WHY CAN'T I GET MY MUSIC FROM MY iPOD TO MY COMPUTERRRRRRR!!!!

Hi there. I couldn't help but notice you were in the middle of a frustrated super rant about the apparent inability to move music and videos from your iPod to your computer.

Well, I'm here to tell you you can!!

www.podtopc.com or for Mac users www.podtomac.com.

Try it out, it's pretty awesome.

What the hell is Snow Leopard?

Unbeknownst to the mass majority of Mac users a new version of their (generally) beloved Mac OS X is coming sometime this summer.

Code named "Snow Leopard," the not-entirely-new operating system is being touted by Apple as being primarily a back end update. In other words, it's not going to look much different, but it's going to be faster, much faster. Which is why the only added a word to the previous current Leopard name.

Vastly improved performance will be achieved by making OS X run entirely in 64-bit code. To most people this doesn't mean much. In essence, it means your Mac will be able to take advantage of an almost limitless amount of RAM memory, which will make headache inducing levels of multitasking possible.

In addition, Apple is planning to employ a new technology code named:

Chemical X!!!

Thus the power puff girls were.... wait.. um... thats not right...

I meant to say, code named "Grand Central." Now, you may be saying "'Grand Central' sounds like a fancy new park in New York City," but it's not (sorry for getting your hopes up). It's actually a new technology that lets the Mac OS use multi core processors (e.g. Intel Core 2 Duo) far more efficiently, which will make most Macs bought within the last 2 years run even faster than they do now.

Finally, Apple is pioneering another new software technology called Open CL. The idea is simple: pretty much all computers have another very powerful graphics processing chip sitting around doing almost nothing (unless you're playing a computer game). Apple is going to change that. On their website apple states in very cool techie speak that it will "tap the vast gigaflops of computing power currently locked up in the graphics processing unit." Which means this once useless chip (to most people anyways) is going to be helping your computer run your day to day things faster!!

So, that's a rundown of Snow Leopard, it's gonna be awesome!!

Funny-Ass Video of the Week (9)

This week, I present to you, living proof that a British accent can make almost anything sound funny.

Also, watching stuff in slow motion is pretty awesome. Enjoy.

A slideshow of pics from my blog

Now watch and be AamMaaazZZeeDD

Funny-Ass Video of the Week (8)

Have you ever wanted to learn something cool just to get laid?

So have I, and our friends at Collegehumor.com seem to have the same idea.

It's like they can read my mind.

Watch.

Laugh.

Get laid (or not).

Funny-Ass Video of the Week Compilation!

For all of my new viewers, here's a link to see all of the Funny-Ass Videos of the Week in one convenient place!

Get ready to laugh your ass off!

... Gets me thinking though, could you really laugh so hard that your ass fell off?

Click at your own risk

The future of the iPhone

The second coming of the iPhone is closing in upon us. Although Apple makes sure that as many people as possible are unaware until it's arrival, the iPhone 2 has been referenced to not only in the code of the new iPhone OS 3.0 software, but also in early versions of the upcoming Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6).

So, what will Apple put in the new version of the Jesus phone?

Well, if I had to guess, I would say they are going to add:

1. Support for video recording (If they don't put it in this time I'm gonna punch Steve Jobs in the face).
2. A faster processor for smoother performance.
3. A more powerful graphics processing chip for more advanced and better looking games.
4. A thinner profile (yes it's possible).
5. Better battery performance.
6. More memory.

Those are the plausible additions. Now for the crazy one's, because what's life without dreaming big?

1. A removable battery (it's just not Apple's style, they'll probably never do this).
2. An SD memory expansion slot.
3. Flash for the camera.
4. A user-facing camera for video calling!
5. A set of huge speakers that spontaneously grow out of the sides of the phone!
6. An attachment that automatically cleans my toilet!
7. A pair of massive robotic arms that blow stuff up!!!
8. A super soaker attachment!

.... Sigh, a man can dream!! A man.... can dream...

Funny-Ass Video of the Week (7)

Today I have a very special Funny-Ass video of the week for all my loyal readers (especially those from Oklahoma!). This particular video is actually not a video at all, it's more of a short film. It's 30 minutes long, but it's definitely worth watching.

