Today opens up WWDC, Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. Apple has confirmed three major foci for the conference this year: iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and iCloud. Word on the street points to major Twitter integration in the core of iOS as a key component to iOS 5, something that sounds interesting, but hardly earth shattering. Let’s go a step further: what if Apple’s Twitter integration work was a step towards an Apple purchase of Twitter?
Last year, choosing a cellular network for a smartphone was easy enough: pretty much any phone you might buy was a “3G” capable one and, for the most part, the speed those phones achieved on their respective networks was about the same.. Today, all four of the big cellular companies are proclaiming the arrival of 4G phones. In this series, we will be looking at the latest and greatest phones to hit the market and examine whether they live up to the hype, starting with the first nationally available 4G LTE phone: the HTC Thunderbolt.
As we have just passed through Holy Week, we reflect on one of the strangest juxtapositions of events a person could encounter. A Jewish carpenter turned preacher goes from being hailed as the next king to being brutally tortured and executed in the span of five days. Then, completely against the normal way things are supposed to happen, the tragedy becomes a celebration when that apparent victim returned to life triumphant. That’s not just the “good news” the church is called to preach, but also what it is called to live.
In today’s discussions of religion, we often forget how radically different the idea of a single, all powerful God, espoused by those faiths that hail back to Abraham, really is. What might a typical member of the “more enlightened” Greek culture during the time right before the fall of Judah in 587 B.C.E. have thought about the monotheism of the Bible? OFB’s Timothy Butler “listened in” on such a discussion.
This week’s attacks on Libya were summarized well by one Phineas X. Jones, who tweeted, “If I told you in 2007 that in 2011 we'd be killing Soc. Security, torturing Americans & bombing Libya, who would you guess won the election?” The Obama Doctrine is taking shape, but suddenly it is looking more like the Bush Doctrine Remixed. Is it?
The last week included major strategy announcements from two troubled cellular phone makers: Silicon Valley’s Hewlett-Packard and Finland’s Nokia. If the machinations of phone producers were a tragedy, the present act would surely be near the climax, complete with the start of a reversal of fortunes for an unlikely player and the flawed hero making a move cementing his death.
So, you received a new Mac for Christmas – you are probably going to want some sort of office suite for writing letters or papers, creating presentations and so on. There are a number of respectable choices out there, including Apple’s very good iWork suite. Nevertheless, Microsoft’s Office has long held the status of the gold standard of suites and its components have a long history on the Mac. In this review we investigate whether it deserves a place on your computer.
Another Christmas is upon us. Christmas carols are playing on radio stations, the decorations are sparkling and the shopping season is winding down. The first Christmas, of course, wasn’t anything like this: there were not any of the decorations and the merchants certainly had not been anticipating the day. On the first Christmas, the people went about their business oblivious, not recognizing the Christ. Decorations aside, is that really any different today?
So, here we are two days before Christmas. For the most part, it is growing too late to get gifts shipped to you (or to whomever you are shopping for) before Christmas. Never fear – thoughtful gift ideas are still within reach. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, there are many nice gifts you can give that show more thought than the ever-present gift card, yet, like the gift card, can be delivered electronically.
Last week, we looked at some of the most recent and interesting Android phones available this Christmas. But, of course, Android is not alone when it comes to smart phone platforms and today we have excellent contenders from the Windows Phone, BlackBerry and iOS camps, along with a handy little 4G Wi-Fi router from Clear.