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PC World has a tutorial on How to Buy a Smartphone on its website today. It’s a decent tutorial on different technologies and a good explanation of the various acronyms that are out there, but there is a small problem with it (as I see).

The tutorial explains the different operating systems available, the technologies behind cell phones (CDMA v GSM, if you care) and breaks down which carrier uses which technology. However, if you follow the guide you basically pick your phone in the exact wrong order.

The first thing you should do is scout carriers. For instance, Sprint doesn’t work at my in-laws. So, even though Sprint has the cheapest rates for internet and voice (and I get a large discount) it’s not really usable for me. Verizon doesn’t work off the highway at all in Missouri, so they are right out as well. That immediately eliminates two of the big four carriers before I decide what kind of phone I want. I also hate AT&T, which eliminates another of the carriers and leaves me with T-Mobile (who I have) or smaller carriers like regional carrier US Cellular and Sprint piggybacker Helio (which does have dead sexy phones, but relies on the Sprint network [see above]).

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If you’re a user of Monster.com, you might want to check your computer for malware. Security Fix’s Brian Krebs is reporting that a group has stolen the identities of about 40,000 Monster users by planting trojan horses in advertisements on the site. The information includes SSNs, names, addresses, bank account info, and any other information that people put into Monster (I’m guessing the bank account info is from the student loan ads on the site). While some of the adverts required user interaction, it appears that some were sophisticated enough to run without prompting by the user and looked for known software vulnerabilities in Quicktime, Windows Media Player, or your web browser to deliver the payload.

The odd thing is that there is a possibility that the virus writers really did want to hire you. Another part of the trojan sends out work at home span that includes the virus. There is speculation that the groups want to hire people as part of work at home scams that typically end up with the “employee” unwittingly laundering funds or fencing stolen property.

As always, patch software vulnerabilities ASAP (the linked post has a link to tools that can help) and never, ever, ever, ever open up e-mails, much less attachments, from people you don’t know.

Haute Secure is a new plugin developer that has developed a plugin for IE 7 that promises to block malware. The site promises to have a Firefox plugin soon.

I’ve tried the Haute Secure product and I like it. I use it in conjunction with McAfee’s Site Advisor toolbar to try and protect me from websites that try to install trojans, adware, and other crap on my computer.

The two products work differently. Site Advisor rates entire sites good or bad depending on McAfee’s testing of the website. Site Advisor’s ratings show up on Google searches as green, yellow, or red depending on what McAfee found. Haute Secure’s toolbar looks at each individual page and tries to determine if the page itself is good or bad. (more…)

Last week, I mentioned that I downloaded a Charlie Brown theme for my T-Mobile Dash but that I was sad that it didn’t have my calendar on it. Well, I decided to quit whining and do something about it. So I took the original Charlie Brown theme and I added support for the fantastic Facade plugin by SBSH.

The Facade plugin allows me to include my calendar on the front page in a number of ways.

I’ve created a new page for Windows Mobile themes. I’m not very good graphically, but I can do the coding for the homescreen pretty well. There’s an offer on there if you have a landscape Windows Mobile Device (T-Mobile Dash, Samsung Blackjack, Motorola Q, etc) and would like a custom theme.

And if you have improvements or changes, by all means let me know.

If you’ve already plunked down $600 for a locked phone, why not spend $150 more to customize that bad boy? Colorware, which specializes in coloring computers, has released a new process for your iPhone. For $150, you can make your iPhone yours by selecing a color palette that matches your purse, iBook, or favorite sports team. You can either mail your phone to them or purchase one directly from them if you have yet to take the plunge.

Colorware can also customize your iPod, Macbook, X-Box 360, Wii, Sidekick, or other electronic gear.

Grand Central is one of those startups that really interested me. Basically, you sign up for a phone number with Grand Central and give that out. You utilize Grand Central’s software to do a multitude of functions, including ringing multiple phones and screening calls. Basically, if you want your mom to ring both your cell and your home line but your cousin to only ring your home, you can set that up in Grand Central’s software.

