7/27    BOINC grid computing on Android phones!
        http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/about_us/viewNewsArticle.do?articleId=318
        Are they our of their minds? :-)
        \_ Doesn't seem that bad, considering (from the article) "By default,
           the app will only run calculations when the device is plugged in
           and charging (for example, overnight) and will only transmit data
           over WiFi (settings are configurable)." -ERic

4/9     'Government probes case of texting helicopter pilot'
        http://www.csua.org/u/zsc (news.yahoo.com)
        'The pilot ... exchanged 20 text messages, over a span of less than
        two hours preceding the helicopter crashed ... Most of the messaging
        was with an off-duty female co-worker with whom he had a "long history"
        of "frequent, intensive communications," and with whom he was planning
        to have dinner that night ..."
        Texting kills.  Mistress kills.

12/11   What are some cheap wireless plans you can buy where you can
        get the sim-card and stick it into any device of your choice?
        \_ Any plan which uses a SIM. I have used my AT&T SIM in a
           Blackberry, two different iPhones, and even an old Razr. I
           assume you mean domestic use only.
        \_ I don't use my phone very much, so I've been contemplating on
           getting JUST data plan ($15/month for 200MB) and then just
           use VoIP in the rare times that I need it. Has anyone done
           this?
           \_ If your usage is really low, you might want to take a look at
              Ting (<DEAD>www.ting.com<DEAD>
              \_ interesting! even if I buy $649 Sprint iPhone, I still
                 seem to end up saving more after 2 years.

9/24    iPhone5 is selling at a record with 5 mil units this weekend, yet
        Android is still kicking its ars. It's so pathetic.

9/12    iPhone 4S has new features like 8MP rear camera and Siri, and iPhone 5
        has 1.2MP front camera, 4" display, and 4G LTE.  My 17-month-old
        Android phone has 8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera, 4.2" display,
        voice search, voice-to-text that supports English, Cantonese,
        Mandarin, Japanese plus other languages/dialects that I don't speak,
        4G LTE, and voice-guided navigation, all built-in.  I don't get what
        the hype is about iPhones.
        \_ p.s. two more features on my 17-month-old Android phone:
           simultaneous voice and data over cellular network on Verizon, video
           calling over 4G LTE (not built-in though -- I had to download
           Skype).  --- OP
           \_ p.p.s. one more: 3-D photo-realistic maps during voice-guided
              navigation.  --- OP
              navigation.  I think I should start a web site called
              <DEAD>www.NewIPhoneFeaturesAreSoOldSchool.com<DEAD>  --- OP
           \_ (10/18) one more: VoIP over Wi-Fi, which even iPhone 5 doesn't
               support.  --- OP
        \_ imo, iOS is better than Android, but I agree with you that the
           recent iPhone hype doesn't make too much sense.  Personally, I
           was very happy with my original iPhone, which remains perfectly
           useable even today.  The iPhone 3GS was a nice incremental upgrade
           b/c it added 3G support and additional security features.  But I
           don't see the point of the iPhone 4 and newer - they just seem
           like more of the same.  Must be getting old...
        \_ Microsoft Zune had MORE stuff and it was cheaper! Radio, recorder,
           calendar, etc. Why did shitty iPod that only did one thing
           win at the end?
        \_ The public values elegance and good design >> feature set alone.

9/12    iPhone 4S has new features like 8MP camera and Siri, and iPhone 5 has
        4" display and 4G LTE.  My 17-month old Android phone has 8MP camera,
        4.2" display, built-in voice search and voice typing, and 4G LTE.  I
        don't get it.

9/19    Why are most latest smartphones called "<model> by <manuf>" rather than
        "<manuf> <model>" like in the older models?  E.g. "Droid X2 by
        Motorola", "ThunderBolt by HTC" and "Revolution by LG", vs. "Motorola
        Citrus", "HTC Trophy", "LG Cosmos Touch".  Is is just a matter of
        being fashionable?
        \_ I have an iPhone 4
           \_ by Mac.

4/22    Costco is selling "Bluetooth Capable Premium Digital Hearing Aids" for
        $1999.99 a pair.  My Bluetooth cell phone headset is maybe $30 for one
        ear.  Why does hearing aid cost so much?
        \_ Medical insurance?
        \_ Does $2000-your medical deductible = $30?
           \_ How come insurance companies allow such rip-offs?
              \_ They're partnered with the BCPDHA company.

3/20    Samsung lite notebook, macbook air clone?  Or no?

