No doubt everyone has heard of the transition to digital television, or DTV, coming up in February.  What many don’t know is that you do NOT have to rush out and buy a brand new HDTV and you do NOT have to call DirecTV, Dish Network, or your cable company to ad HD to your package. The digital transition has to do with over the air broadcasts only.  Which means that TV stations cannot broadcast an analog signal after February 17th.  If you already have a TV with a digital tuner and you use an over the air antenna you do not have to worry.  Also, if you have cable or satellite TV you are fine!  All of the ads for this are confusing.  Which is largely the fault of your local TV stations, TV networks, oh and of course…………..your cable or Satellite company!

I ran across a news article on Zdnet about a couple of trojans designed for Mac OS X making their way across the internet.  You can hread the article at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-251586.html .  This sort of supports what I have been telling the people I know.  Macs, as with any computer connected to the internet, are vulnerable to viruses.  There have been other instances of Mac viruses.  In fact, it is believed that this new one is the same as one discovered last year.

“In other respects the Trojan is similar to previous versions of RSPlug, which first surfaced in October 2007, Intego said. It installs a piece of malicious code known as DNSChanger, which routes the user’s internet traffic through a malicious DNS server, leading users to phishing websites or pages displaying advertisements.” 
(Matthew Broersma, ZDNet.co.uk, article linked above)

I will admit, however, that Macs do not get as many viruses as Windows based PCs.  The reason is that there just aren’t as many Macs out there as PCs and a Mac virus would have minimal impact.  But expect to see more viruses as macs become more popular.  My experience working with WIndows based PCs has caused me to form a habit of installing and maintaining antivirus software.  So, I will be installing antivirus software, if I can find some for Mac, as soon as possible.  (Better safe than sorry.)

The first touch screen BlackBerry is finally here. The Storm is will be available on through Verizon wireless some time later this fall. So far no pricing information has been released. The Storm is supposed to offer a full touch screen with gestures and tactile feedback making it easier to use for typing, etc. More information to come…..

So I thought I would post something since I have not done so in a while. I am planning on getting OneTechSys.com up and running sometime within the next two months. After that there will be regular blog posts and updates to the site. There may not be much happening on here for a while but keep checking back. Thanks for reading.

-Robert

Apple has sent out invitations for an event that will be held next Tuesday (September 9th) at 10 AM PDT.  The invitation has an iPod type picture on it and the title “Let’s Rock”.  What Apple is going to announce or debut at this event is still up for speculation but it will most likely focus on a refresh of the iPod line and possibly the end of hard drive based iPods.  Of course, all of that is just speculation.  We will have to wait until September 9th to find out what Apple has in store.

Apple announcement sent to media today!

Psystar has filed a countersuit stating that Apple’s “tying” of hardware to Mac OS X is anti-competitive.  It will be interesting to see what happens with this. 

Here is an article with more information:  http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9807&tag=nl.e539

What do you think?

There has been a lot of talk around the internet about Windows 7.  You will find at least one blog post or article on every tech magazine web site.  The growing popularity of this subject brings up an important question for many Windows users: Should You Wait for Windows 7?

Although there are numerous articles and blog posts about Windows 7, we know little about it.  Microsoft has started a Windows 7 blog but the only information obtained from this blog so far  is that the Windows 7 development group is divided into 25 feature teams.  Most of the other articles and blog posts are all speculation.

So should you wait for Windows 7?  This question is difficult to answer.  Although a lot of people that have upgraded to Windows Vista or bought a new computer with Vista preloaded have had huge problems, there are those few people who have only had minor problems with Vista, many of which were fixed when SP1 was installed. (Myself included.)  Here is my answer:  If you are buying a computer you really have no choice, unless you purchase a Mac or a PC with Linux loaded on it.  However, do not expect a $500 computer from Walmart to be able to  run Vista perfectly.  If you are purchasing a new computer with Vista you should be sure it has at least a dual core processor (Intel is suggested, avoid AMD if possible), 2GB of RAM, and a dedicated graphics card with at least 256MB of RAM (at least 512MB would be better).  If you are not planning on purchasing a new computer soon, I would suggest waiting until you are ready to purchase one.  If you really want Vista and are not able to purchase a new computer be sure that your computer has at least 2GB of RAM and a graphics card.

Microsoft is a software company.  That’s what they started out to be.  However, for the past 10 years or so they have moved away from that core business.  Microsoft now has MP3 players, a game console, and too many online services to count.  I believe that this loss of focus on their core business has lead to the problems they are now having with Windows Vista and the problems they will continue to have if they do not “rethink” their strategy.

The two main sources of Microsoft’s success are Windows and Office.  They have since lost focus on at least one of these very important products and it has caused a few problems.  It kind of seems like Vista did not get the attention and supervision it deserved so the result was a product that was not really ready to be released.  We can place some of the blame on the media and the general public for complaining every time Microsoft pushed back the release date but that is not the source of the problem.  The problem is too many products and too many things going on at once.  Microsoft has so many products and services that it is hard to keep up with all of them.  What happened to the good ole days of just Windows and Office.  If Microsoft seriously dropped most of the other products and brought their focus on Windows and Office, they would be unstoppable.   

So Microsoft!  Don’t worry about Google, they are going to dominate the search and internet advertising business for some time.  Get back to working on Windows and give us all another great operating system like Windows XP.

I have owned a BlackBerry since May and I am glad that I made the decision to switch to the BlackBerry rather than sticking with a Windows Mobile phone.  Windows Mobile has some nice features but it is a slow and clunky OS.  The BlackBerry operating system, however, is very stable and fast.  Now the one thing I do miss about my old Samsung BlackJack is the 3G.  Downloads and web pages load a little slower on the BlackBerry.

This is the BlackBerry I have (Red).

  So far I have had no problems with my BlackBerry.  The e-mail works flawlessly and I was also able to install a Facebook application that alerts me when I have messages and alerts.  I can also use the Facebook app to view profiles, update my status, send messages, and write on my friends’ walls.  My favorite feature of the BlackBerry has to be the e-mail.  The e-mail just works and it’s nice to have spell check and an auto format function that will automatically turn something like “didnt” to “didn’t”.  I also like the little line it puts at the end “Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T”.  This kind of lets people know that you are responding from your phone and could be away from your computer, etc.

The BlackBerry is full of different features but one of my favorites has to be the holster function.  The phone is able to detect a magnet when it is put in a holster and will go to sleep.  While it is in sleep mode in a holster or case the keys do nothing when they are pressed and the screen goes off.  As soon as you pull the phone out of the case or holster, the screen lights up and it is ready to go.  If you get an e-mail or text message while the phone is in the holster, the phone will automatically open the e-mail or message app when you take the phone out.  You can also set the phone to ring differently or just vibrate while it is in a holster.  However, to use this feature, you have to find a case that supports it.  All BlackBerry branded cases support this function (they just have a magnet in them somewhere) and I believe all the cases from Seidio are also compatible.

Overall, BlackBerrys are very capable smart phones.  If you are in the market for a smart phone you should definitely check them out.  You will not be disappointed.

 

The first 3G BlackBerry.

I thought I would write another post because I wanted to see what multiple posts look like on the blog home page.  I also wanted to just let everyone that sees this know that it is still a work in progress.  I am still working on a header image to give this thing a little more of a unique feel.  I may also move some other things around and change the theme once again.