Top 10 Privacy Tweaks You Should Know About

Along the lines of my Facebook post that I put up on Saturday, I found this article (linked below) over on Lifehacker.

Top 10 Privacy Tweaks You Should Know About.

Facebook privacy, why you should be careful, and what I'm doing personally.

It seems everyone has been jumping on the "Facebook is evil" bandwagon lately, some of it being fair, some of it not.  I thought I'd try and jump on the bandwagon too, but this time, let's lay out the facts and reflect on them and see how they are changing my outlook on Facebook and why it might be good to change yours too.

<bear with me, it's a long one, but it's a real one, and it's meant for you to read>

Facebook is a social networking site.  Two words.

Social -- relating to or designed for activities in which people meet each other for

Networking -- a group or system of interconnected people or things

A place where people come together to be interconnected and share things and activities.  Facebook.  Exactly what it does, so why is everyone so up in the air about it, why are people complaining about it?

Privacy.  Those of you that signed up for Facebook in the beginning, and are like me, take the world on the Internet with the assumption that everything that you do online can be read by anyone, you are careful what you put on Facebook.  I personally live with the realization that I have an Internet stalker.  A guy out there on the Internet -- for whatever reason -- follows me.  Goes to every email listserver I am on, listens to every podcast I do, watches everything that I do.  Now, some of you will look at that and say "Whoa, that dude is nuts!"  Well, I agree.

However, having someone like that is like a check and balance in Government.  It makes you realize that what you put out there on the Internet, no matter how mundane and stupid it may be, someone will jump on it like a horse and ride that sucker for all it's worth.  So you really pay attention to what you put up on the Internet in the first place.

Facebook, when it started out was this concept, very different from "MySpace", where MySpace was "Everything is public".  When Facebook started many people jumped on it, thinking, "Wow, some privacy!"  Everything you put on Facebook could only be seen by your friends.  Those you invited to be your friends, or you authorized to be your friends.  Then, along the way, as Facebook started stealing ideas from Twitter, started making things more public, if you didn't change you privacy settings at each step along the way, your privacy was gone, and everything that was yours and your friends was now available to "Everyone".

Facebook's privacy policy got longer and longer, more and more confusing, until recently this article came out that compared Facebook's privacy policy length to that of the United States Constitution, the document that established and Governs our ENTIRE country, and found that the Facebook privacy policy was longer.

I started thinking about ditching my Facebook page back in November or December of last year when all of this was coming down, and it's just gotten worse and worse.  Take a look at this article written by Jason Calacanis (say what you will about Calacanis, but he brings up some good points to think about, and things that you might want to read yourself).

Jason recently wrote another article about Facebook has overstepped the lines and violated the privacy and trust of it's users.  Both are worth a read.  He talks about how Facebook screwed Foursquare, how they screwed Twitter, how they have screwed their users by changing their privacy model three times.

All of this stems from one guy.  Mark Zuckerberg.  Facebook's CEO and Founder.

"Zuck" as he's known in the "Valley" (I've never met the dude.) started Facebook, or at least came up with the concept for it while he was at Harvard.  Now, there is a lot of controversy about how the idea for Facebook came up, and that he stole it from other people, and this that and the other thing.  I'm not here to decide that, there are lawsuits in progress, and the courts will decide that one.

Zuckerberg has apparently (allegedly) screwed over many companies, partners, etc in the setting up of Facebook.  Claims are (from "they") that he wants to be the next Bill Gates, and is doing so by doing the same thing that Bill Gates allegedly did back in the 80's/90's, by "stealing" the idea for "x" from "y".  (Not mentioning names, because, like I said, allegedly.)

"Good artists copy, Great artists steal" -- Pablo Picasso (Allegedly)

Personally, I don't trust the dude, and neither should you.  <-- Read that.

So what does that mean for you?

If you have the realization that everything you put on the Internet, everyone can see, you are fine.  However, I don't like the fact that Facebook started off with one idea about privacy, and now it's a different story.

So what am I doing personally?

My "content" that I "produce" will no longer go on Facebook.  I'll point to my content on other places, (my pictures, my posts, my comments), however, I won't put things on Facebook anymore.  This will give me a metric.  A metric that says "How much do you really use Facebook".

