That is especially true for anything iPhone related, as I am a self professed iPhone Guru and have hacked, jailbroken, restored, erased, copied, and basically tried ALL the cool things you can do with an iPhone. I had third party apps running as soon as a command line jailbreak was available and have used/tried every utility that jailbreaks iPhones ever since it could be done. On all firmware versions... you get the picture.

In any case, while I do adore my glossy white iPhone 3G, since iTunes 7.7.1 and firmware 2.0.1, I have been PLAGUED with mysterious freezes and startups that suddenly cause all my App Store applications to suddenly stop working and for my iPod to suddenly say it is empty of content! Please note that all the default iPhone apps still work fine, as do any apps installed via Cydia. Heck, at one point I checked out some of the hacked store apps and even They continued to work, but not my Hundreds of $ worth of paid-for apps and all my music and video content. Interestingly enough, the music and video content still showed in iTunes on my Macbook Pro and could even be played by the computer. The only solution so far has been a complete Restore and then a clean install of all my applications again. HOURS worth of work, just to be repeated again within 24 hours.

Here is a link to some discussions at Apple:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1644828&tstart=0

After having tried all the "quick fixes" and all the other "solutions", I finally found one that has seemed to WORK! At least for me it does. I downgraded my iTunes from 7.7.1 to 7.7 and have had all my problems above DISAPPEAR! Hooray! (does Snoopy Dance for those that remember what it is). While I am certainly happy that it seems to have solved my spontaneous crash and "lose all my apps" issue, I am disturbed that I had to revert to an older version of iTunes. That is Severely disappointing to me. Certainly a "downgrade" should never be an acceptable solution and it irks me to have done so. But I am a Happy iPhone user again! :-)

I would also like to note, as rumor has it, that Steve Jobs commented internally at Apple regarding my issues above and stated that the "bugs" (apps crash and media disappears from ipod on iphone) are known and should be addressed in an upcoming September firmware update. FINALLY! But that means the 2.0.2 firmware update will not help me :-(. I guess I will be staying at iTunes 7.7 until September then.

So what to do? I searched and search but found no direct answer in third party forums or Codeweaver's site (they make Crossover for Mac and Crossover Games). What I wanted to do was use my external USB drive for the install, but the program defaults to your main drive. You can use "hooks" I think to make some startup scripts but that seemed too involved and I was looking for a quicker fix ;-).

What I finally figured out from bits of other solutions, was this: The program does not like aliases to directories when created in the Finder. I had tried this and by linking several directories to folders on my external drive but all failed at some point. (more after the break, as they say at TUAW, my favorite blog)

Now that I have been testing/trying Twinkle (a Twitter client) on my iPhone for a bit, I think I am ready to add it to my blog. AT least that way there will be more "new" content, if brief, and it should also inspire me to write more lengthy posts such as this one.

I know, I know... so WTF does anyone want to hear More form Me? Well maybe they don't, but I am not here for the 'nay sayers' :-). My true purpose? Well now, that is yet to be determined I think....

In any case, this post is being made while en route to my parents' house for Easter. No, I am not driving too ;-)

So, where am I now? I have updated to the latest firmware version 1.1.2, soon to be surpassed by the rumored 1.1.3 version coming any week now. I have jailbroken my iPhone again (did this as soon as there was one available for version 1.1.2 - I didn't have to wait too long) and added all my favorite third party applications again (voice notes, NES, Netflix, DropCopy, Blackjack, etc.). The iPhone is still my all-time favorite phone and iPod.

Of course Steve Jobs did Finally give in to the obvious necessity of allowing third party applications and development on the iPhone, with an official SDK expected in February of 2008. It doesn't mean that all the apps my fellow jailbreakers and I have enjoyed will be safe from the next update, but perhaps by the Next one after that they will be. Happy Days! (does a snoopy dance)

In any case, I just wanted to let me regular readers (ha ha!) know that I am still a devoted iPhone addicted and Apple geek. My second favorite device of 2007 was and is my MacBook Pro with Boot Camp. Nothing like having the fastest Mac laptop and fastest PC laptop all in one box!

That's right folks, the people who regulate what we can and can not bring on planes have decided that using lithium batteries on airplanes is too big a fire risk. What??? I didn't even know that a lithium battery had EVER caught fire on a plane. Sure, we hear about one catching fire once in a long while ( say 1 out of every billion or so sold - just speculating here) but seriously how often do you hear about this type of thing, much less on an plane?

I learned of it first on Thom Hogan's Nikon site, which has a link to the article on the new travel regulations.

What I can't believe is that No one is making a stink about this! Doesn't anyone realize what this means? No ipod playing or watching movies on your laptop when traveling across the country, across the ocean or around the World! Good bye to working while you fly for business travelers. Good bye casual ipod listeners who enjoyed tuning out to their favorites bands on a flight. Say "Hello" to bad in-flight movies, pay-for-play airline alternatives, and hanging with your fellow crowded, bored passengers twiddling their thumbs and drumming their fingers on their now useless laptops and mp3 players.

