Deal!

If you’ve been holding off on getting an iPhone perhaps now is the time to buy. Two Canadian wireless providers are offering refurbished 8GB 3G iPhones for $30. Sounds like a sweet deal in exchange for your soul (Apple gets 30%) and a 3 year contract. Also you will have get over the fact that they are “refreshed”, but generally refurbished Apple products tend to be in very good condition.

Telus Mobility
Fido

Now that you’ve gone ahead and bought on impulse, any truth to the rumor that a new iPhone is coming out next month?

And the winner is …

Shaoxing, China. Hold the applause. This isn’t the kind of contest you want to be proud of winning. According to a study by Symantec 21.3% of malicous emails are sent from Shaoxing, making it number 1 in the world. That’s a lot of email to own up to. Is there any wonder why spam has tripled over the past year? Email is mostly unusable thanks to the malicious activity of these criminals.

Symantec was essential in helping Google track down the cyber espionage activity during the past year’s security breaches. Most involving the Chinese state assistance.

Internet > TV

I’m sure there’s a general consensus that the Internet is better than television. At least now in Canada there’s numbers to back it up. According to the report Canadians on average spend 18 hours online and a mere 17 hours watching tv. OK, so it’s not a landslide victory but it’s a bit of a reality check. Shifting trends and changing social behavior it seems has changed rapidly. We’re seeing a convergence of media forms and social and entertainment activities. But if you’re like me, you split your time between screens and multitask. Watch tv AND play on the Internet at the SAME time.

Bigger Laptop Storage On the Way by Toshiba

Who needs more storage on their laptop? Raise your hands. Thanks to Toshiba you’ll soon be able to keep all of your porn on that laptop drive, rather than having to resort to an external storage. 2 platters worth of 750GB and 1 TB goodness, spinning at 5,400 RPM. Also supposedly more energy efficient to boot. Checkout Toshiba‘s site.

Tethering for Rogers customers

No wired connection, or wifi, or 3g subscription usually means no Internet right? Well not if you’re a Rogers Wireless customer with a data plan. A data plan with at least 1GB that is. Looks like Rogers has decided to extend it’s tethering program and make it a permanent fixture of data plans going forward. So no extra charges if you decide to use your smartphone as a wireless modem. Unless you are roaming in the U.S. then you’re shit out of luck. Hit up a Starbucks or McDonald’s I hear they have free wifi.

“The move is likely a reaction to the launch last fall of HSPA+ networks at Bell and Telus.” (link)

The gauntlet has been thrown down

Bye China. Google has left the search business to Baidu. The next step has the gauntlet being thrown down by Google. China felt it could continue to impose its will on the American company but it was wrong. Queue the Chinese state media to begin slandering the company. Looks like the workers at Google.cn will have to start looking for another job. Maybe this guy was upset about the whole thing.

The state whines “YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE TO CENSOR THE INTERWEBS”
Google “YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE TO NOT STEAL FROM US”
State “WE HAD OUR FINGERS CROSSED SO IT DIDN’T COUNT”

I guess it’s up to the people to carry the fight from now on. Google has had enough of the bullshit. Makes you wonder just how many other foreign companies are ready to pull out of the country. China’s protectionist economic strategy continues to be a major deterrent for competition. While it’s a major blow to Internet freedoms for the Chinese population it’s a big statement for international companies operating in China. We’ll have to see what happens next.

Maybe they’re on to something

I don’t know when it started but it but it’s a regular occurrence at my household. Sitting in front of the television with my netbook on my lap splitting my attention between the 2 screens and occasionally checking my phone. Apparently I’m not the only one. 60% of you are also doing the exact same thing. It can be quite handy to have the Internet at the ready when something interesting pops up on tv and you have the urge to check it out before you lose interest.

Is this the future of the consumer? Short term attention span, I mean really short term. So many things screaming for our attention and dollars that we will have our pick of entertainment by the second. Turner Sports might be on to something here. They will be offering multi platform coverage of sporting events integration of twitter, live streaming video, chat, and even mobile. Basically whenever and wherever you are, Turner Sports wants you to check out their content on the platform available to you.

I think I’m going to need more bandwidth.