mendax.org » addons http://mendax.org WyldKard's mental brouhaha. est. 1996 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:40:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Automobile audio done right. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2010%2F07%2F19%2Fautomobile-audio-done-right%2F&seed_title=Automobile+audio+done+right. http://mendax.org/2010/07/19/automobile-audio-done-right/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:10:19 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=2076

When the mp3 was created, it didn’t take long before people wanted a way to play these digital files in vehicles. Juggling cassettes and compact discs was cumbersome, and “skipping” discs were exceptionally annoying. The mp3 was a perfect solution for audible, mobile content, but the adoption of this format has hardly been seamless.

Around the year 2000, we rocked a hacked Netpliance i-Opener, which we hooked up to our car via auxiliary input, if not through a cassette adapter. The whole point was playing mp3s via Winamp, but our solution required a sizeable footprint near the dash, and didn’t work out long-term. We sported an another auxiliary-in solution with our first mp3 player, the Creative Jukebox. The solution remained poor, and even though a later car of ours sported the ability to play mp3s via compact disc, the interface for this implementation remained poor, just as it still is in most disc-based mp3 solutions today.

Even when we picked up a Volkswagen R32 in 2007 and had a built-in iPod interface, we weren’t happy – the console-based solution meant that we had no access to the actual iPod controls, and instead had to use the poor deck-based interface of the stock audio system. Even in 2007, some developers still refused to show full song identifiers on LCD screens, let alone a truly integrated iPod solution. At least the system functioned with our 2G , but upon upgrading to a 3GS , the iPod interface stopped working as a charger. Worse yet, audio through the iPod interface would only work via the main app, which meant that apps like Pandora wouldn’t push audio through the car’s speakers. So we were back to using a basic aux-in solution.

Some people maintain that given how poor most car stereos are with handling mp3s, that we should continue relying on disc-based solutions. But why rely on an older technology that didn’t even work well at its peak, when adequate technology for a solid digital experience exists today?

The turn-around for us was playing with a stock Toyota sound system in a 2010 Prius. Between an aftermarket ProClip mount and power cable, and A2DP bluetooth audio, the ability to listen to our digital audio on our via the vehicle sound-system is nearly flawless; as soon as we start the car up, the Prius finds our and immediately begins playing from where it left off, not only via the iPod app, but via Pandora as well.

Why rely on an aftermarket iPod interface when the one on your works fantastic as-is? With the various mounting options ProClip offers, for nearly every modern vehicle out there, the only obstacle is a sound-deck sporting bluetooth audio. That’s a pretty cheap requirement for production, too, so it’s nearly inexcusable for audio decks not to incorporate this feature for all but the most bare-bones of systems. Props to Toyota for figuring this out.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2010/07/19/automobile-audio-done-right/feed/ 0 Microsoft Kinect: a cute novelty. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2010%2F06%2F29%2Fmicrosoft-kinect-a-cute-novelty%2F&seed_title=Microsoft+Kinect%3A+a+cute+novelty. http://mendax.org/2010/06/29/microsoft-kinect-a-cute-novelty/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:16:38 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=2062

We haven’t weighed in on ’s Kinect (formerly “Project Natal”) because we haven’t seen anything exciting about it yet. Maybe it’s better than ’s Move, and advancing what the Wii provided from a technological perspective. But let’s step back for a moment and look at where this all began, with ’s current console offering.

We picked up a Wii on release. We waited in line overnight, for crying out loud. And we did thoroughly enjoy the initial titles we played, but let’s be clear: they weren’t groundbreaking titles. Good titles with motion control, yes, but not groundbreaking titles in and of themselves. Maybe motion control is what made the Wii unique, and sold casual to the masses, and maybe even pushed consoles into family entertainment centers where parents were previously skeptical of consoles as family-friendly entertainment. But as far as titles go, there’s no single Wii game that’s more fun to play than any great title on any other console lacking motion control. (For example, the original Mario Kart was no less fun than the current Mario Kart is today.)

Yes, we’ll make a small exception for workout titles; EA Sports is a fantastic at-home workout for those without a gym who want to get into better cardiovascular shape, and traditional control schemes obviously wouldn’t work in this regard. But EA Sports, and games of this ilk, are not exactly fun titles in the traditional sense.

So now with Kinect set to release late this year, we have another motion control scheme, albeit without a physical controller necessary. And this may work well for casual games, and probably pretty good for workout titles also (there will, after all, be an EA Sports title for Kinect). But for other ? If anything, is looking to grab more Wii users and capitalize on the fact that a good chunk of gamers own both a Wii, and an /PS3. Capturing the “casual” crowd is an expected move for , who has already moved in that direction during the dashboard re-do (avatars, et al).

