Marshall Clow Reviews Yojimbo 2.0 for MacNN

post from Daring Fireball on 09 November 2009 03:16:00 PM. © Daring Fireball

Marshall Clow:

The Tag Explorer, a welcome new feature in Yojimbo 2, lets you see which items are marked with particular tags. Unlike a search mechanism, which is top-down, the Explorer lets you see how your data is organized or, if you are like me, disorganized.

Agreed, great feature.

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http://www.macnn.com/reviews/bare-bones-yojimbo.html

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Google Acquires AdMob for $750 Million

post from Daring Fireball on 09 November 2009 03:12:00 PM. © Daring Fireball

AdMob provides in-app advertising to a slew of iPhone apps.

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http://www.google.com/press/admob/

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Support for Same-Sex Marriage by Age and State

post from Daring Fireball on 09 November 2009 03:07:00 PM. © Daring Fireball

Striking differences in support by different age groups. There are only 12 states where same-sex marriage doesn’t have majority support from 18-29 year-olds.

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http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/11/05/support-for-same-sex-marriage-by-age-and
-state/

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Samsung to abandon Windows Mobile for Android

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 09 November 2009 03:00:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Samsung is about deal Microsoft one of its most severe blows yet by dropping Windows Mobile from mos...

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http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=264fd45ce6b22b44217e3adf57579fe5

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Octavian Keyboard Calculator Adds Sound To The
Theory

post from prMac on 09 November 2009 02:41:00 PM. © prMac

Bitnotic Mobile today announces Octavian 1.1.0, an update to their music theory app for iPhone and iPod touch. Octavian makes musical scales and chords instantly accessible to musicians of all skill levels. It is an essential musical reference tool for any musician, student, composer, songwriter, pianist, keyboard player, or hobbyist. Version 1.1.0 now features high-quality piano sound playback, so that users can listen to scales and chords as they explore them.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-8516.htm

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Speed-up iMovie clips

post from Mac 911 on 09 November 2009 02:38:00 PM. © Mac 911

Here's the way to time-compress a very long video clip.

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http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=6bb96c26d5bdeb8efeaaeb7e7b711f73

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O2 UK to Officially Unlock iPhones Following
Competitor Launch

post from TheAppleBlog on 09 November 2009 02:19:00 PM. © TheAppleBlog

O2 just announced what seems like a fairly magnanimous gesture on its part today, in preparation for the launch of the iPhone on other UK carriers and the end of iPhone exclusivity in that country. That should mean that O2 customers who want to take their business elsewhere can have their phones unlocked as early as tomorrow, since Nov. 10 is the stated launch date for Orange UK’s iPhone offerings.

The news, which comes via The iPhone Blog, is a promising sign for all iPhone users. If Apple is at all a party to the decision to allow unlocking of its devices in countries where the iPhone is available on multiple networks, then hope exists for countries like Canada, too, where the iPhone recently became available on Bell and Telus, as well as Rogers, the original carrier.

O2 CEO Matthew Key describes in an interview with the Times Online how customers will be able to unlock, though that won’t relieve them of their contractual obligations:

Once the iPhone becomes available on other UK networks, we will allow O2 customers to unlock their iPhones, although of course they will still need to honor any outstanding contract period they have. At the end of their contract period, they are entirely free to move to another operator ? though naturally we hope they won?t want to!

It isn’t clear how the unlocking procedure will actually work. Will users have to physically visit an O2 store, or can it be done over the phone using iTunes at home? Whatever the method, O2 is doing the right thing by providing its customers a choice, which is a good faith gesture which should end up building customer loyalty and avoiding resentment. No word yet on whether or not other UK carriers will be offering the same service for their iPhone devices.

Read The Full Article:
http://theappleblog.com/2009/11/09/o2-uk-to-officially-unlock-iphones-following-c
ompetitor-launch/

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Jailbreakers: First iPhone Worm Discovered,
Features Rick Astley

post from TheAppleBlog on 09 November 2009 02:16:00 PM. © TheAppleBlog

ikee-170 The first iPhone worm has been discovered. It comes to us via Australia, and appears to be limited to that country for now, although it has the potential to spread. It also stars Rick Astley, so to speak. The work changes the iPhone’s wallpaper to an image of the 1980s pop singer, who’s enjoyed a recent resurgence thanks to the Rick-rolling Internet phenomenon.