In fact, every time some one watches this short film, a penguin in Antarctica is saved from a lonely death like that one penguin in March of the Penguins...

The Old Man and the Seymour from The Old Man and the Seymour on Vimeo.

By the way, I recommend watching this in full screen and HD for the full effect. Enjoy!

My brother got his first Mac ever!!

Click the image above to enlarge and be able to read my brother's Facebook post of surrender!

My older brother got a Mac!! Sweeet victory!!! At last the evil tyranny of Microsoft will be overthrown foreverrrrrr!!!

.... er.... well.... not quite.

But, I'm a pretty big Mac head and the fact that my older, Mac-hating brother finally got one is a huge triumph for me. Especially after years of him calling them macintrash and crapintosh and severely making fun of my decision to get my family's first Mac two years ago.

*tear*

I'd just like to thank Steve Jobs for always being there for me. *snifle* and my friends for never really understanding the difference between Macs and PCs, and my mom for supporting me but not actually caring.

Thank you!!! I love you guys!!!

My first Vlog ever!!

I just uploaded my first vlog enjoy!

Here's a link to PhillyD's blog: www.phillyd.tv

He also has a youtube channel: www.youtube.com/sxephil

Funny-Ass Video of the Week (6)

Either I'm crazy or I just spent the last 15 minutes laughing at this (yes, I know, the video 7 is only minutes long).

In short, this is what happens when you try to translate Ying Yang into proper English.

Sometimes, you can't help but love the stuff MTV puts on the air.

Does iPhone OS 3.0 kill the Palm Pre?

I recently blogged about the new update to the iPhone operating system dubbed iPhone OS 3.0. And although there are some added features that should have been there from the beginning (*cough* Copy and Paste *cough*) there are also some relatively significant features that push the iPhone OS to the next level.

Now, I had to ask myself, does this put it on par with the upcoming Palm Pre? Obviously, I can talk about neither of them from personal experience, but I can talk about them in terms of their features and what I have seen of those features. And there is one huge feature that the iPhone still lacks compared to the Palm Pre, and that is multitasking. The ability to have multiple applications open at one time makes it infinitely easier and faster to get things done and makes the device much more useful. Not only that, but from what I have seen the Palm Pre seems to do this without sacrificing the speed and fluidity of the user interface. Another innovative feature of the Palm Pre that the iPhone lacks is Synergy, which is a fancy term they use to say that it brings together information you already have in all of your online accounts like Facebook and Gmail. The feature doesn't sound like much, but it looks like it will be surprisingly useful.

However, I will admit that Apple definitely included features that take it closer to the Pre, such as its search feature, and it's background notifications. Even with that, I still think the iPhone has a lot to do before it "kills" the threat posed by the Pre.

Jim Cramer drilled by John Stewart.... from Comedy Central

It is a testament to the deterioration of modern media when a talk show host from Comedy Central is the only one with the balls to really bring out the truth. Case and point: John Stewart of "The Daily Show with John Stewart" on Comedy Central recently interviewed Jim Cramer from "Mad Money" on CNBC.

John Stewart, clearly furious at the complete irresponsibility of CNBC, questioned Cramer on why the news channel didn't accurately report on the stock market situation. An especially shocking part of the interview uncovered a hedge fund Jim Cramer used to run and the illegal practices he may have used to gain profits from it.

John Stewart truly got down and dirty with it, which is just how it should be. Overall, it was truly an eye opener, especially considering it's a talk show on Comedy Central. More news channels should be like this.

Link to Video on ComedyCentral.com

Funny-Ass Video of the Week (5)

First of all, I just realized that "Funny Ass" should probably have a hyphen in it since it's pronounced as one word (kind of).
However, and I can't imagine why this is, but I couldn't find funny or ass in my AP Stylebook (sorry Prof. Ottolenghi).

Anyways, I found this hilarious video in which Jesus shows off his awesome pwnage powers!
It's made by comedy duo Luke Barats and Joe Bereta (known as Barats and Bereta), who also have some other great videos at baratsandbereta.com, their myspace channel, and their youtube channel.

Warning: If you are easily offended by videos that make references to religious subjects please put a banana suit on, find the nearest baseball bat, put peanut butter and jelly on it and wack yourself over the head with it. Thank you for your cooperation.

