It fell out of a plane and lived!

My ex (a Verizon gal) recently purchased the iphone for the first time.  She asked if she should get the warranty on it.  She asked what was the liklihood of breaking the iphone.  From personal experience, I always break mine when my upgrade period starts (nice convenient coincidence).  The phone really is resilient in terms of durability.  This recent article only reinforces that fact.  A fine member of our military accidentally dropped his iphone from the plane he was on.  1,000 feet at 150 mph later, the phone survived the drop.  There are several commercials that can be made from this event.  Apple can make a MobileMe ad because that GPS service (free with the phone), actually located it in the wooded area.  Griffin can make a nice commercial about their phone covers, the phone was in their "Motif TPU" iphone case and kept the damage down to nothing.  I guess I don't need that Squaretrade iphone warranty after all.

Update!: Firefox 4 downloads first day over 7 million

I guess to say that everybody has been waiting for the new Firefox 4 browser is an understatement.  So what do you think of the new Firefox?  Check out this first look from CNET:

Update on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 3:53PM by Thom McClain

Update, the official first day numbers are 7.1 million.  Internet Explorer 9 capped out at 2.95 million it's first day.

Follow real time emergency events worldwide

At this site, you can look at a map and follow real-time worldwide emergencies as they happen.  In light of what is happening in Japan, this site has become very popular.  Check out this video from Revision 3 on the website.

Are you sick of Charlie Sheen and/or Justin Bieber on the net?

You are in luck, some good-hearted techie out there has created a browser plug-in for Firefox and Chrome that will block your browser from displaying anything Charlie Sheen or Justin Bieber.  Download and install TintedSheen to block Charlie.  Download and install ShavedBieber here.

Would you pay for news on the web?

Interesting question, because as of March 28, 2011, if you want to read the New York Times online, you will have to pay.  The first 20 pages you look at will be free, beyond that, get your wallet out.  Plans will range from a limited access plan of $15, upwards to $35 a month for full access.  If you are a current subscriber of the newspaper print edition (about $63 a month), you will get full access for free.  Many have tried, all have failed to charge for news content online, will the New York Times succeed where everyone else has failed?  Would you pay $35 a month to read one newspaper online?

Update on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 6:06PM by Thom McClain

Well, that didn't take long.  The paywall that New York Times has set up has already been bypassed, allowing people to get all that content that they want without paying.  Check out this article for the details.

AT& T buying T-Mobile for $39 Billion...

Last week, AT&T announced that they were going to start to have bandwidth caps on home Internet service ( a little shot out to Netflix), this week they are buying T-Mobile.  I'm sure we will hear an excellent story on how less competition is actually good for all of us.  I'm sure the Verizon bid for Sprint is a couple of weeks away.  After that, they will explain how curbing Netflix is actually good for all of us.  For those who may not be aware of the game, the bandwidth caps are starting just as Netflix is becoming a major player in television content.  The more you watch, the less the networks and cable providers make on their own overpriced content.  So Netflix is the next target, hence bandwidth caps.  Sorry for the editorial, but they are so obvious in their devious schemes.  Read on to get a more comprehensive view of the merger.  For an excellent analysis of the rise and fall of the telephone industry in this country, read this.