We’re highly skeptical that Kinect will bring anything worthwhile to the table if one already has a Wii sitting next to their ; Kinect is the Wii peripheral for the . It’s a cool idea, but nothing more than a novelty, which conveniently comes out mid-way through the 360 lifecycle. If anything, it combats ’s move of potentially releasing an HD Wii, forcing to up their ante and delay a new product release more in line with and ’s next generation, else simply throw in the towel like Sega did after the Dreamcast.

Either way, the Kinect alone won’t win the battle here; the Kinect is a reactive move by . Not in the way that the Move is ’s reaction to the Wii (which is playing catch-up more than anything else), but in the sense of allowing the to be a competitor to the Wii on all angles – not just meeting the Wii’s capabilities, but arguably exceeding them without adding cumbersome, physical controllers. This move will likely pay off in keeping the 360 situated as the premiere US console, but probably won’t force out of the console business entirely, unless is able to capture some choice IP for Kinect-based games.

We just don’t see the Kinect doing much to sway the console wars one way or the other at this point. The Wii has already been widely adopted, and so the potential installation-base in Wii-less households appears very small. Unless there are some killer titles out there that make having Kinect outrageously desireable (and we haven’t seen any yet), why drop the money on Kinect? Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2010/06/29/microsoft-kinect-a-cute-novelty/feed/ 0 Heat: an unaddressed iPhone issue? http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2010%2F06%2F21%2Fheat-an-unaddressed-iphone-issue%2F&seed_title=Heat%3A+an+unaddressed+iPhone+issue%3F http://mendax.org/2010/06/21/heat-an-unaddressed-iphone-issue/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:31:45 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=2040

We didn’t give much thought to iPhones overheating last summer, when reports were going around about iPhones shutting down after a certain internal heat threshold was met. But that’s because we never encountered this behavior, since we evidently didn’t put our through these types of paces. Things took a turn when we began using our 3GS as a daily device.

The problem.

In the car, while we’ve experienced exceptional heat emanating from our 3GS, we still haven’t witnessed the device overheating and shutting down the active program. We guess that’s because of where we mounted the ; it sits right in front of a vent. During summer months on the east coast, we usually run with the air conditioner on, so the isn’t at the same temperature as the outside world. Since it sits so close to a vent, it’s also getting the benefit of air flow, which isn’t the situation in our second use case.


On a motorcycle, our is more exposed to the elements, or at least the heat. This is doubly-problematic because air flow is effectively neutralized since a motorcycle-mounted is generally enclosed for protection, so the doesn’t benefit from the motorcycle’s movement. On hot days, this means that whatever case the is in acts like a greenhouse. Eventually, east coast summers with temperatures in the 80s will shut down any mounted to a motorcycle, making navigation-by- impossible.

Possible solutions?


Moving the to an unenclosed case, snapped into some sort of mount, may be a part-time solution. Mounts like this exist, but their protection is questionable; do you really trust a mount where the “snaps in” and “snaps out” by pressing a plastic tab? With the vibrations common on motorcycles (not to mention bumps from off-road riding), it becomes a huge question as to whether such a mount won’t suddenly pop an attached off mid-ride.

A better mount system might still work here, but an off-the-shelf solution doesn’t seem to exist. Touratech makes decent aluminum mounts for other devices, but not for the (probably because the isn’t water-tight).

Relocating the ’s mounting location may be possible with the proper hardware. For example, if the could be mounted in a position that offers more shade, where it’s not always getting direct sun, perhaps it would last longer before shutting down. Still, this likely wouldn’t fix the problem entirely, and coverage may be hit too.

Another solution may be to simply keep the in a vented pocket, so it’s not getting sun and benefits from airflow directed against the rider. Unfortunately, this means the rider only has access to audible cues, can’t see the map, and needs to pull the out whenever the navigation needs to be accessed.

In the end, no obvious solution exists if one wants to use -based navigation year-round on a motorcycle (at least in areas where it gets hot).

The 4G .

The latest , releasing later this week, uses the A4 processor, which we know to be faster than previous processors. This new should also sport better power efficiency, which may imply cooler operation. However, we couldn’t find any claims as to how much cooler the 4G runs compared to the 3GS. For us, this becomes a major factor in whether or not we upgrade, because if this new can handle higher heat environments, then it immediately challenges other units for motorcycle use; potentially, with an aluminum case, heat dissipation may be easier for this latest .

For those early adopters, drop us a line to let us know if the 4G seems to run cooler than the 3G or 3GS.

