http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/12/tech/mobile/blackberry-outage/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

There has been a series of RIM network failures all over the world now that has caused Blackberry users to loose the ability to send messages, emails or browse the web.  Apple doesn't have this problem, nor does 'Droid or any other manufacturer.

Why not?

Because Blackberry is the only brand smart phone that sends absolutely all communiques through RIM servers for surveillance monitoring.  No monitoring proxy, no service.  Why do I say monitoring, why would I use the word 'surveillance'?  Because those are the words they used (I won't cite references as there are too many - google 'rim monitoring india us britain' to start your research).  When Blackberry PINs or emails are encrypted the carrier can't monitor them, so when everything goes through RIM via their Blackberry devices all communications are laid bare.

I've found that I can't set the outbound SMTP email gateway or port from my phone (unlike my friends' iPhones) - this is because all outbound emails go through RIM servers for decryption, analysis, re-encryption and forwarding.  If you hit 'whatismyip.com' from a blackberry web browser, you get a RIM IP address as opposed to a carrier (ie, Verizon, AT&T) address like anybody else's phone.  PINs or SMS messages - same deal.

If you're a company and have a BES Enterprise Server, then all internal communications remain safe from prying eyes because Blackberries bound to a domain have unique, local-to-site encryption keys that even RIM can't decrypt.  Everything outside of that domain, however, is popcorn-fodder.

So, that racy photo you want to send to your significant other?  Want to PIN him / her what'll happen when you get home?  Be assured people in Canada are getting an eyeful.  I've helped design and build federal monitoring systems and I know for a fact that they get abused (warrant?  What's that?).  For the good stuff, go to 'hushmail.com', and don't bother with your Blackberry - don't even take the picture with it, use your offline digital camera instead and encrypt the attachment via Hushmail.

The US is a police state (soon to have federal police replacing your local deputies, I might add, see below), and the businesses as huge as AT&T, Verizon, Level(3) and even RIM Canada are watching literally every email you send with our government's blessing.  It's not about whether you're doing something illegal, it's about your right to privacy.  US Citizens have GOT to wake up, though I believe it's already too late.

Federal takeover of city police departments:

http://www.leaa.org/Shield%202000/fedohiopd.html
https://realitybloger.wordpress.com/tag/federal-takeover-of-police/
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/09/27/18691435.php

When I was ten I wanted one, and when I was eleven I begged for one.  By the time I was twelve my parents promised that next year I would get one, and when I was thirteen I reminded them of their promise, and so I got one - an Apple IIe.  Through this computer I met other people and it's no exageration to say that I met myself.  I discovered what I could do and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and it was the portal to who and what I would become.

A man made this device from his garage.  This thing that changed my life, changed others lives and made history, he made from his garage.  Over time he moved out of that garage and built the single largest computing enterprise ever conceived.

Let there be a moment of silence for a man who will take his place in our civilization's history next to the most brilliant and innovative minds ever known.

Steve Jobs, I mourn your passing.