Apple adds revolutionary new iPhone features that every other phone has.

Today (about 10 minutes ago) Apple held a special press conference to announce all-new amazing features for everyone's favorite phone, the iPhone!

Apple added such breakthrough features as Multi Media Messaging (MMS a.k.a. picture messaging)....
wait... my RAZR had that four years ago....

right...well they also added cut and paste!!! It's totally revolutionary!!!!!...
Hey, hold on a second... didn't my old non-smart phone have that like 5 years ago?....

hmm.... Well hey!! Now you can forward text messages to people........ It's crazy!!!
I mean... nobody's ever done that before!! right??

sigh.... damnit

Funny Ass Video of the Week (4)

Hey everyone.
Man do I work hard for you guys. I had to fish this video out of an old archive from 2007!!
It's pretty hilarious though and it's part of a prank war series on collegehumor.com which features the insane pranks between Streeter Seidell and Amir Blumenfeld. The pranks are entirely real (which is pretty hard to believe once to get to the more recent ones).
Anyways, enjoy this video in which Amir tricks Streeter into going on a fake date.

Chris Brown and Rihanna

Dear people of the United States,

    Please stop talking about Chris Brown and Rihanna. I thought talking about it for a week was bad, but it's been almost an entire month now. There are decisions being made by our government that will literally effect the entire world!!! Instead, the only thing the media can manage to cover is an infinitesimal incident between two people.

    The only good thing that has come out of this insane coverage has likely been an increase in awareness for physical abuse towards women. It's an absolutely disgusting and unacceptable act (mostly by men) that is often not even reported by the victims for various reasons.

     However, although physical abuse is worthy of attention, there are also issues at hand today that have far reaching consequences and that can truly change the fate of the world. For example, recently, President Obama lifted the restrictions George Bush had placed on stem cell research. This is a monumental decision that will possibly give way to entirely new treatments for everything from cancer to broken limbs and possibly save or improve millions of lives.

    Instead, all we talk about is if it's right to listen to Chris Brown's songs anymore now that he (allegedly) beat Rihanna, or if it was right of her to go back to him after that. Decisions which will only effect 2 people who are only exploded because they are famous.

     So, please stop talking about Chris Brown and Rihanna. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Daniel Oria

You wanted cheaper macs? Your wish is Apple's command!

     Today, Apple not only made their desktop Macs cheaper, but they also made them more powerful!

     Their 20 inch iMac is $300 cheaper and comes with that spiffy new mini-display port. The 24 inch iMac (a.k.a. the beast) is also $300 cheaper and comes with more memory and hard drive space! Even the Mac Pro (a.k.a. the godzilla of computers) is more powerfull and is $300 less (are you seeing a pattern here?)

     The Mac Mini is the only desktop that doesn't get a price cut, however, it is much improved over the previous model from processor to graphics.

     You would also be wise to look in amazon.com and macmall.com for some small discounts on the previous models (cheaper than the new ones). So, go out there and stimulate the economy!!

I will sue you for reading this blog.

I'm kidding, obviously.

The point is, that people sue for anything nowadays. From slipping and falling in Wal Mart, being served too much alcohol, and your iphone not working right.

Usually, two things are happening here. In the case of the man suing for being "served too much alcohol" for example, these are people that are simply not taking responsibility for their own actions. Instead they prefer to blame it on some entity (preferably one with lots of money), who had nothing to do with what happened to them. The other case is when people simply want to take advantage of the legal system by filing fraudulent lawsuits to make a quick buck.

These kinds of things happen every single day. People wanting to simply make money are now dominating the legal system instead of people actually looking for real justice. Lawyers encourage people to make fraudulent lawsuits, and dishonest people end up getting money they never deserved.

Funny Ass Video of the Week (3)

Two high school students try to establish what is and isn't inappropriate for a school dance.

Hilarity ensues.

Enjoy.

Funny Ass Video of the Week (2)

Do you know that song called "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey?

Well... this isn't it.

Obama's elf

This song has been in my head for days now.

I just plays over and over and over again!

It's horrible!!!!

