Android vs. Apple....

Everyone loves a winner until the winner gets a little too big. You can take your pick between Apple's fluctuating stock price, antenna gate on the new Apple iPhone 4G or the bitching and moaning about iTunes being too restrictive and totalitarian but the result is the same; let's pick on Apple.

People whine that they "have" to download their apps from iTunes and developers whine that all the apps are subjected to a rigorous certification test from Apple. The blogosphere is whining because Apple's new iPhone 4G can get poor antenna reception if you death grip the phone. Bag on Apple because they have become the new Microsoft of the 80's. They are the innovators where Microsoft once was, they are becoming the behemoth that everyone hates just like Microsoft has become. I suppose there is one difference, Apple customers are rabid. So rabid in fact that they can be referred to as fanboys.

So where does that leave us? It left an opening for Google to come in and introduce the open source free for all called the Android platform. In the Android's case applications are distributed either through the Android Marketplace (an icon on the phone's home page) or through the developer's website (scary). This link is from Phone scoop and it talks about a Chinese owned domain stealing personal information from people downloading their wallpaper Android app. Imagine that....No controls on the apps at all, unlike iTunes, so thieves go about unchecked. Give me Apple and it's controls anytime!

Here is a poignant snapshot of the Android Marketplace article:

In June 2010, a study performed on 48,000 Android market applications by SMobile Systems Inc., revealed that 20 percent of applications asked users permission for access to private or sensitive information that an attacker could use for malicious purposes, such as identity theft or mobile banking fraud. 5 percent of applications have the ability to place a call to any number, without requiring user intervention.[15][16][17]
However, while installing applications, Android displays all required permissions, so the user can decide whether to install an application whose permission requirements seem excessive or unnecessary (e.g. a game is likely to enable vibration, but unlikely to read messages or phonebook). This effectively makes the process more secure than other systems that do not ask for any permissions and instead receive full complete access.

Which phone will you buy? Who do you trust? Only you can decide but you shouldn't decide based on the phone's good looks. You should decide on many factors and being well informed is vital!

Daylight Savings time Change

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub.L. 109-58) is a statute that was passed by the United States Congress on July 29, 2005 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005 at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems, provides tax incentives and loan guarantees for energy production of various types. The reason for writing this today has to do with Daylight savings time and preparing your computers for the change.

The bill amends the Uniform Time Act of 1966 by changing the start and end dates of daylight saving time starting in 2007. Clocks will be set ahead one hour on the second Sunday of March instead of the current first Sunday of April. Clocks will be set back one hour on the first Sunday in November, rather than the last Sunday of October. This will make electronic clocks that had pre-programmed dates for adjusting to daylight saving time obsolete and will require updates to computer operating systems. The date for the end of daylight saving time has the effect of increasing evening light on Halloween (October 31).

See the Microsoft web site for an explanation of what to do to your Windows machine according to which operating system you are running. For those of you with Mac's, you're on your own.