Ah, the trials and tribulations of being best in class. As Apple has experienced today on the launch of the 3G iPhone, being on top brings endless scrutiny and any small foible or stumble is magnified greatly.

I was one of the brave souls who was actively searching for the iPhone 2.0 firmware updates early and in fact found it like thousands did, a day early. I installed the new software yesterday and began downloading software from the new App Store in iTunes. Everything was going swell; I had purchased a few different applications and everything was neatly downloaded to my phone via itunes and the install was quite painless. I even downloaded directly from the phone itself, later “pushing” the downloads from my iPhone back to iTunes without nary a problem.

This morning I tried to connect to iTunes again to download some more applications and found what most in the world found: Server connection could not be completed. It had finally happened. The illustrious iTunes Store had been brought to its knees by all of the adulation from Apple’s fan base and new customers. This is being heralded as a “Catastrophe”, “Disaster” and other choice terms usually reserved for Apple’s competitors such as Microsoft or RIM. But this time, the normally “can-do-no-wrong” Apple was being lambasted by all of the same media who usually fall over themselves to heap praise on the fruit-named wonder.

As I sat and pondered this scenario I discovered another flaw with the App Store and the blissful new software distribution model that has come from it. I tried to access the applications that I had downloaded hours before, only to find that none of the applications would load. The free applications load just fine, but the paid-for applications such as Super Monkey Ball and Texas Hold’em would fail to open each time. Apparently these game which are protected by Apple’s DRM must need to authenticate with Apple’s servers before they will be allowed to run.

So, there I sat with new applications that I’d paid good money for and now could not use because of network issues or because Apple’s servers were on fire, etc..

I did not know that this was the case and honestly I am now a bit leary of relying on applications bought from the new store in the future.

You can bet that once applications become runnable on hacked versions of the 2.0 firmware, I will once again actively seek these versions rather than the officially sanctioned Apple versions.

However, Apple is now offering them and for only a $100 premium above their previous screened models. My credit card finger is twitching, to say the least. But I’ve got a problem; I really don’t need a new laptop yet. My existing machine has really been functioning quite well for me. About the only thing that I really run into as a problem is the maximum ram capabilities which on my model is only 2gig. I would kill to be able to stuff 2 more gigs of ram in this thing. If I could do that, I’d probably not want a new machine at all (okay, who am I kidding).

I know that Clint has been itching for a new machine as well (he is extremely overdue actually) and I am sure that he jumped on one this morning. I just need to control my urges and think about something else for awhile. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Well, this year I actually was pretty busy but Apple really failed to “wow” me with anything. Sure, I was intrigued by the Macbook Air, and of course the movie rental news was something I was happy to see. The AppleTV update was one that directly affected me since I recently got one for Christmas and this coupled with the movie rentals means that I might finally be able to remove the entire Blockbuster rental nightmare from our lives.

But overall, the only thing that has even remotely sparked that twitch I have for reaching for my credit card, was the Time Capsule product announcement. The only reason that I haven’t really jumped for that (yet) is probably due to the fact that I really want to know more about it and how I might be able to use it, before I purchase one. It sounds like a great solution for me and if it works like I would like, I might be able to incorporate it into my iLife while adding it to the AppleTV for a massive, wireless, media bomb floating in between my mac and my TV/Stereo.

I am pretty sure that I will get the Terabyte version at some point, I’d just like to find out what sorts of gotchas Apple has put in place on it. You see, Apple always seems to cripple or in some fashion, lessen the devices and software that it produces by either implementing something that gets in the way or disallowing some aspect of its usability in a real world environment. I don’t know if they intentionally go out of their way to do this or if they just seem to come down on that side of idiocy on everything they create. I sometimes think that they do it intentionally, only to see what its users will do, faced with its inevitable shortcomings. The Apple faithful are a pretty crafty sort and usually go out of their way to make up for their cult leaders’ inadequacies.

So, Macworld has come and gone, and yet I have no tracking numbers from FedEx to worry about or banking statements I need to explain to Kim. I guess it was a pretty good Macworld if you look at it from her point of view. Me, I’m just biding my time and will probably bust out the plastic before too long, we’ll see.

I am now being recorded in full-color video so I proceed to offer my idea in fairly decent detail, even motioning with my hands how the idea could be put into motion through a few actions on the part of our company’s new automation system for improving customer response times. I say the words “save now” and the video transmission is now saved in the inbox of my staff’s video terminals so that they will receive it as soon as they come into the office tomorrow. I then state “end connection” and the main menu for the iPhone returns and another audible tone is given to notify me that the connection has closed.

Thinking about what I will be doing tonight for entertainment, I decide to check the house system and see if there is anything I might want to watch when I get home. I speak the words “connect home” and soon the menu displays a menu for my house system allowing me to see the inside of my home with the words “monitor”. Instantly I am looking at a video feed of various views of my home from within the main rooms and from the back and front yards. I spot that there is a package on my doorstep from Fed-Ex. I say “control panel” and I am now seeing a menu that allows me to see and alter the current temperature of my house. I tell the iPhone to “warm 75″ and my heating unit then starts bringing the temperature up to 75 degrees.

Next, I state “entertainment” and a selection of tv and movie choices are selected on the screen based on my past preferences and tastes. I do not see anything immediately exciting, so I say “search” and then “blade runner” – quickly Spotlight identifies the movie in my media library and queues it for playback when I arrive.

I then remember that I need to pick up a special dietary food for my dogs so I state “menu” and I am back to the main iPhone screen. I then state the name of the store “PetCo” and I am presented with a map to the nearest store and the phone number with an option to “place call now”. After speaking with a store associate I know that they received their stock and the quantity of food I need is ready for pickup. The clerk has my account details on her screen already and places my order. The purchase is also recorded in the iPhone’s financial program, immediately notifying my bank and updating my ledger and balance with the details. This is nice, that I no longer need to record transactions such as this as I used to always forget when I took money out or made purchases. Now I don’t need to worry about that anymore. Since Apple licensed QuickPay from Visa, purchasing almost anything now is completely automated just about anywhere I go now.

