Tag Archives: Technology

The iPhone has a Compass – Do We?

Posted on by

Gizmodo’s now infamous expose of the next-gen iPhone is one of the hottest and most controversial tech stories to hit in a while. Some even cheered Gizmodo for landing the ultimate scoop – getting their hands on an iPhone prototype from the ultra-secret Apple.

But then reality hit. We learn that Gizmodo paid $5,000 for the phone from someone who found it at a Silicon Valley bar. Its unfortunate owner apparently left it behind. Instead of giving it to the police or making a more concerted effort to give it back to Apple, it was sold to the highest bidder. This was after the Apple employee was identified through a Facebook app and the phone was remotely wiped by Apple. All clear evidence that the phone was property that should have been returned.

So this is what we have come to. If something comes into your hands that isn’t yours, resort to the playground ethics of “finder’s keepers.”

This is why when someone returns money that is not theirs or engages in some other act of unforeseen honesty people are shocked. Too many share the view that if the world is ruthless and cutthroat, then we should be too.

There is an old saying about how each of us needs to have a moral compass to serve as a guide when we face such situations. Unfortunately we have another case where it just didn’t work. Maybe there’s an app for that.

Crouching Tiger, Hacking Dragon

Posted on by

Much has been in the news lately about Chinese hackers who have wreaked havoc on the Pentagon web site and various U.S. government pages.

Apparently Chinese hackers are responsible for a number of attacks on U.S. government sites. But instead of being sponsored by the Chinese government, they operate independently and out of a sense of national pride. To them, hacking into U.S. sites is how they can do their part to take on the American enemy.    In addition to the government, corporations, who would be similar targets for attacks, need to get their cybersecurity in order. And this presidential campaign, which has made the Internet a central hub for fundraising and the dissemination of information, makes American web sites a prime target.

The fact that these hackers are acting independently makes them more dangerous, I believe, than if they were Chinese government surrogates. They will likely be more brazen, more willing to take on higher-level targets, and difficult to locate.

The hacking looks like it’s accelerating into a full-fledged cyber war. Recently a few e-Minutemen are taking the fight back to the Chinese. This should be fun to watch. More so than another dry 16 days of Olympics coming soon to Beijing.

The waiting is the hardest part

Posted on by

It appears I am not the only one impatiently awaiting the arrival of an iPhone 3G.

Fortune’s Apple 2.0 blog reports that the iPhone 3G is still hard to find – sold out in 21 states. Your local Apple store is likely to give you this message if you check it tonight.

Then there is the ever effective AT&T site, which gives you this message when you put in your confirmation number:

So you can’t buy one at a store, and if you ordered one, you have no idea where it is at or if it’s still being built by Steve Jobs’ trolls. Tom Petty was on to something about that waiting thing.