Yes, this was a stellar move by people putting our tax dollars to work. Nice one guys! Thanks for protecting us from something incredibly rare and potentially pointless so we can be further inconvenienced because you all had nothing Better to do with your time....

Can you tell that I am 'addicted' to my iPhone? (huge grin)

Well I am, and I love it. It is still my best and favorite new gadget/toy/phone/ipod and techno-device even though Apple, its maker, would try to stymie my joy and micromanage how I choose to enjoy this device. Kinda like how Radiohead wants to force us to "enjoy" their music only as an Album and never by the individual songs. Geez, what does that say about the songs if they can't stand on their own or needs Other songs to 'complete them' and the experience? But I digress... iPhones!

That's right, Apple has again taken a fairly nasty stance and let loose the long awaited update that includes the WiFi Music store, which even *I* thought would be cool! Word! But it comes at the cost of my "harmless" and yet Very Useful, unsupported by Apple, 3rd party apps. Do I really want to give up my NES games, Black Jack, TapTapRevolution(TTR) and other games just so I can make an impulsive iTunes purchase? Should I trade the ability to have custom FREE Ringtones of my own creation, a Terminal that I can use to check my servers, and Voice Notes for the ability to have some iPod controls on my screen without unlocking it every time?(hey, the headphone skip and pause/play function will suffice for now and when I use Good headphones I can cope)

No. See Erica Sudan's article on tuaw.com for useful info before YOU upgrade.

I have lived with these "limitations" since the beginning and Apple's small enhancements are not worth trashing the hard work and inventiveness that the 3rd party hackers and developers have done on our behalf. Why Apple choose to do so, and with no real legitimate explanation I might add, is a mystery to me and sadly an indication that my always adored Apple, maker of my favorite computers and tech equipment, is becoming warped and twisted and corrupted by their own size (greed?) and perhaps the "new friends" they seem to be making in the corporate and international world.

Having a Soul is now too costly Steve? Did you loose your Daemon?

Sure, I understand about having to honor the agreements with your phone carriers and making sure only they can provide service for you phone, but that should not mean f*cking over the 3rd party developers. Hell, WTF didn't you give us all an SDK in the first place? Is the iPhone software just Beta still? Or even Alpha? And you aren't done tweaking it enough to issue a supportable SDK? Then SAY so. At least you would alienate less of your devoted fans. WE would understand. And don't think that this new found "Fame & Fortune" means you can forget your "roots". Shun us and it will be your own demise. Read your Ancient Literature!

So, what does it mean for me? I won't be updating any time soon. Not until Someone has re-jailbreaked the iPhone and allowed me to customize it again with Summerboard and other cool apps. Either that, or Apple will continue to pull Microsoftian moves like updating iTunes so that only iPhones running the latest firmware will sync properly... Don't do it Apple! Just don't go there!

In the words and voice of Luke Skywalker, "I know there is still some Good in you!"

From Geek Culture's Joy of Tech.

But available NOW to iPod Touch Users! (tough luck iPhones!)

(Mmm mumph murrumph) Eating your own words is not too tasty (sighs). You know, I really though Apple had "seen the light" regarding their treatment of their more devoted, fervent believers, and early adopters of their usually Wonderful technology, but apparently not. Like more plebian companies they seem to be fracturing under the pressure of their recent successes.

With the new WiFi Music Store imminent and the promise of an iPod Touch by the end of the month, it seemed to Me like a perfect opportunity to show their loyalty and thanks to the iPhone owners and roll out the new store for That crowd First! Especially considering that the Touch would ship with the WiFi store already on it. Well, we waited with hopeful stares at our updaters and Apple pages for signs of our new iPhone update with WiFi Store...

But no. Instead I walk into my local Best Buy and see an employee showing off the iPod Touch to a customer, including the WiFi Music Store! OUCH! Surely when I get home there will be an update waiting...I must have just missed it.

Nope. It is now Tuesday and the enabled Touch's are in many hands now and us iPhone users are left wondering When we will be included again? Well Steve, thanks for snubbing the early iPhone devotees again! I was sure that Apple would do the "smart" and responsible thing and open the WiFi Music Store to its devoted iPhone users before it released the iPod Touch to the rest of the world with the WiFi Store enabled. It would have gone a long way to assuaging our loyal hearts, but no, they stay bruised and a reminder that no longer does Apple really "care" about its customers. Sure they will 'service' their customers, but "caring" about them seems to be far less important now. Slowly it seems to be abrading under Apple's own new found glory... I only hope that Steve takes a break and gets some perspective back. Apple with Ideals and heart is a Wonderful Company. Apple with $$ signs as its Goal and Soul is a dead end story.