The funny thing is, this is actually exactly the original song. It's not even modified!

Thoughtful Quote from Eleanor Roosevelt

As I was exiting a professor's office earlier today I noticed something above his light switch I hadn't noticed before. At first, it didn't seem like much, but once I read it I realized it was actually an impressively insightful message with some universal truths.

If you can't see the picture, it reads:

Great minds discuss ideas;

average minds discuss events;

small minds discuss people.

learn from the mistakes of

others. you can't live long

enough to make them all

yourself. to handle yourself,

use your head; to handle others,

use your heart. many people

will walk in and out of your

life, but only true friends will

leave footprints in your heart.

                    -Eleanor Roosevelt

The first three lines got me thinking even more about my MTV experience the other day. Reality shows engross themselves completely in talking about people. What they do, what happened to them, what they're saying about each other.

The media in general has an unfortunate tendency to follow this trend.

In fact, I've been watching news on Chris Brown and Rihanna for the past week, and I'm not going to forget the month of non-stop Anna Nicole Smith coverage I saw.

What happened to actual thought?

What happened to thinking about ideas instead of mindlessly concerning ourselves over the lives of others?

Chew on something substantial for a change.

I tuned to MTV the other day...

And boy did I regret it.

A show came on called Fantasy Factory and it proved to me just how badly MTV has deteriorated in terms of quality and content. Not only was there an insane amount of commercials, but throughout the entire 30 minute show not a single thing actually happened. 

When I say nothing happened, I mean that the entire show was composed of a bunch of idiots wasting time. It wasn't even funny (which would have given it some value).

All they did was play with a crash test dummy.... for the WHOLE SHOW. And not even play in an experimental sense, I mean it just showed some guy carrying it around, and putting it in places....

That was it.

So, MTV, please stop making horrible programming that turns people's brains into useless mush, thanks.

Funny Ass Video of the Week

Every week I'll be picking one hilarious video (just one!) from the vast stretches of the Internet and posting it on my blog!
This week, the video is from the comedy experts at collegehumor.com.
Enjoy, and prepare to laugh your ass off!*

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

*Warning: If you are easily offended don't watch this video. Instead bang your head repeatedly on the nearest wall until you stop caring, about anything.
Because you'll have a concussion... never mind, don't do that, seriously.

The state of iPhone competition: the first attack (part 2)

Last time in my iPhone competition series I ranted at length about the atrocious quality of touch screen smart phones released thus far by varying companies. However, there is one ray of hope for true competition in the smart phone market once again! It's called the Palm Pre, and it's going to blow your brains out.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit, but I believe that the Palm has incorporated several key features into the Pre that make it a true competitor for the iPhone, even if it isn't perfect. The most notable of these features is being able to open more the one application at once (i.o. multi tasking):



As you can see from the video above, Palm has come up with a very pleasant way to handle multiple applications at once without bogging down the phone's speed or overwhelming the average user. For example, you can have your Facebook app open and updated while you check your e-mail and listen to music online from another service. Currently, the iPhone can only run one application at a time, making you close one to open another, which is often pretty inconvenient. Among other features of the Pre that the iPhone for some reason lacks, are picture messaging and support for wireless stereo bluetooth headphones.

Overall, I can't wait for the Palm Pre to come out and bring competition back into the touch screen smart phone market!

The state of iPhone competition: the first attack (part 1)

Finally, after two years, a smart phone is being released that can effectively compete against the iPhone on nearly all levels. As an iPhone owner and user you'd think I wouldn't be quite as happy about this, but the truth is I think the Apple needs a serious competitor in the touch screen smart phone market. For one thing, Apple's blatant neglect to put such things as MMS and copy and paste functionality on the iPhone are nothing short of unacceptable, and, until now, they have remained completely unpunished for it. That will, however, no longer be the case when the Palm Pre is released later this year.


First of all, from what I have seen, the Pre is the first well thought out touch screen smart phone released since the iPhone. Everything I have seen until now has been crap after crap after crap. The likes of LG, Samsung, and other phone companies have simply been releasing desperate, hacked together attempts at grabbing a piece of the iPhone's market. They have horribly thought out user interfaces, barely usable hardware, and awful execution of features on almost every level. The only decent UI I've seen is Google Andriod, but the phone it was released on was one of the ugliest pieces of hardware I have ever seen (despite it's performance and features). Even the latest Blackberry storm, which I expected good things from, was horrible upon my first use with it. The interface is slow, unresponsive, and the clickable touchscreen, which may look nice on paper, is nothing but an annoying gimmick.