I use Facebook for a couple things.  I like to put pictures up there and have people comment on them.  I like to put funny sayings and what not up there, but I also like to read what people have to say and look at their pictures as well.  I really use mine as a Social Network.

The people that I add on Facebook are my real-life friends.  Not "Facebook friends".  Not "Internet Friends".  I probably receive about 10 requests to be my "Facebook friend" from people everyday.  People who read my articles on the blog, people who read my articles on the Internet Storm Center..  People who just read my emails on the Snort user groups (or God knows where else) and want to be my friend.  However, no, I don't add them.  Unless I've met you in real life, I don't add you.  In fact, I've deleted a bunch of people recently.

Facebook isn't for those people.  Those people can read this blog, and they are welcome to participate with me through the comments fields.  They are also welcome to follow me on Twitter.  But on Facebook, I have stuff like, pictures of my daughter and other things on there that I just don't want everyone to have complete access to.

I've locked down my Facebook profile along the way as well, making my profile viewable "Only to Friends".  But the trust that I've put in Facebook is lost.  Have you read their privacy policy?

Here are some choice quotes:

"Access Device and Browser Information. When you access Facebook from a computer, mobile phone, or other device, we may collect information from that device about your browser type, location, and IP address, as well as the pages you visit."

I'm not tracking you when you come to my blog.  I don't know who you are.  I don't much care.

"If in any of these cases we receive data that we do not already have, we will “anonymize” it within 180 days, meaning we will stop associating the information with any particular user."

But they don't delete it.

"Deactivating or deleting your account. If you want to stop using your account you may deactivate it or delete it. When you deactivate an account, no user will be able to see it, but it will not be deleted. We save your profile information (connections, photos, etc.) in case you later decide to reactivate your account."

But they don't delete it.

So make sure you read the privacy page.  Oh but wait there's more!  There's the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities page.

My favorite is here:

"For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it."

So..  Anything I upload to Facebook belongs to Facebook.  They can use it however they want.  Including photos, and videos, and what else.

What about individual Apps?  Oh, there's a page for that too.  Check this out.  Good luck locking that down!

---

So, where am I putting my pictures?

I'm going to put them on my MobileMe gallery.  That allows me to have public photo albums, photo albums I can mark as private, and even more, I can secure certain photo albums with a password.

My Mobile Photo gallery is here. (Pictures that I take while I am on the go.)

But otherwise all my public galleries are here.

Can you subscribe to those photo galleries?  Yes, you sure can.  Via the RSS button at the top.  You can even subscribe to them in iPhoto if you are an iPhoto/Mac user.

If I have a special gallery that I want you to be able to see, I'll post it.  But I don't want my Intellectual Property rights being turned over to Facebook just because I uploaded a photo.  My pictures are mine.  Free for me to do what *I* want to with them.  Not Facebook.

I'm not going to put anymore photos on Facebook.  Done with that.  When I put new photos up in one of my galleries, I'll post a link on Facebook pointing to the gallery.

I'm not going to put any more "content" on Facebook.  I'll put it here, on the blog, or I'll put it on Twitter, then I'll point to it on Facebook.  Annoying as that may be for those of you that are my Facebook Friends, I ask that you respect that I do that, and play along.  I feel that my real friends will still participate, and my "Facebook friends" will fall off.  That's life.

Lock your stuff down people, you have no idea what you are sharing with the world.  For proof, go here.  Take a look at what people are saying!

Does this mean I'm getting off Facebook?  No.  I am just controlling what goes up there.  I'm still going to participate with my friends, I'm still going to comment, and I'm still going to have fun.

Plus this alleviates my annoyance about having to "hide" and "ignore" all those stupid Applications that you people keep putting on there, wanting to share your Pirate Gold and wondering if I'll help you water your crops in Farmville.

I ask that you read what I've written above, click on those links I've put in the post, and decide for yourself.

Oh, and for God's sake.  Lock your PROFILE DOWN.

Facebook User? Might want to check your settings.

Many of you that use Facebook may have clicked right through it.  But recently Facebook made a couple changes to their privacy settings that you may want to take a look at.  You can read about the settings that they have changed here.  Basically Facebook did two things, first, if you have never made any changes to your privacy settings in the first place, Facebook altered your default privacy settings so that everyone can now read your postings, your status, your friends.

