iPhone 2.0 now has a secure erase!

AppleInsider | Secure data wipe built into iPhone Software v2.0: "Responding to concerns over the integrity of the iPhone's data reset methods, Apple has taken the extra step and built a more secure data wipe function into the next version of the handset's software, AppleInsider has learned." 

This looks good to me! I'm willing to let the device scrub itself clean for an hour as long as my personal data isn't going to be sold when I upgrade to a new 3G iPhone.

Not even Intel wants to switch to Vista!

Et Tu, Intel? Chip Giant Wont Embrace Microsofts Windows Vista - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog: "“This isn’t a matter of dissing Microsoft, but Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista,” the person said.

An Intel spokesman said the company was testing and deploying Vista in certain departments, but not across the company."

OH SNAP!

Resolution Independence Support in Snow Leopard?

Resolution Independence Support in Snow Leopard? - Mac Rumors: "The benefit of resolution independence would be the ability for the operating system to scale its user interface smoothly to accommodate higher resolution displays. At present, most displays are around 100 dots-per-inch (dpi), meaning 100 pixels for every inch of screen display. If Apple were to introduce an ultra-high resolution display, it could have a dpi of 200 or 300. The same image viewed on these higher resolution screens would appear 2x to 3x smaller. Simply scaling up bitmapped images to fit the display would result in blocky/jagged images. If instead, they are described as vectors, as Apple is proposing, larger displays could smoothly scale the user interface to the size of the display."

Some details from MacNN.com...

"More crucial may be a dramatic shrinking in the size needed for OS functions, possibly related to cutting out duplicate localization, and to the implementation of "resolution independence," which replaces bitmaps with vectors that can handle any desktop size. The Utilities folder is expected to fall from 468MB to 112, for example, while Mail will be cut from 287MB to 91."

Another place where size can be cut is by eliminating the PowerPC code in Leopard. Currently, OS X Leopard is a Universal Binary. This means it has code for both Intel and PowerPC Macs. There are apps out there that remove whichever part of the code you don't need, but they can never remove it from the core of the OS. From the look of things Snow Leopard (10.6) will not support PowerPC (G4/G5) macs and thus won't need all that extra baggage. By slimming things down by getting rid of bitmap images and going to MUCH smaller and totally scaleable interfaces and losing the PPC code apps are getting smaller and will thus be faster. They won't take as much RAM, they won't take as much CPU power and thus better battery life and faster computers. Everyone wins - expect for those with 2-year-old G5 machines...sorry guys.

Apple’s Grand Central threat to Microsoft

Apple’s Grand Central threat to Microsoft | Storage Bits
| ZDNet.com: "Microsoft has a deep technical bench, but their executive leadership can’t seem to prioritize. Just as Henry Ford lost a 25 year lead in automobiles through inflexibility, Microsoft’s cavalier attitude towards Windows customers is steering them to disaster."

Apple announces ZFS on Snow Leopard

Apple announces ZFS on Snow Leopard | Storage Bits|ZDNet.com: 

"Who cares?
Anyone who stores data should.
Microsoft’s NTFS is 20 year old technology borrowed from DEC. Fine for small disks and puny CPUs. Not so great for today’s data intensive systems and applications."

VERY good information. 

Poll: Obama Opens Up 15-Point Lead

Poll: Obama Opens Up 15-Point Lead | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com: "The latest NEWSWEEK Poll shows the Democrat with a 15-point lead over McCain."

I'm not that surprised. My uncle put it an interesting way last weekend. My grandpa just turned 80 and is really out of touch and just an old guy. I love him so don't get me wrong, but couldn't say yes when he asked, "Would you want grandpa to be president?!"

iPhone 3G Technical Specifications

Apple - iPhone - Technical Specifications

Thought I'd share some interesting points from the new tech page. Check out the images of the new USB Charger!

Also, the new iPhone at 16gb will come in Black or White.

iPhone 3G - It's here at $199

Apple - iPhone

...well, maybe not here, but at least official. We have images to drool over, an ad to watch over and over, a date to long for, but most importantly a price to save for!

This thing is a steal at $199! You can't even get a retail Moto Razr for that price!

Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008

Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008 - Engadget

MacRumorslive.com WWDC 2008

Check 'em out. It's almost time. Just an hour or so now.

What's in the Box? The 3G iPhone Lands Down Under

What's in the Box? The 3G iPhone Lands Down Under - MacTalk Forums: "Late yesterday afternoon MacTalk received the above photo from a very reliable source who can not be named for obvious reasons (fear of assassination by the Apple Secret Police I presume). Word on the street is that resellers across the country have also received similar packages. As seen by the picture, it's contents are protected under NDA until Tuesday June 10 - does that date ring a bell to anyone?"

U.S. Payrolls Fall, Unemployment Rate Climbs to 5.5%

The U.S. lost jobs in May for a fifth month and the unemployment rate rose by the most in more than two decades, signaling that the world's largest economy is stalling.

read more | digg story

iPhone 3G iPhone firmware leaked

iPhone 3G iPhone firmware leaked: tri-band HSDPA, and GPS are go - Engadget: 

It's Go time people!

"quad-band GSM support (as we currently have), A-GPS (as we'd already gotten from another source), and tri-band UMTS / HSDPA -- which would make the new iPhone(s) 3G-capable in just about every market in the world. Hardware details after the break. We're through the looking-glass, people!"

Report: PS3 power-hungrier than five fridges

Report: PS3 power-hungrier than five fridges - Video News Spots - GameSpot: "The PS3, while on and running a game, consumes some 33.34kWh weekly--equivalent to around A$5 ($4.79). When on but idle, it uses almost as much, sapping 31.74kWh, or A$4.76 ($4.56). When the machine was off (with the back switch on), power usage plummeted to 0.30kWh, or A$0.04 ($0.04) a week.

In comparison, the Xbox 360 used up 26kWh per week in power when on and running a game--about A$3.90 ($3.73) in real money. When on but idle, the figure was slightly reduced to 23.47kWh or around A$3.53 ($3.37), and when off used up only 0.40kWh or A$0.06 ($0.06) a week."

OS X iPhone and OS X Leopard Banners at WWDC

OS X iPhone and OS X Leopard Banners at WWDC - Mac Rumors

I find it interesting that they are showing images of the iPhone. If it's supposed to change in such a dramatic way...wouldn't they have these masked with their standard black fabric? We can only hope that the 3G iPhone is indeed on its way.

UPDATE:

More images from the original poster's Flickr site....

New Domain!

I just purchased barefootpanda.com from GoDaddy. It was a really simple process. I will be building a Zimbra on Fedora or Red Hat box and playing with that as a new project. The blog should stay up and active at blog.barefootpanda.com.

Verizon Agrees to Buy Alltel for $28.1B

Verizon Agrees to Buy Alltel for $28.1 Billion - NYTimes.com: "Under the terms of the deal, Verizon will acquire the equity of Alltel for $5.9 billion and assume $22.2 billion in debt. The companies hope to complete the transaction by the end of the year."