Nothing really. Just wan
ted to say I got a tricked-out 20-inch 2.4GHz aluminum iMac th
is morning, and I am in love.
I can't get over how nice this thing is. I've had troops of our graphic artists
and editorial folk coming in and out of my office oohing and aah<
/em>ing at everything from the thin keyboard to the silver casing to the black
logo and glorious screen. Man.
Full review coming soon.
Ok, now back to regular programming.
August 2007 Archives
Nothing really. Just wan
ted to say I got a tricked-out 20-inch 2.4GHz aluminum iMac th
is morning, and I am in love.
I can't get over how nice this thing is. I've had troops of our graphic artists
and editorial folk coming in and out of my office oohing and aah<
/em>ing at everything from the thin keyboard to the silver casing to the black
logo and glorious screen. Man.
Full review coming soon.
Ok, now back to regular programming.
I've always wondered where
Apple got that symbol for the Command key. N
ow I know. It's called, variously, the Cross of St. John, or <
strong>St. Hans' Cross. It's an ancient sign used for a lot of things,
from Cabbalistic mysticism to traffic signs. And of course, computer keys.
Check out symbols.co
m for more.
Talk about moving up. The net is rife with talk about Apple an
d Volkswagen conspiring to make an automobile, tentatively nam
ed the iCar.
Um.
The whole ball started rolling with a report from the German magazine C
apital, which claims that Steve Jobs met with a Volks
wagen representative in California several days ago for preliminary talks to ma
jorly incorporate Apple products in Volks compacts. (Read the Google-translated page from Capital here.) Already, Apple has partnered with car
manufacturers like Audi and BMW to incorporat
e iPods and iPhones into their cars.
I'm not holding my breath.
It's happened before, so why not?
A special iPod nano was released as a part of the (Pro
duct)Red initiative, where red-colored and -themed products of all sor
ts where introduced and sold, with a portion of all sales going to a charity. U
S$10 from the sale of each red nano went to the Global Fund to
fight AIDS in Africa.
Now rumors are circulating that a red 2G shuffle will be released at the confir
med Apple event on Sept. 5. Cool, but the thunder of this might be diminished a
bit by Apple's earlier release of colored 2g shuffles (of which the orange bec
ame a minor cult favorite). Still and all, I'd get a red shuffle if I could. Wo
uld be nice.
A red iPhone would be even nicer though.
A red iPhone would be even nicer though.
Apple's released Apple Base Station Extreme f
irmware update Version 7.2.1, which certifies the base station
for the IEEE 802.11n Draft 2 specification. In their usual co
nsiderate and detailed explanation of what they've done, Apple says:
This update also includes bug fixes and security updates. It requires that you have Airport Utility 5.1 or later, and, o f course, a Base Station Extreme with 802.11n. Get the firmware update her e.
I'm a big Lego fan, always have been. Add to that, a big robot fan as
well (Michael Bay's Transformers is a milestone in my life). A
nd then, as we all well know, a Mac fan too. Put them all toge
ther, and what have you got? The Doodler's dream toy: Lego Mindstorms NXT!
I own an older set, gifted to me by my wife several years ago, which I've buttr
essed with upgrade kits and accessories like more sensors and remotes and motor
s and blocks from Technics sets through the years. I've yet to
upgrade to the NXT version (I'm time- and resource-challenged at the moment),
but I now have more reason to expedite the process.
National Instruments and the Lego Group annou
nced yesterday a much-awaited software update for the Lego Mindstorms N
XT Robotics Invention System, which, among other important things, add
s support for Intel-based Macs (alright, for Windows V
ista too, but who's keeping score?) as well as improving memory manage
ment on the NXT Intelligent Brick.
If you've never played with this kit, it's advanced Lego for older folk, improv
ed with all kinds of high-tech sensors and motors, and controlled by a programm
able and powered "brick" which acts as the brain of the whole thing. Using spec
ial software, you program what the robots do, based on your design, and what yo
u've built into them.
The software used here has now been updated to Version 1.1, wh
ich with the optimized memory usage allows for more complex programming and ins
truction, and better system performance. The software runs on the Natio
nal Instruments LABView graphical programming environment, is compatib
le with the National Instruments Toolkit that comes with the s
et, and was made in close collaboration with the Lego Group.
You Lego blockheads can get the update and more info here.
(I'm such a geek. I find this so cool, it disturbs me.)
There must be something seriously wonky with the dotMac Web Gallery, because the new iPhoto 7 that's part of the iLi
fe '08 suite is also being updated to address issues with it. If you r
emember just recently, iMovie from the same suite was also upd
ated for the same reason. Either that, or the new apps really need more work.