I have a feeling that most of the readers of my blog may value their privacy and may have realized that these settings were taking place.  But you might want to double check that these settings are up to your standards.  Basically, there’s two points that I’d recommend that you check.

Log into Facebook, click Settings in the top right, then click Profile Information.  Review each one of the items for the correct settings, the most important one being the “Search” section.

When I clicked on it today, I was presented by this pop-up:

So, weigh that statement against the “rather safe than sorry” thought process, and make of it what you will.  I still clicked on “Search”, then unchecked the “Index” button.

Freedom and Understanding

(From an email list, someone wanted to know how to block services like MobileMe on the network. Normally I’d offer the advice on how to do it, but this time the first question I asked was “Do you local users have Admin to their own boxes?” To which the answer was “Yes.” -- I edited it to make more sense as a blog post. This is a post intended to provoke discussion, obviously my suggestions and things won’t work everywhere and in all scenarios and an all networks. Keep an open mind.)

We are in a new world, a mass world full of mobility. Take the iPhone. This is a computer, a computer I carry in my pocket, but none the less a computer. I could feasibly get away with leaving my laptop at home the majority of the time with the amount of things that I can get done on my phone. Laptops sales have increased significantly in the past few years, people are buying less and less desktop computers. Laptop speeds have caught up with desktop speeds, and things are much more convenient now.

Blackberries were that way, but the iPhone really sealed the deal. Of course now we have a plethora of devices coming out claiming to be “iPhone killers”. The Palm Pre, the things from LG, the Blackberry Storm, but there is still nothing that can touch the iPhone. You put an OS this powerful in a box this mobile, and viola, you have a mobile computing platform. And the solution to a lot of life's little problems. Why doesn’t Apple make a netbook? Wake up, they already have.

I absolutely could not get away with not being able to have MobileMe (or Google, whatever you use) sync my contacts, calendars, bookmarks, etc from the desktop up to the cloud and back down to my phone. I could not function if I didn't have realtime push for all of that kind of stuff. How would I know about that meeting that I just got invited to five minutes ago? Cause you know, no one is going to actually pick up a phone and call you about it (sarcasm).

What are the users doing that they need these sync services? Is what they are doing enhancing productivity or making their life easier? Probably. Is it a security risk? Can it be mitigated without destroying it?

I don't see a reason why not. The time has come for us a security professionals to stop nuking that which we don't understand/want to deal with, and start understanding why things are being used, how they are being used, and does it help? Instead of destroying everything, let’s figure out services and techniques that will provide our users the level of, well, not only training, but the level of convenience that is useful to them.

There are all these great companies out there starting great businesses to solve companies and life's problems, and attitudes like "we need to stop them" -- for no good reason -- just don't fly anymore. It just doesn't make sense in this day and age. Heck the Army even allows people to go to Facebook and Twitter now. Yes, they can click on bad things and people will download bad things and put them on their machines, but you know what, they are going to do it anyway, they will find a way around your control. Instead of inhibiting them, enable your users. I am not saying let them do what they want, or unblock everything. I am saying, let’s find solutions to their problems, instead of saying “no” all the time.

Yes there are security risks, but there are security risks in everything, right?

How can we make our users lives easier, more productive, and efficient without sacrificing security?

Make sure IT operates and conforms to the company policies, and you will have a much happier and much more productive workforce.

Freedom and Understanding

(From an email list, someone wanted to know how to block services like MobileMe on the network. Normally I’d offer the advice on how to do it, but this time the first question I asked was “Do you local users have Admin to their own boxes?” To which the answer was “Yes.” -- I edited it to make more sense as a blog post. This is a post intended to provoke discussion, obviously my suggestions and things won’t work everywhere and in all scenarios and an all networks. Keep an open mind.)

We are in a new world, a mass world full of mobility. Take the iPhone. This is a computer, a computer I carry in my pocket, but none the less a computer. I could feasibly get away with leaving my laptop at home the majority of the time with the amount of things that I can get done on my phone. Laptops sales have increased significantly in the past few years, people are buying less and less desktop computers. Laptop speeds have caught up with desktop speeds, and things are much more convenient now.