In part 2 of my rant on iPhone competition, I'll be elaborating on some of the Palm Pre's noteworthy features that just might bring the iPhone to it's copy-and-paste-crippled knee's once and for all!!

Best Web Sites to shop for Macs!

     Whenever I talk to people about Macs, one thing always comes up. PRICE. 

"They're just too expensive"

"They're awesome I just can't afford it"

"Blah blah blah price price money money"

So, it is with that in mind that my absolutely awesome intuition suggested I write about places on the internet where you can find Macs for cheap(er)!!!

1. macmall.com - This is probably one of the most well known Apple resellers on the internet. They always seem to having some kind of huge sale. In fact, right now, you can find a brand new white Macbook for just over 900 bucks (which is pretty good by Mac standards).
2. ebay.com - Ebay is almost always worth mentioning when you want to get things cheap(er) but, you should always be especially careful when buying Macs on ebay. First, Macs tend to hold their value very well, so don't expect to find anything more than 300 below MSRP (i.o. what it would usually sell for). Second, many Macs can have the same outward appearance, but have dramatically different technical specifications. In other words, even it two Macs look the same, one can be 10 times faster than the other. Always place close attention to what you are buying!
3. Apple Refurbished - This is something most people tend to overlook, but is in fact a great way to buy Macs, especially if your concerned about buying from Ebay (like I am). The products are rigorously restored and inspected before being put up for sale as a certified refurbished product, it also comes with all the documentation for the product. The list of available sales on the page changes constantly, so check back often if you're looking for a deal!

Porn star for senator?

Wow.

Louisiana must be in pretty bad shape if it's trying to get a porn star to run for state senate. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against the porn industry, but I also don't think that someone from this line of work is fit to be in such a position. It seems to me this was really just something to attract attention to the senate election in Louisiana and the current senate's questionable history. In fact, Daniels admits in her interview with CNN that "originally the focus wasn't even about making me a candidate, I think it was about bringing attention to the senate race in general." However, it seems that some people are beginning to taking this whole thing seriously.

A lot of people are beginning to take this seriously, which is really disheartening considering I thought the country was just beginning to go in the right direction. Although Ms. Daniels seems quite articulate and educated in her interviews, this doesn't even begin to make her a truly viable candidate for senate. People need to stop getting caught up in publicity stunts and start thinking about people with real experience and knowledge of government and politics.

The funniest answer to the question. What is podcasting?

This is a video I saw on askaninja.com (one of the comedy websites I recommended) a while back. It's probably the funniest way I've ever seen podcasting explained.

Enjoy!

Best Collegehumor.com videos!

     In my previous blog I mentioned Collegehumor.com as my one of my favorite comedy sites. However, for people who have never seen the site before I thought it might be convenient to mention some of the funniest videos I've seen on the site (since there are some that are worse than others).

Just be prepared to laugh (or sometimes gasp in shock).

How Many Times Has This Happened To You?

The Other Team

Viral Video Pet Store

Jake and Amir: Economic Crisis

Hardly Working: Fired Up

Jake and Amir: Internship

If The Other Party Wins

The Dark Knight Meets Superman

     There is also a series of videos called Jake and Amir (some of which are on collegehumor.com) which feature the hilarious interaction between a total idiot who assumes he is best friends with an extremely annoyed co-worker. These videos are all posted on www.jakeandamir.com.

Economy got you down? Do you feel like you need to laugh?

     Economy, wife, in-laws or work got you down? Do you feel as if you just need to laugh it off? Well, dear reader, you've come to the right place! You see, as a big fan of comedy myself, I've found places on the internet where you can see some good, high quality comedy every day of the week! Here are some of those places:

• Collegehumor.com - By and large one of the best dedicated comedy sites on the internet. They consistently deliver hilarious, high-quality videos nearly every day! By now, they've built up an extensive library of videos made by their own staff, as well as videos submitted by the online community. Furthermore, they have hysterical comedic articles that will have you laughing for hours on end!
  
