I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge, especially one that presents puzzles that seek to toy with my technical predispositions.  Linux for me has always been this talked about operating system that was going to dethrone Microsoft, change the way software was written, maintained and a whole host of other bunk that never ever seemed to materialize… until recently that is.  Now look, I’m not going to sit here and say that you need to go run out and replace your Windows 7 desktop with Linux or even that Linux is better than Windows.  What I will say however is that Linux has made some serious improvements to the point that it’s accessible to a much wider audience than it ever has been before.  I’ve spent the last week or so testing and experimenting with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (long term support) release and I can honestly say that its pretty good.  So good in fact that I’ve switched to it for my every day computing tasks. More »

Up until now I’ve pretty much been a Droid purist in that I’ve waited patiently for their software releases to trickle in.  I figured it was the safest method of keeping the phone free of defects and frankly there really wasn’t that much in the releases to get jumpy.  Today however I’ve taken a leap of faith and have finally broken down and “Rooted” my Droid.  There was just too much in this next release that I wanted for me to sit on the sidelines and wait.  The number one item on that list is of course the ability to use Flash 10.1 and finally see the web as it was intended from the comfort of my handy little phone.  Sorry Apple you guys really blew it on that decision!

Another huge benefit derived from Rooting your Droid is that you gain access to Super User Permissions and have the ability to get into things Motorola, Verizon and Google keep you out of.  One shining example of what you can do is to overclock your CPU.  There are a number of utilities both free and paid in the Android Market that will allow you to up your clock speed once you’re rooted.  I chose a paid app called SetCPU.

The process by which you Root your Android phone is not ridiculously hard but I would caution those who want to follow in my footsteps that its not ridiculously easy and the potential to render your phone inoperable does exist.  Think carefully before you head down this path because if you blow up your phone you’re effectively screwed since you have violated Verizon’s terms of use.  Since “Rooting”, for some reason, is either more difficult or impossible from release 2.1 you first, assuming by now you are on that release, have to take your OS back to version 2.01.  This is not that difficult and with the exception of getting the utility to function in Windows 7 took only a few minutes.  After that you have to load a piece of software that alters the recovery startup application.  There are two flavors of this app, Clockwork and SPRecovery.  I chose the latter since it appeared to have more reliability among forum users.  The next step is to actually root your device which is as simple as loading an update.zip file to the phone and then running it More »

Today, the new incarnation of the iPhone was announced by Steve Jobs at the World Wide Developer Conference held by Apple annually.  This comes on the heels of the recently announced EVO 4G by HTC/Sprint.  The war rages on as Android v.2.2 challenges the newly announced iOS 4 from Apple.  The good news seems to be that we the consumers have lots of choices heading into the second half of 2010 and truly you cannot go wrong here.  If you happen to be an Apple cultist you will be quite pleased with the refreshed iPhone and even if you’re not the features of the new hardware/software combination are quite compelling.  For us that have adopted Google’s Android OS we have nothing to fear as version 2.2 (aka FROYO) is also quite complete with its own set of compelling features.

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I haven’t posted anything out on this blog for many months now and perhaps that trend will continue.  Things change as is always the case however I’ve added a couple new toys to my collection and some of my predictions are already coming true.

Folks, the netbook is already dead.  These things still line the shelves of the local tech stores but you’ll see fewer and fewer of them moving into the holiday season this fall.  Manufacturers are falling all over themselves to produce touch screen devices to compete with the now famous Apple iPad.  More »

I’m a gadget guy to be sure and anyone who knows me understands (or at least accepts) my obsession and fanaticism when it comes to modern electronics and especially ones geared towards computing.  I, unlike many I know, love to see change when it comes to modern conveniences.  I have recently, within the last year or so, begun to follow the mobile phone market as I see it as the next big “life changer”.  I sincerely believe that the so called  “Netbook” is an interim device that will fill a very narrow market-space until the mobile smartphone market has fully matured. More »

Whomever coined the phrase “Growing Old Gracefully” ought to be punched in the throat!  It would seem that the aging process produces, among other things, new pains practically on a daily basis.  What once I thought was idle complaints from my elders are now a painful and persistent reality for me.  My joints hurt, my back hurts, I cannot bound up the stairs as I once did and even if I could I do not posess the energy to do so.  It gets to the point where your pain takes up a considerable amount of your daily thoughts as well.  You have to decide if its a pain that requires medical attention or if its a pain that is just another pain.  Its maddening some days! More »