http://artofgeek.com Technology from the geek perspective. Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:56:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you're both an iPhone user, and have a blog hosted or powered by WordPress, then you have something new to get excited about. WordPress for iPhone and iPod touch was released late yesterday on the iTunes App Store! I'm putting it through it's paces by composing this post ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/07/22/wordpress_for_iphone/ Got up early this morning to ensure a spot near the front of the line of my local Rogers dealer for the iPhone 3G launch. I was a man on a mission. That mission, was to secure a black 16GB iPhone 3G for myself, and a white one ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/07/11/an-iphone-3g-canadian-launch-day-experience/ WOOT! Rogers has just announced a special 'limited time' promotional 6GB data plan for anyone purchasing an iPhone 3G on any voice rate plan on a 3 year contract for only $30 extra per month! From the press release: Effective July 11, and as a limited time promotional offer ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/07/09/rogers-announces-its-real-iphone-data-plan/ Rogers announced their new voice & data rates this past weekend, and boy did it create quite the stir, first on the internet, and then getting coverage in mainstream newspaper and television news. So what's the big deal? Essentially, that Rogers voice/data rate plans are some of the ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/07/03/a-closer-look-at-rogers-iphone-voicedata-rates/ Back at the end of April, I mentioned that Rogers had announced that they would be bringing the iPhone to Canada "later this year". For those who maybe missed the news, "Later this year" means July 11. Yep, after just over a very long year of waiting, us ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/06/16/iphone-officially-dated-for-canada/ If you're a regular to this blog, you might have noticed something is different about the site this morning. I'll give you a minute to think about what it is... (Cue appropriate gameshow time passing sound effect). Time's up! If you guessed either the Art Of Geek logo, ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/05/16/notice-anything-different/ [Update 1] Just a quick note for those of you who may have missed it, Rogers has made an official announcement that they have reached a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada "later this year", according to MacDailyNews: Ted Rogers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rogers Communications ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/04/30/rogers-bringing-iphone-to-canada-later-this-year/ [Update 1] Given the difficulty I had securing a PLAYSTATION 3 on launch weekend back in 2006, I got in the habit of pre-ordering popular PS3 games from Futureshop.ca months in advance as a security precaution in case they were in short supply come launch day. So far this hasn't really ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/04/29/futureshopca-game-pre-orders-are-a-scam-update%c2%a01/ http://artofgeek.com/2008/04/17/this-is-what-it-sounds-like-when-a-console-dies/ Yesterday news broke that the Sony DualShock 3 controller for the PS3 had been spotted at big box retailers stateside. After reading the news, I proceeded to check the store stock for local Best Buy and Future Shop stores to see if they were in Canada too. Future ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/04/08/dualshock-3-controller-initial-impressions/ [Update 2] We've known for a while now that major ISPs in Canada have been utilizing traffic shaping technology to throttle the transfer speeds of certain types of traffic. Rogers Hi-Speed and Bell Sympatico customers who use Bittorrent to transfer files know all too well. It's for this ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/03/26/bell-get-your-grubby-hands-off-my-isps-bandwidth/ [Update 2] So I recently attempted to re-apply the Mac OS X 10.5.2 Combo update to my MacBook Pro in the hopes that it would fix an annoying little bug that is preventing the contents of my Desktop folder to get dynamically updated. To my surprise, when I went ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/03/25/time-machine-airport-update-changes-mac-os-x-built-number/ [Update 1] Well that couldn't have gone any smoother. For those that have just tuned in, we switched Internet service providers this morning. I'm happy to report that the migration went smoothly and without issue. I'm actually quite pleasantly surprised that this is the case, since I ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/03/18/were-back-isp-migration-successful/ Please note that Art Of Geek will be unavailable for a good part of Tuesday, March 18 due to an ISP migration. We're migrating from Bell Sympatico to Teksavvy DSL. Unfortunately, there's no way to be sure about how long the outage will be, but trust me when ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/03/17/scheduled-downtime/ Mention "Lode Runner" to any veteran computer user and chances