So heads up, iPhoto 7.0.2 is available as a 10.2MB download vi
a Software Update, or a direct 8.8MB download
on the Apple site. Aside from fixing that thing with the Web G
allery, it also addresses issues with editing books and rebuilding thumbnails,
plus a lot of other minor problems and issues.
So heads up, iPhoto 7.0.2 is available as a 10.2MB download vi
a Software Update, or a direct 8.8MB download
on the Apple site. Aside from fixing that thing with the Web G
allery, it also addresses issues with editing books and rebuilding thumbnails,
plus a lot of other minor problems and issues.
The Herald Sun of Australia ("A
ustralia's biggest-selling daily newspaper") recently made a major error on a n
ews item about "Microsoft's new iPhone", and was outed by Digg
. The Herald Sun promptly pulled the item so that when you clicked on the link
all you got was a Page Not Found error.
Well, they should be more thorough about boo-boos like these. People always hav
e ways of finding you out. Being cached by search engines is one big loophole,
but being cached on your own site's search engine really takes the cake:
Oops.
Oops.
Just a heads-up.
A new version of NeoOffice, the FOSS office suite based on
It looks like the "Willkommen" intro video for Leopard, the one that greets you
after a fresh OS install, has been leaked. Nothing really earthshaking, but co
ol nonetheless. Just swirling text on a moving spacescape. Watch it while you c
an; otherwise you'll have to wait until the actual release of the new OS update
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG7sAwv5Sj8]
In our endless wandering on the Internets, the Doodler stumble
d across something Wordpress bloggers might find a bit interes
ting: a retro MacOS theme (which incidentally enough, is also
its formal name) that uses 1-bit System 1.0 graphics. You can'
t get more retro than this clunky monochromatic look. Who'da thought that in th
e future, pixellation would be cool?
Try the Retro MacOS Theme if you've a mind to, although for th
is Doodler, it's a bit too hardcore. System 7, maybe. Even if I cut my teeth on
Macs staring at screens like this for hours on end back in the day, it's somet
hing I wouldn't exactly want to revisit. Too retro for me, man.
See it here.
It's always been a sci-fi conceit
to have the computer talk with a perfect, natural-sounding speaking voice, and
so far all we've had are the usual halting, phoneme-mangling robotic voices bu
ilt into the operating system. There hasn't yet been the smooth, soothing menac
e of HAL, the business-like LCARS computer vo
ice of the Starship Enterprise, or the prissy Brit butler accent of 
Now we've seen everything. In a effort to squeeze every last drop of revenue fr
om a fading product, manufacturers are thinking up all sorts of last-minute gim
micks to make a sale. See the neoprene iPod shuffle Watch Style Case from USB Fever. Comes in the usual colors, and gives yo
u access to all the controls and ports of the player even while it's in the cas
e.
I just wonder how inconvenient it would be to have the earphone cable dangling
from your wrist to your ears, in the way of nearly everything. In fact, I wonde
r about the wisdom of creating such a wearable casing for something that's emin
ently wearable by itself via the built-in-clip. You can attach it to nearly eve
rything on you, from a baseball cap, headband, shirt pocket, hem, collar or sle
eve, or even your darned earlobe, so why would you need this thing? Attach it t
o your shirt cuff if that's what all you want done.
But hey, different strokes for different folks, right? Shipping is free worldwi
de from USB Fever when you order it for US$10. Get 'em while they're, uh, hot.
It's all
over.
The boys at iPhoneSIMfree have won the Great Race. The definit
ive software unlock of the iPhone has finally been achieved. (
Get a whiff of their smugness here.
)
Meantime Engadget's got all the gory details, steps, videos an
d links over here.
We can expect a tsunami of new iPhone sales activity. With thi
s development, there is now no reason for Apple to not release
an official open-line iPhone, which they will likely start with for the Europe
round of releases. (Which was the plan all along, I think.)
Meanwhile, the SOLness of AT&T is now total and complete,
and his Steveness sits in the darkness of his office, face lit up by the glow o
f his prototype tablet Mac, quietly cackling to himself.
(Cross-posted from Mobile Philippines)
There'll be a major Apple event on September 5 (at least that'
s what Ars Technica is convinced will happen)
, and the likely agenda will be to announce the already-leaked new iPod
nano, the short, fat one you've seen on the net, the one that looks l
ike a small Blackberry with a facelift. The fact that Apple's
Department of Legal Bullies asked Gizmodo
to take their spy shots down practically confirms it as the real thing.
Lending credence to this is the fact that the original nano wa
s announced around this time two years ago (Sept. 7). Hope springs eternal as o
ther pundits speculate that the long-rumored iPhone nano might
also be part of the agenda.
One
of the two niggles in the SuperSIM unlock method we've previo
usly mentioned is that YouTube doesn't work (the other major n
iggle is that Visual Voicemail doesn't work either - but since
that's a specific AT&T feature, there won't really be a w
ay around that, so stop struggling and move on.)