  
• Askaninja.com - The idea was simple: a ninja answering questions about his craft in the funniest way possible. It started off as a humble Youtube channel and eventually evolved into a successful standalone website. This ninja has almost 100 videos that may literally kill you with laughter.
  
  
• youtube.com/sxephil - Although this is somewhat of a niche in the online comedy world, it is one that I find myself coming to time and time again. Philip Defranco, a fairly popular man in the youtube world, delivers his almost daily online show (The Philip Defranco Show) to over 300,000 subscribers. In this show, he wraps up popular and unusual news in a package that is more entertaining than CNN would probably make it.

So, suffer no more internet surfers! After all, laughter is the best medicine!

Unless you're having a heart attack, in which case, you really need to call an ambulance man.

Barack Obama and his Presence on the Web.

     One of the things Barack Obama has always focused on is more transparency of government functions. The primary means through which he would achieve this was through the internet, and, after taking a look at President Obama's new home page, whitehouse.gov, I must say I'm quite impressed.

     To begin with, I can confidently say a significant amount of time was poured into the creation this website and it certainly isn't a half-baked idea. It's evident thought and planning were put into making the website visually attractive and robustly functional, a feat which is often not accomplished by many modern websites. The fact that this website is so well engineered speaks volumes about President Obama's understanding and commitment to the internet. Furthermore, although this is somewhat unrelated, it also gives me more reason to believe that our new president will be the avid supporter of net neutrality that he said he would be. 

     Primarily, I believe this website has successfully opened up the government, made it more transparent, and connected with a vast number of people. For example, all of President Obama's policies and many, if not all, of his future plans are posted on this website for all to see. Furthermore, President Obama has mentioned that he will be posting any bills on the site for at least 5 days of open comment before signing them. Lastly, the site is also home to President Obama's weekly address to the people of the US. Here, the President explains the current state of affairs in the US and what his administration is currently involved in doing.

     Overall, I feel as if the President and his team of excellent web designers have done a commendable job of making a strong presence on the web and making the government more transparent for tax payers.

College + Money = Happiness

Credit: Our Lady of Disgrace

     A friend of mine recently asked me for advice on paying for his college classes. I realized that, in today's economy, many people must be having trouble paying for anything, to say nothing of college classes and books. In light of this, however, I must say: fret not brave college students!

     You see, for those of you who live in the US like me, our society tends to value education above almost anything. That means that people who consider giving large sums of their money away often turn to scholarship funds and grants to help young people to pay for their education. So, there is a lot of money to go around, especially for people who get good grades.

     Now, you might be wondering, where is all this money? Well, it certainly isn't going to fall onto your lap, you have to go out and find it. Here's some places you might want to start looking:

1. Facts.org - This is a fantastic website dedicated to all types of information regarding college. From information on varying scholarships and even ways to start applying for college, facts.org is a great place to start looking for information and money!
2. Fastweb.com - A website I would consider to be the gold mine of college money, fastweb gives you a comprehensive list of any scholarships you might be eligible for. On top of that, it gives you constant E-mail notifications when any new scholarships get added to your list! The only problem is that the scholarships often require significant amounts of writing and then waiting to see if you are picked as the winner of the money. However, if you don't mind writing and you are confident in your skills, there's a lot of money to be earned!
3. The financial aid counselors at your college - Sometimes overlooked, these creatures of the light can often help you be on your way to a well funded college experience. Every self-respecting college (that I know of) has them, you just have to find them!!

Hopefully, this helped some college students in financial troubles!

Anti-WiFi Paint

     Don't you just love it when you're on vacation, or you don't have internet in your house, and a neighbor just so happens to have a usable WiFi network you can leech off of? I mean, come on, who doesn't like free internet?! Nobody!

     Well, unfortunately, the days of free internet may well be over with the invention of WiFi blocking paint. Oh, you read that right, paint that blocks WiFi signals. So, in theory, someone could paint their house with this, and your free internet would be gone forever!!!

