Rumor mill: Thompson to become Secretary of Commerce Nominee

Rumors, which supposedly had stemmed from a Democratic party source, has it that John Thompson, the current and outgoing Chief Executive of Symantec, will become President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Commerce. With experience in the critical world of technology corporations, Thompson is considered by many to be a potential strong candidate.

Thompson, a multi-year veteran of the Silicon Valley, has served in a multi-year tenure with Symantec and has led significant corporate growth, resulting in Symantec becoming of the world's largest security software corporation. Thompson, who has supported Obama's campaign, holds degrees from Florida A&M University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

New Acting CEO for Apple as Steve Jobs takes health leave

Apple has announced that Steve Jobs will be taking health leave as he realized his health situation was worse than previously thought. Timothy Cook, the Chief Operating Officer, will take his place while Jobs rest.

Such changes will sure temporarily affect the company's stock prices. However, Jobs is expected to return June . I am assuming that upon his return, the unspoken transition will continue.

Best of luck to Jobs, Cook, and Apple!

Interesting Photo of the Day

Censorship Technology Bug

There are definately good uses for censorship- particularly when the some forums are constantly read by children. However, in this case, Therapist was censored due to the word "rapist" contained in it!

A big thanks to Sean James for tip off!

Alert: Symantec CEO to retire

John Thompson, CEO of Symantec, will be retiring after years of leadership for the company. during his tenure, he has brought in many advances including expanding the company's area of operations and purchaing Veritas. Chief Operating Officer Enrique Salem will be taking his position; Salem will also be appointed as a Director.

Blackberry Storm Review

Credit: sfgate.com

Since the release of the iPhone, the cell phone industry has flooded the market with touchscreen phones. Most of those phones are simply deplorable. However, the Storm by Blackberry has flooded technology blogs and forums as it is the Canadian company's first, and fairly late entry, into the touchscreen market. Does it live up to its hype? The answer is easy: Yes, and the phone will only get better as time goes by.
The design of the phone is quite simple and clean as it features less than six physical buttons and focuses on touch capability. However, the best part of the physical design is the appearance and weight of the phone. If I did not know of its fair price which is currently at $200 after rebates and discount, I could have easily assumed that the phone costs easily more than $400. In addition to its luxurious appearance, the phone feels a little bit heavy, this is actually a good thing as it gives the user a solid feeling. The screen is slightly smaller, when compared to the iPhone. However, that has not affected my experience when using the phone for essential daily tasks.
Aside from the excellent design, the feature set of the phone is quite promising and has room for much improvement, which will be good for future owners. Like all other Blackberries, the Storm has push e-mail and one of the best e-mail programs in the smart phone industry.
Even though it has a great feature set, its other features leave much to be desired. Since the phone and its system is extremely young, there are not many developers currently having finished third-party applications like those found on the iPhone or the T-Mobile G1. In addition to its lack of additional software, the initial release version of the phone system is quite buggy- there are many small quirks that will frustrate the user, but it will not negatively change the overall experience by a significant margin.
The Storm also features many new interface and software updates compared to the previous generation of Blackberries such as the Pearl and the Curve. The look of the software has a much more sophisticated look that puts the previous models to shame. The Storm also includes a new Internet browser that contains much improvement but is still many thousand meters behind that of the iPhone. The web browser and Internet-related services can utilize Verizon's 3G internet network, which offers vast coverage and strong speeds. The improvements to the interface and essential feature set are quite impressive and bring Blackberry devices much closer to becoming both a business and entertainment gadget.
Is this a good with so many options offered? If you are quite addicted to the digital age and need to be in constant communication with friends and family, this is definitely a device you should consider. However, if interested owners are willing to wait out for a few months as more software become available and wait until the annoying bugs get fixed, this phone should be on the top of their list.

News Alert/Update- Ballmer- No Interest in Yahoo!

Photo credits: Microsoft Corproation (PressPass)
News Update: Ballmer- Microsoft not interested in Yahoo!

Amid the news of Jerry Yang's decision to resign (soon) from the CEO position at Yahoo!, rumors has once again gained ground about a potential Microsoft purchase of Yahoo!. However, at a company annual meeting, Ballmer stated that Microsoft is not interested in Yahoo. In the midst of the statement, the stock price has dropped by over 20 percent throughout the day to close at $9.14. Perhaps Yahoo! should have accepted the offer earlier?

How to build a computer series!

New Series Announcement: How to build a computer series

Beginning next week, within a 5 day period, a series of post will be made on a daily basis that will feature a basic yet helpful and insightful set of instructions on building your own computer. You may now ask: Why build a computer when there are so many makers out there?

Building a computer is not for everyone. However, personally building a computer will give users a nice chance to choose everything to their need. Also, in the midst of building a computer, builders will gain technical insight- an invaluable resource.

Expect the first of the series to published this coming Sunday.

Coast-tech blog is not responsible for any mistakes or inaccuracies in the building process. Proceed at your own risk. Enjoy :)