As I exit the interstate, I notice that I need to stop and get gas, so I pull into the closest station and stop. After filling my tank, I simply wave my iPhone over the sensor at the pump and my purchase is completed and again the transaction is recorded.

Off to Petco I go, where I pick up the bags of food at the pull up door on the side of the building. This is nice because I don’t even need to go inside and the purchase is of course already debited from my account there when I placed the order earlier on the iPhone.

As I pull into the driveway, I see that my iPhone has noticed that my vehicle is due for service this month and has connected to the dealership to find the next available appointments. A list of appointment times are shown on the screen, and I simply tap the 3rd one down for the 5th of November, and instantly the iPhone confirms the date with the dealership and then records the appointment in iCal, setting an alarm automatically that will start notifying me 3 days in advance so that I won’t forget about it.

I pull into the garage and walk inside to the house, the lights are on and the fireplace is on and the house is warm. I walk into the living room and turn on my TV. Instantly a menu notice is displayed showing the film I chose, is ready to click to start.

Ah, my iLife is wonderful.

What is DNS?

DNS or Domain Name System servers are a network of servers that are located all over the world and help to tell your computer where something is on the Internet. DNS is the system that “resolves” domain names into IP addresses which are what computers use to identify each other on the Internet. DNS servers are also used to cache content so that it can be distributed to many people who are requesting the same page with less actual traffic. This is done to make the retrieval of these pages faster since in a lot of cases you are getting the content from a server’s cached version in say Atlanta rather than having to go all the way to Seattle where the actual content resides.

All DNS are not created equal

Normally by default, DNS servers are given to you to use through your ISP and in many cases are actually owned and operated by your ISP. While DNS service is essentially the same no matter who is doing it, there is a lot of difference in performance depending on which DNS servers you are using.

There are three main factors in DNS:

• Network Location – Obviously it is faster to retrieve content from a cache on a closer server than one farther away.
• Size of Cache – while it is impossible to cache everything, the greater the size of the cache is the better the chance of the content you want being found on a cache server.
• Age of Cache – because the Internet changes extremely quickly, the faster the DNS caches are updated the more likely that you will receive the most current version of the page your are looking for.

Why OpenDNS?

OpenDNS offers a network of strategically placed cache servers that have larger capacities than most ISP and network cache systems. They tout that using their servers rather than your ISP defaults will result in faster searching and retrieval. They also offer some features such spellchecking for misspelled domain names, anti-phishing protection, content filtering and even a new service called “shortcuts” which is basically what AOL users have known/used for awhile – the ability to enter a keyword and retrieve a website rather than having to type the complete url.

It’s all about the features

The main feature that I use a lot is the shortcuts feature. It allows you to set up your own “AOL type” keywords for websites that you go to. In my case, I have set one up for the keyword “todd” that goes to this website. I type in todd and instantly, my website loads without having to type in the complete url. This is a great feature and once you’ve set up a few of these for your own often-travelled sites, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it. This service is also great for older and/or less tech-saavy people in your household such as your Grandma. You can set up Grandma’s internet banking website so that she just has to type in “BOA” and she quickly gets to her Bank of America account where she is bound to remember you when it comes Christmas time.

Speaking of banking; phishing is a global problem that doesn’t seem to go away and can often result in complete disasters when it comes to things like online banking or even just Ebay. OpenDNS offers anti-phising protection which works by having real people look at suspected sites and scams to verify legitimacy.

You can also block websites or filter content you’d rather little Timmy doesn’t see after school. You can control exactly what can be viewed or what can’t. You can block adult sites, drug-related sites and proxy bypassing sites so that even smart little Timmy can’t figure out how to get around them. If for any reason a site is blocked that you want to be able to access, there is a whitelist feature for you to allow sites you deem appropriate. This all takes place at a network level, so no matter what computer is being used, you can be assured that your network is only displaying the things that you want.

Typo correction will automagically transform your bad spelling into useable website urls and keep you from landing on one of those squatter websites that prey on misspelled urls. You can also autocomplete urls so that you don’t need to type .com after everything.

You can read all about the features that OpenDNS offer, here.

So what’s the catch?

OpenDNS earns its revenue by sending the users to an OpenDNS search page when a domain name has been entered that does not exist. Advertisements are displayed on these search pages, similar to the paid advertising links on Googles search results for instance. There is also a lot of information contained in your daily surfing routines. Where you go, what you look at and what you download. This is all information that is recorded for many people when they visit Google too, so keep that in mind. The main difference for me is that with OpenDNS you can actually go in and turn off the things you don’t want, or even delete your entire profile if you wish. This is not something that can be said for Google. To me the privacy concerns are not really that great especially since your ISP still sees everything anyways and there really is no such thing as anonymity on the Internet anymore. At least I have control with this system and I can purge things if I decide I don’t want to use the service anymore. I also don’t spend much time looking at bomb making websites or terrorist regime propoganda sites so I’m not too concerned that someone may figure out that I surf Engadget 10 times a day.

As with anything, your mileage may vary and you may not be willing to remove your tinfoil cap in order to gain these features from your network. But, I can attest that these features are worth it for me and of course the price is right, free.

So now what?

In order to take advantage of all this free network goodness, you simply need to replace your ISP DNS servers with the servers from OpenDNS. Their servers are:

• 208.67.220.220
• 208.67.222.222

Directions for changing these settings can be found here:

• Enable DNS on just your computers
• Enable DNS on your router (no need to modify your computers – this is the best route)