Blackberries were that way, but the iPhone really sealed the deal. Of course now we have a plethora of devices coming out claiming to be “iPhone killers”. The Palm Pre, the things from LG, the Blackberry Storm, but there is still nothing that can touch the iPhone. You put an OS this powerful in a box this mobile, and viola, you have a mobile computing platform. And the solution to a lot of life's little problems. Why doesn’t Apple make a netbook? Wake up, they already have.

I absolutely could not get away with not being able to have MobileMe (or Google, whatever you use) sync my contacts, calendars, bookmarks, etc from the desktop up to the cloud and back down to my phone. I could not function if I didn't have realtime push for all of that kind of stuff. How would I know about that meeting that I just got invited to five minutes ago? Cause you know, no one is going to actually pick up a phone and call you about it (sarcasm).

What are the users doing that they need these sync services? Is what they are doing enhancing productivity or making their life easier? Probably. Is it a security risk? Can it be mitigated without destroying it?

I don't see a reason why not. The time has come for us a security professionals to stop nuking that which we don't understand/want to deal with, and start understanding why things are being used, how they are being used, and does it help? Instead of destroying everything, let’s figure out services and techniques that will provide our users the level of, well, not only training, but the level of convenience that is useful to them.

There are all these great companies out there starting great businesses to solve companies and life's problems, and attitudes like "we need to stop them" -- for no good reason -- just don't fly anymore. It just doesn't make sense in this day and age. Heck the Army even allows people to go to Facebook and Twitter now. Yes, they can click on bad things and people will download bad things and put them on their machines, but you know what, they are going to do it anyway, they will find a way around your control. Instead of inhibiting them, enable your users. I am not saying let them do what they want, or unblock everything. I am saying, let’s find solutions to their problems, instead of saying “no” all the time.

Yes there are security risks, but there are security risks in everything, right?

How can we make our users lives easier, more productive, and efficient without sacrificing security?

Make sure IT operates and conforms to the company policies, and you will have a much happier and much more productive workforce.

Working with Gmail Filters

When my company went from using an IMAP server (which I used to filter using procmail rules) to using Google’s Gmail Cloud architecture for our email, I was excited. I’d been using my Google Gmail account for years, and up until that point, had always done so through IMAP.

After I moved my incredible amount of email up to Google’s servers, I found out that IMAP (Mail.app, Thunderbird, Mutt, etc) wasn’t cutting it very well and I would need to do something different.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been playing with just about every Mac-based email client there is (even Postbox, which seems to be everyone’s biggest “thing” right now), and I keep coming back to the same thing.

Google’s Web browsing Gmail experience. Of course, with the keyboard shortcuts.

I started off just dumping every email into my Inbox and labeling things manually (well, except for listservers). Occasionally using the “Filter Messages like this” button in Gmail.

Well, after using that method for awhile, I got to the point where my Gmail filters were gigantic. I had pages of filters. Sometimes 10-20 for the same label. So I decided I had to do something. I started playing with my filters in much the same way that I used to configure my Procmail rules.

Now, let me start off by saying that Gmail’s filters are not as powerful as Procmail rules and only support some simple regular expressions. For instance, I can’t write a rule in Procmail to handle complex email addresses like “handlers-1234567@address.here.com” Where the 7-digit number is a random ticket number. In procmail I used to be able to do things like “handlers\-\d{7}@address.here.com”, so I tried some experimenting to see what I could come up with, that works.

Well I found out that Parenthetical “Or” statements work fine. For example I have a rule that filters email some of the Snort lists I belong to that looks like this:

(list:("snort-users.lists.sourceforge.net"|"snort-sigs.lists.sourceforge.net"|"chisug.lists.snort.org"|"snort-devel.lists.sourceforge.net"|"snort-inline-users.lists.sourceforge.net"))

So, the filter string is to look at the “list” headers of the email and sort on “snort-users.lists.sourceforge.net” OR “snort-sigs.lists.sourceforge.net”. You get the point. Putting parenthesis around the group and saying “|” (pipe, or) in between each one. Allowed to me to take five list sorting lines and reduce it to one.