Grand Central also has visual voicemail, one of the cool features of the iPhone, that allows you to listen to voicemail in any order and see who the voicemail is from before listening. In addition, all voicemails are saved in .mp3 format, so you can listen to your voicemail from any browser (and even forward it in an e-mail if you choose).

If you move or switch jobs, you simply change the forwarding number in Grand Central and everybody else still rings the same number. Of course, you’ll have to give out a new number initially because you cannot transfer your home/cell number to the service.

While all of this sounds tres cool (and it’s free), the problem was that Grand Central was a startup. Many cool startups go to the dustbin of history and in this case all of your contacts would now have a dead number, which defeats the entire purpose of the software. However, that issue appears to have been solved with the much rumored acquisition of Grand Central by Google being announced last week.

In grand Google fashion, the company was put into beta and users can only get into GrandCentral via invite. Since we’re moving anyway, I am seriously considering trying to grab “my number for life” and letting everyone have that number instead. That way everyone can call me or my wife and have it ring our home or our mobiles if we know that someone wants to talk to just me or her.

I am a HUGE Peanuts geek. My wife even has the Linus and Lucy theme as her personalized ringtone for me. I also have a T-Mobile Dash with the fantastic Prosper iVista Black theme for the homescreen (though I did edit the XML file and Americanize some of the dates). It does everything I want and has a second screen that contains my next twenty or so appointments. I’ve been so happy with it until….

You guessed it, a Peanuts theme. It doesn’t have much in the way of a calendar, but it has Snoopy and Charlie Brown on it. Now I have to decide if I want my calendar or Charlie Brown on my home screen.

Not even close.

In what anyone that follows the cell phone industry hopes is an initial shot over the bow, FCC Chairman Martin has hinted that any company bidding in the highly anticipated auction of the old television spectrum will have to open the spectrum to any and all comers. The spectrum (known as 700 mhz because of the frequency of the waves used) is highly coveted because these frequencies can easily penetrate walls and can travel much farther than the current frequencies used.

The FCC seems to be getting concerned that innovation in the cell phone market has been stifled by cell carriers that lock phones down so that they can maximize revenues from their customers. For instance, AT&T and T-Mobile use the same technology but the only way you could take your phone from one to the  other is by the grace of the company you are leaving. That’s because there is a software lock that will only accept SIM cards from the carrier from whom you purchased the phone. If you are on Sprint or Verizon, you can’t take your phone with you because there is no unlocking mechanism, the phones are permanently locked.

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Tuesday, I posted about the security holes that researchers discovered in Apple’s Safari browser after taking all of the three hours to search. Apple has plugged several of the holes, releasing a version 3.01 for Windows. Apparently, the problems were only with the Windows version of the product (insert Apple fanboy joke here).

So, if you downloaded the beta for Safari, go hit the Apple website to redownload the new version pronto.

As part of the WWDC conference yesterday Steve Jobs announced that Apple’s web browser, Safari, would be made available to Windows users. There is currently a beta posted that is accessible to Mac and Windows users alike. I think there could be a lot of users that might try Safari, but should you?

The initial answer seems to be a resounding “NO!”. I’ve heard from Mac fanatics that they don’t use Safari because it tends to crash and doesn’t have plugins. Wired has a blog post on a similar theme on their “Cult of Mac” blog. However, for those that have similar issues with Firefox, why not try it?

Well, there appears to be some serious security holes with the beta release. Now, this is a beta so we can cut Apple some slack, but it looks like it took all of 3 hours for people to find serious security holes with Safari. Serious as in hijacking your whole computer serious. Ryan Naraine over at ZDNET has been tracking the bugs as they come out.

So, for now I would not download the new beta of Safari and wait for the final product before wanting to take a test drive. While we have been spoiled with betas from Firefox that are basically functional (and from Google that are entire products), we do need to remember that betas can, and often do, have serious bugs in them and Safari is no exception. Keep with Firefox until at least the security concerns are taken out of the product.