That YouTube glitch can at least be remedied, although it's not as easy as it s
hould be. The folks at HackTheiPhone.com teach us how with a d
etailed step-by-step here. Mac users will be bummed because it ne
eds to be done on Windows, but at least it can be done. Try it
and see. (As usual, you're on your own if you do this, but if you're already a
t this stage, you knew that already, didn't you?)
Beginning next month, AT&T will just send summarized b
illing statements to its iPhone users instead of the prev
ious practice of sending them. Every. Single. Detail. of their call, SMS and in
ternet activity.
Recently, there was public outrage when iPhone users got their first bills in i
ncredible, amazing, painstaking detail, on voluminous sheets of paper, some rea
ching over 300 double-sided pages (see previous MacADoodle post
), and had to be shipped - in a box. The cost, wastefulness and overwhelming us
elessness of this practice had people up in arms all over the net.
So beginning September, AT&T is abandoning this practice and will just send
a summarized bill. AT&T said this decision has absolutely nothing to do wi
th the hue and outcry that resulted from their excessive billing, they were goi
ng to do it anyway.
"This was something we had planned all along," said AT&T Spokesperson 
It's real â the iPhone Unlock works,
and is becoming widespread here in Mac-A-DoodleLand, the Philippines.
I've always hesitated to write about these iPhone u nlock stories because they've always been remote and distant from me, like they happen on another planet and I just hear the stories third hand from space tra velers passing through and try to pass them on to the people here on Earth. The se SuperSIM techniques from Europe or the United States exist somewhere so far away they might as well be myths and legends to the poor iPhon e-deprived in Asia.
This afternoon, I get a call from an old friend who happened to be one of the very first here to own an iPhone (a silly prospect b ecause in the Philippines, it's just a glorified iPod). Early on in the game he somehow got most of the non-telecom features to run, but in r eality he just owns the world's fanciest and most expensive 4gb digital music p layer.
So today he calls me and goes, âHow does my voice s ound?â I go, âWhat?â and he says, âDoes it sound clear? Clear as a bell?â
I said, âWhat? ...nooooo-o.â
Smug silence.
âNo!â
And so began the first call I've received from an iPhone â on a local Globe Telecom Platinum account. And my fir st direct experience that it's real, that it can be done. And has been, several times over, already.
My friend had it unlocked by someone using the SIM card reader/writer trick with downloaded software and Silvercards, which are those credit cards embedded with a blank, writable SIM chip an d isn't really die-cut and meant to pop out for use in a cell phone. (You need to carefully trim off the excess credit card plastic with a pair of sharp sciss ors or a box cutter into the distinctive shape of a cellphone SIM before you ca n use the chip.)
The hardware hack works by copying info off the ori ginal (local) SIM chip, then modify it with the software by adding codes that m ake the phone think it's an AT&T account being used, while in reality it's a local account. Then it's all copied onto a Silvercard, or so me blank chipped card like those used for hotel keys or electronic payment. (It 's kinda-sorta like SIM spoofing.)
The someone who did the deed for my friend has done it for a least a half dozen people already (all of whom I know, incidentally), and can do it for you too if you pony up for the expenses â around PHP5500 (sl ightly over US$100) per unlock, including the materials. (Ironically, he does i t on a Windows PC, not a Mac.)
It's spreading like wildfire too. My other friends are ordering units from the US and are lining up to have the unlocking done.
It's not exactly a service, but I can see a lucrati ve business waiting somewhere in the wings, if not for this guy, for some other unscrupulous folk â at least until a better option comes along, or if the Euro pean iPhone will be released unlocked later this year as rumors claim.
A few caveats though: no visual voicemail (or course not, silly), and no YouTube (which was avai lable pre-unlock, oddly enough). Otherwise, it's good to go, and no one's the w iser. Not Apple, not AT&T, not the local carriers (who don 't really care - they get the business anyway.)
Apparently Globe accounts are recreated quite easil y, as are Sun Cellular numbers, but Smart acc ounts seem nearly impossible to fake (hats off to Smart). The original AT&T SIMs aren't even needed, just the other carrier SIM so they can be copied. Old er accounts seem easier to copy too. Post- or pre-paid, it doesn't matter.
But it isn't all roses. One curious flaw is that Caller ID is erratic. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn'
t â seemingly because the iPhone requires a complete and precise format of numb
ers for the Caller ID to work. The local implementation of this seems to be ver
y poor as far as Globe is concerned, since some numbers carry the full prefix (
+63915xxxxxxx) while some just need a leading zero instead (0915xxxxxxx).
Additionally, my friend didn't seem to have any tro uble applying the updates to his iPhone even after his faux activation. So, th ere's really nothing holding the hordes back now; I fully expect to see more wo rking iPhones here in the coming week. And elsewhere in the world, I suppose.