     In all seriousness, for large scale corporations this could be quite useful for security purposes. Being able to block any other parties from connecting to their networks could prevent intrusion from malevolent hackers, or just people who could steal away their bandwidth. And they could do this without the need for expensive hardware or cumbersome software.

     So, for all you internet stealers out there, you might need to start paying for your own internet...

     Yes, that's right, internet does cost money.

Microsoft's domination of the OS market.

Credit: Steve Rhodes from Flickr

     We both looked at the computer in grim acceptance. It wasn't working, and that was pretty much the last trick I had up my sleeve. After trying for hours, there was simply no getting passed it. Microsoft had prevented, by all means, that more than 10 computers connect in a work group at any given time. Recently my father, not being aware of this, had bought his eleventh computer for his small, medical office which exclusively uses electronic medical records. This essentially gave him two options: throw away his computer, or spend over 3,000 dollars to buy Windows 2003 Server for his office.

     Both of these options seem just as ridiculous. Windows XP and the network in my dad's office can certainly handle a substantial number of computers. However Microsoft forces the consumer to purchase their insanely expensive server software if anyone wants to connect more than a meager 10 computers. In this day and age, in which everything is being computerized, small businesses are regularly connecting larger numbers of computers. Microsoft takes advantage of the fact that they have control over everything Windows XP can and can't do, and the vast monopoly they have over the operating system market. More than anything, they take advantage of customers that have certain needs, and have absolutely no choice but to buy Microsoft's blatantly overpriced software.

     Microsoft's smug confidence in their market position shows up in every mediocre product they release. And yes, I'm absolutely talking about Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007 and every other nearly unusable piece of software they come up with. Microsoft clearly thought that no matter how bad Windows Vista was they would still be able to sell it by having it pre-installed in every new computer, like they always did with XP. With this mentality, there is absolutely no reason for Microsoft to try to make Windows decent, it's going to sell no matter what simply because it's the only thing people can use when they buy a computer. There's no incentive for innovation or real improvement at all. 

     I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sick and tired of Microsoft's control over the computer industry, and I think a lot of other people are too. There are even some manufacturers that are beginning to install Ubuntu Linux on their computers, to save people money and save them from Vista. Hopefully this trend will continue and manufacturers and consumers will continue to push Microsoft back and create a competitive environment in the computer operating system market.

Abortions: is there a solution?

    As I drove back home with my mother this weekend we began to talk about the growing issue of abortions in the U.S. today. She believed that the problem was primarily rooted with irresponsible and promiscuous young people who recklessly killed unborn children due to their fear. While this may be true, I later began to ask myself what the original cause of this issue is, not just the actions, but what the root cause of these actions is. My thought brought me to a flashback of my recent High School career.

     Throughout my entire four years of High School (which ended less than a year ago), I heard an incredible amount of talk about sex from my peers. What I realized was that I don't remember hearing a single word about sex from a responsible adult. Not a single word, and certainly not a thorough explanation about possible negative outcomes of sexual activity and how to protect yourself from such outcomes.

     After speaking about this further with my father the problem became all too obvious; it is the material, so to speak. You see, the controversy is not over whether students should be educated about sex, it's what about sex the students should learn. Certain religious groups have insisted on having abstinence only education in schools, which means teaching students that their only possible option is to completely abstain from sex until marriage. On the other hand there are people who believe that students should be taught the full range of facts about sex, including using protection and birth control. In the end, it seems that some high schools prefer not to educate their students about sex at all for fear of offending either of these groups.

     So, with a complete lack of education regarding sex students have absolutely no reason to be responsible, and thus they get pregnant at young ages resulting in thousands of abortions. The obvious solution to this problem is to find a way to put sex education in high schools. There must be a bill passed that makes this mandatory for all high school students. Not only would it prevent the spread of disease, but it would save countless lives.

Can Apple Survive Without Steve Jobs?

Steve Jobs   Credit: acaben from Flickr

     For weeks now, people all over the country (and the world) have speculated over the health of Apple's precious CEO, Steve Jobs. And, perhaps more importantly to some, speculation has swirled ever violently over whether Apple can "survive" without him. The truth is, Apple inevitably does have a certain degree of dependency on their CEO. For one thing, many would say he was solely responsible for bringing Apple back up from shambles 12 years ago. Furthermore, he has been a great public icon for Apple and his enthusiasm for the company has spread like an iPod-buying fever.