The worm has the ability to break into jailbroken iPhones only. Even if you’ve jailbroken, you still aren’t vulnerable unless you’ve also installed SSH, and not changed the default password after doing so. As a result, only a small fraction of the larger iPhone community is probably susceptible to the “ikee virus,” as it is called in its own source code.

Still, it shows that as the platform matures and becomes more widespread, it also becomes the target of more malicious attacks. Most hackers, like any businesspeople, are interested in the bottom line, and part of that involves targeting the largest group of people possible. With millions of users worldwide, the iPhone is definitely an appealing mark. ikee’s creator, a hacker calling himself “ikex,” cites a different explanation for this particular worm’s creation:

Why?: Boredom, because i found it so stupid the fact that on my initial scan of my 3G optus range i found 27 hosts running SSH daemons, i could access 26 of them with root:alpine. Doesn’t anyone RTFM anymore?

In the case of this worm, which only changes the background wallpaper to the Astley photo with the slogan, “ikee is never going to give you up” across the top, Graham Cluley of SophosLabs suggests it’s really only an experiment:

The source code is littered with comments from the author suggesting the worm has been written as an experiment. One of the comments berates affected users for not following instructions when installing SSH, because if they had changed the default password the worm would not have been able to infect them.

While not dangerous in and of itself (it actually sort of provides a service by reminding users to take precautions), it could open the door for similar programs with less innocuous payloads. Hopefully, jailbreak users will learn from the experience and be prepared if someone more sinister tries to do the same thing again.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Apple latches onto this as a means to further decry the evils of jailbreak. If it leads to more serious exploits, it definitely would constitute a good reason to stay on the straight and narrow. In either case, expect to see more security concerns surrounding the iPhone as it continues its commercial success.

Read The Full Article:
http://theappleblog.com/2009/11/09/jailbreakers-first-iphone-worm-discovered-feat
ures-rick-astley/

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Upcoming Ricoh GXR Interchangeable Lens/Sensor
Camera System

Interesting new camera system from Ricoh — rather than just interchangeable lenses, each lens comes with its own image sensor. Ricoh cameras aren’t cheap, but you get what you pay for. My love for my Ricoh GR-D is unholy. (Via Wouter Brandsma.)

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http://quietube.com/v.php/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWm7FtVGmK4&feature=play
er_embedded

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Some iPhone Coders Padding Resumés With Lies

According to a report by the Silicon Alley Insider, if you’re looking to hire an iPhone dev, it’s probably best to make sure you do a thorough background check before you do. Some coders have been claiming credit for work they didn’t do, and are using the false accolades to try and wrestle more work from unsuspecting companies and individuals looking to cash in on the App Store phenomenon.

Some of the lies being perpetrated are coming from firms that look otherwise legit. Lots of offshore development companies are cashing in on the trend by providing low-cost alternatives to in-house or domestic U.S. solutions, and some of those are taking serious heat for what appear to be bald-faced lies.

One of the more high-profile apps involved in the scam is TapBots‘ popular iPhone unit conversion application, ConvertBot. ConvertBot’s design and intuitive interface have earned it praise from both the press and iPhone users, and it remains a popular app in its category. According to Ars Technica, TapBots partner Paul Haddad recently received a surprising inquiry from a client about his program:

This prospective client wasn’t looking to hire TapBots for any development work, they were looking for confirmation that a development firm out of India did the coding on ConvertBot, a popular TapBots application. The client had found Trucid, the supposed coders of ConvertBot, on the Rentacoder.com website, a virtual cork board where companies can hang their business cards. Trucid quoted a sum of $2,400 for an application similar to ConvertBot. The only problem? TapBots designs and writes all of its applications entirely in house.

At least the company in this case was smart enough to make some inquiries before going ahead and hiring the coding company making the false claims. Other people might not be so discerning and cautious.

Another developer, Sugar Cube, Inc. operating out of San Francisco, only discovered that others were taking credit for its work when prospective clients noted that they’d already seen the screenshots included in Sugar Cube’s pitch materials in packages from other development firms. Apparently, Sugar Cube had been trying to secure referral relationships with some other firms, and in so doing had sent around a sampler package. Some of these companies were then redistributing the materials as their own.

It’s a disturbing trend, but one to be expected with something like the App Store, which many see as an opportunity to cash in quickly and easily. As the industry matures, expect to see this sort of thing become less and less common, but until then, check and double-check any claims that seem to good to be true.