So the local carriers win with even more airtime us ed (hey, you gotta show off, right?), Apple wins because more people will buy t he damn thing now, and as expected, the big loser is still AT&T, who's once again massively SOL, and whose SOLness will now increase exponentially with each day that passes.
The con
troversial iMovie '08 app from the iLife '08
suite just got an update - 7.0.1, available through Software Update or via a direct 9MB download.
iMovie's new version is controversial because of accusations that it's a dumbed
-down version, or more a downgrade than an upgrade to the previous version, sin
ce some major features seemed to have been deliberately removed. Some users say
they would have preferred not to have gotten this particular upgrade had they
known this would happen. Additionally, it has pretty high hardware requirements
, and will not port older iMovie files from previous versions. Doh!
For non-Intel Mac users, the app is notorious as well because
it's the only component in the suite that requires an Intel or at least a 1.95G
Hz G5 processor and will not install on older Power PC
Macs, even though the rest of the suite will. As usual Apple
is vague on the specifics of this update, except to say that it addres
ses .Mac Web Gallery issues and improves stability of the app.
The biggest disappointment with the update is that it does not restore the omi
tted features, as some had hoped. (For 9mb, what did you expect?)
Heads-up! Apple's just released through iTunes the second fix for the most talked-about gadget this year: iPhone Upd
ate 1.0.2, which in the highly technical parlance and terminology of t
he age is all about "bug fixes", which is all Apple is willing to let on. Bad b
oys who have hacked their iPhones will have the most trouble using this update,
as it will in all likelihood require you to revert to factory defaults first,
which means you kiss your backups and data goodbye.
It's 3.7MB heavy, and seems to have no new features in it. Grab your update now
via iTunes.
After giving you guys that link to core Apple apps everyone should be using, I found an <
a href="http://theappleblog.com/2007/08/21/30-apps-to-run-your-business-by/">ag
gregation of links to business applications for the Mac on theApple
Blog, and I figured it might be a nice eye-opener to what's out there.
Using Macs isn't all fun (and certainly not all games as well); the page shows
you what's available for Macs from time tracking and invoicing to
money management, project management, contact management and more. And it
being a list of business apps, most of them are shareware and commercial softwa
re, with maybe just one or two freebies thrown in there. Hey, we should be so l
ucky.
Check it out.
The
Apple Store is now reselling Apple Certified Refurbished iPhones (in my country
this qualifies as an ukay-ukay iPhone) at US$100 less
than the brand-new price. That's approximately 20% off, at US$399 and US$499 f
or the 4 and 8GB units respectively, complete with a year's warranty.
The question now is, what was wrong with these units in the first place, that h
ad them returned and refurbished just seven weeks after release?
Customer dissatisfaction? High-impact encounter with a cement floor? Shattered
screen? Or worse yet, factory defects - a dead batt? iPhone dead strip?
Whatever the reason, it's too soon methinks.
Another update.
You're not serious with your video voodoo if you haven't heard of Handb
rake, hands-down the best video utility made for the Mac (and Windows too, actually). It's just been updated to 
One of the staples
with Mac users has been Roxio's Toast, the ca
n-do CD/DVD burner software that's been around since God created CD and DVD bur
ners, but folk who just need the video burning aspects of the app can turn to a
more specialized application from Roxio: Popcorn.
Currently at Version 2.0, this little app can convert video to useful formats a
nd burn them, as well as make copies of DVDs (within legal parameters, of cours
e) and all sorts of little things, but it has always been pretty basic and has
left people wanting more.
They're getting it now with Popcorn 3, the latest version of t
he app, to be available on shelves later this month. Some of the nice improveme
nts are not too useful for us outside the United States (TiVo support, for one), and those hardware-challenged among
us (non-EyeT
V owners), but the other improvements are pretty appealing:
- the ability to pause and resume encoding
- increased content limit to 4 hours per DVD (from 2 hours previously )
- support for the Turbo.264 encoder, which lessens s train on the CPU
- mix together different video formats on one DVD and create menus
- uses Quicktime 7.2 for faster processing and bette r quality
- the aforementioned TiVo support and compatibility with ElGato's EyeTV
With these improvements, Popcorn 3 is seriously encroaching on
other similar apps' turf, including Roxio's own Toast. It wil
l be available in a couple of weeks, and will cost US$30 to upgrade from previo
us versions. A new user will have to pony up US$50.
Most of us here in the Philippines lust after the iPho
ne, but we can at least be glad we don't have to deal with some proble
ms the Americans have been getting about using one. Like the big phone bills -
not the fees, mind you. Literally, the big bills.