Get your Sh*t together Apple and stop being so "Microsoftian".

.. a good heart and awesome technology on the inside...elegance and simplicity on the outside.

And a Soul too. ;-)

Is that how you reward your loyal and sometimes fanatical devotes of your truly wonderful and often amazing products? Especially for those like myself who have been champions of your greatness since the days of Apple IIs!

Well, we broke our banks to do it, devoted fans that we are and bought two new 8G iPhones. And to be Sure, we Do Love our iPhones to death. But Apple, is that how you Thank us? Make us pay $100 per Month for each of the two months we have the privilege to own a new iPhone? We had considered the option of waiting for the price to drop but assumed that the price would remain stable for a long while and that newer versions with more features would arrive at the same price spot, as generally happens with other ipods and macs. Who knew it would drop so drastically in 2 months time? Would we have waited 2 months to Save $400 ($200 per phone)? Absolutely YES! We may be devoted but we are Not complete fools or so rich to take such a savings lightly! Sure, we expect that sooner or later newer versions will come out and older models will drop in price, but to shaft people with such a precipitous depreciation in value after only 2 Months is an insult to Every one of us who Believed in you at the start. Ccertainly some sort of milestone for a company to alienate its most devoted fans. After all, it was us early adopters and our enthusiasm that made the iPhone such a success!

The very LEAST you could do is credit the "early adopters" such as ourselves, with some iTunes credit or a refund coupon to our local Apple store for accessories...say about $100 worth for the 8G buyers and $50 for the 4G folks, perhaps evan as a "credit" when the WiFi-iTunes store comes online later this month?! (serious look) Take the "sting" out Apple...show a little Gratitude to those devoted stalwarts of yours and say "Thanks" to us as well!!

Otherwise, 'thanks but 'no thanks' for your inconsiderate price drop, making our early belief in you quite costly...sorry to seem whiney, but I never thought buying an Apple product would become a "gamble" for a good deal.

A slap in the face.

Ouch! That stings Apple! ... have some 'healing' iTunes for us?

(Comments are open for this post - If you have one or have experience with this issue feel free to post your thoughts, but no spammers please. We'll see how this works...)

Oh, yes! The movie... it was "America: Freedom to Fascism" by Arron Russo.

I watched it not knowing what it was about, but I do worry about our Nation's course these days. And I see our children worrying as well. So I was intrigued. I always try to get information from all sides and truth be told, today's American Media does indeed bend to the 'Corporate Winds' more than it heals to its unbiased high purpose. But I digress...

It unsettled me. It was chilling. I think mostly because I am a person of Reason and Logic. ("ha ha" to all my friends who are joking at me for saying that - it's true. I was not an "A" student by 'accident') And I am an Idealist and philosopher like our founding fathers were, and had to be, to seed the soul of our Country. Basically, if true, their (our founding fathers) vision has been seriously corrupted in the worst way by people lacking ethics and filled with a pompous and distorted view of themselves and the world. If so, we are indeed in danger of losing our American (and every soul's) birthright; Freedom... it's More than just another word for nothing left to loose. It is Everything.

But I never take anything at face value without exploring further. Time will tell on this one and I surely hope to God that they are wrong. Or that our children have the souls of our forefathers and not the ones of today's sheep.

By the way... I am a Patriot. I love My Country. I am Proud of our Troops, all over the world. They are the Best. This would not have upset me if I did not truly care...

I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!

You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

]]> http://truthinourhearts.com/2007/04/if_i_were_a_car.html http://truthinourhearts.com/2007/04/if_i_were_a_car.html Life Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:57:28 -0500 from my Treo? Cool! (geeky smile)
...bluetooth keyboard working...
...Enfora WiFi working(well, somewhat)...
...MediaNet @ 100%...
...GPS working too! (impressed look)

Ok. so it's not an iPhone. but with a few 3rd party apps and some tweaks (uber-geeky grin) it is truly a versitile and Amazing device. The 'tricorder/communicator' the Trekkie in me always wanted.

Apple II+
Apple IIe
Mac Plus
Powerbook 100
Powerbook 145
Powerbook 160
PowerMac 2100?
PowerMac 5300?
Powerbook 420c
Powerbook Duo2100
Powerbook G3 Wallstreet
Powerbook G4 Titanium 867
Mac Mini G4 1.3G
MacBook Pro 2,0G Duo Core

Almost every model of iPod, Airport, and accessory.... I am a Mac Fanatic. I adore them. And I know just about EVERYTHING about them all (smug look). That is my 'dirty little secret'... I am a fanatical Apple Geek. By my sheer enthusiasm and knowledge of their products I have brought many a happy user to the fold.(chuckles)