, and have had one since they first came out.  For personal use, you couldn’t ask for more functionality.  However, I am out of the office often for work, and needed a little more.  I started looking the PDA’s some of my coworkers were using, asking question on Tech forums, and shopping around at my favorite online electronics stores, and went with the iPAQ 212.  Excellent decision. 

If you are a Techie like me, you know the excitement of opening the box of a great gadget like this, and powering it up the first time.  It’s like Christmas for dad.  Well, the iPAQ was no disappointment.  I can sync with my office and personal mail with Outlook, create and edit Word and Excel docs.

The best part is the easy of use.  I get the benefits of a laptop while sitting in traffic or in a meeting.  When I need to do a little more typing, grab my Bluetooth keyboard, and I have the benefits of a desktop.

For more information see:  Hp iPAQ 212