What I found out is, you can do this with anything, not just “list”, you can do it on From, To. etc. So I went crazy with consolidation. Heck I have one filter that filters, what I call, “bulk” email. Marketing stuff from companies, websites that I’ve signed up with, advertisements, twitter notices, facebook notices, etc. Skips the inbox, and labels it as “bulk”. Do I want to read it? I might need to look through some of it, but I don’t need it in my inbox. (By the way, this filter has about 75 “or” statements in it, it’s 10 lines long)

As I mentioned before, you can do this with a lot of things. I have a filter that deletes email from certain people. Email comes in with that “From” address? Do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars. Go straight to the Delete.

I can’t stop these people from sending me email, but I can certainly delete it automatically.

You can even do complex nested parenthetical groups. For example, my ISC handler email addresses can start with “handler” or “handlers”@domain.sans.org you can even write to isc@domain.sans.org (not the real email address, I’m doing to that eliminate spam, to contact us, go to our website at http://isc.sans.org)

So I have a rule that says:

to:(((handler|handlers)@domain.sans.ccc|(isc|anotheralias)@anotherdomain.sans.ccc))

What I have found is, by doing these groupings, it makes my filters and labels easier to sort and use.

All the email I possibly can, I filter using these methods, tag it with a label and “Skip Inbox”.

Found out I read email much less often now, and when I do it’s sorted much more accurately and efficiently.

Give it a shot.

Working with Gmail Filters

When my company went from using an IMAP server (which I used to filter using procmail rules) to using Google’s Gmail Cloud architecture for our email, I was excited. I’d been using my Google Gmail account for years, and up until that point, had always done so through IMAP.

After I moved my incredible amount of email up to Google’s servers, I found out that IMAP (Mail.app, Thunderbird, Mutt, etc) wasn’t cutting it very well and I would need to do something different.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been playing with just about every Mac-based email client there is (even Postbox, which seems to be everyone’s biggest “thing” right now), and I keep coming back to the same thing.

Google’s Web browsing Gmail experience. Of course, with the keyboard shortcuts.

I started off just dumping every email into my Inbox and labeling things manually (well, except for listservers). Occasionally using the “Filter Messages like this” button in Gmail.

Well, after using that method for awhile, I got to the point where my Gmail filters were gigantic. I had pages of filters. Sometimes 10-20 for the same label. So I decided I had to do something. I started playing with my filters in much the same way that I used to configure my Procmail rules.

Now, let me start off by saying that Gmail’s filters are not as powerful as Procmail rules and only support some simple regular expressions. For instance, I can’t write a rule in Procmail to handle complex email addresses like “handlers-1234567@address.here.com” Where the 7-digit number is a random ticket number. In procmail I used to be able to do things like “handlers\-\d{7}@address.here.com”, so I tried some experimenting to see what I could come up with, that works.

Well I found out that Parenthetical “Or” statements work fine. For example I have a rule that filters email some of the Snort lists I belong to that looks like this:

(list:("snort-users.lists.sourceforge.net"|"snort-sigs.lists.sourceforge.net"|"chisug.lists.snort.org"|"snort-devel.lists.sourceforge.net"|"snort-inline-users.lists.sourceforge.net"))

So, the filter string is to look at the “list” headers of the email and sort on “snort-users.lists.sourceforge.net” OR “snort-sigs.lists.sourceforge.net”. You get the point. Putting parenthesis around the group and saying “|” (pipe, or) in between each one. Allowed to me to take five list sorting lines and reduce it to one.

What I found out is, you can do this with anything, not just “list”, you can do it on From, To. etc. So I went crazy with consolidation. Heck I have one filter that filters, what I call, “bulk” email. Marketing stuff from companies, websites that I’ve signed up with, advertisements, twitter notices, facebook notices, etc. Skips the inbox, and labels it as “bulk”. Do I want to read it? I might need to look through some of it, but I don’t need it in my inbox. (By the way, this filter has about 75 “or” statements in it, it’s 10 lines long)

As I mentioned before, you can do this with a lot of things. I have a filter that deletes email from certain people. Email comes in with that “From” address? Do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars. Go straight to the Delete.

I can’t stop these people from sending me email, but I can certainly delete it automatically.

You can even do complex nested parenthetical groups. For example, my ISC handler email addresses can start with “handler” or “handlers”@domain.sans.org you can even write to isc@domain.sans.org (not the real email address, I’m doing to that eliminate spam, to contact us, go to our website at http://isc.sans.org)

So I have a rule that says:

to:(((handler|handlers)@domain.sans.ccc|(isc|anotheralias)@anotherdomain.sans.ccc))

What I have found is, by doing these groupings, it makes my filters and labels easier to sort and use.

