The Seagate FreeAgent Go is our favorite portable hard drive to date and takes our award for Editors' Choice. The drive is well designed and fast, and you won't find a better value for the price.

CNET's review  and video names the Go as their biggest bang for the buck.  For me, the dock rocks. It gives the drive a bimodal function: mobile storage (the thinnest drive on the planet) and a desktop drive (up to 500GB - more than enough to act as my PC's backup drive).

Il TAS (Tasso Assorbimento Specifico) serve invece a capire quante radiazioni emette il nostro telefonino: sembra secondario ma può esser utile darci un occhio, se non altro per sapere se ci sono altri modelli che emettono meno radiazioni.

Leggendo su Iochiamo e Webmasterpoint notiamo che Cnet ha stilato una classifica dei cellulari più pericolosi, ovvero quelli con il TAS più alto -ricordiamo che il limite europeo è 2,0 watt/kg-.
I cellulari europei non lo superano per poter esser commercializzati ma si capisce da soli che più basso è meglio è.

La top 10 dei più pericolosi e la top con il TAS più basso sono disponibili sul sito di Cnet che offre classifiche anche per operatori, proponendo vari modelli in commercio (quelli fuori produzione non compaiono).

É la storia del microonde: non si sa se faccia male o meno, ma nel dubbio meglio informarsi no? ;-)

Marco

Natali Del Conte -- host of Loaded, a daily news show on CNET TV. She's also a correspondent for the CBS Early Show. Yes, that's her pic at right.

Honesty & Irony in Times of Universal Deceit -- George Orwell said, "In times of universal deceit, to tell the truth will be a revolutionary act." That's the aim of this high-minded literary blog by Layla Jade. It features stories, essays, poems and "cerebral prose" (I like that) that exploit our perception of what's real.

Make sure to check 'em out and let them know Mr. Fingers sent ya!

• Engadget - Live from Apple's "sporlight turns to notebooks" event
• Gizmodo - Liveblog
• CNet - Liveblog

There's tons more so check em out.  Gizmodo seems to be updating the most, but usually Engadget has better pictures and quality of posts.  Enjoy!  T-minus 17 minutes!

I was also right about the curves on the edges. Note the top of the screen and its dramatic curves and also near the track pad that features no click button.

Note the photographer gave a shout out to his girlfriend/boyfriend

These photos are from appleinsider.com

They also posted prices
MB382LL/A $899.00 (K29) (could be the display or could be MacBook)
MB466LL/A $1,299.00 (M97) (could be MacBook)
MB467LL/A $1,599.00 (M97) (could be MacBook)
MB543LL/A $1,799.00 (M96) (could be MacBook Air)
MB940LL/A $2,499.00 (M96) (could be MacBook Air)
MB470LL/A $1,999.00 (M98) (could be 15-inch MacBook Pro)
MB471LL/A $2,499.00 (M98) (could be 15-inch MacBook Pro)
MB766LL/A $2,799.00 (M88) (could be 15- or 17-inch MacBook Pro)

But for the moment im not going to agree with any of these.

What do you think? Personal I wont be running to get my own unless the screen can flip around and be written on. IE TABLET

CNET had this post today.  It looks like the vast majority of tech stocks have taken a real beating over the past decade.  While this shouldn't be much of a surprise with the tech bubble that burst just after the turn of the century and the recent financial crisis.

It's a sobering reminder that nothing is guaranteed.  Just like your house may not increase in value, your stocks may not increase in value.  Hence, while stock trading can be a lot like gambling.  This is of course the reason diversification is the most important thing you can do with your investments.  Or you can be like me and invest for value and growth and ride the waves up and down....just don't expect to retire soon...

Natali Del Conte - The comments

The negative comments about Natali Del Conte were pretty-much about two things.  Firstly, that Natali referred to clothing too much, for a tech news Journalist.  Secondly, some suggested Natali lacked 'tech knowledge' when speaking, unscripted, on shows like Buzz Out Loud.
.

Natali Del Conte - Looks matter!

OK - it's a sad fact that much of the way we are 'judged' these days is by how we look.  This is even more the case for people like Natali Del Conte; who appear in front of the cameras every week as part of her job.  With Natali's appearance such an integral part of her work as a presenter / broadcaster - it's obvious she is going to focus on how she looks and what she wears.

Natali Del Conte is what I call a 'real person.'  She speaks her mind - and if she has been figuring out what to wear in front of the cameras that day - that's what you will hear.  It really is that simple!
.

Natali Del Conte - 'Tech industry knowledge

I have followed the tech industry since the late 1970's.  The comments about Natali lacking 'tech knowledge must have come from people who know nothing about Natali Del Conte's work or professional background.

For example, many people don't know that before fronting the insanely popular Textra and Loaded, Natali was a highly respected 'Tech Journalist at Techcrunch.  Natali has ALSO written for respected publications like MarketWatch.  If you want to know about the quality of her work, ask yourself how come she has risen so far, so quick!  There's no magic here - it's just hard work and talent!

I have been reading Natali's stuff for years and can assure you she knows her subject REALLY well.  More than this, Natali allows her personality to come through her writing AND her comments when appearing on podcasts / videocasts etc.  This brings me on to my final point...
.

