Cell Phone Apocalypse

With the airwaves getting more and more crowded each day and the networks slowing to a crawl when you need them to be at their fastest since you are using internet phones, it is hard not to think of how we can survive this "disaster". First of all, get a grip on reality. How did everyone survive without cell phones and the internet about 30 years ago? One way to relieve capacity jams is "cell splitting," which involves either adding more cell sites or adding more radios to existing sites to increase the number of connections that a network can handle. As the number of bandwidth-hogging smartphones and tablets increases, carriers have to deploy more and more towers. They face practical hurdles: no one wants a new antenna in their backyard. Interference is also a growing problem as more towers get added. If you imagine wireless spectrum as a highway, that road is getting jammed with trucks carrying big loads of YouTube and Netflix.New network technologies can get those trucks to drive much closer together, freeing up capacity. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint are deploying a "4G" technology called Long Term Evolution, which adds about six to eight times more capacity than a traditional 2G network. The problem is that the vast majority of cellular customers don't have 4G-capable devices. Even Apple's iPhone isn't there yet.

Computers Becoming More Like Your Phones

When Skype and other internet phone services came out, people started using their laptops and computers for video conferencing. Many of the phone service companies offer the service free of charge. It is a great communication device, especially for businesses because the business professionals can hold meetings without leaving their towns. Since our phones have the ability to do everything our computers do, it is easy to see why more people are choosing to use their phones. For one thing, they are much more portable. Now we are starting to see how the computer is coming to look more and more like our phones because we are more accustomed to using that interface. Another reason why the computers are changing is that the system syncs everything across the devices which simplifies life and makes everything much more secure. Some people say that computers will stay the way they are. What are your thoughts?

Solar Chargers

Have you ever bee in your car and needed to charge your phone or other gadget? Sometimes it can be a real hassle trying to find a way to charge it when you have other phone service devices plugged in the cigarette lighter. Solar chargers for gadgets are becoming more common, and convenient. There's the mPowerpad that charges multiple devices, for example. But for those that want a little style, there's the XDModo Solar Window Charger. The charger has USB and mini-USB outputs. Odds are most people will use the USB since that's the charger end of most smartphone cables – be they for Android, iPhone or others. The battery inside has a 1300 mAh capacity – most smartphone batteries average around 1500 mAh, so it's pretty close to the full charge. That said, after it charges up during the day, it can keep your phone going through the night, or supplement the battery when it runs low. The output is five volts at 500 mA, plenty for charging anything but an iPad. The maker, Xindao, is in Europe. You can purchase it online for about $65 but you'll have to shell out for shipping to the U.S. – about $65 as well.

Google in India

I found a rather interesting article about the continuing battle of social networking and search sites with censorship in India. It shows that some people are not willing to budge on these issues.

"Google India has removed web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world's largest democracy, media reported Monday. The action follows weeks of intense government pressure for 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text considered "anti-religious" or "anti-social." A New Delhi court Monday gave Facebook, Google, YouTube and Blogspot and the other sites two weeks to present further plans for policing their networks, according to the Press Trust of India. For India's more than 100 million Internet users, the government says, U.S. Internet standards are not acceptable. The case highlights the difficulty India faces in balancing conservative religious and political sentiments with its hope that freewheeling Internet discourse and technology will help spur the economy and boost living standards for its 1.2 billion people."

First of all, I wonder just how far it would extend. Would it include internet phone services since they are using the internet as well? Secondly, who is to decide what is deemed "offensive" or even anti-social? I guess if it is decided by the people, then that would be the definition of a democracy. It seems like people are throwing words around that they do not even understand the meaning of. What are your thoughts on the issue?

Do Not Call The Geek Squad Just Yet

If your computer seems to be on the fritz, you might want try a couple of things by yourself first. If your internet phone connection is not too great, try restarting the computer or moving to spot where you can get better signal if you have a wireless internet connection. When you go online and constantly get spam messages with a ton of pop-ups, there is probably something going on in the background. It might be some simple hijacking malware, so you tell them. Just download Malwarebytes and Spybot Search and Destroy, and run them. It'll be fixed with virtually no effort on your part. One of the best reasons to try doing some of the things yourself is that if you take it in somewhere, it will cost you a pretty penny. I've heard prices range from $40 to $150 per hour. If your local shop falls into those higher rates and your repair is going to take three or four hours, you're now talking about a bill that's equal to a brand new tower. Last of all, you need to come to terms with the fact that you might lose some of your stuff.