All the email I possibly can, I filter using these methods, tag it with a label and “Skip Inbox”.

Found out I read email much less often now, and when I do it’s sorted much more accurately and efficiently.

Give it a shot.

This weekend (Defcon)

So, every year I look for people doing live blogging/posting from defcon with pictures.  Well, this year, I am going, and this year I am going to do my damndest to keep everyone posted.

So, I am going to twitter here.  www.twitter.com/joelesler

I am going to post media (pictures and such here)  www.pownce.com/joelesler

I am also on facebook, but I am probably not going to be doing that much there.

And I am also on loopt.  If you are on loopt, and you want to add me, and you have my mobile number, feel free to send me an invite.  If you do not have my mobile number, send me an email, (whether you are going or not), send me an email, and if I know you, i'll give you my cell and you can hook up with me via loopt.   Loopt supports alot of phones, (not just the iPhone), so go check it out and see if you can join in.

 Subscribe in a reader

This weekend (Defcon)

So, every year I look for people doing live blogging/posting from defcon with pictures.  Well, this year, I am going, and this year I am going to do my damndest to keep everyone posted.

So, I am going to twitter here.  www.twitter.com/joelesler

I am going to post media (pictures and such here)  www.pownce.com/joelesler

I am also on facebook, but I am probably not going to be doing that much there.

And I am also on loopt.  If you are on loopt, and you want to add me, and you have my mobile number, feel free to send me an invite.  If you do not have my mobile number, send me an email, (whether you are going or not), send me an email, and if I know you, i'll give you my cell and you can hook up with me via loopt.   Loopt supports alot of phones, (not just the iPhone), so go check it out and see if you can join in.

 Subscribe in a reader

iPhone 3G review

Okay, so I have had my iPhone 3G with iPhone 2.0 software for a solid week now.  

BLUF:  I like it.

Now, I live in a 3G area.  Which means I get the full capabilities of the speed, and it's nice.  Browsing the internet is faster, Mail is faster, everything is nice and quick.  Even the apps I use.  The truth is, I was considering not getting one, but the touchscreen stopped working on my old iPhone about a month ago, and therefore, I had to upgrade (oh darn).

iPhone 2.0 software

--

This is the greatest feature about the new iPhone (and the old iPhone too) is the apps.  Now that you can have apps, it's awesome.  I hacked my phone in the past but there were no apps that I was excited about and I really didn't care to do it again.  There were really three apps I wanted on my old iPhones software.  

1) something to manage my to-do's

2) some kind of music buying app

3) Instant messenger.

Well, now I have Omnifocus for the iPhone (and the mac, and it's great, everything syncs up..  awesome.  Although I do have to call Omnigroup out on something.  They say that their databases sync via "MobileMe".  Now, if I said that to you, that would imply you have to-do syncing through the cloud right?  Well, not really.  All that happens is your Omnifocus DB is stored on your iDisk, and your devices have to sync to iDisk, so while technically true, it's ill worded...anyway..  Omnifocus is great, I recommend it, little high in price, but... yeah)  So that takes care of my to-do's.

2)  Some kind of music buying app.  Well iPhone has had the iTunes store for a while, and it has been great.  But there are occasions that you didn't know what the song was that you heard on the radio and you wanted to know.  Well now my iPhone has an app called Shazam, that will listen to the song I am listening to and tell me what the song is.  Awesome.

3)  Instant Messenger, well I got my AOL IM, but it's just not as polished as I think it should be.  It should be iChat'ish.  Come on Apple, do your thing.

Of course I have some other apps on there as well, games, facebook, pownce, twitter..etc..  and I use them, but they are just add ons.  Not must haves.

The GPS is awesome, quick too.  While it doesn't TELL you where to make turns, it WILL follow where you are at on Google Maps, and you can just get your directions through there.  So it works just fine for a GPS phone.  I'd like to replace my Car GPS with the iPhone, which requires two things.  A touch bit better GPS turn-by-turn software, say from Tom-Tom or Garmin, and a Car Charger.  No car charger yet.  Let's go!