are they'll not only be familiar with it, but they'll have fond memories of playing it. It's been remade so many times and for so many platforms over the years that many younger gamers are probably familiar with it ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/03/03/classic-lode-runner-on-your-mac-os-x-dashboard/ OK, here's a hint I think a lot of you Windows switchers are going to love, and I'm sure more than a few long time Mac users will appreciate as well. I love Safari. I think it's the best web browser out there. My primary Mac is ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/29/set-safaris-window-size-with-one-click-of-the-mouse/ Today at work I had to make a DOS boot disk so I could secure erase the hard disk in a really old PC before it got disposed of. I had to call upon knowledge and experience I haven't used in years and that I'd rather hoped I would ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/27/i-feel-so-dirty/ [Update 1] We Canadians put up with a lot of abuse from our telecom/internet providers. As if high prices and poor customer service weren't enough to endure, we've also put up with data transfer caps on supposedly "unlimited" internet connections and now our supposedly high-speed internet connections are only ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/19/good-bye-sympatico-hello-teksavvy/ Before I owned an iPhone, and a Nokia E61 before that, and a BlackBerry 7290 before THAT, I briefly owned a Danger HipTop on the FIDO network. I returned it and went with a BlackBerry mostly because of the sheer size of the HipTop. I just couldn't justify ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/11/why-on-earth-did-microsoft-buy-danger-inc/ Hey there fellow Canadians! Do you have an unlocked iPhone operating on a Canadian GSM network? If the answer is yes, then stand proud as you're a member of an elite group of people who are willing to stop at nothing to talk, text, surf, work and play ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/08/show-your-colours-canadian-iphone-owners/ [Update 1] Good news for those who have been waiting for an unlock solution for iPhones that ship with firmware 1.1.2 or 1.1.3 out of the box. An iPhone hacker named George Hotz (a.k.a. geohot) has just posted an unlock solution for you. Details and instructions are a little technical ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/08/unlock-for-112113-out-of-the-box-iphones-just-released/ [Update 5] AppleInsider's report today on a new Rogers wireless $20 unlimited on-device browsing package called the $20 Communicate Value Pack got me super excited about finally having a data plan worthy of my iPhone: Canadian wireless carrier Rogers Communications, often criticized for its exorbitant data rates, has just introduced a ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/05/rogers-new-20-unlimited-mobile-browsing-an-error/ Today's scheduled server OS upgrade has been completed successfully. We're now running on Mac OS X Server 10.5 Leopard. This is my first production experience deploying Mac OS X Server, so I anticipate some learning challenges, but hopefully the learning curve will be worth it in the end. We've ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/02/02/server-upgrade-successful/ Disclaimer of liability: The information provided in this article is provided as-is and without warranty for information purposes only. Art Of Geek is not responsible for any damage you may cause to your hardware or software as a result of this information. Also please note that performing any ... http://artofgeek.com/2008/01/26/113-iphone-jailbreak-released-hackers-rejoice/ http://artofgeek.com/2008/01/15/iphone-firmware-113-is-out-hacked-iphones-need-not-apply-yet/ For those not up on the iPhone hacking lingo, here's a glossary of important technical terms related to hacking and/or using the iPhone. If you're fairly tech savvy or have already done some research into hacking the iPhone, you probably won't benefit from reading on. If you are ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/11/19/a-glossary-of-terms-for-iphone-newbies/ [Update 1] Good news for all those iPhone aficionados who visit my blog: there is now a relatively simple jailbreak procedure that also handles activation for those of you looking to use an unlocked iPhone on unsanctioned networks. The older version only handled jailbreaking, but not the very important ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/11/19/somewhat-easy-iphone-firmware-112-unlockactivation-finally-available/ Disclaimer of liability: The information provided in this article is provided as-is and without warranty for information purposes only. Art Of Geek is not responsible for any damage you may cause to your hardware or software as a result of this information. Also please note that performing any ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/10/17/updated-independence-enables-latest-firmware-on-some-unlocked-iphones/ http://artofgeek.com/2007/09/26/inform-yourself-before-updating-the-firmware-on-your-unlocked-iphone/ The iPhone development community has released iNdependence 1.2.1, an update to the iPhone activation/hacking tool that now enables YouTube functionality on non-AT&T activated iPhones. I've tested it and it works beautifully. This program is in my opinion the most important tool for hacking the iPhone using a Mac. You ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/09/15/independence-121-enables-youtube-on-non-att-activated-iphones/ [Update 3] Well, that didn't take long. Two days after we bought our iPhones, I was able to find an online reseller who was providing the iPhoneSimFree unlock service without any delays. We went with FreeOuriPhones.com, a European reseller who was listed as an iPhoneSimFree authorized reseller. ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/09/12/iphone-unlocked-and-operating-on-rogers-wireless-in-canada/ Last Sunday, my wife and I drove down to Buffalo and bought ourselves iPhones. I chronicled our experience in a previous Art Of Geek blog post if you're interested in reading about it and my first impressions. One thing that I'm not looking forward to, is people asking "IS THAT ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/09/11/they-can-sense-its-presence/ So for some unknown reason, I woke up at 4 am on Sunday morning and couldn't fall back asleep. As I lay in bed, my mind wandered, as it's oft to do when it's bored. I started thinking about the iPhone, and some of the news I had ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/09/10/we-caved/ Just wanted to let all of you know that Art Of Geek has an official Folding@Home team! Just enter the below team number into your Folding@Home client's settings on your PS3, Mac or PC and you'll be able to contribute to Team Art Of Geek's ranking while helping the geeks ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/07/26/teamaog/ OK, take this with a grain of salt, but this is a true story. My mother in-law, who lives in Texas, is coming up to visit next week, and she asked my wife if she could bring anything as a gift for me. My wife, being the dutiful little Apple ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/06/27/iphone-canada-bound-in-september/ Today's announcement by Apple & EMI about plans to offer EMI's music catalogue in higher bitrate, DRM-free versions on the iTunes Store for $1.29 per song is huge. I don't think it's quite sunk in yet to the majority of people in the industry, or the web, just how ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/04/02/how-apple-killed-microsofts-music-format-monopoly-dreams/ I have been on a quest for the 'perfect' mobile phone for several years now, buying a new one every 6-9 months, but never being quite satisfied with any of them. I think the quest started back in 2003 when I bought a Sony Ericsson T68i, my first BlueTooth ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/03/14/reason-1687592-why-apple-rocks/ Those of us who have been lucky enough to get our hands on a Playstation 3 here in Canada will probably agree that there isn't exactly a huge selection of content for the next-gen console yet. Like most people, I don't have a huge amount of time to spend ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/02/23/flow-breaking-the-mold-of-casual-gaming/ Any Mac user knows you can display the current time in the right side of the menu bar. Most even know you can set it to also display the day of the week, and that clicking the clock will pull down a menu which displays today's date. If you're like ... http://artofgeek.com/2007/02/20/blog-sighting-display-the-date-in-the-mac-os-x-menu-bar/ Art Of Geek would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! If you don't celebrate Christmas, then feel free to substitute in any other seasonal celebration that applies to you at this time of year. ;) To help get everyone in the spirit of the ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/12/22/happy-holidays-from-art-of-geek/ Holy penguins Batman! Terra Soft Solutions has just announced plans to release Yellow Dog Linux for the Sony Playstation 3! For those not familiar, Terra Soft got it's claim to fame for it's Yellow Dog Linux distribution for PowerPC based Macintosh computers, and even did some good business ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/10/17/linux-on-the-ps3-sonys-master-plan-or-recipe-for-disaster/ If you're like me, you spend a crazy amount of your waking hours in a web browser. For me, that browser is Apple's Safari, and despite some enticing features of other browsers for Mac OS X (there are quite a few), I stick with Safari because I love it's ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/10/05/safari-30-leopard-cant-come-too-soon/ In my previous article about Microsoft's latest attempt to catch up to the iPod, no pricing, ship date or official dimensions were available. Since then, more concrete details have become available. First off, Microsoft has finalized the price for their 30GB POS device: $249.99 US. That's just ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/10/02/zune-update/ Mac OS X is a very powerful OS. One of it's most amazing traits is how well it scales from being dead easy to use for novice users to