Natali Del Conte - 100% 'real'

Natali appears on the Internet and your TV screens, doing something that NO OTHER 'tech profesisonal I know does; other than perhaps Robert Scoble.
.

Natali appears as herself!

I have either spoken to or corresponded with most of the best known people in tech news.  Most are a total waste of space - real ass-holes!  They have an on-screen persona that's often funny or down-to-earth, but in reality, most are total dicks!

I know from emails I have received from Natali, that she often works 16 hours a day.  Fortunatly for her, she can use all this time 'perfecting her craft'; because she has no need to waste time perfecting 'the role of Natali Del Conte.'

With Natali Del Conte; what you see, hear and read is very much what you get!  If you like that - great - if you don't like it - at least respect the fact that you are not being fooled.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Natali for her emails and for being 'real' enough to get in touch with me BEFORE this blog started getting any coverage.
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Natali - You rock!

There will be a new range of Apple laptops released on the 14th of October says sources from cnet and apple insider. It will of course be very interesting to see what they will look like or how much they will alter in design.

Apple is renowned for it’s amazing, sleek and eye catching designs, which is what really separates Apple computers from other dell or Microsoft products. Being very interested in design I want to see a total overhaul of the Macbook, its current design is really cheap and old by Apple’s standards these days and the keypad clearly represents the buttons you would find on a calculator. Its like buying a white calculator for an over expensive price, there was a reason they never made calculators in white because they knew they were going to get dirty.


I’m going to take a minute or two to reach my inner Zen and become the Apple designer/lead designer who probably landed this task in his hands. *Minute silence* POW I’m now in the mind of an Apple designer. Here follows my overhaul for the new laptop range.

Diary entry sometime

I woke this morning to ritzy jazz playing off my iPhone alarm. It was a beautiful morning, because it was a Monday. I rolled out of bed and sat on the edge just to gather my thoughts, I slowly rubbed my apple logo tattoo that I drunkly thought was a good idea after a bottle of vodka at the staff party. But that was fine; I had a quick shower and gracefully got a coffee as I headed into work for the day ahead.

I work at Apple, everyone knows by the Apple shirt and cap I wear to work everyday. But something interesting happened today! A new project on my desk.

I was to head a brilliant team to recreate the Apple laptop range. I headed for the storeroom and picked both a Macbook, Macbook Pro 15inch and Macbook pro 17inch from the shelves. To the Lab!!

Batman Music + Spinning transition

The MacBook. 

I pulled out the Macbook, looking at its compact and small design I carefully pick it off the desk and slammed it in the trash. There was nothing I could do, it was a goner.

I then reached for the Macbook Pro 15". I was quick to admire its sleek design and great looks. I went straight for the chisel and in one fatal swoop removed the PRO for the Macbook Pro under the screen. Hmm there stood the new Macbook beautiful in everyway. But something was not right! I was missing something! Without second thought I went for the power saw slicing off 2 inches from the new Macbook design. I have succeeded!

Design notes

The new Macbook still a great compact notebook with a remising Apple design. As fast as the old Macbook Pro and you can choose from a titanium colour of silver or black.

Macbook Pro

I reached for the Macbook Pro 17" it was great beautiful but we had too move on. Be bold I thought. I went straight to the store room again. Rushing back with yet another Macbook Pro 15inch and whilst in-route I used my teeth and "guns" to rip off the screen from its base (much like the action of removing a piece of paper from a book). As I returned I promptly removed the 17" screen and replaced it with the 15". 


In all its glory there stood the new 15inch Macbook Pro. Hmm I asked myself WWSD (What Would Steve Do). I continued work! I grabbed the automatic sander; it was time to remove some of those old styled edges. After a cloud of smoke and metal sparks I stood back and looked at the design.

Design notes

The new Macbook Pro15" as fast as the old 17" with the amount same amount of ports and a smoother design.

Macbook Pro17"

I still needed to finish my project and had only one task left. The mother of the MacBook Pro, a whole 17". I walked over to the electronics-engineering department. As a geeky face looked up from his pile of cables,

"Norburt I’m reassigning you"

"But I’m working on the new iPhone, it now connects to the Apple telecom network and look at this new logo that apple, yahoo, google agreed on.." he replied. I stopped him mid sentence as I slapped the device out of his hands. I slammed the Macbook Pro 17" on his desk. 

"Make it lighter and cheaper Norburt" I said as I went for the door. Just before leaving I turned back to Norburt, who behind his desk already started working on the 17".

"And Norburt. Do you reckon you can make a tablet out of that?"

He looked up, paused for a minute and replied, "I’ll look into it"

As I left work that day, I relished in the fact that it was only 1:30 and I will able to have lunch at home again today. After strutting home I had some amazing tofu and a light beer. I went for my computer and a huge smirk of satisfaction came across my face as I checked my bank account and the recent 1 million dollar bonus that had been deposited.

POW! That was one hell of a Zen trip. The NEW Laptop range from Apple will be out soon and we just can’t wait.

