A little over a week ago, I spent a few hours with my good friend Andrew to help him renew his Apple certifications.  We went to a really nice coffee cafe near White Rock Lake.  While Andrew worked on his certifications, I used the free Wi-Fi to surf the web, and keep track of some auctions on eBay.  While enjoying the free internet goodness, I noticed that several other customers in the cafe were using PCs with file sharing turned on.  Out of curiosity, I clicked on a few of the PCs that were showing up on my Mac.  Out of the 3 that were visible to my Mac, 2 had file sharing with guest access enabled.  One had accounting information in an unsecured folder!  Not wanting to violate someone’s privacy further, I did not open any of the files that I saw, but I did save a text file onto this person’s computer to let him/her know that I was able to get into their computer easily, without any trouble.  This is actually something that I notice every time I am on a public Wi-Fi network at Starbucks, the airport, and a lot of other places with Wi-Fi.  With all of the identity theft going around, why do so many people fail to do anything about securing their computers?

Cult of Mac reports that the iPhone has overtaken Windows Mobile handsets in the U.S.  This reminds me of that idiot Steve Ballmer’s dismissive comments about the iPhone that he spewed out in 2007.

iPhone Overtakes Windows Mobile Users In U.S. | Cult of Mac.

This Friday, I’m going do my best to use only my iPhone for all internet and email.  If you have an iPhone, or any other smartphone on AT&T’s network,  you should do the same.

Earlier this week, Ralph de la Vega, the CEO of AT&T Mobility began a ‘blame the customer’ policy to address the complaints about the dismal failings of his wireless network.  Given his stance, I think that we, as customers, should teach this man a lesson and show him just how pissed off we are, and also how important we all are to the success of his company.  It’s absolutely unacceptable for AT&T, or any other wireless service provider to sell a product (iPhone, Blackberry, etc.), and then bitch and whine about the customers actually using those products with their unlimited data plans.  What Mr. de la Vega needs to understand is that the customer is the most important element of his business.  If he can’t meet the obligations that his company has to its customers, then he should sell off the company to someone who can meet those obligations.  I’m paying an additional $30 per month for UNLIMITED data, and $5 for a paltry 200 text messages on top of the charges for my rate plan.  I’m also an AT&T U-Verse customer.  All told, I’m paying AT&T almost $300 a month!  It’s insulting that Mr. de la Vega would even think about blaming the customers.  Therefore, we should make sure that he knows just how much of an impact we are capable of having on his network.

For more on this, check out the article from TUAW linked below:

Watch out AT&T: Operation Chokehold is coming.

Well, so much for “unlimited” data plans.  While AT&T struggles with iPhone users who actually expect to USE their iPhones for internet and email, why not upgrade the network instead of whining about supposed iPhone “data hogs”?  This blame the customer strategy is the wrong road to go down.  The iPhone, along with every other smartphone, is hyped as being a phone, and an internet and email device.  When customers actually use their phones for those purposes, it’s wrong to start complaining.

On a positive note… AT&T recently cut me a very good deal on my service.  I appreciate that, and in return, I’ve agreed not to bug their execs anymore about their network issues.  I’m still a customer though, and I will not tolerate limits being placed on me because I actually use my iPhone to the fullest.  I’m signed up for unlimited data, and I expect to get it!

Let’s not even get me started about the lack of a 3G tethering option, and the fact that we get charged extra for text messages!

AppleInsider | AT&T warns of coming clamp-down on iPhone data hogs.

While working as a Mac Genius at the Apple store at Willow Bend, I dealt with thousands of customers over four and a half years. I took great pride in my job, and I always tried to do what was best for the customer, even if the customer did not always realize right away that I made the right choice. Often, customers came to me expecting a specific resolution, but left with a different one not realizing that if they had treated the Mac Geniuses with more respect, and courtesy, they may very well have received exactly what they wanted, or maybe something better. To help out customers seeking help at the Genius Bar, I have put together a list of 10 tips on how to get the best service.

1. ALWAYS treat your Mac Genius with respect, and courtesy. The Mac Geniuses, out of all of the Apple Store employees, have the most stressful jobs. If you add to that stress, you can expect to get their bare minimum effort. Yelling at them only makes things worse. Do you really want the people who are going to replace your hard drive to be mad at you? I can guarantee that they will not work very hard to retrieve data from your defective hard drive. Screaming and yelling never made me work faster, and it never made me have sympathy for the customer. Remember that the bridge you burn today over your smashed iPhone could be the ass you kiss tomorrow when your MacBook Pro fails just one day after the warranty has expired.

2. Remember that backups are YOUR responsibility. You are the one to blame if all of your data is lost. If you’re running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), or Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), you can use the built in backup software called Time Machine to keep your data backed up.

3. There is no “3 strikes” policy in place for computer replacements. The Mac Genius, along with the Apple store managers, make the determination to replace a computer in lieu of repairing it on a case by case basis. Remember tip number 1 in this situation. Being an ass to the Mac Genius will mean that he or she will follow Apple’s procedures to the letter instead of trying to make an exception.

4. iPods are fragile. When you drop them, they tend to break. This goes for iPhones too. If an iPod or iPhone shows damage consistent with accidents, or abuse, it will not be replaced under warranty no matter how much you scream and yell. Apple designs beautiful devices, but it’s up to you to protect them after you buy them.