I have joined teh smartphone masses

So I went & got meself an LG Ally running Android. This is the gadget I have been lusting after since my Zaurus PDA days - the toy that holds my calendar, contacts and can make calls. Lufs. Now I understand why one friend of mine is constantly checking her smart phone during our gaming sessions. It's that always connected, must answer the messages compulsion.

Bonus - now I get my choice of ways (text, IM, email) to tell said good friend from the next gaming session to tell her to put the damn phone down.

In related news, I'll have to keep an eye out for this - security holes in certain vendors' Android versions that allow apps to be installed without your consent.

To wrap up today's spew, we're one step closer to 1984.

"Speaking at an investor's conference on Thursday, a Microsoft executive offered that Kinect not only knows how many are in the room when an ad's shown, but what kind of team colors they might be wearing. Uh-oh."

Even if Microsoft isn't intentionally gathering user data for marketing purposes, they are known for software vulnerabilities. Care to bet on how long it will take before someone finds a way to gather the data illicitly?

Daylight savings confusion - it's not just for Windows anymore

A couple of years ago when daylight savings time changed in the US, Windows users got to deal with patching & confused clocks. Now the Followers of Jobs can experience the same enlightenment of freeing the mind by destroying assumptions (like - my clock is correct). I think the one OS I haven't had daylight savings time conversion issues was Linux.