Update (06/23/2010): TiPb is proposing that Apple may have down-clocked the A4 processor in the 4G in order to get better battery life and “lower the thermal impact.” This would mean that the new has more RAM than the 3GS, but a slower processor, explaining why the may still be faster than the 4G . This still begs the question as to how much cooler the 4G would run than the 3GS, however.Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2010/06/21/heat-an-unaddressed-iphone-issue/feed/ 0 iPad extensibility: the key is in the adapters? http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2010%2F01%2F28%2Fipad-extensibility-the-key-is-in-the-adapters%2F&seed_title=iPad+extensibility%3A+the+key+is+in+the+adapters%3F http://mendax.org/2010/01/28/ipad-extensibility-the-key-is-in-the-adapters/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:00:35 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=1939

While the won’t sport much more than a dock connector for interfacing with other devices, that dock connector may be pretty flexible. In addition to the obvious use for syncing iTunes media to and from a Mac, will offer numerous adapters. For instance, there will be a camera “kit” consisting of an SD and USB adapter, presumably to download pics and videos without having to get a Mac. This means that on-release, the will have access to external media, as well as an external keyboard, all via the dock connector.

The obvious question is whether external storage access will be extremely limited. We guess it will be, but if the could write to external storage devices, that would open a whole new world of possibilities for the device, making it ever-so more versatile. Otherwise, the relies exclusively on networking to transfer files to and fro. There are other interesting possibilities for future accessories, however, which could leverage the USB adapter, or otherwise leverage the 30-pin iPod dock connector. Two such examples follow.

iSight, anyone?

One of the disappointments people have with the is the lack of a front-facing camera. Some will remember that PowerBooks didn’t have iSight cameras embedded in the display frame, but that the original iSight form factor was rather large, and slide onto a laptop via a plastic attachment. These iSights sold for over $75 on release, and releasing a new, smaller version, is a financially considerate move for , who may not want to tack on more money to the ’s currently alluring price-tag.

We can see releasing an iSight attachment to the later this year, or early next year, once the mobile version of OS X is more mature, and when its distribution includes a mobile iChat application. The camera could simply orient itself to however the is positioned, and potentially, this attachment could be used on the and iPod Touch as well, since the connector is the same. Releasing such an iSight would allow it to be used on all mobile devices, and test the popularity of video conferencing on mobile devices before decides to include it in a later revision. In the meantime, the fact that the iSight remains an out-of-box option for the MacBook lineup serves as just another example as to how the fills a category between the /iPod Touch and the MacBook line.

Drawing tablets.

’s demo of the redesigned Brushes app made for a great presentation, but for many artists, the feel of a pen/brush, along with pressure sensitivity, is important. There’s a clear market for drawing tablets out there, which is why Wacom products sit in every store we’ve ever stepped in. If such tablets could be used with an , we could certainly see many artists jumping on board ’s new product niche, as the portability of such a canvas, with a drawing interface aimed at the more artistic crowd, makes for a solid combination. Rather than sitting in front of a computer at one’s desk, artists could bring their /tablet combination outside, to practically anywhere, and expect amazing battery life in a more inspiring location.

Understandably, is all about pushing multitouch, but there’s no reason that the two input mechanisms can’t go hand-in-hand. Literally smudge paint with one’s fingers, but finely draw lines via the tablet, in a more controlled and usual fashion that many artists are used to. Turn the as though manually plopping a canvas on its side, and continue working with virtual brush. Even as non-artists, we find the prospect enticing.Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2010/01/28/ipad-extensibility-the-key-is-in-the-adapters/feed/ 1 mendax.iphone v3.0. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2010%2F01%2F27%2Fmendax-iphone-v3-0%2F&seed_title=mendax.iphone+v3.0. http://mendax.org/2010/01/27/mendax-iphone-v3-0/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:54:16 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=1929

With word-on-the-street that the iTablet will emerge from the Pandora’s Box that is ’s campus later today, and with all signs pointing towards the iTablet leveraging the ’s version of OS X (and with it, the AppStore), it makes sense to identify apps that no user should be without. That is to say, must-have apps for the could very well become must-have apps for the iTablet as well, so it’s high-time that we updated our ongoing compilation.

Perhaps the most important change to this update of mendax.iphone is clarifying its audience. Before, we included most apps that resided on our , with the exceptions being apps very specific to our personal needs. The change we’re making with this updated compilation is in removing niche apps, and focusing on daily use. The change is a practical one; our includes a hodge-podge of apps that simply aren’t useful for everyone. Our goal with this revision is to tailor our recommendations to the average user, whereby “average” we include not only non-nerds, but some overlap with more geeky computer users who can benefit from some of the more advanced features some of the compilation’s components offer. The name change also opens the possibility of us focusing in on niche app markets for future updates (i.e. creating a mendax. section for photo apps, or games).

The (major) revision coincidentally lets us drop a “3.0″ title to the compilation, mirroring the general release number for the current OS. We may or may not stick with mirroring the major revision numbers for OS releases, but we’re fond of the coincidence at the moment. If we do stick with it, it conveniently gives us time to evaluate new apps for inclusion at fairly regular intervals.

One last note is our philosophy on the compilation in general. Our goal is not to list every great or even well done app for the daily user. We’re minimalists at heart, so rather than list three apps that do different things extremely well, we’d rather list one app that does the same thing only fairly well. In other words, we’d prefer to have less apps on the springboard, even if it means that we don’t get the absolute best experience in one particular area. There may be exceptions to this rule from time to time, but regardless, we won’t list bad apps just for the sake of minimalism; we lean towards minimalism, but still seek to offer an above-average user experience.

