IT Burnz

In Google's overall plan to take over the world, they rolled out a new feature built into Gmail that might grab your attention. They announced this feature on the official Gmail blog on Wednesday and it says they will be rolling this feature out to all users over the next few days. I got home from work today and I was signed out of the chat feature in Gmail. I refreshed the page and this is what I saw:

Cell phones have evolved over the past several years and the market has become some sort of monstrous beast that has taken people captive. Cell phones have moved from being a mobile telephone that can make calls to an equivalent to a full featured computer that literally fits in your pocket. Phones now come with features such as a qwerty keyboard, networking capabilities, the ability to install applications and the like.

I've come across many scams over the years. There have always been the e-mails asking to help move money between countries, fake myspace/facebook login pages, and the notorious "virus scanners" that find several viruses and that you need to purchase their software to get rid of it. A few weeks ago I dealt with a customer that kept getting a scam letter in her signature of e-mails that she sent. She wondered why she kept getting an e-mail from yahoo asking for her login info every time she changed it.

Are you tired of all of the "trialware" that gets installed on your maching from the OEM? Have you ever fired up your new machine and think "Sweet! This thing comes with Office" or "Its nice they installed Norton for me" and then wonder why it your locked out of it 60 days later? You could look at it that the OEM is making an effort to make the device more affordable up front, or you could look at it as just another way the OEM to make another buck from you.