The characters in this story are fictitious and any resemblance to persons or companies living or dead is purely coincidental. This is entirely my opinions and doesn’t represent any person, body or company other than myself. I own a Macbook Pro 15"

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• CNET.com posted a 22% increase in unique visitors over July, 2007.
• BNET.com posted a 19% increase in unique visitors over the preceding month.
• CBSSports.com led all major sports sites over the past three months in average minutes per visitor, average pages per visitor, and average visits per visitor. For the months of May, June and July, CBS Interactive says, visitors to CBSSports.com averaged a combined hour and eight minutes on the site--over 10 minutes more than any competitor--and average 8.3 visits per month (with the closest competitor averaging 6.3 visits).
• CBS.com saw a 32% increase in unique visitors over the previous month, the largest among broadcast network Web sites. It also had the most engaged audience among the network Web sites, CBS Interactive says, with users spending 20 minutes viewing 21 pages. According to CBS Interactive, the site's traffic growth was driven by the launch of the "CBS HD Gallery" (see [itvt] Issue 7.95 Part 1), which debuted in mid-July.
• GameSpot posted a 21% year-over-year increase in unique visitors. According to CBS Interactive, the increase was driven by its E3 convention coverage, which it says generated over 100 million pages viewed and 5 million videos streamed.
• Last.fm posted a 20% increase in unique visitors over the preceding month, and a 36% increase in user-engagement since launching a redesigned user interface in June, resulting in its highest-ever traffic. It also saw a 208% year-over-year increase in total minutes, CBS Interactive says, a 62% increase in unique visitors, and a 115% increase in page views.
• TV.com saw a 10% increase in unique monthly users over the preceding month.
• CHOW saw a 24% month-over-month increase in monthly users and a 256% increase over the previous year.

In a prepared statement, CBS Interactive CEO, Quincy Smith, attributed the growth in traffic on its sites to the company's promotional efforts across its various properties: "Not only are we seeing record highs for several properties but to see them during seasonally slow months attests to the benefit of combination across these great categories," he said. "It also serves to prove the value of on-air call outs and brand building support via purposeful cross-promotion from CBS Television and CBS Radio. With more cross-promotion programs and events on the way, upcoming site updates for many of our leading brands, and a world-class team that knows how to take advantage of the opportunities this combination affords, we're looking forward to the fall and winter."

I, for one, have been thinking this is a move Apple would make someday.  Not sure this is the right time, however and what is this going to do to my beloved Apple TV? (shut up David).

What do you think?  Leave a comment and SMACK US BACK!

Full Article Here

Posted by Cal

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Digital Crossroads is a radio program all about media literacy and media justice. Learn how technology politics affect free speech, journalism and your everyday life with headlines, clips and original interviews coming to you weekly, focusing on community media, grassroots activists, and government officials. Coverage including the February 2009 digital TV transition, media policies in Congress and at the FCC, privacy & surveillance, net neutrality, elections & voting, radio & recordings and international press freedom.

Today, a dramatic feature with two interviews and clip. In September I was in Austin, Texas and attended the major commercial radio lobby's trade show, held in the Austin Convention Center, which was also sheltering more than 1200 Hurricane Ike evacuees from Galveston. Listen to audio from the keynote speaker and an evacuee. Then hear analysis from Jim Ellinger, international community radio consultant based in Austin. Remember, change starts with you.
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ELECTIONS&VOTING_ McCain's tax cut benefits corporate media-

According to an analysis published October 4th on Think Progress Republican Presidential candidate John McCain's economic plan includes large tax cuts for corporations. The Center for American Progress Action Fund suggests McCain would create the largest deficit in 25 years by doubling President Bush's tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. Think Progress points out recent criticism by cable channel Fox News of liberal American media companies' obvious and transparent agenda. However, McCain's tax cuts could net General Electric/NBC $25 million, News Corp/Fox $80 million, Viacom/CBS $190 million, Time Warner/CNN $500 million, and Walt Disney/ABC $640 million. America's five largest media corporations made worldwide profits of more than $36 billion in 2007.
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ELECTIONS&VOTING_ Counting every vote in Florida in 2008-

Kim Zetter wrote October 7th for Wired that the pivotal election battleground of Palm Beach County, Florida has twice flipped the winner in a local judicial race, revealing serious problems with the county's infrastructure one month before the presidential election. Some vote tabulation machines were literally unable to produce the same results twice. The story has more twists than all the lousy movies by the director of The Sixth Sense combined. An August 26th primary election was close enough to force a recount. Then more than 3,400 ballots mysteriously disappeared and a different winner was declared. After a prolonged hunt, the county found them, also turning up more than 200 different ballots that officials never knew were missing. The original winner was victorious. However, optical-scan tabulation machines made by Sequoia Voting Systems rejected about 12,000 ballots and officials found legitimate votes that were marked clearly and correctly and should have been read by the machines. Other ballots were not marked correctly, but still indicated a clear choice by the voter. The winner was the same, but his margin of victory had gone down from 115 to 58 votes. Incredibly, officials then discovered 159 ballots from 54 precincts that had not been tabulated. The story goes on and on. Palm Beach County was using new optical-scan machines that it recently purchased from Sequoia for $5.5 million to replace paperless touchscreen machines the county purchased in 2002, which were bought to replace punch card machines involved in the 2000 election debacle. Pamela Smith of VerifiedVoting.Org told Wired it's not enough to have paper ballots. Counties with optical scanners need robust testing and manual audits. Palm Beach Post reports the county has asked Sequoia to test all eight of its high-speed optical scanners before November 4th.
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PRIVACY&SURVEILLANCE_ Skype: We didn't know, and there are no security problems-

