SDS

I am already disappointed with apple’s latest change to it’s web service.   Apple has never known what it was doing with it’s web services, but people were actually paying for it.  Now they switched to a free service that does only half of what many were already relying on.

When i originally signed up for my @mac.com email address it was upon installing a brand new Mac OS 9 on my Performa 6400.  Then free service was branded with the tagline “Free eMail for Life!”  Just two years later, apple rebranded it dotmac (.Mac), a pay service with all newly designed web hosting and design services so that anyone could create a polished site in minutes.  I was cynical of this new pay service, there were cheaper hosting services and seemly nothing more valuable then the continued use of my email.  i vowed never to use it.  That only lasted about a year or so before apple gifted it to me for free with my APP certificate.  If memory serves, i just got one free year and another half price, but by then i was hooked.  i was hooked on iSync/iDisk.  it kept all my devices and computers in sync.  it allowed me to work on my desktop, laptop, or work machine with all the latest and most current data and documents. it was amazing.  I used it, loved it, and sold the hell out of it.  I setup so many different installs configurations.  From the Granny with a bridge club to a Travel Photographer with his portfolio.  it was a great system.  (this was years before drop box).

iTools -> .mac -> MobileMe -> iCloud

A few years ago with introduction of the iPhone, Apple rebranded the service MobileMe!  This time forcing users to migrate their websites and design tools away from the older web based system to the newer iweb.  Forcing the people who needed template sites and automated publishing tools to manually move their websites to the new system and to abandon any hope of future updates.  Basically saying “Adopt or Cancel.”  They were discontinuing the very publishing tools that they had sold these customers on only a few years ago.  Outages, lost or duplicated data was a Sword of Damocles looming over any user for over a month.  The migration was so bad that apple ended up giving everyone who remained a few months of free service.

Now it comes full circle and returns to being a free service with iOS 5 or Lion.  No more syncing keychains, mail settings, smart folders.  No more iDisk, so no more Document syncing in ANY application.  Its’s as if Apple wants to do away with any user control over the location if their files.  Some of us like to be able to browse their files if they want to.  It’s great if the application knows where the file is stored.  It can be updated to utilize iCloud, but what if i want to save whatever the hell i want in there.  What if (heaven forbid) the internet is down!??  Can i copy it to a thumb drive?  At least contact and calendar sync reamins uninterrupted.  Location services and tracking have been expanded to include computers.  iMessages to allow rapid decimation of location data (some privacy issues remain).  With any luck, many of these concerns may very will be solved in future updates or by the developers that make this platform so great.

Well, at least we can all quit ponying up $99 to apple each year.  We’ll have to wait and see where we go from here.  See how it evolves.  Photo Stream is pretty cool.  gets my pictures from my iPhone to my iPad , and all my computers without any syncing, though i am still unsure if i need all my vacation picts on my office machine.  I am generally disappointed with iWork for iPad (but of course mine is still the original iPad).  All my custom templates must be updated to look good.  Many of my apps are still waiting for iCloud integration before i can take advantage of the new document syncing.  Wish they could integrate keychain syncing.  What are they if not documents?  Lucky for me i have already migrated much of my file sync services away from Apple to cheaper storage with Dreamhost, Dropbox, Box.net, etc.  For many of my friends, colleagues, and customers this task lies ahead.  Apple certainly didn’t make it easy.

When I got my new iPhone, Siri didn’t work at first but now it does. I think that some limit was reached with the number of people trying to use this awesome new feature at the same time. Apple servers must been overloaded. all in all I’m quite impressed with the new phone, however I do miss all my hacks and tweaks. it is my hope that a new jailbreak comes out soon. I hope the dev team is just waiting for everyone to get their devices so they can publish jailbreaks there are you sitting on. this phone has the same boot ROM as the iPad 2.

Despite numerous problems and unrelenting deadlines @comex has come through yet again with another fantastic jailbreak! When an unfinished beta of the latest iPad2 jailbreak was leaked, we all new that the window for this exploit was rapidly closing. Apple simply cannot allow userland exploits to exist (for obvious reasons). I am delighted that all the iPhone-dev guys got their act together and released. What are you waiting for JailbreakMe.com.

A bit of ransom-ware by the name of Mac Defender is exploiting a default setting in safari that will automatically launch any installer package that you download. It still requires the user to go through the steps of installing the software including entering their administrator password. Apparently this hasn’t prevented hundreds of users from installing the bogus software. It seems to do nothing but pop up ads and messages to lure the user to pay $79.99 to remove the infection. Easy, free removal instructions are available here. But let this be a lesson. Don’t type your password if you don’t know why it is asking for it. Don’t install things you didn’t know you downloaded.

That’s a G4 Cube. I brought it into work today to rescue a G5 from complete rebuild. looks adorable in a machine room.

Or should i say toys? Pwnage Tool is added to greenpois0n and limera1n. So now anyone can update their iOS devise without updating the baseband. Apple TV 2 even added to it’s mighty pwnage!

Apple, announced great new features for OS X! Like facetime and app store (maybe we’ll even get some real package management). Showed off iLife 11 and Mac OS 10.7 Tiger! Many features and software available Today! Tiger is slated for summer of 2011, but facetime beta and iLife 11 are available already. Lastly, new macbook air. Thinner and more solid then every! Also, amazing battery life. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it.

in typical geohot fashion, he released his new jailbreak limera1n out of nowhere without consulting the rest of the scene (or even much testing). At the time of this post, there are already four updates to his tool. Chronicdev and Dev-team are quickly updating their own tools to use the limera1n exploit. This way, they can save SHAtter for a later release. Limera1n and SHAtter are bootrom exploits. This means they cannot be patched out with a software update. However, they themselves are tethered jailbreaks. They rely on the hard work of @comex to patch the kernel and make it untethered. Limera1n does have the advantage of supporting more then just a4 devises (new bootrom 3GS owners cheer). Unlockers beware, updating to an unmodified ipsw will break your unlock possibly for a long time.

Ever since @pod2g discovered a new bootrom exploit we’ve all been patiently waiting for an update to our favorite tools.   Well, @MuscleNerd announced today that a beta of PwnageTool has already been developed to utilize the exploit.   @chronicdevteam has tools in the works as well.  Though i anxiously await the release of @greenpois0n, it is PwnageTool that will allow me to update my iPhone4 without endangering my baseband and killing my unlock.

What does this mean to you?  well, i’ll tell you since you asked.  It means that EVERY iOS devise ALL A4 devices (iPhone 4, Tough 4g, iPad, Apple TV 2) will be jailbreakable regardless of iOS version.  This is good news for anyone who “accidentally” updated or who purchased their device after apple fixed the jailbreakme.com exploit.  Now although this exploit cannot be fixed with an iOS update, it is still very important to back up your shsh blobs to ensure that you can utilize the tools that all these guys have worked so hard on.  Don’t get too excited.  No new baseband exploit has yet been announced, so all you unlockers running 4.0.2 or greater are still doomed.  lets hope they’re sitting on one for 4.2 or it’s going to be a cold and lonely winter.

new iOS and PS3 updates today! keep away if you like jailbreak. iPhones may loose unlock forever (or until a new baseband exploit is published). iOS at least gives us some features while PS3 update is nothing more the jailbreak stopping.