AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

I came across this post regarding digital certificates.  After Microsoft's trusted Comodo Certificate Authority issued fraudulent certificates that effected many top sites. So here are some instructions that you can use to protect yourself if you're on a Mac and use Safari as your main browser.  Honestly, I don't know how serious this is but if it's got Microsoft's attention, I'd worried somewhat, enough to continue looking into it. It's amazing this does not happen more often if you ask me.  So the instructions provided at Sophos basically enables certificate revocation.   There really isn't much we can do about this.  We rely on a system that is based on an honor system and require these security and certificate companies to audit and continually beef up their protocols.   More at Sophos  and how this happened . Note: Firefox and IE 9 users should be fine even though Microsoft has issued an update.  IE 8 users needs to act to protect themselves....

After my failed attempt to get one last AT&T version of the iPad 2, I started looking for the closest Best Buy to see if I can go there and see if they've got any in the store. I started with Maps and ended with Siri, an app whose company that made it was bought by Apple a while back. In Pasadena, California, the Maps app gave me a couple of locations for Best Buy that was not Best Buy. It gave me a uniform store and another location that I didn't bother looking into. So I turned to Siri. Launched the app. And I spoke into it. "Best Buy...Pasadena." I dispensed with saying California because I figured that it knows I am in California based on the location function. I was tethered to the iSpot so it probably has an idea where I was. Within a five seconds, it provided me with the Best Buy location in Pasadena. Faster and better than Maps. However, that was where the good ended and where Siri can get better. I tried a different query. I asked for "Store hours.....

This is insane. The line is 200+ deep for the iPad 2. And I am last. I wasn't but now I am. The guy behind me gave up. And I am beginning to think I am going to walk away empty-handed. And understanding limited Chinese, I overheard the folks ahead of me told his wife/girlfriend/mistress that he still has an order for 16 more. Honestly, free enterprise. Love it but ethically and morally, I just don't feel all that cool about it. You know what I mean? Again, capitalism. Great. Still, Apple maybe should consider going from two per to just one per customer unless you order online. For me, this is a new mobile dynamics a lot of people are experiencing. And lots of folks are walking away empty-handed. A lot of enthusiastic mobile warriors that Apple could easily be converted into Mac or iPhone users as well had they been able to be experiencing the iPad 2 sooner rather than later. Perhaps, Apple sensed that users have no where else to go as Android competition have yet to really so...

I've started a dual review process. we'll see just how well the 11.6" Macbook Air works as a writing machine with some simple Web work and some image process. At the same time, I'll learning and review from scratch three top novel writing apps for the OS X. The goal is to see how one of Apple's most affordable Macbook handles the daily needs of a wannabe writer/blogger. And tonight, I took it out for a test run at Starbucks. And I took some notes. Of particular interest is how well the battery life works through the night. Apple rated the battery life to be 5 hours. Well, given the needs of most writers, not necessarily bloggers, I assume that we just type most of the time without the need for Internet connectivity. How did it go? More at the following links: Macbook Air and Writing ( Part 1 ) - Friday, March 25, 20111

I’m torn on buttons on mobile devices. You’ve got Apple on one end that detests buttons so much that it has only one click on the mouse while the iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad has just the home button on the surface. Buttons – I love them. At least when I was a kid, I love buttons. See, I grew up watching anime, the kind with spaceships, giant robots, and futuristic command centers. And they have tons of button and flashing lights. When it comes down to it, it reallly depends on what you do with your mobile device. I can write just as long a letter on the iPhone as I can on my G1. The only difference for me is that I spent years playing the piano and I like to keep what's left of the life of the joints On my fingers for the piano, not the smartphones. So I definitely like the touch-type on a glass surface than buttons. No need to push down on a button. No need to exert pressure with the thumbs. And you're constantly using your thumbs, there is no escaping that on ...

TiPB has six tips on how one can fix a slow or buggy iOS device. It's a must read.  I'll leave all of it there since they came up with the list.  I just have one more to add.  Turn off any feature that you don't need.  If you don't need push notification, get rid of it.  That might even extend your battery life.  Oh, and there's the location function if you're on an iPod touch.   I think the best coarse would be to restore the device.  Apple has made it easy to do that.  And fast. More at TiPB .

I've had the Macbook Air for a couple of days now. Let me recap. I almost didn't get it because Fedex bungled the order (for like the nth time) and, in disgust, I nearly rejected the shipment from Apple. And what a perfect writing machine it is. I mean it's not just a glorified typewriter. Well, that had been my intent but now, I realized just ho powerful this little guy is. And what is can do isn't little at all. I've always wanted to write for a profession but lacking talent and the time, I've had to do it on and off through the years. But technology, especially mobile tech, is at the point where I can do this at any time and almost anywhere. And I have been exploring just what is the best way to go about writing a fictional novel. I've started a bit during last November's National Novel Writing Month ( nanowrimo ) in my own way. I didn't finish but I was about three quarter of a way through before I kind of set it aside for the Hol...

If Apple truly has no plans to discontinue the Classic and by not updating, it might have driven folks to get it before there are no more left.  That was my initial knee-jerk reaction when the iPod Classic was not updated this past fall.  In fact, it was a recommendation that I gave a friend. to buy it before Apple runs out of stock. But a Macrumors reader e-mailed Steve Jobs imploring him not to discontinue such an iconic device. To which Steve Jobs replied:  We have no plans to. Though no more was said beyond this, Typical Steve Jobs communique leave it open to interpretations.  My hope is that we'll see an increase in battery life as well as storage in future Classics.   In hindsight, there was probably no need for Apple to update the Classic in the fall of 2010 when Apple updated the iPod nanos and the touches. With the iPod touch maxing out at 64GB, there was no need for Apple to increase the capacity of the Classic.  Perhaps, in 2011, Apple will final...

Would you be interested if iOS can one day (it probably will) be powerful enough (it probably already is) to become a full-sized Mac. Well, I think I just kinda of answered that question for myself. And I got this idea after spend some time with the Atrix at the ATT store when I was pre-ordering the 3G iPad 2 a week ago and I saw it at a Starbucks over the weekend. And I'm not the first one to come up with this idea for the Mac or the iOS devices. But I'm writing this post on my brand new Macbook Air. Boy it is light. And if Apple were to morph future iPads into a sort of a laptop with a dock. A while back, some blog, I forgot which one, even thought it might be a neat idea if Apple was to get rid of the trackpad and in its place, allow the user to dock their iPhone or iPod touch. From there, the user can synch data and use the touchscreen as the trackpad. Obviously, that is not likely to happen given the complexity of this setup. Steve Jobs would never allow it...

I really don't like Fedex.  But it didn't start out that way.  I think it's Fedex that doesn't like me first.  Finally, my refurbished 11.6" Macbook Air powered by 1.6Ghz Intel chip with 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD got to my office. After a night of frustration, I thought I finally came to a conviction to have this Air shipped back.  That was just how frustrated I was with Fedex.  That's another story but for now, I'm very excited about my new purchase.  Instead of the iPad 2, it's the Air.   I know that a week or so ago, I was leaning towards the Macbook Pro but after some debating, I decided I should wait and see if Apple will change up the design more with the next revision. And the Air serves a specific purpose that I don't need a 15" or 17" screen with the added weight for.  I'll get into that a bit more when I have some time with the Air.   Now, you'll noticed that I got a refub unit. ...