Veteran reporter Marguerite Reardon wrote October 3rd on CNET that Skype's president claims he was not aware Skype's Chinese partner TOM-Skype was logging and storing users' instant messages, when they were deemed offensive by the Chinese government. All ISPs in China are required to monitor communications, as Skype disclosed to users in 2006. A text filter blocks certain words in chat messages, including keywords related to Taiwanese independence, banned religious group Falon Gong and political opposition to the Chinese Communist Party. Researchers at University of Toronto's Citizen Lab published a report saying TOM-Skype is logging and capturing millions of records including personal information and contact details for any text chat and voice calls to TOM-Skype users, including from Skype users. Still, Skype president Josh Silverman insists "Skype-to-Skype communications are, and always have been, completely secure and private."
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PRIVACY&SURVEILLANCE_ NSA has repeatedly abused wiretaps, listening to Americans calling Americans

Mike Masnick reported October 9th on TechDirt that leaks are coming out highlighting NSA spying on Americans in the wake of Congress granting retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies for agreeing with the Bush administration's illegal warrantless wiretapping. Under General Michael Hayden's leadership the NSA created a domestic telephone call database, but Hayden stated conversations between Americans were not being intercepted. "We are narrowly focused and drilled on protecting the nation against al Qaeda and those organizations who are affiliated with it. It's not for the heck of it." In fact, according to ABC News, two separate "intercept operators" have come forward separately, saying they listened in on innocent calls between two Americans. Not only were calls between Americans listened to and recorded on a regular basis, highlights were sent around to other operators. One operator said that on a regular basis messages were forwarded because of "good phone sex" or "pillow talk".

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JOURNALISM&FREE SPEECH_ California passed anti-censorship journalism adviser bill-

Alberto Morales of Student Press Law Center wrote September 29th about a new bill signed into law by Governator Ahhnold Schwarzenegger in California that protects high school and college teachers, in addition to all other school employees, from being retaliated against because of student speech. State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) introduced Senate Bill 1370, building on other protective student journalism measures in California's Education Code. Yee said in a statement, "Allowing a school administration to censor in any way is contrary to the democratic process and the ability of a student newspaper to serve as the watchdog and bring sunshine to the actions of school administrators." Senator Lee continued, "It is quite disheartening to hear, that after we specifically prohibited prior restraint by administrators, that some are engaging in this type of nefarious activity and even firing quality teachers because of content in the student newspaper." Adam Keigwin, Yee's communications director, said "I would hope there are some legislators out there in other states who are listening and cutting and pasting our law into a bill of their own." California's Governator signed 163 bills, while vetoing 226 others all in the last weekend of September, once the state budget was finally passed.
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JOURNALISM&FREE SPEECH_ New Delhi journalist murdered-

Qatar's top-selling English daily newspaper Gulf Times reported October 4th that television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan was murdered. Described as honest and fearless by her former Kamla Nehru College journalism teacher Radhika Khanna, the young woman was found dead in her car around 3:30 in the morning after having returned home from work. The killing of the 25-year old woman, called by her former teacher a "sad reminder of the insecurity in our lives" has led to a 'Justice for Soumya' campaign organized by her colleagues at the Headlines Today news channel. A petition demanding justice was to be presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders, in addition to online social networking campaigns. At least 33 other journalists have been murdered in 2008, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Tune in next week to Digital Crossroads for Two Years Without Anna, Remembering the murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

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Feature on National Association of Broadcasters Radio Show keynote lobbying against FCC localism mandate, a glimpse inside Hurricane Ike evacuation with my Ronald Taylor interview, and response from Jim Ellinger on the phone from Austin for an interview.

[September 17th I rode a bicycle up to the Austin Convention Center ready to report on the National Association of Broadcasters convention. Inside I discovered more than 1000 people provided temporary shelter by the City of Austin. FEMA was not at the Convention Center, though City of Austin staff were doing an excellent job coordinating.

Listen in for: audio from the NAB keynote address of David Rehr, interview clip of evacuee Ronald Taylor, and my October 3rd phone interview with Jim Ellinger, a community radio veteran who works with AMARC and runs Austin Airwaves.

Full audio of my conversation with Michael Jackson & Ronald Taylor and the phone interview with Jim Ellinger is coming soon right here. (Update soon! -Gavin)

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FCC&CONGRESS_ Digital Transition means white spaces could bridge digital divide-

Media activist Joshua Breitbart is the Policy Director for People's Production House in New York City. In a story he wrote called "Digital Gold up for Grabs" published Friday October 3rd in The Indypendent he says FCC certification of white space devices is the most significant step we could take toward closing the digital divide. The FCC auctioned most of the broadcast spectrum made available by the transition to digital television to Verizon and AT&T, but small white spaces in between active channels can be opened up for portable, low-power devices that could connect millions of new people to the Internet for less than what we now pay. The New York City Council Committee on Technology in Government held a hearing September 29th to consider a resolution urging the FCC to hold back from opening white space devices. Current license holders like TV broadcasters don't want to share the airwaves, claiming potential interference problems outweigh public interest concerns. Still, public interest groups including Free Press, Common Cause, Wireless Harlem and Ethos Group advocated for expanded access to the Internet, criticizing the resolution. For more explanation of white spaces, visit: Speak and Listen
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FCC&CONGRESS_ Defense Department's propaganda program finally investigated by FCC-