All in all..  Excellent phone, I highly recommend it for people who live in a 3G area.  If you don't live in a 3G area, then don't worry about it, because the speed won't help you.  Get your software update.  

However if you live in a 3G area, or you like the 'flush headset jack' idea, or the fact that it fits better in your hand (with the rounded back), then get it.  The iPhone 3G FEELS thinner.  But in fact it's a 0.2 mm thicker in the middle.  But you probably won't notice.

 Subscribe in a reader

iPhone 3G review

Okay, so I have had my iPhone 3G with iPhone 2.0 software for a solid week now.  

BLUF:  I like it.

Now, I live in a 3G area.  Which means I get the full capabilities of the speed, and it's nice.  Browsing the internet is faster, Mail is faster, everything is nice and quick.  Even the apps I use.  The truth is, I was considering not getting one, but the touchscreen stopped working on my old iPhone about a month ago, and therefore, I had to upgrade (oh darn).

iPhone 2.0 software

--

This is the greatest feature about the new iPhone (and the old iPhone too) is the apps.  Now that you can have apps, it's awesome.  I hacked my phone in the past but there were no apps that I was excited about and I really didn't care to do it again.  There were really three apps I wanted on my old iPhones software.  

1) something to manage my to-do's

2) some kind of music buying app

3) Instant messenger.

Well, now I have Omnifocus for the iPhone (and the mac, and it's great, everything syncs up..  awesome.  Although I do have to call Omnigroup out on something.  They say that their databases sync via "MobileMe".  Now, if I said that to you, that would imply you have to-do syncing through the cloud right?  Well, not really.  All that happens is your Omnifocus DB is stored on your iDisk, and your devices have to sync to iDisk, so while technically true, it's ill worded...anyway..  Omnifocus is great, I recommend it, little high in price, but... yeah)  So that takes care of my to-do's.

2)  Some kind of music buying app.  Well iPhone has had the iTunes store for a while, and it has been great.  But there are occasions that you didn't know what the song was that you heard on the radio and you wanted to know.  Well now my iPhone has an app called Shazam, that will listen to the song I am listening to and tell me what the song is.  Awesome.

3)  Instant Messenger, well I got my AOL IM, but it's just not as polished as I think it should be.  It should be iChat'ish.  Come on Apple, do your thing.

Of course I have some other apps on there as well, games, facebook, pownce, twitter..etc..  and I use them, but they are just add ons.  Not must haves.

The GPS is awesome, quick too.  While it doesn't TELL you where to make turns, it WILL follow where you are at on Google Maps, and you can just get your directions through there.  So it works just fine for a GPS phone.  I'd like to replace my Car GPS with the iPhone, which requires two things.  A touch bit better GPS turn-by-turn software, say from Tom-Tom or Garmin, and a Car Charger.  No car charger yet.  Let's go!

All in all..  Excellent phone, I highly recommend it for people who live in a 3G area.  If you don't live in a 3G area, then don't worry about it, because the speed won't help you.  Get your software update.  

However if you live in a 3G area, or you like the 'flush headset jack' idea, or the fact that it fits better in your hand (with the rounded back), then get it.  The iPhone 3G FEELS thinner.  But in fact it's a 0.2 mm thicker in the middle.  But you probably won't notice.

 Subscribe in a reader

Facebook

I've been hearing alot recently about the new way to communicate with the world, via social networks.  MySpace, FaceBook, Pownce and the like.  I've had a couple people encourage me to do it.  So I decided I'd at least join one.

So I grabbed a FaceBook account and requested a Pownce account.  I have my principles against joining MySpace.  (Which in my opinion is truly the biggest waste of bandwidth on the internet.)

So, if you want, hit me up on FaceBook.  See you there.

Update:  I now have a Pownce account.  Hit me up there too.  Username = joelesler

Facebook

I've been hearing alot recently about the new way to communicate with the world, via social networks.  MySpace, FaceBook, Pownce and the like.  I've had a couple people encourage me to do it.  So I decided I'd at least join one.

So I grabbed a FaceBook account and requested a Pownce account.  I have my principles against joining MySpace.  (Which in my opinion is truly the biggest waste of bandwidth on the internet.)

So, if you want, hit me up on FaceBook.  See you there.

Update:  I now have a Pownce account.  Hit me up there too.  Username = joelesler