So let’s take a look at what’s changed.

AppStore apps we decided to get rid of.

We removed some apps in the 3.0 mendax.iphone revision, because their functionality now exists in other apps, else we no longer think they’re that great in the first place. For example, we removed the Flashlight app, as we found launching it cumbersome when wanting, say, a quick red light, as the app wasn’t used enough to reside on our home screen, and even then, the bright flash of the home screen itself was adequate for most uses, and distractive if we then followed up with our intended red light for low-light reading use. In the rare cases where the home screen itself wasn’t bright enough, launching any app with a predominantly white screen/background worked just as well, and didn’t take up a valuable springboard icon slot.

DVR Remote was taken off our as well, since there’s a basic DVR remote built into i.TV now. i.TV isn’t as good as the many applications it’s replaced, but the fact that it does so much by itself is impressive. With Backgrounder enabled for i.TV when we’re home, it’s easy to jump over to the remote when we need it, instead of digging through sub-menus every time we launch i.TV just to get to the remote. Ideally, i.TV would make the remote feature easier to get to, but it’s fine for the limited use it gets at home.

We pulled HearPlanet from our lineup because we rarely used it. Maybe the paid-for versions are better, and we still recommend the free version if you’re in avid tourist-mode, but for daily applications, it’s not a must-have app. We pulled Urbanspoon also, because even though it’s a nice novelty, especially when trolling the same-old neighborhoods, we’re just as happy with Yelp, which does more even though it’s not necessarily the most elegant random-food-spot-finder. Both of these apps would be good nominations for a future tourist app section, however.

The MySpace app got the boot because, quite frankly, almost everyone worthwhile has moved onto Facebook, and keeping up with two social networks seemed pointless, especially when one of them is quite clearly dying. We also found the Weather Channel app nice, but ultimately rarely launched it; even though the built-in weather app was spartan in comparison, we rarely found the need for an in-depth weather forecast.

The AppStore apps we replaced.

With this 3.0 release, we replaced 1Password with 1Password Pro, though at the very least, we still recommend its non-Pro sibling. The application, primarily because of its ability to sync with the desktop component, is a fantastic tool not only for holding various online logins, but to securely keep track of all the various OS X licenses one has purchased, as well as the miscellaneous wallet items regularly filling up one’s, well, wallet.

We’ve temporarily replaced Air Sharing for Air Sharing Pro. The latter can handle larger PDF files, and has built-in FTP capabilities in case you need it.

The 2.0 version of our compilation included iHandy Level, but we’ve since upgraded that to the full iHandy Carpenter suite. In truth, we mostly only use the level and ruler components, but the other tools are nice to have in the rare situations we need them.

SnapTell, while quite awesome, is an app we replaced with Red Laser. It’s just way easier to scan barcodes than book covers, and Red Laser lets us look up items that aren’t books and movies, which has made it a much better shopping companion than SnapTell.

While we were fans of TwitterFon (now EchoFon) in the past, we spent some time evaluating paid Twitter clients, as ads in some of the free apps were becoming distracting. We used Twittelator Pro for some time, but eventually landed on Tweetie (and later Tweetie 2), and haven’t looked back since. We still recommend Twittelator Pro if one wants every feature known to man, but for slightly above-average features and a much nicer user experience, Tweetie 2 simply beats other Twitter clients within an inch of their digital lives.

The AppStore apps we added.

While we used to look up unit conversions using Google, there were times that we couldn’t, on account of not having any cellular access in certain locations, like in the back of our local grocery store. We looked into the various unit conversion apps, and Convertbot stood out. It sports a very nice UI, and has a pretty complete set of units to convert to and from.

We used Air Sharing for some time to view PDF files, but then the app crashed on some of our larger files. We found that because Air Sharing (and its Pro version) render the full PDF file at one time, it’s more limited by file sizes. So, we picked up Good Reader, which is designed to display much larger PDF files, because it only renders one page at a time. It also has more reader-friendly options than Air Sharing, so compliments Air Sharing nicely.

While Red Laser meets our price-comparison expectations well, we picked up Good Guide to scan barcodes and get product information. For example, one can scan an item to find out how ethical the respective company is, or how healthy the product is. Great for comparing items in one’s local grocery store without having to compare the often misleading nutrition information.

As Starbucks drinkers, we picked up Mobile Card, which lets us reload our Starbucks card of choice, and keep tabs on what the current balance is. When heading west, we can even pay for our drinks at some stores via the alone.

Finally, we have myWireless, which is AT&T’s auditing tool for looking at how many minutes were used on your plan. Also lets you check data use, et al. Also, you can pay your monthly bill, so for everyone not jailbroken and using T-Mobile, this app is quite handy.

