business

Aug 18 2010

Dial back your iPhone 3G or 3GS to a previous iOS

As mentioned before, iOS 4.0 on the 3G iPhone is not awesome—it’s slow, over heated, quickly drains the battery and is generally unstable. And though Apple is apparently aware of the problems and is working on fixing the situation, the rest of us need to get stuff done in the meantime.

My friend, Mike Bjorndal ( @mbjorndal ) pointed me to this iHackintosh article that allowed me to put my iPhone in DFU mode, restore an older firmware and boot back out of DFU mode again. After restoring my apps and settings in iTunes, I was back in business with a faster 3G iPhone experience running an older firmware.

Keep in mind, many of the apps you may be running now might require iOS 4.x and will be inaccessible from an older version of the OS. I take no responsibility for any lost data. Backup and then backup again…and then reconsider doing this hack.

By RickMacMerc • News • 4 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 27 2009

Special Feature– ThinkFree Office

I hope this doesn’t invalidate all the work I’ve done in the name of free software. This week I’m going to feature a piece of software that is not free. However, I think you’ll find it hard for any freeloader to pass up.

I’d like to note here that I am in no way affiliated with ThinkFree, and my excitement for this software comes purely from the application itself. That out of the way, let’s get down to business.

What could be so good to distract me from my pursuit of free software? Well, picture a full office suite including word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, all wrapped up nicely in one suite for $49. Now, imagine if it could read and write files in Microsoft Office’s format? That would be ThinkFree Office.

First off, I’d like to say what ThinkFree Office is not. Think free should not be confused with the open-source effort to subvert – er – replace Microsoft Office. This effort currently underway is called Open Office and is an extension of Sun’s free office suite. Also, ThinkFree is not AppleWorks. In my testing experience, ThinkFree at it’s worst is more compatible with Microsoft Office than Appleworks at its best. Not to pick on Apple, but Appleworks is a half-hearted office suite. Not so with ThinkFree. This is full fledged professional software.

thinkfree Special Feature ThinkFree Office

ThinkFree Office is a composite of three main applications, Write, Calc and Show. These work as Word, Excel and PowerPoint respectively. You’ll find much of the interface familiar.


I did mention that ThinkFree handles Microsoft Office files better than AppleWorks. To be more specific, ThinkFree opens, without breaking a sweat, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. However there are limits to what ThinkFree can handle. These are roughly comparable to the format loss experienced when trading files between different versions of Office (ex: Word 98 to Word X).

word Special Feature ThinkFree Office

Specifically, Macros are lost in Excel, Highlighting and Data Merge formating are lost. But, even in its weakness, ThinkFree has a strength. When you open an Office document and ThinkFree Office encounters formating it can’t convert, it warns you. This way you at least know what you’re missing.

write Special Feature ThinkFree Office

Now, ThinkFree isn’t exclusive to the Mac. Since it is written in 100% Java it is fully compatible with Mac OS 9 as well as Windows. It also has the added ability to manage your files in an online “folder” to be accessed from multiple computers. A nice touch.

And, though this software is $49 (and is worth more), you can download a free 30 day evaluation version from ThinkFree’s website.

And you thought there wouldn’t be anything free today. Shame on you.

Brian

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 27 2009

A Brief History of Free Software (Part 2)

Two weeks ago we took a look at the roots of free software. Taking another break from downloads (last one), we’ll look at friends and foes of Open Source.

Companies that Understand Free Software

Apple – We’ve already noted that OS X’s evolving core is Open Source. Along with Darwin, Apple has made contributions that include Rendezvous.

IBM – Big Blue’s engineers are proponents open standard projects like XML’s FOAF. The company uses and promotes Open Source software, and has been a legal champion of the GPL.

HP – HP has been flakey on Open Source (the company has firm ties to Microsoft) but at a recent Linux tradeshow unveiled a Linux laptop.

Novell – Freshly burned my Microsoft’s monopolistic power, Novell purchased SUSE Linux and funds the development of Ximian (makers of Evolution and Ximian Desktop). The company joins Red Hat as a for-profit distributor of Linux.

Companies that Don’t

Microsoft – Redmond’s anti-Open Source efforts are the stuff of legend to hard core GNU’s. What is reality is the companies strategy of suing Open Source out of business over patent infringement. Microsoft claims hundreds of these exist in Linux. Companies like IBM have established legal funds to protect Open Source programmers.

SCO – This former distributor of Linux claims to own code present in the Linux core and is after licensing fees from Linux users world-wide. The problem with their claim is that the code in question was released by them under the GPL, which the group seeks to discredit. (here’s the latest on the SCO case)

Making Money of Free software

Microsoft has a right to be scared, don’t they? How are they supposed to make money on free software? Well, this would require innovative business thought (rather than Redmond bully tactics). Millions if not billions are made with free software, and here’s how:

  • Distributions – Under the GPL the software must be free, but companies can charge for distribution on CD
  • Consulting – Open Source software is powerful, but can be quirky. Custom installations bring in big bucks from corporate customers
  • Support – OS software comes with no support. Many companies who sell Linux distrobutions offer support
  • Supplementory Documentation – Manuals and tutorials are another source of revenue for software companies

For companies that use Open Source, there are great advantages. The nature of Open Source invites innovation and feedback from thousands of programmers not on the company payroll. Many have attributed the lack of OS X’s viruses to its open core. Since the source is public, more programmers and developers are available to find and plug security holes.

Open Source software isn’t going away. It is changing the shape of the industry, so it is worth taking time to understand the implications. For the Freeloader, Open Source means unprecedented, legal access to software for everyone (Free as in Freedom). For software companies it means closing a side. Now that you know the players, so you can spend your money in sopport of companies that get Open Source.

That concludes my brief history of free software. I’ll be back next week with more great Mac freeware.

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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