3/12    I am curious what others think of tablets like iPad. They don't seem
        useful to me, but I use my computer for more than web browsing,
        Facebook, and Twitter. Why would I buy one instead of a laptop?
        They seem like a disabled laptop to me, but at a higher price.
        \_ You are most likely a coder.  iPad is not for coders.  They are
           what you get your non-technical friends.  Or musicians.  Look at
           the amplitude app.  Saves a tonne of gear shlepping.  Wolfram Alpha,
           etc: http://csua.org/u/sr0 and http://csua.org/u/sr1
           And i'm not even going into how i used mine to replace a shelf of
           technical books that I realized were kinda annoying without an
           automated grep mechanism.  But to write code on?  never.
        \_ http://csua.org/u/sr2 - this is a replacement newspaper for upper
           management.  The guys with the families, with the mistresses the
           100k/yr golf memberships etc.  EG. not you.  They would like to
           replace their daily printed reports with the latest in male jewelry
           and hey if they can get interactive graphs showing your coding
           teams' productivity whilst on the golf course in real time
           so much the better.
           \_ Lol i remember reading these 70s fiction books about "electronic
              clipboards".
              \_ Upper mgmt read those too, as twenny somethings.  Natch, they
                 want ipads now.
        \_ I am curious what other think of cookers like the microwave. They
           don't seem useful to me, but I use my oven for more than heating up
           leftovers, boiling water, and making brownies. Why would I buy one
           instead of an oven? They seem like a disabled oven to me, but at a
           higher price.
           \_ microwave owners would trade good tasting food for a quick meal.
              if you're making fun of the poster not understanding that
              different users have different computing needs I'm right with you
           \_ Interestingly, I don't own a microwave either for exactly those
              reasons. I don't find it useful for cooking anything I would
              want to eat. It's an unnecessary expense and takes up
              counter space. Mine (received as a gift) broke a few years back
              and I have no desire to replace it. I would buy an iPad if
              it cost a lot less than a laptop, but it costs the same.
              Would you buy a microwave if it cost the same as a range?
              \_ define what you want the ipad for? and what you want the laptop
                 for?
        \_ Here, these popular programs might show you who wants to use iPads:
           http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/12/ipad_for_work
           http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/07/apple_ipad_as_business_device
           http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/09/top_ten_free_ipad_apps

11/13   "Man distracted by bird drives Bugatti into marsh"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091113/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_lagoon_bugatti
        Holding a cell phone while driving.  Yup, he deserves this.  I wonder
        if holding a cell phone while driving is illegal in TX.
        \_ "Who's the U-Boat commander?"

11/2    T-Mobile FAIL
        http://gizmodo.com/5396460

6/3     Any phone geeks on here?  I want to get a new smartphone, preferably
        with wifi, touchscreen, and 3.5mm headphone jack.  I don't plan to pay
        the monthly $$ for a data plan though, since wifi is good enough for
        me.  That rules out the iPhone due to AT&T's policies.
        Maybe I should get some sort of Nokia N-series.
        \_ Wait one week and get a pre?
           \_ 2 days. but it will have a data plan as well.
        \_ I'm happy with a Blackberry 8320 (with WiFi) from T-Mobile, but in
           order to get everything working via WiFi (e.g. Google Maps, Google
           Mobile, Yahoo! Messenger etc) you need to sign up with their Black
           Berry plan (just for a month), get the service book pushed to your
           phone, then you can cancel it. Then your phone works OK in your WiFi.
           Of course if you just want Safari browser, you can do it right out
           of the box.

4/12    Will iPhone OS 3.0 work with my current iPhone?
        \_ Yes.
        \_ Do you code more efficiently post or pre orgasm?

4/1     Best places to get tech news? I'll start:
        http://techmeme.com
        http://www.reddit.com/r/programming
        http://engadget.com
        http://news.ycombinator.com
        \_ python.reddit is also nice if you're into that  kinda stuff. -t
        http://engadget.com
        http://news.ycombinator.com
        \_ ycombinator?  really?
           \_ dans loves it
           \_ I used to go there, but it's a bunch of self-confirming wankers
              and pretenders who ask obvious questions in the hope they'll find
              some insight that will allow them to skip the hard part of making
              a startup. Also, Paul Graham is overrated. -t
        http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/feeds.html
        \_ http://news.cnet.com (my employer)
           \_ Ausman, is that you? :P -t
              \_ Yes.

1/22    Anyone have a Samsung Omnia?  Thoughts?

11/14   Angry sysadmin gets iPhone stolen out of his hands while riding Muni,
        pummels
        thief, retrieves phone, gets back on train
        http://tinyurl.com/5poc89 (from http://valleywag.com)
        \_ huh i know that guy.  he's a KALX dj.
        \_ Muni actually
           \_ oops, tnx

10/20   I have a bunch of old cell phones from the 1990 days and I'm
        wondering what the best way is to dispose them. Any ideas? thx.
        \_ http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com
        \_ http://www.wirelessfoundation.org/CallToProtect  My previous
           company used to periodically collect old phones and chargers from
           employees to send to this program.  Tax deductible.
        \_ isn't this kind of dumb?  will a cell phone from the 90s work
           on current US networks?  Are they just going to donate the phones
           to someone so they can make IUDs?
        \_ http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=category&id=pcmcat149900050025&DCMP=rdr0001422 How about BestBuy?

10/12   The wife lost her ATT+T  dcell while here in NYC . There seems to
         be no fraud activity yet. We were just  wonderingf its actually
        possible to get a location trace done like the so on TV?
        \_ For AT&T... pretty much no unless you are law enforcement
           with a subpeona.  If you had Sprint you could just use our
           handly little product!  http://sfl.sprintpcs.com and locate it
           yourself.
        \_ Technically possible, unlikely to get AT&T's co-operation, as
           noted above. Do you have friends who work for the Death Star?
           \_ They updated their logo to make it less Death Star-ish a
              long time ago.
              \_ It actually seems even more so to me. Plus all the Star
                 Wars references made it impossible to pass up...

10/2    I'm with Verizon and debating between the LG ENV2 and Blackberry
        Curve. Any recommendations from anyone? Thanks.
        \_ ditch verizon, go for GOOG G1 end of Oct 2008
        \_ Apple has been hiring ENV2 people like crazy...Verizon will
           soon offer an iPhone plan too.