Cydia apps we decided to get rid of.

We decided to dump categories after we started using the left-of-homescreen text-entry method of launching apps buried multiple right-finger-slides over. Categories is definitely useful in concept, but it still leaves something to be desired, and maybe that’s just a matter of better integration with the OS, which is likely not possible. It’s still a great app launcher but it’s simply caused us too many problems in the past to have to set up again and again.

While Winterboard is still the best customization app for springboard, we found actual customization arduous, since no theme has icons for every app out there, and such app icons tend to jibe with a theme’s atmosphere. Overall, still a great app, just not one we consider “must-have” anymore.

Cydia apps we added.

Not liking the fact that we couldn’t download files larger than 10MB via 3G/EDGE, we picked up 3G Unrestrictor, which tricks apps into thinking they’re on wifi. Great for downloading apps and podcasts while on the road.

Unsatisfied that still hasn’t approved a Google Voice app, we grabbed GV Mobile to take care of out virtual-phone-number needs.

Finally, to compliment Backgrounder, we grabbed ProSwitcher, which makes switching between apps easy and intuitive, without us having to jump back and forth to the springboard.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2010/01/27/mendax-iphone-v3-0/feed/ 0 Why do you need Flash on your iPhone? http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2009%2F11%2F04%2Fwhy-do-you-need-flash-on-your-iphone%2F&seed_title=Why+do+you+need+Flash+on+your+iPhone%3F http://mendax.org/2009/11/04/why-do-you-need-flash-on-your-iphone/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:00:20 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=1858

People love to complain, and we think half of it is due to laziness. Or incompetence. And with the , it’s no different. Take MMS for example: thousands claimed it was silly for the not to support it, but we disagreed. MMS is an outdated technology for which there are plenty of modern-day solutions, ranging from e-mail to Twitter. To rely on yet another protocol for sharing multimedia, when more reliable solutions exist, is nonsense. With rock-solid Twitter integration thanks to the dozens of Twitter apps on the AppStore, we barely find a need for SMS anymore, let alone it’s bigger cousin. Never mind the fact that e-mail works just as well for sharing multimedia.

But then there’s Flash, arguments for which are even more ridiculous. Who needs Flash on their ? Yes, some sites aren’t non-Flash friendly, and therefore can’t be browsed via Mobile Safari, but that’s less ’s fault, and more the fault of web developers who decide to use Flash instead of other, more accepted (and open) technologies. It’s not like Flash was always viewable from every browser anyway, so why do people argue that the should suddenly adopt Flash as a sort of multimedia standard? Even dismissing arguments about how Flash is burdensome on one’s CPU and battery, there remains the obvious distaste for a third-party plugin that’s not friendly to industry-wide standards.

What Flash is, is a luxury. A luxury you get to have if you’re on a system not constrained by smaller processors and batteries. A luxury you get when you don’t care about a common user interface for your apps, because you’re not using a heavily-integrated phone-computer. And that luxury is not a right just because a bunch of lazy developers refuse to use more modern technologies to reproduce the output of a commercial Adobe product.

What people should be complaining about is not that the doesn’t support Flash, but that some sites are developed in Flash in the first place.
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]]> http://mendax.org/2009/11/04/why-do-you-need-flash-on-your-iphone/feed/ 0 Upgrading iPhone 3.0.1. to jailbroken 3.1. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2009%2F10%2F05%2Fupgrading-iphone-3-0-1-to-jailbroken-3-1%2F&seed_title=Upgrading+iPhone+3.0.1.+to+jailbroken+3.1. http://mendax.org/2009/10/05/upgrading-iphone-3-0-1-to-jailbroken-3-1/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:00:32 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=1843

Since we picked up an 3GS a couple months back, our jailbroken/unlocked 2G has been sitting on a shelf collecting dust, as though a forgotten relic in the battle against Big . Now forced to use AT&T, which drops calls at an alarming rate compared to our experience with the 2G on T-Mobile, we’re still happy with our service overall, if only because the user experience, occasional dropped call or not, is still better than using any other cellular phone in the United States. Yes, that’s how great the 3GS is, and why ’s market dominance in this area continues to swell.

That said, the isn’t perfect, and one of the imperfect things about it is the fact that Big is doing its damndest to keep the user experience consistent, and in doing so, limiting the types of applications that developers can release in the AppStore. Now, admittedly, the need to jailbreak an in order to run third-party “” applications is no longer what it was when we first decided to hack our 2G two years ago. Quite simply, the AppStore has evolved into a pretty nice store, with a great selection of apps that do most everything we need to. And where it doesn’t offer a particular app that we’d like it to, in most every case, that kind of app isn’t available in Cydia either. That is, except for three that we consider must-haves, two of which we mentioned in our mendax.iphone article. Specifically, we’re talking about Backgrounder (which lets us run any application in the background), SBSettings (a quick way to toggle settings on/off), and the more recent GV Mobile (the infamous Google Voice client).