     In addition, however, I believe Steve Jobs has built up a strong foundation for the company to work off of. He has consistently set up an example of what Apple should and should not be as a company. He's made sure that the ideals and values Apple stands for are clear (dedication to quality, user friendliness, etc.), and people Steve Wozniak and Tim Cook are more than capable of continuing to uphold those values.

     Regardless of anything, there's a chance that Steve Jobs is perfectly fine and is perfectly capable of continuing to work at Apple. Speculation on that aspect of this situation, in my opinion, is useless at best. By now, it's simply a waiting game.

Also, on a somewhat related note, Apple recently stated that the iPod Nano is, in fact, never coming out. Just as I predicted.

Barack Obama is not a miracle worker

     Now, before you get worked up over the title of this post let me first say that I am an avid Obama supporter and I have been since he first began to run for office. He is a brilliant man and an amazing visionary. However, I also believe it is especially important to note on this day of his inauguration that the problems this country is facing won't suddenly be solved now that he is in office. The newly elected president has, on many occasions, mentioned this himself. Even in his victory speech he stated that "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term..." Personally, I don't expect this country to rise out of its current economic and political state in anything less than a decade.

     That being said, I do believe that we are taking steps in the right direction. I am confident that many of President Obama's plans for this country will be effective, and will move this country to a brighter future. A future where our presidential administration doesn't make moves behind the people's back, or worse, makes frightening and even illegal decisions without reason or consent. A future where our country is actually progressive in respect to the environment instead of remaining stuck in old, destructive ways for the sake of large corporations and special interests. A future where the government doesn't madly go into dangerous, costly wars with support earned through lying and false evidence. A future where we can confidently say the government is working for us not in spite of us.

     Nevertheless, even for a government of the highest caliber, the path ahead will still be truly difficult. The United States will have to come together towards a common purpose of returning our country to its former glory. After all, President Obama can't do it alone.

iPhone naNO

     As I finished returning a few pounds worth of books at my college I noticed a man with white Apple ear buds in his ears in front of one of the iMacs on display at the store. When he saw me he asked me if I used a Mac, and, being a Windows to Mac switcher myself, we got into a conversation about switching computers. Eventually, he mentioned that Apple might come out with an iPhone Nano, or a miniaturized version of the current iPhone, and he even said that cases had already been made for it!

     Just to clarify to anyone who might actually believe this, let me make myself clear: the chances of Apple actually coming out with an iPhone Nano are right on par with the chances of the instantaneous destruction of the internet or spontaneous childbirth. First, thousands of applications have already been written and designed with the iPhone's current screen size in mind. I doubt all of these developers are willing to reformat their applications for a different screen size. Furthermore, the iPhone operating system, by its nature, needs a certain size screen to be functional, practical, and usable. If the screen were any smaller, you wouldn't be able to effectively use gestures and you most certainly wouldn't be able to see what you were doing while performing a gesture. Overall, there is practically no reason Apple would come out with a miniaturized iPhone.

     So, please, stop talking about an iPhone Nano, it isn't coming out. And even if I'm wrong, you still shouldn't be pre ordering a case for a product that doesn't even exist!

About the author

     Seeing as I will be reviving this blog I thought I would tell my readers (all 2 of you) a little bit about myself.

     To begin with, I was born in Miami into a family of Cubans and Puerto Ricans, after which I moved to a small, rural town in North Florida. 10 years later (at age 16) I found myself in Port Saint Lucie, Florida starting a semi-new life. I have always had a passion for technology of all types, which explains why the first part of this blog was dedicated entirely to discussing varying web technologies. I truly enjoy figuring gadgets, computers, and programs out and I especially enjoy educating people about how to use technology in their daily lives.

     As I was quite pleased to hear, my savvy news reporting professor allows his students to blog about any topic they please (unlike the previous course for which I originally wrote this blog). Consequently, I will no longer be writing solely about web technology, however, seeing as it is a topic of personal interest to me there will still be numerous posts on a wide range of technology and gadgetry.

     I hope you come to enjoy this blog as much as I will enjoy writing it!

Daniel