Much has been made of the incredibly detailed iPhone AT&T
bills that users have been getting, some as many as 50-plus pages, but popular
blogger Justine Ezarik's bill tops the
m all - it came in a box, all 300 pages of it. Apparently users can chose from
three billing options - small (online), medium (summarized) o
r ginormous (itemized SMS, call and internet usage). Somehow some peop
le are getting the boxed set, like Justine:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdULhkh6yeA]
(Cross-posted from Mobile Philippines)
Ju
st thought to link to this site for the Mac beginners among yo
u - and for those experienced among you who have yet to expand your horizons an
d realize the full potential of the system you've thrown your lot in with.
bestmacsoftware.org puts in one place
all the essential stuff Mac users shouldn't be without. Each link here is a ge
m, and even Apple-to-the-core old fogeys like me still find something we hadn't
known about. Go, go!
Just to make absolutely, positively sure everyone knows about their product, Apple's put up yet a couple more commercials for the iPh
one:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4uUov5N22o]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDrNh34FOmA]
Apple's efforts at greening their packaging proceeds apace. Se
e here the devolvution of the iLife box through the years .
I miss the nice big boxes though.
Electronic Ar
ts' bold promise to simultaneously release their titles on the Mac with the Windows versions seems to have been bro
ken already. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 and NFL Madden
2008 have just been, or will be, released for XP/Vista (Tiger Woods la
st Tuesday, Madden on the 28th), but the Mac versions have been pushed back to
"the September/October window". The new company line is to release the Mac vers
ions "as close as possible" to the Windows release dates.
Yum.
To be fair, most of the other games have been released together with their Wind
ows counterparts: retail stores will have Need for Speed Carbon and 
A
pple's just released a small update to the new iWeb 2.0 released just over a week ago as part of the new iLife '08
application suite.
The iWeb 2.0.1 update is available through Software Up
date, and apparently corrects compatibility problems with sites made w
ith version 1.0. According to Apple, iWeb 2.0.1 "addresses issues with upgradin
g and publishing iWeb 1.x websites." The new version of the webpage creation ap
p lets you incorporate google adsense, widgets and more.
First it was Paul
, now John. It seems the Apple Wars are about over, a
s late Beatle John Lennon's solo work is made availab
le for commercial download on the iTunes Store, and paving the
way for the Beatles' catalogue to eventually be available on the service.
The long-standing feud between Steve Jobs and the Fab Four ste
m from the Apple trademark, which both use: Apple Comp
uter (now Apple Inc.) vs. Apple Corps the record label. The legal dispute was settled six months ago, and P
aul McCartney tested the waters by releasing some of his solo material
on iTunes three months later. Now John Lennon's solo material is on there as w
ell, available in both Fairplay and iTunes Plus formats, plus several old music videos of his.
There's more. Beginning Aug.28, Ringo Starr's solo work will a
lso be available on iTunes as well, leaving only George Harrison's music as the last remaining sticking point (Harrison's material has been u
navailable online ever since), and of course, the collective Beatles library.
Blast from the past: ad for the first Apple computer, July 1976.
A
n increasing number of iPhone users have been reporting numb s
pots or dead strips on the touchscreens of their phones, either on the top or b
ottom portions of the screen, and London-based analyst Richard Windsor<
/strong> from Nomura International says it
could become more widespread.
Windsor says Apple bought the touchscreen technology from a Fi
nnish firm that now reports that prolonged and constant usage might lead to unr
esponsive display problems in about three to six months of extensive use.
Users report on Apple forums that Apple quietly replaces units with these probl
ems with no questions asked, indicating that they are aware of the problem. As
we approach the estimated time range where these dead areas might start showing
up, expect more reports of these dead strips soon, if it really is a problem.
If you've got the funds f
or it, accessorize your iPhone with an Audi.
Audi has announced that it will be supporting the iPhone in the Audi Mu
sic Interface system in their A5, A6, A8 and
Q7 line of cars in the United States. These models will allow iPhone u
sers to make calls (or reject them) totally hands-free, and check signal streng
th and scan through their iPhone directory from the Audi's dashboard via a Blue
tooth connection.
All the other usual iPod functions from the iPhone will likewise be available t
hrough the same interface system. Audi UK is looking to follo
w suit, as soon as the iPhone becomes available there sometime in December.
Another reason to get an Audi.
Skype for the Mac's been updated to 2.7, for those of you feel
ing a bit left out that only the Windows version gets any love
.
Although the update is still in beta, it's downloadable already and largely sta
ble. The big win here is that it integrates with Address Book
now, and you can also create groups of contacts. Don't be too scared of the bet
a label, the kinks are minor, but the full release is on the horizon. In the me
antime, here's a brief listing of the new stuff, culled from the Skype site:
- Group contacts â organize your contacts into as ma ny groups as you need. While there are some pre-defined groups (like Online, Wa iting Authorization, Recently Contacted), youâre free to add new ones that suit your life. This should be a godsend to those whose contact list has ballooned to hundreds of Skype users. Explore this nifty feature under the cogwheel icon on the main screen.