While our experience using GV Mobile hasn’t been flawless (the app crashes consistently when changing forwarding numbers), an update is on its way. With no word on whether will ultimately approve or deny the official Google Voice app, GV Mobile is our only hope for using Google Voice on our today. Having access to SBSettings again is a fresh walk down memory lane, and significantly reduces the need for us to jump into Settings to enter airplane mode, as we can now easily turn off select services when we need to save some battery life. Plus, we can now disable everything except wireless, which is nice if we want to use, say, Virgin America’s in-flight wireless (even though, realistically, we’ll almost always have our MacBook Pro with us for such trips). But Backgrounder, assuming it works as well as it did on our 2G , is the cornerstone of the must-have jailbreak scene. Finally, we can keep Pandora running while switching to Google Maps (or a application), or keep active any other audio programs while fiddling with whatever other apps we need to.

But enough about why we decided to jailbreak again. Let’s get back to how. While the process for jailbreaking is amazingly easy these days for older iPhones, the 3GS has been a different story. Until very recently, jailbreaking tools developed by the Dev-Team didn’t work on the 3GS. Even now that they do, how to upgrade a non-jailbroken 3.0.x 3GS to 3.1 and put a jailbreak in place isn’t a solution readily advertised. Even the guides at iClarified aren’t entirely accurate. After spending too many hours this past weekend figuring it all out, it’s time to share our procedure.

  1. Obviously, back up your and sync it with iTunes before you begin.
  2. If you haven’t already, download the 3.1 update via iTunes, but don’t install it.
  3. If you no longer have it, download the 3.0.0 update. The iClarified guide says you can alternately use the 3.0.1 update, but it did not work for us.
  4. Jump into a terminal window, and type the following commands: 
    cd /etc/
sudo pico hosts

    You’ll have to input your admin password at this point, after which you’ll be in a simple text editor window. Use the arrow keys to get down to the bottom of the document, and add the following line at the end:

    74.208.105.171 gs..com

    Hit Ctrl+X to exit, press Y to save, and hit return to overwrite the old hosts file. What this step does is redirect iTunes to a jailbreak-friendly server for firmware updates, instead of relying on ’s servers to control which firmware updates you’re allowed to receive and use on the .

  5. Download redsn0w v0.8 and run it. You’ll be prompted for the 3.0 firmware file. Follow the prompts, and at the end of the redsn0w process, you’ll have a jailbroken 3.0.0 3GS.
  6. Now, download PwnageTool 3.1.3. Run it, and click on the expert mode icon. Select the 3GS icon, and proceed with the program. Make sure the program uses the 3.1 firmware update. Refer to Step Six of this second iClarified guide. If you are an AT&T subscriber, ensure that “Activate the phone.” remains unchecked. If you check this box, you will be unable to get new carrier settings from iTunes. Also, it’s not likely that you need to mess with the partition size, so don’t worry about it.
  7. You can follow the rest of the iClarified guide, but don’t worry about putting your in restore mode. Instead, once PwnageTool is done and has output a custom 3.1 firmware package, jump into iTunes, hold down the option key, and click on the Restore button from the screen. You will be prompted for a firmware update: choose the custom firmware file, and let iTunes do the rest. When your finally reboots, it will be jailbroken, and Cydia/Icy will be installed.
  8. You can now sync the phone from your last backup to restore all your old apps and such. You’ll also be prompted for the 5.5 AT&T carrier file, which you’ll need to install to enable MMS.

At this point, you’ll have a fully-jailbroken 3GS running at the latest firmware revision. Jump into Cydia and install jailbroken apps to your hearts content!Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2009/10/05/upgrading-iphone-3-0-1-to-jailbroken-3-1/feed/ 0 The Cataclysm cometh. Or, has it been gradually coming all along? http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2009%2F09%2F30%2Fthe-cataclysm-cometh-or-has-it-been-gradually-coming-all-along%2F&seed_title=The+Cataclysm+cometh.+Or%2C+has+it+been+gradually+coming+all+along%3F http://mendax.org/2009/09/30/the-cataclysm-cometh-or-has-it-been-gradually-coming-all-along/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:00:05 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=1836

There’s a special place in Hell for those who destroy good lore. Sure, some lore tweaks are necessary now again just to keep a back-story consistent, and fluff moving in the right direction. Yet some designers, like George Lucas, take things too far when they butcher Star Wars by introducing midichlorians and other such nonsense. Yet we forgive even some grievances, like when Blizzard decided to arbitrarily split races in the World of along rigid lines of Alliance versus Horde. Sure, they put the usually-peaceful Tauren up against the similarly nature-loving Night Elves, but made up for it by making a druidic stronghold where both races got along peacefully. But then Blizzard did very little with actual factional warfare, so like many other things WoW, the whole idea went to shit fairly quickly.

