It’s not often that I get excited about a software suite, but after watching the Apple Keynote from MacWorld ‘09, (iTunes Music Store link,) I’m really excited about getting my hands on iLife ‘09.  For those non-Mac people who might be reading this, iLife is the software suite sold by Apple (and included with every new Macintosh.)  It consists of iMovie (video editing,) iPhoto (photo management, a la Picasa,) iDVD (for DVD creation,) iWeb (for website creation,) and GarageBand (for music creation/editing.)  … Why am I so excited?  Well, you’ll have to watch the Keynote to fully “get it,” but the changes in iPhoto and iMovie are cool enough to get me wanting to spend my money.  iPhoto brings intelligent face recognition to the table, and when I say “face recognition,” I’m not talking about finding the faces in the photos (though, it does that too.)  What I’m talking about, is that iPhoto will be able to recognize people you’ve identified in your photos, and make groups of photos that contain those identified people automatically.  So, let’s say I drop 100 photos into an event in iPhoto.  I can choose one photo, have iPhoto highlight the faces in that photo, and then I enter the names of the people in the picture.  iPhoto will then scan the rest of my 100 photos and make groups based on the faces I’ve identified.  The live demo was really quite impressive, and is much clearer to understand than my textual explanation.  Also making its way into iPhoto is Flickr and Facebook support, for publishing directly from iPhoto.i… Movie brings more advanced video editing capabilities, including image stabilization.  Bye-Bye shaking hand-cam videos!  It also offers updated transitions and video effects, as well as themes, which are used to create movie files (which will  drop seamlessly into iDVD.)… If you’re not interested in watching the entire Apple Keynote, at least watch the first 15-20 minutes and see the live demos of iPhoto and iMovie.  Impressive stuff! 

Alright, guys.  One of my resolutions for 2k9 is to start posting here again.  So, given that today is January 1, 2009, I figured it was a great time to start.  Luckily, the crew over at the iPhone Dev Team have given me something pretty cool to post about.  Last night, they released the software unlock for the iPhone 3G. Woot! To top it off, the unlock now works on the lastest 2.2 firmware!  That’s right!  If you’re like me, and upgraded to the new iPhone firmware prior to reading about the unlock status, you’re no longer screwed.  I’m using QuickPwn 2.2 as we speak, and will report back once the process is finished.  I have a co-worker who uses T-Mobile, so I’ll plop his SIM card into my iPhone at work on January 2.  Viva la iPhone Dev Team!…Update 1:  Installation went off without a hitch.  Only problem is, I don’t have a third party SIM card to fully test.  My brother-in-law is on US Cellular, but I’m not sure if they use SIM cards or not.  Will have to check.  At any rate, there has already been an update to the software unlock.  Started out at v0.9, now at v0.9.1.  More to come….Update 2: I have been unable to get a T-Mobile SIM card to work in my 3G iPhone, though from reading on the blog, T-Mobile US seems to be having the most problems.  The devs have already released v0.9.6, so they are actively attempting to squash the bugs.  More to come.

Disclaimer: I loathe the term, “Pwned.” Hate it.  Despise it.  Wish it would go away and never come back. With that out of the way, the iPhone Dev Team has released Pwnage Tool 2.0. You can grab it here or here. Before using this application, be sure to read the updates on the Dev Team’s blog.  It wouldn’t hurt to read the 1500+ comments on their post either so you know what you’re getting into.  Oh yeah, it’s Mac only at the moment. The Unofficial Apple Weblog says, “It’s still ‘Not ready for Grandma,’” and I’d have to agree with them.  It’s not difficult, but you need to know what you’re doing, and what the risks are. What’s it do?  Well, it will jailbreak and unlock v1 iPhones.  Old news, you say? Pffft.  Not if you’re running firmware 2.0.  That’s right, the week old firmware 2.0 is now cracked.  For v1 owners, that means you can upgrade to 2.0 without fear of losing your Installer.app files or ruining your ability to use your iPhone on another carrier.  It will also jailbreak iPod Touches and iPhone 3G, again, allowing you to use the 2.0 firmware with non-Apple sanctioned third party apps.  At this time, the 3G iPhone is still unable to be unlocked, but you can rest assured, the Dev Team is working on it.It should be noted, however, that we are not encouraging that anyone go out and hack your iPhone.  We will not be held responsible for your iBrick, should you screw something up. Remember, you’re voiding warranties here, folks.  Edit: Pwnage Tool 2.0 has been upgraded to 2.0.1.  Grab it here or here.  Be sure to check out the Dev Team’s blog for update information.

As you may have noticed, things have been quiet around here. Vacations, holidays with families, chaos, cats and dogs living together, it’s all been happening.The good news is, we are hoping to record this weekend. I mean, hello, it’s been big geek news this week with the new iPhone Firmware and iPhone 3G, plus E3 is next week and there is already gaming news pouring out of every crack of the media.Stay Tuned. 

This week, the boys discuss Robn’s weekend at the Tulsa Scooter Rally and the announcement of the 3G iPhone and v2.0 firmware.  We also stray into a tangent about Robn’s PS3 dying (See, it’s not just the 360!)

 Enhanced Podcast: Download

One of the many things announced yesterday during the Keynote was MobileMe, the replacement for dotMac. It sounds very cool, and the demos made it look sweeter than tea in the south. 

Due to hit around July, and priced at $99 (cheaper if you go with Amazon or similar) for a single and $149 for a Family pack, MobileMe is set to be just what it promises… push mail and push syncing for those of us who want to keep everything syncd and want it now! 

To check out MobileMe, visit the official site at: Me.com

Yesterday was rocking for us fans of the iPhone. Apple announced and showed off the new version of the iPhone OS that all iPhones will get in late June/July… and then confirmed all of the rumors about the new iPhone. Basically, the new iPhone will have 3G speeds, built-in GPS, be available in a black 8GB version for $199, and a 16GB version in white or black for $299. Get out your walletts July 11th people, it’s shoppin time! 

I noticed this morning that Episode 10.5 was clocking in at 51:02 in iTunes while distinctly remembering that it was around 33 mins while editing.  Apparently, I forgot to set the end of track in Garage Band, so it had about 18 mins of silence at the end. I re-edited and re-uploaded the file… updated the XML file and pinged Feedburner.  Now, the correct file is downloadable in iTunes, but since iTunes only pings our XML file once a day, it will be tomorrow before the correct time is relayed from our podcast page. Spork. 

The boys are back with actual, audible audio! 1’s and 0’s FTW! This week, the boys serve up a shorter show while discussing their latest UMF purchases.  Robn scores a Genuine Scooter Company “Stella,” while Rob goes cheap and picks up Delicious Library 2.0 and a CueCat USB barcode scanner.  Rob vents about his local Best Buy’s problems with having what he wants to buy in stock for immediate pickup.

 Episode 010.5 - Afraid of the Claw!: Download

We’ve all had that discussion that starts like this: “If you could only listen to 5 albums for the rest of your life, what would they be? … or “If you were stranded on a desert island with only 5 albums to listen to for God knows how long, which ones would you take?” I had a dream about this actually coming true but I don’t remember which 5 albums I chose.  Since I had a very light work load today, I spent a portion of the day comparing one album to another.  First, I tried to assign some favorite albums “points” based on number of good songs, quality of recording, etc.  That didn’t really tell me much, so I thought about the albums I’ve listened to a thousand times and why.  For the most part, my love of particular albums is almost entirely related to the memories associated with that particular album.  Some remind me of certain times in my life, some remind me of specific people.  Here, in no particular order, are the “5 albums I could be content listening to until I die.” My picks, after the break… [Read more →]