Editor and Publisher reported October 7th the Federal Communications Commission will investigate the Department of Defense propaganda program revealed in the New York Times in April of this year, to determine whether news networks or military analysts violated the Communications Act of 1934 and FCC rules. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein issued a statement confirming the agency's enforcement bureau sent letters to five TV networks and 19 former military officers. The DoD paid individuals referred to as "message force multipliers" instructed to deliver "administration themes and messages" to the public "in the form of their own opinions." Analysts even conveyed specific talking points to the public when they suspected the information was exaggerated or false. Network officials argued it was the analysts' responsibility to disclose any conflicts of interest. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Commerce Committee Chairman Congressman John Dingell wrote to the FCC to investigate whether the plan violated sponsorhip identification requirements. National Public Radio is the only news organization I know of to even address their internal vetting process. You can read my Op-Ed about the pentagon propaganda plan on Reclaim the Media HERE.

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[Digital Crossroads is produced in the studios at Boise Community Radio. Music by Ooah, Gabriel Teodros, Ernest Gonzales and The Tasteful Nudes. Next week, Two Years Without Anna- Remembering slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. ---Radioactive Gavin.]

A recent report on CNet quoted analyst Adam Sarner who predicted that "over 75 percent of Fortune 1000 companies with websites will have undertaken some kind of online social-networking initiative for marketing or customer relations purposes. But (he) added that 50 percent of those campaigns will be classified as failures."

Sarner explained that this was due mainly to a quintessential lack of "mutual purpose" – essentially the goals of the company tapping on social media were out of sync with the needs and desires of the intended audience.

Citing Facebook as an example, he said that a vast majority of net citizens joined as a means of social interaction while businesses which tried to peddle their wares on this platform, incurred the wrath of many purist users who saw their move as a commercial intrusion in what is essentially a bohemian residential neighbourhood of sorts - one which believes it is laying the foundation for a social renaissance.

While I do see merit in his arguments, I am not totally convinced that it will be all doom and gloom for the survival of some commerce in the social media landscape even in little Singapore.

The corporate perspective
So where then does that leave companies such as Samsung, HP, Nokia and Lenovo all of whom have been very active in engaging bloggers in Singapore as an extension of their market outreach programme.

If you distil blogging (as a means of market sourcing) to its most basic form – it is still just a means of word-of-mouth referrals of little uncovered gems or in some cases, dire warnings to steer clear of advertising hype. The only difference between a literal word-of-mouth spread and the viral multiplicity of public opinion from blogs is that the latter is put on a platform without boundaries in which anyone with access to the Internet, can be so influenced to a greater or lesser degree based on the quality of the posts and the inherent level of susceptibility on the part of the reader.

For companies, herding bloggers to see, touch and try their products is an inexpensive form of publicity. Their reach may not be the same as in traditional media but for the negligible costs involved, it remains an attractive option for now.

But the blogging scene in Singapore is still in it its honeymoon period. The irrelevant, nonsensical, the rumour-based can still survive with hundreds if not thousands of random readers cruising the back alleys of the Internet for whatever catches their fancy. Success is measured in Stat Counters churning out numbers that often give misleading results rather than a true unbiased measurement of converts to a cause.

Some bloggers have made a name of themselves. Some have achieved a degree of fame and celebrity status, others have happily settled for an outlaw brag badge of notoriety – 21st century rebels without a cause gunning down anything and everything in their wanton path of destruction. Both sides have their fans or at least have links to an undecided majority willing to listen. And with the unlimited real estate offered by the Internet, there remains much room for the two to exist.

Championing a cause
Still the question remains how effective will this platform be for companies to extend their reach. It will probably boil down to an issue of balance and credibility in the manner in which they engage bloggers, the integrity of the bloggers themselves and the receptiveness of a wary public well attuned to the many scams in the online realm.

Companies would be wise indeed to tread carefully in the social media landscape. While bloggers may be a dime a dozen, engaging bloggers as influences to further your cause is more an art than a science. It will ultimately involve much homework in identifying the mature ones with sufficient life-experience, writing skills and a balanced approach, to speak the language of the common man.

The story has been big news across the mobile content, marketing and messaging industries over the past 24 hours and is still unfolding as we speak this evening.

As most of you know, mBlox, the world's largest mobile transaction network, is a client of mine so I have kept up to date with developments throughout the day. Here's a few articles to give you a little more insight into this developing, and most interesting, story.

From RCR Wireless News:

The off-deck content world reacted with shock to Verizon Wireless’ plan to impose a drastic new fee for vendor-generated text messages. However, it’s unclear whether the carrier will actually follow through with the charge.

