Some out there are under the impression that NTP will resolve their DST issues. This is not the case. This is a quote from Cisco:

Network Time Protocol Implications

Although it might appear that the use of Network Time Protocol (NTP) will avert any issues related to these time changes, NTP and Daylight Saving Time are mutually exclusive and one does not help or hinder the other. The Network Time Protocol is a utility used to synchronize clocks on different devices. Typically, NTP takes a reference clock from a source that is based on the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which does not change regardless of DST.

For example, the Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the United States is five hours behind the UTC time when Daylight Saving Time is not active. EST is four hours behind when Daylight Saving Time is active. DST configuration is very specific to the time zone in which the device is deployed, and the NTP UTC is used as a reference when DST is calculated on each individual device.

More info for Cisco related products can be found here.

I have post topics piling up. I was hoping to post these on my new blog, which will be hosted at a new domain, but time is in short supply currently.

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"Google's webmaster tools provide you with a free and easy way to make your site more Google-friendly"

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Hopefully by the end of the year I will have either migrated to Declan's V3 Alpha version of Blogsphere or migrated over to the new IBM Blogging template. I may also leave up this site on Blogsphere and start a new blog on the IBM template under may own name. Decisions, decisions.

Kudos for the work Dec has been doing on the new version of the Blogsphere template and the migration functionality worked flawlessly on a test version of my blog.

If I communicate it here, perhaps I will find time to do all of this...

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Cingular launched the Nokia E62 "BlackBerry Killer" almost a month ago. I saw one of these at Lotusphere in January and it looked cool so I figured I would try it out.

This will by no means be a thorough review of the device, more so my brief opinion. The design of the device has appeal, that is before you pick it up. It feels a bit fragile when you start handling it. It came with no holster/holder, this is just foolishness in my opinion. How am I suppose to carry this thing around without scratching up the screen? Ok so I can go buy one, but why not just include a cheap plastic holster. To me this means I don't have to take the time or spend the money to buy an additional accessory. Granted only IT geeks probably keep it on their belt. The keys on the keypad are rounded and don't have a great tactile feel. They seem stiff and it's a bit hard to get a good typing pace going. This could get better over time as one would get use to the keypad. My biggest issue with this device is that it's pathetically slow. To open up an email, application, or browse the Internet is painful.

I think it's great that RIM is putting BlackBerry Connect on other devices, but I've found the experience to be quite different than a true BlackBerry. I personally like that my BlackBerry is first and foremost about email. I don't need an office product on my device.

This device doesn't come close to competing with the BlackBerry. Sounds like the Motorola Q isn't much better.

Update: Another opinion here. Ben also shares the code to do a complete reset prior to returning the devce. Which is: *#7370#, you will be prompted to enter the lock code, 12345 (default). I found another site that said you had to hold down the green talk button + "3" + "#" and power on the phone. This is not an easy task and after three attempts I'm glad I found the code on Ben's blog.

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Found this knowledge base article awhile ago, thought some may find it interesting.

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The beta is available here. You will have to sign in to register for the beta. This will be free as announced in July.

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Awhile ago Alex King challenged anyone to come up with a way to tether a BlackBerry to a MAC as a modem. The bounty has been won by Daniel Pacso. Daniel has created a way to tether a BlackBerry 870x as a Bluetooth modem in MAC OS X.

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For those who are registered in the managed beta for 7.0.2, Beta 1 of the MAC client is ready to go.

Be sure to download the release notes and read the Known Limitations, problems, and workarounds.

Good:

Ability to scroll in the views.
Delete key on the laptop keyboard works without holding fn or ctrl.
Open database dialog, can press a letter or type the first few letters to jump to specific files.
Font is a good size and not really small as before (I was using an INI parameter to adjust the font size on 6.x).

Bad:

Notes preference file still exists. In the MAC BOF last year at LS, the panel said that the prefs file was going to evolve into an INI file. Hope this is still in the works.

Other:

One crash so far, but that was intentional as I was trying to reproduce a known issue.

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Lately I've been thinking about purchasing an external hard drive for official backup purposes. A cheap little NAS drive would be nice, probably around 500 GB. I've been looking at the shared storage drives from Maxtor as well as a drive from LaCie. I'm also aware of numerous remote storage sites that one could upload backups to on a scheduled basis. Even though these sites state that all the data is secured, I can't help but think that the site and servers are run by 14 year old kids. I tend to be a bit paranoid with my own computers connected all the time to the Internet....even though I've taken steps to protect my home network. I know these sites are used, just don't think I will ever be trusting enough. Any recommendations on an external drive or thoughts about remote storage sites?

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