Tonight, there's gonna be a (legal) jailbreak!

Overheard at a session of Dungeons and Dragons in the past week:
Guy 1: "Ok, can I take the voluptuous tavern maid to bed?"
Guy 2: "Wait, check for traps!"
(Guy 1 rolls a 17 on a trap check)
DM: "You find a chastity belt."
Guy 1: "Dammit!"
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It was announced yesterday that jailbreaking an iPhone is legal under federal copyright law.

And I bet Apple's pretty pissed.

If you aren't familiar with the term, jailbreaking is the act of hacking an iPhone to gain access to apps that aren't approved by Apple, through the underground appstore Cydia.  A similar practice can be used on video game consoles, or the iPhone, to play pirated games

Apple's discouraged the practice ever since someone thought of doing it, since the practice can undermine the closed system that Apple has laid down in the same format since 2007.  Of course, it hasn't been the best system:

Not Invented Here is property of Bill Barnes and Paul Southworth

Of course, if someone were to pirate apps using their jailbroken iPhones, authorities could take action against the perpetrators.  But, the act of jailbreaking is not considered a crime, and neither is the use of Cydia, as long as all developers get credit and/or money for their work.  The system is similar to the system in Canada with respect to BitTorrent: The act of torrenting isn't illegal, since it can be used for freeware.  Pirating is illegal, however.

While Apple can still take action against jailbreakers available to them with their business rights, such as denial of service or refusing warranties, people who jailbreak their iPhones cannot be legally charged.

Of course, Apple doesn't like this one bit.  They think that they're entitled to the regulation of their own system.  However, with all the attention Apple's getting now, you have to wonder how long it might take for them to seriously mess up.

Urghhh

Insomnia sucks.  True story.  Especially when you're looking for a job the next day.

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It's been a week since Apple announced their "fix" for the iPhone 4, in the latest development in what Apple has dubbed "antennagate" - a pretty appropriate name.  The reception for Apple's fix, as with the rest of the debacle, has been generally cool - at best.

Ever since the iPhone 4 came out, there have been complaints about the reception it gets.  Apple claims that only 0.55% of people phoned in complaining about this - some snarky critics shot back that the other 99.45% couldn't get reception.  What really tore it for Apple was when Consumer Reports magazine said that they couldn't recommend the iPhone 4 because of this problem.  So Stevie announced that they were giving everybody with an iPhone 4 free cases - or a full refund for people who still aren't happy.

Apple did what it had to do, true.  Consumer Reports did mention that you could get a reception fix through an iPhone case.  While some people praise the fix, many people comment that it isn't permanent.  Jobs didn't mention any work on getting a fix, and I can only assume that the phones being shipped up here to Canada are going to have the same problem.  There are some theories that phones are getting delayed to fix the problem, but I somewhat doubt it.  Apple is pretty notorious for being slow with updating their products.

At this point, I'm wondering if Apple would have even bothered with the cases if Consumer Reports didn't say anything.

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Twitter

I'm back

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Empty around here, isn't it?

I'd like to say it was school. I'd also like to say it's scholarships for next year. But really, I don't do much in school and I applied for one scholarship so far. I'm lazy. What can I say?

I hope I can get back into the thick of things. I'm not going to stick to the daily schedule, though. I'll post as much as possible, just not every day necessarily.

So, I finally got a proper look at the iPad yesterday, even though it isn't out in Canada (I think). A classmate brought it in, and I am actually pretty impressed, although it was a bit lacking. I found a big difference in using both your hands when using the iPad and using your thumbs when using the iPhone. It just gets really tiring. I took the elements app and the Marvel comics app for a spin.

The Elements app is really good, I have to say. I found it accurate and really entertaining. However, the usefulness of this app is in question. Sure, it looks cool, but so did The Force Unleashed. I don't play The Force Unleashed anymore, and it's not likely that I'll use the Elements app for anything worthwhile. Although it showcases the graphics capability of the iPad, I don't actually think I would use it for more than its $10+ worth.

The Marvel comics app is astounding. If you've ever seen how, in the movies, they run through the panels of a comic, by panning from panel to panel, it's just like that, and it looks amazing. The one thing I could say that would ruin a comic app would be the need to zoom out and in between panels. Marvel comics has none of this. I cannot tell you how exited I was when I saw the transition between panels. I'm not much of a comic reader, but that's mainly because there are no places to buy comics in my town. With the Marvel comics app, I could see myself getting very much into comic books.

Overall, the iPad does good for itself. The apps are above par, and the possibilities of using it are dizzying to think about. I can see myself buying one of these, but I think I'll wait until next generation, to see what Apple improves upon.

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Twitter

My mandatory iPad post - Part 1

Urgh, Sunday. The hardest day to get out of bed. But, I still have to. There's Halo to play. Plus, I have to get out of bed at 5:00 tomorrow, so I might as well be tired tonight so I can get to sleep earlier.

So, Apple announced its new product, the Giant iPod. The iTampon. The other billion names you can call it. Yes, yes, it's a horrible name, I know. But people seem to be split on the product itself. Some people seem to think that it's a horrible product that shouldn't wipe its @$$ on the face of the Earth, or that it will save the publishing industry, the tech industry, the movie industry, and while we're at it, the veterinarian industry (Why not?). I won't succumb to the age-old debate of Mac vs. PC. Nobody wins religious debates (not my joke, sorry).

Instead, I want to give a (relatively) impartial review on the iPad, with pros, cons, and uses (this could be a 4-part or a 5-part review).

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Apple has definitely created a niche for itself in the world of mobile technology. The iPod, the iPhone/iPod Touch (I don't know why people don't usually include them together, they're more alike then the regular iPod and the iPod Touch) and the Macbooks all have their own share of success.

So it seems that Apple has decided to get itself fully into the mobile industry, and with good reason. Most sources agree that most Internet access in ten years will be through mobile devices. However, Apple might not be justified in creating another line of apparently needless gadgets good for apparently nothing else other than the bigger screen. You can't really carry it around conveniently unless you have a bag to carry it in, and trust me, I like not carrying bags around. You don't need it, if you already have a laptop and smartphone, or even one of those.

So, is Apple justified in making another line of mobile devices? I'd like your input on this. Argue among yourselves if you have to. If you think you have to enlighten so-and-so on how they are an idiot, please do so, but in a professional manner, please.

That's all for now. I'll be back tomorrow with part 2!

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Twitter: http://twitter.com/Cdevon2

Photos courtesy of Apple.com and NYDailyNews.com, respectively.