The nation’s No. 2 carrier this week informed partners that it plans tack on a 3-cent charge for every MT (motile terminated) message processed on its network beginning Nov. 1. MT messages typically include text alerts, interactive voting notifications and SMS search responses, and have become increasingly popular as SMS has become mainstream in the United States.

“There’s absolutely a sense of panic, and it has to do with the immediacy of the move,” said Steve Livingston, CMO of mBlox, a dominant player in the message-aggregation space. “We really haven’t had time to discuss it. There are a lot of questions that we’re trying to assess."

From Wireless Week:

A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman characterized the move as something the company needs to do as part of business, but content providers and aggregators are concerned the rate increase will cause brands and marketers to ditch mobile in favor of cheaper, more traditional alternatives, like e-mail.

“This recent announcement from Verizon is very significant because a large number of market segments will no longer be able to participate in off-portal SMS services. Although we understand the carrier’s need to monetize, the immediacy, the market timing and level of cost will create a shock to the system,” said Steve Livingston, chief marketing officer at SMS aggregator mBlox. “The mobile channel will quickly become unattractive to many companies, small and large, that have been investing in new innovative programs and services.”

From the New York Times:

Verizon Wireless this week told companies that send out text messages that starting Nov. 1 it will impose a fee of 3 cents for each message it delivers to the phones of its subscribers. The plan prompted waves of protest among many of the companies that use text messages, and Verizon has backed off the details.

Steve Livingston, the director of marketing for mBlox, which processes text messages for companies including News Corporation’s MySpace social network and The New York Times, said the volume of messages it handles could fall by more than half.

“Alert services and social networks don’t work at 3 cents,” Mr. Livingston said.

Mr. Livingston and Zaw Thet, the chief executive of 4Info, a company that sends messages on behalf of Yahoo and USA Today, said Verizon had sent them information that was much more specific than what Mr. Nelson described.

“We received a formal notification of a rate change,” Mr. Livingston said, adding that the short time frame would be disruptive for mBlox’s customers.

“We have a lot of companies that have been working on their fall marketing campaigns,” he said.

Mr. Livingston and Mr. Thet said Verizon was discussing alternative pricing plans with big senders of text messages. And they said that some payment to the wireless carriers was appropriate, given the growth of text-message advertising.

From CNET:

The blogosphere has been up in arms over the past 24 hours as news spread that Verizon Wireless is planning to increase the per-message fee it charges companies that send text alerts.

My colleague Matt Diaz at ZDNet said he'd stop using Twitter if the charge was passed along to him.

"Certainly, as someone who updates my own Twitter account somewhat regularly, I'm not inclined to start paying for users to receive my notifications via SMS. If that were the case, I'd just stop using Twitter."

But Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, said the price hike has not been finalized. Still, he acknowledged that Verizon Wireless has been discussing ways to offset increased costs associated with heavy volumes of SMS text messaging on its network.

"We are currently assessing how to best address the changing messaging marketplace, and are communicating with messaging aggregators, our valued content partners, our technology business partners and, importantly, our friends in the nonprofit and public policy arenas," he said in an e-mail. "To that end, we recently notified text messaging aggregators--those for-profit companies that provide services to content providers to aggregate and bill for their text messaging programs--that we are exploring ways to offset significantly increased costs for delivering billions upon billions of text messages each month."

From InformationWeek:

On Friday, a Verizon Wireless spokesman said the message was not the final world on the increase, which is still under consideration. "That draft was intended to stimulate internal business discussions and in no way should have been released to the public and represented as a final document," he said in an e-mail.RCR reported that companies sending text messages and other content today typically pay from a fraction of a penny to a few cents a message, a rate that Nelson did not challenge. The spokesman said an increase, which would be the first since the service began in 2003, was under consideration "to offset significantly increased costs for delivering billions upon billions of text messages each month."

A fee boost could be particularly difficult on startups entering a crowded market for providing mobile services. Large Internet companies, such as Google and Yahoo, are unlikely to enjoy paying more to reach users, as well as traditional media companies that send news alerts and other content, such as CNN or ESPN.

My hunt for a new television began in early September.  I went into the search with a positive bias for Sony televisions.  Not only do their Bravia engines have a reputation for producing the most accurate palette of colors available on the market, but they are priced much higher than non-Sony televisions with similar screen sizes and feature sets, which leads the consumer to believe that they are superior in some way.  

This leads me to my first rule of TV buying.

Rule #1 of TV buying: If your goal is to get the best performing, highest value product, never go into the buying process with a bias for a particular brand.  This will prevent you from passing objective judgment and cause you to make mistakes.

Because of my bias, I walked out of the store with a Sony 40-inch 1080p LCD television without the 120hz refresh rate function.  I chose to pay more for the Sony and passed up on the 120hz function (which would have pushed a Sony model way out of my price range), mainly because my ability to keep things objective was severely handicapped by my favoritism for the Sony brand.

After just three days of having this television hooked up in my apartment, I returned it.  The picture was bothering me.  I knew that I could do better.  As a major sports watcher, I needed the 120hz refresh rate function, which refreshes the screen at a much higher rate than standard LCD televisions (which are 60hz), eliminating nearly all "ghosting" and image blur.

So, I went back to Circuit City and Best Buy, which I only use as showrooms for comparison.  This brings me to my next rule for good television shopping.