Let’s be honest: Blizzard ignoring good lore has become ever more frequent over time, to the point where we seriously wonder whether Azeroth will just be one big hodge-podge of confused races and classes, where no one is truly unique anymore because being different is bad, even if it’s only bad because the game’s developers can’t figure out a good way to balance things effectively. Look what happened to the only two classes unique to the respective factions upon WoW’s release: by the time WoW’s first expansion came along, Paladins were offered to the Horde, and Shamans to the Alliance. One of these we could have argued as reasonable, but bringing a holy order to the typically shamanistic Horde?

There’s clearly a lack of communication between those who developed WoW’s fluff, and who’s making the game’s decisions today. Maybe that’s because many of WoW’s original developers are no longer with Blizzard, or maybe it’s because the company has just “sold out”. But clearly, there’s a discrepancy between what’s sensical in-character, and what changes have been made merely to keep millions of subscribers hooked to a grindy enterprise, particularly when any semblance of perpetuity of a character is thrown asunder when paid character modifications result in race, faction, and aesthetic changes. Simply put, a character rolled in 2004 may look totally different today, with the only consistent factor being class, and the role of that class may have changed over the years as well.

So what’s bugging us this time around? Well, with the Cataclysm expansion announced, Blizzard is adding two new races to WoW: Goblins for Horde, and Worgen for Alliance. We’ll even disregard any objections to these inclusions by the truly hardcore lore zealots, but instead move directly on to class/race combinations. When we began writing this, we thought we’d do a run-down of every class and prod at the allowable races upon Cataclysm’s launch, but that exercise quickly became too painful to finish. But we’ll still mention some highlights, just to illustrate the sheer stupidity of it all.

  • Everyone can be a Death Knight. Nice, dumb precedent, Blizzie.
  • The Undead now commune with the animal kingdom. Undead druids next?
  • Holy Cows. LOL.

On the one hand, we can now create guilds based almost entirely on one race, though arguably that was doable before. So that leaves us with the other hand, which points at the same old sad story of Blizzard watering down WoW in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Five years ago, not only was WoW a well-polished DIKU, but it was a well-polished DIKU with unique toons, limited by their choice of race, class, and spec, not to mention slight aesthetic tweaks. Today, everyone of a given class is practically the same, with some racials no longer being unique (ala the Priest racials), and players able to settle on easy race decisions because there are too many race options for most classes. Compounded with the fact that existing players can funnel funds from WoW’s broken economy to new toons for an enormous advantage over new or returning players, and the stage is set for the casual WoW player (“the grinder”) to have too much say in WoW’s continued development. Never mind that dual-specs further water-down the character building process.

It’s sad, really, because while Cataclysm is a snazzy attraction to everyone who’s played WoW before thanks to the focus on “evolving” old lands, WoW as a whole is still on the slippery slope to trashville. It’s like the X-Files of the video game world, with a strong start, a great following, and an ultimate decline into obscurity.Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2009/09/30/the-cataclysm-cometh-or-has-it-been-gradually-coming-all-along/feed/ 1 The Tweetie 2 fiasco: blame it on Apple? http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2009%2F09%2F29%2Fthe-tweetie-2-fiasco-blame-it-on-apple%2F&seed_title=The+Tweetie+2+fiasco%3A+blame+it+on+Apple%3F http://mendax.org/2009/09/29/the-tweetie-2-fiasco-blame-it-on-apple/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:00:31 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=1832

The dramarama wheel landed on Tweetie 2 recently, to the tone of much annoyance regarding the fact that the Tweetie 2 upgrade won’t be free to existing Tweetie users. That is to say, Tweetie 2 is a totally different program than Tweetie, and as such, will require another $3 purchase for those who want to use the latest Tweetie version. That’s not to say that users of Tweetie will be incapable of still using their Twitter client of choice, merely that the developer, atebits, will clearly be focusing on Tweetie 2 users rather than spending most of their time addressing problems with Tweetie “1″. So naturally, buyers of Tweetie may be a little peeved, since they feel neglected and betrayed, particularly when atebits could offer a discount to existing Tweetie users, or even simpler, make Tweetie 2 a free upgrade instead of a new app (albeit at the cost of atebit’s development time).

Perhaps the hoopla is mainly grounded in the naming of Tweetie 2. Clearly, atebits wants to capitalize on the success of Tweetie, though naming Tweetie 2 something different may not have gotten everone as riled up, since a clearer line would be drawn in the sand. After all, it’d be easier to convince people to buy a new Twitter client than a newer version of a client they already paid for. Sure, the argument against a sense-of-entitlement is a simple one to make: atebits clearly spent a lot of time building Tweetie 2 from the ground up, and as a business, they wants to make money where they can (and not where they can’t, thus the continued free-ness of Tweetie for OS X).