- See your Apple Address Book contacts in Skype - ea sily call or SMS anyone who has a phone number in their address-book profile. W hen texting, just make sure the number is one that belongs to a mobile phone.
- Create and manage public chats by clicking on Chat s in the menu bar and choosing Start Public Chat. A public-chat assistant will walk you through the necessary steps.
- Auto Redial for busy or unconnected calls. When yo ur call hits the busy signal, Skype will give you the option of automatic redia l every two minutes until the call goes through. This setting can also be adjus ted in Skype > Preferences > Calls.
- Easy sound-level controls â when you need to tweak the sound level during a call, use a simple slider in the call window
- Overhauled file transfer â wearing a more fashiona ble jacket, file-transfer now looks elegant and acts even nicer, especially whe n receiving many files at once
You young whippersnappers who use OpenOffice today (or even 
The folk at Shape Services seem to love the word "for", becaus
e it occurs twice in the name of their newly released IM+ for Skype for IPhone.
Unlike the the ungainly VOIP hack we wrote about previously that enables Skype (after a fashion) on iPhones, this one's for real, and it
's basically the same Web app already released for other platforms like the 
Someone's got an iPhone working in the Philippines - working, as in getting calls and texts, apparently using that SuperSIM
hack mentioned here previously.
User dubeditions from the Philippine Mac Users Group
(PhilMUG) claimed on a thread on the forum today to be able to use an 8GB iPhone with local p
rovider Globe Telecom, using a written-over blank SIM using a
method initially made known and available in Europe.
If this is at all true, Apple can expect a renewed wave of new
phone purchases from folk all over the world, with Jobs being the winner and <
strong>AT&T ending up, once more, S.O.L.
(Photo from PhilMUG.)
A kinda-sorta new version of a Nintendo Entertaiment Syst
em (NES) emulator for the iPhone (inexplicably dubbed
the iPhone NES Emulator) has been released on the heels of th
e previously announced Doom port.
Dubbed Version 0.20.1, with the right ROM fil
es you can get to relive 8-bit gaming glory with titles like the original 
It seems the inevitab
le has happened. The iPhone is doomed. Or more accurately, the
iPhone has Doom.
The game, anyway.
Someone's ported id Software's classic FPS Doom to the iPhone, although "ported" is stretching it a bit. As of the moment it
's well nigh unplayable as we've come to know the game, has no audio nor contro
ller response yet, and is more a demo than anything, but at least it points the
way to where it's eventually headed. (id Software denies any official porting.
)
A WAD file is needed to get the game going, and requires a bit
more than the usual level of game geekiness to install. If you still want a go
at it, go get the iPhone version of Doom here.
A recent comment on one of the posts here from my friend and fellow P.W.I.T. Jason partly goes "...to hell with all those *.docx and
*.xlsx and *.pptx files that people keep sending me."
Jason's comment is characteristic of the dissatisfaction with the file format <
strong>Microsoft is pushing as a standard with the introduction of the
new version of Office. On Windows itself it'
s been a little problematic, and its compatibility with other apps is spotty, a
nd usually read-only. Development is dog-slow, and people are wondering why.
In particular Microsoft's Mac Business Unit has been unable to
release converters for its new formats to allow older versions of Apple's suit
es to open Open XML files from Office 2007. A
direct result of this difficulty has resulted in the pushing back of the release of t
he Mac version of the new Office suite to early 2008.
Lo and behold, it had to be Apple itself to break the logjam by being the one,
a third party, to manage the feat ahead of Microsoft, the creator of the format
. Mac support for Microsoft's new format has come not from Microsoft, but from
Apple, though iWork '08, which can Open XML files made with Office 2007.
Talk about beating them at their own game.
More here.
China's cloning industry is as entrenched and as widespread as it is ubiquitous
, and has reached a scale so vast that entire factories are being cloned down t
o the last nut and bolt from stolen blueprints so these can reproduce exactly w
hat the original factory was manufacturing, reports popsci.com. How's that for piracy?
One of their more interesting "products" is Meizu M8 MiniOne,
which is for almost all intents and purposes, the Chinese version of the 
The screen resolution is 480 x 720, 3.3" 24-bit display. The physical dimension
s of the Chinese iPhone is 10.5" x 5.7" x 1.2". The various models cost from US
$200 to US$400, a clear case of getting what you pay for. Me, I'll think I'll w
ait.
(Cross-posted from Mobile Philippines.)
Wass
up? Apparently, this: a UK-based company has made a line of hooded sweatshirts,
not for you but - for your iPod.