Rule #2 of TV buying: If your goal is to get the best price for the product you want, NEVER EVER buy your television from Best Buy or Circuit City.  These huge electronics chains will almost never have the lowest price available.  In addition, if you know what product you want to buy, you can often save yourself from paying state sales taxes by ordering from an online merchant.  Some of the larger online merchants like Amazon.com offer shipping for between $0 and $40, which is often far less than the local sales tax and puts money back in your pocket.

I absolutely used and abused the first poor guy at Best Buy who asked me, "How can I assist you?"  I took him for a few laps around the television section, looking at high end models with the most features and mid-level models which had just the basic features.  One thing became clear- the 120hz refresh rate was absolutely essential for me.  This feature made the picture more smooth, eliminated "ghosting," which is the shadow effect created when objects or characters on an LCD screen move quickly, and when sports were on the screen, the difference in refresh rate became crystal clear for me.  When movies are on, this function is unbelievable.  It creates a 3D effect and makes the characters appear as if they are actually in your room.  The picture quality and motion are as smooth as warm butter.

In my comparison, Samsung 120hz models consistently came up with the best picture, best contrast ratio (truer blacks), and best value, so I narrowed my choices down to two very similar models that stood out to me: the Samsung LN40A650 and the Samsung LN40A750 (The 8-Series and 9-Series will be released soon, but they'll be way out of my price range).

I wrote down the model numbers of my two target products and went home to see if CNET.com (a SSDTF SMARTsite) had reviewed these models yet.  

Rule #3: Always check to see if CNET has reviewed the product you are interested in purchasing.  CNET will tell you all the pros and cons of the product and can help you to make sure you haven't overlooked something.

To my delight, I discovered that CNET had reviewed the larger 46-inch versions of both models and both reviews were very favorable.  In fact, the LN40A650 was named "CNET Editors Choice" in 2008.  Then I decided to do some comparison shopping on the internet.  The best price available from a credible merchant for the LN40A650 was $1299 from Amazon.com (no tax, $36 shipping) and $1579 for the LN40A750 (again, no tax, $36 shipping).  Because it fit better into my price range, I was ready to settle on the LN40A650 (the older of the two 120hz models), UNTIL I stumbled upon a link for Amazon Warehouse Deals.  

Amazon Warehouse Deals is a new business leg of Amazon that focuses on selling returned products (open box products).  To my shock, the Samsung LN40A650 was listed for $999 plus $36 shipping ($300 less than Amazon's sale price)  on Amazon Warehouse Deals, and the newer model, the LN40A750, was listed for $1148 ($430+ less than Amazon's sale price) plus $36 shipping.  Since the difference was negligible, I decided to shoot for the higher-end, newer model, the Samsung LN40A750, at $1148 plus $36 shipping.

The description of most Amazon Warehouse Deals televisions say "Cosmetic blemishes on main unit," "repackaged in Amazon box," or "Minor damage to outer box."  This shouldn't scare you, since most returned models spent extra time in transit (accounting for minor wear on the box) and Amazon only writes "cosmetic blemishes on main unit" to cover their asses.

My Samsung LN40A750 arrived within a week and was hand-delivered and set-up in my living room via the Amazon CEVA White Glove delivery service.  It's nothing fancy- just a truck driver who carries the TV in, unboxes it, sets it up where you want it, has you take a look, and then has you sign some approval papers- but it is exactly what was advertised.  

My television was shiny, new, and didn't have a scratch on it, despite the Amazon description saying "cosmetic blemishes on main unit."  Trust me, I'm extremely anal- I looked at every millimeter of this television trying to find a scratch or even a minor scuff- there was nothing to be found.  This was a brand new television that someone had returned.  The box was a little dirtier than a brand new looking box, but who cares?  Samsung warranty remains totally valid and Amazon's 30-day return policy totally valid as well.  

SMART buy:  The Samsung LN40A750 (and all other 6-series and 7-series models) 1080p 120hz LCD televisions are the best on the market.  I researched this for a month and finally found the best product at the best value.  In addition, Amazon Warehouse deals is an amazing source for high-quality bargains.  I couldn't have asked for more.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Research in Motion Ltd. is rolling out its first real answer to Apple Inc.'s iPhone, the touch-screen BlackBerry Storm, which will work on broadband networks on both sides of the Atlantic and be exclusive to Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and to Vodafone Group PLC throughout Europe.

BlackBerry will have to distinguish itself amid the wave of other sleek do-everything smart phones coming to market, like Google Inc.'s G1, made by HTC Corp.. The Storm, BlackBerry's first touch-screen device, aims to make it harder to inadvertently select items while moving images across the screen.

The success of Apple's iPhone has spawned a series of touch-screen smart-phones from manufacturers around the world over the past year. Consumers will have a multitude of options this holiday season -- among them, Samsung Electronics Co.'s Instinct, LG Electronics' Dare, and the soon-to-be-launched G1 from T-Mobile USA Inc., a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, and Google.