And maybe that’s where the second problem lies: blame it on self-entitlement or not, there’s a reason many Tweetie users are upset: the precedent for major upgrades to apps (as well as like Tweetie for OS X), at no cost to previous buyers, was set long ago. Developers of apps like Twittelator Pro, for example, have added just as many features as Tweetie 2 will offer, and arguments of Tweetie 2′s superior useability aside, there are many other apps that have offered iterative, substantial updates over time, at an arguable loss to the developers who continue supporting purchases long after they were made. Now that’s no fault of atebits: they’re clearly trying to break free from the way things are generally being done on the AppStore, in such a way that they can afford to work on apps full-time, whereas many other developers may simply be working on their apps as a side-job. Neither way is inherently right, it’s just that Tweetie users are used to things moving in a direction that favors their AppStore expenditures.

It’s really not a matter of having to shell out a whole $3 more just for the update. We’d argue that if atebits made Tweetie 2 a free upgrade and kept certain features unlockable only through in-app purchases, that they could more easily convince many dissenters to spend that $3 for fancy new features. But instead, they made a new app, which will probably earn atebits a few more bucks in the long-run (since in-app purchases generally make less than stand-alone products), and though that’s certainly a valid move for a business trying to make some extra moolah, it somehow feels wrong, as though atebits is not being honest to consumers. That’s especially true for people who buy Tweetie today, only to find that their purchase will barely be supported once Tweetie 2 comes out.

So the hoopla is an emotional reaction to a problem not with atebits, but the AppStore process, highlighting yet another deficiency with the AppStore’s mechanism for enabling long-term application support by developers who make a living writing, and maintaining, apps. The only real fault we can find with atebits is not using the in-app purchase mechanism to support the transition from Tweetie to Tweetie 2, but maybe there’s a legitimate reason that atebits couldn’t go that route. (Any developers want to comment on this?)

Ultimately, if Tweetie 2 offers the same features as Twittelator Pro (with TweetPress support for WordPress), we’ll probably drop another $3, knowing full well that that $3 we spent earlier was effectively thrown away (Tweetie offered too little functionality by the time we picked it up). What we don’t want to see is this kind of practice being repeated again and again, however. Rather, if there’s an obstacle to using in-app purchases to charge for major app revisions, then needs to address this issue pronto, else this won’t be the first time that app buyers get all up-in-arms over the Tweetie 2 upgrade process. As it stands, the process not only angers consumers, but negatively affects app developers also.

09/30/2009 Update: According to atebit’s response to an inquiry by The iPhone Blog, the in-app mechanism wasn’t appropriate.

If all I were adding were features, then the in-app purchase route would have been an option (but then again, if all I were offering were features, I’d probably release it as a free update). Tweetie 2 is a fresh start, 100% rewritten, shares no code with the original . The only thing they have in common is the name.

That doesn’t entirely answer our question though. Does require a minimum amount of code to be the same between app updates? If not, then Tweetie 2 could have new features enabled with an in-app purchase, despite it being rewritten from the ground-up. Aside from the extra development time needed to include the in-app purchase functionality, is there an -imposed obstacle here?Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2009/09/29/the-tweetie-2-fiasco-blame-it-on-apple/feed/ 0 It’s time for non-headset bluetooth iPhone accessories. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2009%2F06%2F24%2Fits-time-for-non-headset-bluetooth-iphone-accessories%2F&seed_title=It%26%238217%3Bs+time+for+non-headset+bluetooth+iPhone+accessories. http://mendax.org/2009/06/24/its-time-for-non-headset-bluetooth-iphone-accessories/#comments Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:58:13 +0000 WyldKard http://wyldkard.com/?p=1781 Post image for It’s time for non-headset bluetooth iPhone accessories.

Now that OS 3.0 is out, with better support for bluetooth accessory access, it’s time we start seeing some nice accessories to make our -using experience even better. Sure, we already have a slew of standard bluetooth headsets to choose from, and now we even have A2DP stereo headsets, but that’s not what we’re talking about. No, we mean game controllers like the iControlPad, Zeemote JS1 and GameBone Pro.

The problem with these devices is simple, however: they rely on developer support to work with anything, making a spontaneous purchase moot for the foreseeable future. What the manufacturers of these devices need to do is make a deal with big-name developers (is that an oxymoron?) like EA or ngmoco, and have them include support for peripherals. Otherwise, there’s no sign of a peripheral standard for the , which is sorely needed if these devices are to carve out a niche market among gamers. Establishing a set of standards is something these companies can actually do now, and arguably should have been doing all along. As we’re still a bit away from seeing these devices hit retail, however, perhaps we can look at them as mere prototypes while a multi-company standards board is enacted (wishful thinking, we know).

More exciting to us, however, is the prospect of a bluetooth keyboard for the , which could work with any text-input-based application. Aside from serving as a better way to input long streams of text, such a device could also be used for gamers, much as they still are for PC . Combined with id releases of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, the fond memories would come trickling back like a waterfall.Similar Posts:

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