Odd but true, these iPod hoodies from ipodhoodies.com
(what else?) are for your full-sized, nano or mini, and come
plain or with artwork. Shuffle owners are SOL for now.
They are available online at this site, and go for US$20 to US$27.
For those cold days, or days when you just want your iPod to l
ook cool.
Of course you knew this was going to happen. Someone up and did it already, the
butchers.
Go, then. Look at the carnage. You know you want to.
It's over here.
Those of you fortunate enough to own the fabled Mac Pro have a
n update from Apple, to fix fan activity for the high-end desk
top Mac.
Mac Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.1 fixes the occasionally problem
atic fan behavior of these Macs (for their sticker price, there had better be a
fix). There are some caveats to the update though, and some users report probl
ems (mainly because they didn't really RTFM).
It's a 544k download from the Apple site, and you can get it <
a href="http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macprosmcfirmwareupdate11.html">
here.
The 
You've all heard, I
suppose.
Quick recap: new iMacs, iLife '08, iWork '08, updated
Mac mini, new keyboard, etc. Nothing surprising, really, but still min
d-bogglingly fascinating for us Kool-Aid drunkards.
Rather than repeat everything here, just head on to the Apple website, it's all there.
For instant gratification, watch the whole thing here.
If se
ems all that software acrobatics and mumbo-jumbo isn't the quickest to unlock a
n iPhone so you can use it anywhere with any provider - some h
ackers in Europe claim to have done it with hardware: a SIM reader/writer and a
blank SIM card, plus a quick download and some other little things.
The hardware is readily available for an average cost of US$96 - way cheaper if
you live in Asia, where cheapo Taiwan-made reader/writers are sold on the side
walk and bargain shops for change. Some people have tried it and claim that it
works.
For purely educational and evaluation purposes, Mac-A-Doodle d
irects you to full step-by-step instructions and tutorial at Hacintosh
here.
If you dare, proceed at your own risk.Â
One of the longest running in-jo
kes on the internet has finally come to an end.
Fake Steve Jobs, the blogger who pretends to be Steve and skew
ers all things Apple and tech on The S
ecret Diary of Steve Jobs, has finally been unmasked by some killjoys.
He is Forbes Magazine senior editor Daniel Lyons, 46, from Boston.
"I'm stunned that it took this long," Lyons-Jobs said about his unmasking.
It's the end of an era. Or at least, a 14-month fun ride.
More from the killjoy newspaper The New York Times.
Speaking of remotes, the ever-interesting and engrossing website Instru
ctables has come up with a cool use for your old Nintendo Ente
rtainment System controller gathering dust in the attic - use it as a
remote for your iPod!
It's only for 3G and 4G iPods, though. The site has a step-by-step instruction
sequence (as well they should, since the official site name is Instructable
s: Step By Step Instructions), and be forewarned, it requires a bit of sol
dering and delicate work which looks hard even for DIY fanatics, but it is inte
resting as a little side project for a lazy weekend afternoon.
Just think, after you finish it and get it to work, you can say you can still o
perate your iPod even if you were two feet farther away than you normally are w
hen you control it. With a NES controller! Who needs those fancy Apple-made iPo
d remotes anyway?
Details and step-by-step instructions here.
It's only for 3G and 4G iPods, though. The site has a step-by-step instruction
sequence (as well they should, since the official site name is Instructable
s: Step By Step Instructions), and be forewarned, it requires a bit of sol
dering and delicate work which looks hard even for DIY fanatics, but it is inte
resting as a little side project for a lazy weekend afternoon.
Just think, after you finish it and get it to work, you can say you can still o
perate your iPod even if you were two feet farther away than you normally are w
hen you control it. With a NES controller! Who needs those fancy Apple-made iPo
d remotes anyway?
Details and step-by-step instructions here.
...that you can use that ittybitty white remote control that c
ame with your Mac to run your Keynote present
ation?
I certainly didn't. In fact I almost never use the darn thing because I'm alway
s within arm's reach of the Mac and the remote's practically useless to me. But
I do give presentations now and then using Keynote and that simple, obvious th
ing never occurred to me. (Then again I'm not the sort to pore through a manual
in detail because I have the common geek arrogance that I don't need to.)
Pressing play starts the presentation, forward and back <
/em>moves you through the slides, and up and down controls th
e volume. Holding down play sends the Mac to sleep.
Check out the video on the Apple Small Business Quick
Tip of The Week here.
An iPhone display kiosk at an AT&T branch
goes belly-up. One guess why.
(Pic from 
The man who uncovered the security hole that led to Apple's recent software upd
ate of the iPhone has criticized Apple's gene
ral platform security for the new cellphone as being largely poor, and their at
titude "negligent".
Charles Miller spoke at the Black Hat securit
y conference in Las Vegas the other day and slammed Apple's security practices.