From InformationWeek:

The much-awaited smartphone sports many of the features of Apple's handsets, and even outshines it in certain categories. The touch-screen smartphone may give Verizon Wireless a legitimate rival to the iPhone 3G, and it may help stem the loss of subscribers to AT&T. The Storm has 3.25-inch touch screen that has a 360 by 480 resolution. Like the iPhone, the Storm has support for multi-touch interface, but RIM's device will have haptic feedback for its virtual keyboard, and it will be capable of cut and paste. The keyboard will have RIM's SureType layout in portrait mode, and it will be a full QWERTY layout in landscape orientation.

From CNET:

Tech journalists and gadget lovers across the globe are rejoicing over the announcement of the BlackBerry Storm, RIM's first touchscreen cell phone to compete with the iPhone.

Those who can't wait to get their hands on BlackBerry's latest call it a marvel and its keyboard functionality, which makes you press down on the screen to register a "touch", is something worth drooling over.

OK, I guess I can concede that the Storm is really neat and the touchscreen idea is fantastic. But I still don't see how the BlackBerry Storm will be able to compete on any level with the iPhone 3G.

It's not that I have a problem with RIM--I think the BlackBerry Curve is a fantastic device--or that I'm not impressed by the Storm. I just don't see how BlackBerry's first touchscreen device can compete against the iPhone if the vast majority of "mainstream" users simply don't know anything about it.

Go ahead and ask the person next to you at the office about the BlackBerry Storm. Chances are, if they aren't in to technology like you and I, they wouldn't have the slightest clue about it even though it's making headlines all over the tech world today.

Then ask those people what they knew about the iPhone the day after it was announced. I'll bet you'll find that they knew much more about the iPhone than the BlackBerry Storm.

Do you see what I'm getting at here? No matter how important a new device in the cell phone business may be to the growth of the industry, it will never be able to outshine the iPhone.

From ZDNet:

I just got done reading Matthew Miller’s preview of the BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s first BlackBerry that’s replaced the keyboard with a touchscreen system — one that you must physically depress with your finger to manipulate (resulting in a “satisfying click,” as many reviewers have reported).

My question is simple: is this truly an advancement?

It occurs to me that, while RIM’s responsive touchscreen technology, called ClickThrough, allows it to differentiate itself from the iPhone, it’s not a great advancement in the long run. Well-built as any BlackBerry is, I feel that the screen would eventually give out over frequent, Crackberry-level usage. And when the screen doesn’t press anymore (or worse, when it presses too far), then what?

It strikes me that such physical use of the device is actually backtracking a bit, technologically. Perhaps advancement, to me at least, is removing a “touch” altogether.

RIM’s “push-screen,” as I think it should properly be called, seems to bridge the gap between a true keyboard and a true touchscreen. Which is good for RIM’s keyboard-happy users, but by no means some groundbreaking new technology.

Plus, it also occurs to me that this technology would actually slow down the speedier users among us, because you actually have to take the time to depress the screen when tapping a message out.

But we’ll see when Matt gets his hands on one in a month or so.

• There is a centralized handler for the exception. There are several reasons for implementing centralized handlers, including code reuse. Instead of handling an exception in various locations in an application, concentrate code for certain exceptions in a centralized handler. Wherever the exception is raised, the proper response is to record the exception and then delegate to the centralized handler. A central handler can be used to handle all exceptions in a single place.
• Resources required to handle the exception are not available locally. For example, an exception is raised because of an invalid database connection. However, the correct connection string is read from a file not available where the exception occurs. The solution is to propagate the exception to a handler that has access to the file resource.
• Propagate unwanted exceptions caught in the umbrella of the exception filter. This would be useful for catching all DataException types with the exception of the DuplicateNameException. One solution would be to write 12 individual catches—one for each of the data exceptions except for the DuplicateNameException exception. A better solution is to catch the DataException type and propagate the DuplicateNameException when necessary. This is one catch statement versus 12 catch statements and eliminates redundant code.
• Catch an exception to gather information or to report on an exception, and then propagate the exception.

To propagate an exception, rethrow the same exception or another exception in the catch block. An empty throw statement propagates the caught exception. Alternatively, throw a different exception.

Exceptions might propagate through several layers of an application. Ultimately, the exception could percolate to the user interface level. As an exception percolates, the exception becomes less specific. Exceptions from the lower echelon of an application contain detailed information appropriate to the application developer, but probably not relevant to the user. Internal exceptions might contain security and other sensitive information not appropriate for a benign (or malicious) user. Record the facts of the internal exception if logging is preferable. Exceptions that reach the user should present user-relevant information: a user-friendly message, steps to resolve the exception, or even a customer support link.

When an original exception is rethrown, you can preserve the that exception in the InnerException attribute. Successive InnerException attributes form a chain of exceptions from the current exception to the original exception. The InnerException can be initialized in the constructor of the new exception. Here is sample code that propagates an exception and sets the inner exception:

[sourcecode='csharp']using System;

namespace Examples.Exceptions
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
try
{
MethodA();
}
catch (Exception except)
{
Console.WriteLine(except.Message);
}
}

public static void MethodA()
{
try
{
MethodB();
}
catch (DivideByZeroException inner)
{

// record divide by zero exception in event log.

// except is inner exception
throw new Exception("Math exception", inner);
}
}

public static void MethodB()
{
int var1 = 5, var2 = 0;
var1 /= var2;
}
}
}[/sourcecode]