allowing power users near unlimited capabilities. The former comes from the excellent UI design and GUI tools that Apple ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/22/useful-mac-os-x-terminal-commands/ A couple of weeks ago we wrote an article about the ultimate road warrior gadget, the Thanko NB-mate USB multi-function hub/charger/speaker/battery charger. Well a company named Moixa Energy has just released a product that will make the NB-mate a bit less necessary: USB rechargeable AA batteries. The ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/20/self-charging-usb-aa-rechargeable-batteries/ Last Friday, The Register, one of my regular reads posted an article by frequent contributor Andrew Orlowski titled The iPod's Achilles Heel? It's er... Reader's Digest. I took objection to so many of the points Mr. Orlowski made, that I set out to write a rebuttal here on Art ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/17/the-registers-achilles-heel-andrew-orlowski/ Microsoft finally went all official on some Zune details today, confirming many of the rumors that have been floating around the 'net for a while now. The photos that were leaked weeks ago and confirmed from an FCC filing made by Toshiba were the real deal. As rumored, ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/15/microsoft-releases-zune-details-world-yawns/ Art Of Geek extends our deepest heartfelt sympathies to those affected by yesterday's tragic events at Dawson College in Montreal, especially to the family and friends of Anastasia De Souza, who succumbed to her injuries. May she rest in peace and the memory of her life provide her family ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/14/a-sad-tragedy/ Something strange is going on at Apple these days. First there was that un-Job's like shared performance at WWDC'06, then Apple releases a new high-end 24" iMac with little fanfare a week before a scheduled press event. Now we have Steve Jobs trotting out on stage wearing a ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/13/apple-strengthens-ipod-itunes-offerings-reveals-living-room-strategy/ According to an article posted on Chud.com, MGM Studios is planning on producing a live action film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. MGM's planned budget for the film will be in the $150-200 million (USD) range, and MGM chairman Harry Sloan is said to be hoping Peter Jackson ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/11/mgm-plans-to-bring-the-hobbit-back-to-the-big-screen/ Tom's Hardware has posted detailed benchmarks and comparisons of the upcoming Intel Core 2 Quadro quad-core cpu vs. the Core 2 Duo/Extreme, Pentium Extreme Edition and AMD Athlon 64 FX. In addition to the benchmarks, they have some interesting observations about the state of the x86 CPU war between ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/11/pre-release-intel-core-2-quadro-benchmarked/ I just read this Engadget post about what could be the ultimate road warrior device made by a Japanese company named Thanko. The NB-mate is apparently a USB 2.0 powered hub, that can be used to power/charge USB based devices. It's also a AA battery recharger and portable speaker system. ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/08/thanko-nb-mate-me-wants/ So Amazon launched a TV and movie download service today, and at first glance, it would appear they have put together a compelling solution for consumers. Strong support from studios, realistic prices and some pretty nifty features, including the ability to purchase a movie or TV show on one ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/08/amazon-unbox/ MacNN today posted a fairly in-depth summary of a new patent application filed by Apple computer with the US Patent and Trademark Office in March 2006 for a “Multi-functional hand-held device”. This patent makes reference to technologies first identified in previous patent applications for “Proximity detector in handheld device”, ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/07/apples-patent-play/ Most Mac enthusiasts were relieved when Apple launched it's Get a Mac TV campaign a few months back, but we weren't holding our breath that it would last, given Apple's past Mac advertising efforts. The ads have been received quite well among the Mac faithful, and have certainly ruffled ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/07/apple-magazine-ad/ c|net news has posted an article discussing the likelihood that Windows Vista will have a negative impact on the performance of the Internet due to it's adoption of the IPv6 protocol. "If you adopt Vista, your DNS traffic is going to double," Mockapetris said in an interview. With many DNS servers ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/07/windows-vista-to-overload-dns-servers/ This is hopefully the first of many posts in the illustrious future of the Art Of Geek tech blog. This site is dedicated to commentary and speculation about happenings in the tech industry. We want to offer our readers insightful perspectives on today's technology news and what it ... http://artofgeek.com/2006/09/06/artofgeek-is-born/