Quoted in a ChannelWeb report, Miller said:
Before they released the patch, I couldn't really say that much bec ause I didn't want to give anyone enough to replicate the exploit. It was reall y frustrating, because a lot of people leapt to Apple's defense without really knowing the details. Everyone said, 'Oh, everyone gets bugs,' and 'Apple's good on security,' and 'They're better than Microsoft.' When you look at the detail s of this bug, though, the reality is that Apple's been negligent, I think." The criticism extends to the Macintosh as well, and Miller say s that the problem stems from Apple's inclusion of sections of older, outdated, less secure open source code in the newer OS X platform, leav ing pre-existing vulnerabilities for hackers to take advantage of. More on the issue from MacNN.
No manual required. (Photo courtesy of Flickr'er Keith Muth.)
Apple's iTune
s Store sold its 3,000,000,000th song last week, which is phenomenal t
o say the least, and holds the distinction of being the 3rd largest retailer of
music in the US. Not bad for selling songs tingi (as they say in my c
ountry), or piecemeal/cut-by-cut, as opposed to by album.
In honor of the occasion (or not), Apple has released iTunes 7.3.2. today:
With iTunes 7.3, you can now activate iPhone service and sync it with your music, TV shows, movies and more. Also, you can now wirelessly share and enjoy your favorite digital photos from any computer in your home with Ap ple TV. iTunes 7.3.2 provides bug fixes to improve stability and performance.< /p>
Fire up Software Update in OS X or the Apple Software Update app for Windows . The new version is a 33MB download for Macs, or 56.87MB for Windows users, de pending on your current setup.
No, sill
y. Not the Tony Stark one. The Ironman iControl workout watch,
built with iPod-like controls around the bezel, and connectin
g wirelessly via a dongle to control your iPod or your iPhone.
Built in cooperation with Apple, the watch includes a dongle
that connects to your iPod/iPhone's universal connector (which means sh
uffles are SOL). The watch comes in different colors, including pink,
orange and green, although we think black would the color of choice.
It has a bit of a problem, though: there are no controls for fast forwarding or
rewinding, which is a bummer. What it does have are all of the features of the
regular Timex Ironman workout watches, which include lap timing and memory, st
oring training logs and the like. It's also water-resistant for up to 100 meter
s, which I'm sad to say outperforms any current model iPod or iPhone, so if you
happen to fall down a deep well, your timepiece keeps tickin', but your iPod..
.
The Times Ironman iControl watch retails for US$125, and would make a nice no-o
ccasion gift for your friendly neighborhood Mac Doodler.
Full disclosure: the Doodler likes Microsoft Office 20
08. Having tried it out at launch and using a complimentary trial vers
ion for a month, I liked the software suite. Hated Vista, but
loved Office. I immediately hoped Mac users would get a versio
n soon. Redmond promised a late Q3 or Q4 2007 release, but it is not to be.
Microsoft has officially announced that the suite's release will be pushed back
to early next year, at the earliest at Macworld in mid-Jan fo
r the launching, and Q1 08 for availability.
Oh well. Better'n nothing.
Aside from the aforementioned iPhone Update 1.0.1, a few new o
nes have popped up that Software Update should've told you abo
ut by now.
One is Pro Application Support 4.0.1, which is this:
This update improves general user interface reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio , Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Final Cut Ex press HD, Soundtrack, Logic Pro and Logic Express.Another is the James Bond update, Security Update 2007-007 (wh ich incorporates 006 as well), which improves security for the following compon ents of OS X:
- bzip2 CFNetwork Core Audio cscope gnuzip Kerberos mDNSResponder PDFKit PHP Quartz Composer samba WebKit WebCor
I obviously do not own one, living here in the Philippines, but I'm told there
has been an update for the iPhone released today. For those lu
cky enough to be so blessed, fire up iTunes and get iP
hone Update 1.0.1. Apparently it's Safari fixes and a
few hidden, arcane things that Apple would rather you not kno
w about, since they didn't publish any details. Sigh.
Photo from Engadget.
The last few major holdout music acts who don't want their stuff available on t
he iTunes Store used to be a trio: the Beatles, Radiohead and Led Zeppelin. Now it's just
a duo, since Led Zep has caved and allowed some of their songs on iTunes.
Led Zeppelin, creators of that old sing-along/karaoke classic
Stairway to Heaven, enemy of piracy and hater of digital music has sol
d 200 million analog copies of their albums in the past. But now they're lookin
g to add to that, so they had a change of heart and put together a specially as
sembled digital set of their hits for download on Apple's online music store. T
he compilation album titled Mothership includes Stairway <
/em>and Dazed and Confused and a bunch of other hits. The song
s were specifically chosen by band members Robert Plant, 
