Stan's List

Thanks to ars technica, I download 3 Smithsonian Channel programs. They are not only coming At a $1.99 each for the 3 hour long nature shows, glad to see these available. This makes over 20,000 TV shows available. This particular one is most invited. Now to get PBS’ Nova and Nature.

RoughlyDrafted does a critic of several articles, with links back, on the level of MobileMe security, if any. The security is varied and depending on what area, whether desktop or web. What does this mean with email, calendar, data and web access? A good read.

MobileMe is not recommended.

There is talk of JavaScript equalling the performance of C code, thus becoming a candidate for a true development language. Mozilla has included a majority improved JavaScript interpreter in Firefox. ars technica measures the improvement to be in the order of a factor of 20 to 40

Opera Software has released Opera 9.5.2, a security and stability update.

While there has not any changes, other than what has been mentioned, Opera 9.5.1 has an extensive list of changes. Thereby knowing you are getting the latest version.

The MobileMe State page has been replaced with the MobileMe Support page. This last post reports:

This is the place to go if you’re experiencing a problem and want to know if it’s related to an issue with our servers. It’s also the page to visit if you’re looking for general information about setting up MobileMe on different computers and devices, for answers to frequently asked questions, and more.

They have a new place for the daily status updates, with a colored button that indicates current status, as well as when it was last updated, together with “history” link. Considerable improvement over the previous status page not knowing when it would be updated, the last being July 29. Apple is looked at not being information friendly. They have a stellar service reputation, but failing to part with the most basic of information. The constant example is the software updates with those dismally cryptic descriptions

In further apology Apple is extending membership by 60 days, with the addition period being applied in the next few days.

There’s a Knowledge Base article that, in answering plausible questions, setting out the terms and conditions,

Apple released version 2.0.2 firmware for iPhone and iPod touch and is only available via iTunes.

Apple’s short description is:

This version of the software includes the following improvements and supersedes all previous versions.

* Bug fixes

Expect more details as they become available. Most anticipated is a fix for the connection dropout.

Apple Inc. is working on a software fix for its new iPhone 3G to remedy dropped phone calls that some users are experiencing, including those outside the US. The update is rumored to be available as soon as next week. newsfactor.com has more details including what may be causing this.

ars technica covers a phishing taking advantage of numerous MobileMe email about outages and system difficulties. Cleverly they sent an email about trouble with payments and it all looks so natural. They have a screen capture of the phishing message. There will be a test.

September 7, will be available in the Best Buy Mobile stores, a joint venture comprised of Best Buy and CarPhone Waarehouse, made up of 970 stores-in-a-store and more than a dozen standalone shops.

Adding Best Buy Mobile to the mix could goose sales even more. “We get many customers a day asking about [the iPhone],” says President Shawn Score. Score says the two companies have been working on an alliance for “many months,” but didn’t sign a deal until last week. Best Buy Mobile will sell the phone for the same prices Apple and AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ) offer: $199 for an 8-gigabyte model and $299 for a 16-gigabyte version. As in their stores, the phones will be locked to AT&T’s network and require a two-year contract. Forbes