1.) Download the update file from http://ip2k.com/droid_2-0-1.zip
2.) rename the file “update.zip”
3.) Upload the zip file (do NOT extract it, leave it zipped!) to the root of your MicroSD card (not in any folders, just on the root of the card)
4.) You needed to pull the battery in your Droid to get the card out, so replace the card and open the keyboard.
5.) Hold the “x” key on the Droid’s keyboard and power it on. Continue holding “x” until you see a triangle with an exclamation point.
6.) Release the “x” key. Simultaneous press the “volume up” and “camera shutter” buttons. A menu should pop up.
7.) Using the D-Pad, select to update the system software from the update.zip file.
8.) The update will take a few minutes. During this time, do NOT pull the battery or attempt to turn off the phone. Doing so may corrupt the firmware on your device and render it unbootable.
9.) Once the update is complete, select “Reboot system now”. Enjoy!

This was written based on the original article at http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Want-to-manually-update-your-Motorola-DROIDs-software-Heres-how.-article-comments-a_8232-p_2.html
md5sum of orig file (and my mirror): 3af35446905040a3123ec09195299596

Safari 4 has known issues with showing just a white screen randomly. There are many threads on the Apple support forums regarding this, here is an exmaple: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9785751 . Personally, I use Google Chrome which is also a WebKit-based browser and I’ve never had an issue.

It seems that with the iPhone encryption issues ( http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r22999133-iPhone-31-breaks-Exchange-Sync-for-pre3GS-phones , and even on the new 3GS: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/07/new-iphone-hardware-encryption-not-even-close-to-hack-proof.ars ), the Snow Leopard data loss issues ( http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10373064-260.html ), and Time Capsules dying early ( http://gizmodo.com/5379865/are-apple-time-capsules-short-lived , http://timecapsuledead.org/ ) Apple doesn’t have it’s software development in line just quite yet.

With all these issues, it’s no surprise that at least a few people feel the same as this columnist: “I suspect that Apple has set back its enterprise cause several years, if not permanently.” ( http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=54536&PageMem=2 )

Sucks.

Check it

Source: engadget

Apple is now shipping (and probably has been shipping) iPhones and iPod Touches with a bit of extra software in firmware 2.0 in the form of a rootkit.

This is an outrage.  The fact that phone / device manufacturers get away with this kind of crap makes my blood boil.

It seems that Apple has finally taken things a step too far with the whole notion of “It’s still our device”.  When you buy a piece of electronic equipment, you are entitled to use it however you see fit; if that entails throwing it at a brick wall, flushing it down the toilet, using it for a sanding block, etc.

This also included hacking the living crap out of it, in my opinion.

When you buy a computer or build a computer, no one is there to tell you “don’t load Linux onto it or I’ll turn it off remotely from BigBoxHQ”, yet that is exactly what Apple is trying to do.  Some enterprising individual took apart an iPhone’s software only to discover that embedded deep within the core of the OS lies a “phone-home” rootkit.  It is a rootkit by the very definition of rootkit, and after the break we can examine the examples of how Apple ships your iPhone and possibly iPod Touch with a rootkit installed.

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As lead technician at my IT firm that specializes in service, I have to deal with a lot of printers.  It seems that one thing all Windows printing systems have a hard time with is the infamous “Stuck Print Queue”.  You go to print a document and that cute little printer pops up in the corner.  Then you get hit with the Red X Of DOOM!  and an indescript message about how your document failed to print.  Well fret no more, me laddy!  With this simple batch script, you can be up and printing again in a jiffy.  I have to deal with this problem at least twice a week, so I now just refer people to this to fix it.
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I’ve had my aluminum iMac keyboard for quite some time now and the only real drawback to using it in windows is the lack of print screen and scroll lock, especially for someone who does a lot of remote work on *nix in their windows session.

Why Apple didn’t just whip up a fix themselves is beyond me,  as this keyboard really could have mass market appeal in much the same way iPods do.  For those new to the game, iPods such as mine had to be tricked into working with a Windows PC, and even then you had to have firewire.  Your reward was the best MP3 player at the time…no one said bleeding edge is easy.

The same holds true for the new iMac keyboards.  Is it too much to expect a keyboard to “just work”, considering the company behind it?  Apparently, yes.  Luckily, there are people around to sort these kind of things out and fix problems that manufacturers artificially create in a vain attempt to move product.  This goes against my methodology that if a person possesses “oppressed” hardware that is purposely crippled, that person will, with enough community and knowledge, un-cripple and enhance a product beyond the manufacturer’s wildest dreams.

References?  See:  RockBox Sansa e200R series (Crippled Real Rhapsody), PodZilla on early iPods (more formats, ogg support, etc.), WRT54G v5 (and the earlier versions, although the v5 was made to get buyers to fork over a premium for a router that could be hacked and have its warranty voided, the WRT54GL…the L stands for Linux, but ironically enough loading Linux onto it will void the warranty).

Worthy of honorable mention is Cisco, because what would the world come to if, lord forbid, you used a NON CISCO GBIC IN A CISCO ROUTER???  IOS has its chips on apocalypse.

But alas, slash rant.

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