Maybe Mr. Jobs should have kept his press conference as short as his emails.

—-

There seems to be a fair amount of confusion regarding Sprint’s release of Android 2.1 for both the Samsung Moment and the HTC Hero. Some claim that Sprint has dropped the ball, but in reality, Sprint has nine (9) more days to live up to their word.

Whether or not they will pull through, I do not pretend to have the answer. But here I present the facts:

The following are official Sprint communications via their twitter page.

16February2010:

Android update! Upgrades to 2.1 for Hero/Moment now expected early 2Q10. Currently working through options for upgrades w/ HTC and Samsung.

13April2010:

Android users: We hear you re: 2.1 update; still on track for early Q2. Details as soon as avail. Many thanks for your continued patience.

Sprint has repeatedly indicated that the 2.1 update will be offered in early quarter 2 of 2010. More importantly, they have not since indicated otherwise. Use this chart:

Q1: 1Jan – 31Mar

Q2: 1Apr – 30June

Q3: 1July – 30Sep

Q4: 1Oct – 31Dec

Sprint said early quarter 2. Some have argued that “early” is the first third, “mid” is the second third, and “late” is the last third. While this may be a valid argument, it is not necessarily what Sprint implied (apparently not, since it is already past the first third).

What “early” MUST mean is “first half.”

The half way mark of quarter 2 is 15May.

Sprint won’t be late until past the 15th, so hold your breath, it should be here soon!

Why is this unique? Long story short right here:

• Being a student, I have access to the FINAL RELEASE (not beta) of Windows 7 Pro about a month early of its official release date — and FREE too, believe it or not =D
• Being the lazy SOB that I am, I shot the shit for 2 weeks and just recently went ahead and installed it on my Mac.
• It is the 64 bit Professional edition
• It installed on my MacBook Pro (4,1) without the slightest hitch or hack, and upon installing Boot Camp 3.0 drivers off my newly purchased Snow Leopard (10.6) disk, runs absolutely flawlessly
• Windows 7 does not suck
• Windows 7 actually comes close to giving me a hard-on

As if that’s not already WAY to much information, more to come when it’s not 4 in the morning and I’m not completely delusional.

Until then,

Sleep well. I will be.

What does this have to do with my site? I don’t know… if you can think of something though, feel free to let me know. Hey! It’s my site, I can get off-topic if I want to!

Get Dropbox!

Government App Store

First of all, a new “.gov” website has appeared under the authority of the GSA at Apps.gov. I’d be wary of trying to “register” on the website unless you are expressly authorized to do so; a warning at the bottom of each page advises that “unauthorized activities [on the website] are subject to disciplinary action including criminal prosecution.” So unless you can find some strange pleasure in being “disciplined” (ooooh, you baaad citizen, you) by the federal government, I’d tread lightly on the site (oooh, you waaant access to my fiiiiiles…. naughty naughty….). (Sorry, I got carried away, moving on…)

On that note, I poked around a little bit (without putting in any information, of course), and there are some curious things there– do check it out.

government.google.com? Not Exactly, but Close

Secondly, Google has made announcements that indicate that the U.S. government is going to being using the Google Cloud for much of it’s storage, processing, and productive needs.

Other than the extremely basic implications (simply that the government is buying services from Google, as it does many contractors) one can also consider the fact that the government is placing a very large amount of its information storage and processing into the hands of a publicly-owned company. Granted, those who interact with the actual servers will have just the same security screenings and clearances of their government-employed counterparts, however, they will still be private citizens working for a public company.

An analogy to the private military contractors of “Blackwater” may be useful. Blackwater operatives are hired by the government to provide “security” in certain circumstances. Similarly, Google and their employees will be hired to provide productivity and data solutions for various federal, state, and local agencies. This kind of contracting will allow the general population to just be one step closer to the inner workings of the government. And, God forbid, might provide leverage for said population should it be ever be required. I don’t intend to come across in any way as an anarchist or anything of the sort, but I think it’s nice when the government “of the people” can actually be manipulated by the people should the need arise. This, I would say, is a step in the right direction.

From the bottoms of our hearts, we thank you.

A Summer for the Ages

Well I laughed and I cried and I saw some disturbing things over the summer. I’ve been away from my work-oriented lifestyle (read: sleeping through class and blogging) for the past three months, relaxing in the desert with friends, family, heros and villains (um, Beach Boys, maybe?). I spent two of those months with the fine men and women of one of the southwest’s largest sheriff’s departments.

Blood and bullets? Plenty. Experience? Invaluable.

Back in Business

We’re doing it right this year. Posts will be frequent and better than ever. Thanks to all subscribers– lets aim for 1000 more before May.

There are so many things wrong with this “research,” it’s hard to know where to start.

The short version: this is not true, not in the slightest. The so-called “experts” who wrote this are misinformed (read: stupid) to the point of it becoming comedic.

If you’re not so technically inclined as to understand why this is not at all true, or even possible for that matter, I’ll try to explain:

First off, there is not one internet that just feeds us everything that we see on our computers. The internet is more of a concept of a bunch of computers and servers all linked together so as to be accessible remotely. “Bandwidth” refers to how much and how fast data can be sent from one computer to another. This bandwidth therefore varies from place to place. Billy Joe out in the middle of nowhere might not have as much bandwidth available to him as his cousin living in the heart of Manhattan—it simply depends on what your ISP decides to offer to you and its other customers in your area. If course then there is also the bandwidth from the actual server to your ISP, and anyone else in between, but that’s all water under the bridge.

Essentially what the article states is that data-intensive websites such as Youtube will suck up all the bandwidth of the internet. The only problem with that idea is that there is not a single pool of bandwidth that everybody draws from. It is all mostly independent. If Youtube is overused, Youtube will become slower until it is upgraded. If your neighborhood’s bandwidth is overused, your neighborhood will become slower until it is upgraded. However, if Youtube is overused, but your neighborhood is not, then just about every other website on the internet will still function as usual for you—100% unaffected.

The simple fact is that the entire internet will never be affected by anything all at the same time (with the possible exception of complete nuclear annihilation).

Too bad for the pirates, three of them were killed by United States Navy SEAL snipers, and the fourth was apprehended while aboard a US Navy ship acting as the pirate’s negotiator.

Possible solutions? Attack pirate bases in Somalia. Read on to the Fox News story.

Local officials along the U.S.-Mexican border welcome a new federal crackdown against border violence despite concerns that it will create lines of idling cars through neighborhoods and deter crossover traffic.

[From U.S. tightens security at Mexico border - USATODAY.com]

—-

Well, it’s too bad that it’s come to this, but there are no alternatives.

The situation in Mexico is out of control, and the United States needs to take measures to protect its people.

I’ve spent most of my life living very close to the border, and danger is very real. It’s in your face everyday.

Protect yourself, protect your family

Unfortunately, it really has come to the point where people living within any reasonable proximity to the border need to start looking after themselves. The violence follows the drugs. Where there’s drugs, there’s violence. Steer clear of it all as best you can, and make sure your family is educated. If you have children, know where their minds are at when it comes to drugs. The act of buying the drug might be more dangerous than the act of taking the drug.

Don’t live in fear, but keep in all in mind. Do your best to avoid any situations before you find yourself in the middle of one.