iphone “to break or not to break” applications
Written by Justin G on March 21, 2008 – 12:31 pm - 
A lot of people from the get go thought the iphone was a piece of junk, while others thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone has their opinions about iphone vs Nokia just like Mac vs. PC. So moving on then…
Since Mr. Steve Jobs had announced that there would be an SDK (software development kit) for the iphone, a lot of people have really been excited. Now that over 100,000 people have downloaded the developers kit whats next?
How many people will really switch over from having an unlocked iphone that can run tons of free applications to go legit with Apple and pay a fee for every application? The reason I even ask that is because the current developers kit doesn’t allow for 3rd party music applications. Isn’t music what people would likely use their iphone most for? Or would it be games?
It seems that Apple has decided to do things this way so sales on itunes are not hurt, but there will be an effect with upcoming players like Amazon music as well as Emusic which have compatible DRM free music for the iphone. Will Apple lose some ground with their Itunes music downloads?
One thing is for sure, and that is that Apple will continue governing and restricting their own products and applications like they have been for a while. I think the mentality of Apple which seems to be the ‘we control the product even after you buy it’ for all consumers is getting a bit old. The thing is, that the larger apple gets, and the more popularity that grows for Apple products, the hacking, cracking and unlocking will only continue to grow with it.
Will people be willing to blow their money on new applications approved by Apple, and made by the developer that had to pay $99 to publish that application. Thats right, you have to pay 1 dollar short of 100 to even be able to deploy your application if your a developer, and then if you are a consumer you can buy those applications straight off your iphone for a price, which Apple and the developer split for profit. This whole thing with new applications for the iphone has dropped from a hot boil to a mild simmer, and until Apple comes up with a better plan I’m going to have to say that the majority of people are going to go the free route.
Here below is just a little rundown of some of the FREE unlocked iphone applications that actually have some value. I’m not personally promoting them, but the fact is that they exist and Apple can’t stop it.
SSH For iphone – How to setup and install SSH for iphone.
MobileTerminal-vt100 – A Terminal emulator for the iPhone.
MobileTextEdit – Allows you to edit .txt files within mobilefinder.
Izoho – Full office suite to create edit and more.
Ruby on iphone – An iPhone Ruby interpretor which includes supporting libraries.
Stumbler Wifi Networks Locator – Lets you find wireless networks in your area.
BSD Subsystem – Unix Tools for the iphone.
Iphone Python – An iPhone Python interpretor including libraries.
Mobile Scrobbler – Lets you play music from Last.fm
NES Emulator – Play old school Nintendo games.
Ishare – Works with a Sendspace account to upload and download files.
Swapmusiclibrary – Allows you to sync with another PC without erasing.
Genesis4iphone – Lets you play Sonic and other Sega games.
Navizon GPS – GPS for the iphone.
TouchPadPro – Control your PC or Mac with Your iphone.
RocketShotz – Adds Icons So you never have to Type a Favorite URL to Browse.
Ispit – Acts as an http Server that runs from your iphone.
Funiculus – Guitar Tuner for iphone.
MobileChat – Instant messenger with all the extras.
Ifob – Social Networking application worth using.
iPhlickr – Easy way to browse Flickr Pics.
Expense View – Keep track of finances.
iPhoneDigg – For all the fanatical Diggers.
iPhoneTravel - Easy way to book flights and car rentals.
goMovies – Easy view of movie shows and times.
Google Reader – Clean and easy to use RSS for the iphone.
Iactu – Displays headlines from multiple newspapers.
Tags: apple, applications, iphone
Posted in Around the Web | 8 Comments »
Competition Fights Back
Written by Chad Bean on February 2, 2008 – 12:09 am -I have some bad news regarding HostGator. In our quest to “eat up the competition”, one web host has been busy trying to “bag all the competition”.
I stumbled across a new web host that I can already tell is going to be very serious competition for us. It seems as though we have overlooked a worthy contender — HostGaroo.com (no link for you guys, sorry!)
It’s only a matter of time before their sheer creativity and inspiration overtake us and the ‘Gator is bagged like the rest of them. There’s just one thing that doesn’t seem right here. I know I’ve seen Host Garoo’s design from somewhere before…
Current Host Garoo front page:
One year old Host Gator front page:
Testament to Google’s ingenious:
So what do you think, all things equal, the ‘Garoo or the ‘Gator?
UPDATE
Please do not goto the site which was mentioned within this post. Since the post, the site has shut down and is now delivering viruses if you goto it.
Thank you for understanding.
Tags: competition, hostgaroo, hostgator, satire
Posted in Comedy | 61 Comments »
One Laptop Per Child, They Will Fail…
Written by Brent Oxley on January 31, 2008 – 7:16 pm -
I’m very proud to announce that Hostgator has made a $100,000 donation to MD Anderson which is one of the world leaders in cancer treatments and research. They have truly been a pleasure to work with. Working with MD has given many of our employees that warm fuzzy feeling inside that you should have when you are helping people.
I would also like to announce that I feel used, abused, and completely violated on a $25,000 donation hostgator made to One laptop per child. OLPC has a mission to develop cheap laptops for children to educate and express themselves on.
Maybe I’m being a drama queen so please come to your own conclusion based on the following experience…….
It all started with a $25,000 donation being made on their site and the following email being sent shortly after:
“Hello,
I’m the owner of hostgator.com and I just wanted to shoot off an email
to let you know I have just donated $25,000 via google checkout on my
amex. We get dozens of fraud orders a day so the purpose of this email
is to let you know it’s legit. I’m currently on xmas vacation in the
bahamas in the wyndham so the ip isn’t going to match my american address.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if any further
verification is needed. Thank you, and keep up the good fight!!
Sincerely,
Brent Oxley ”
Their Response 11 days later January 11th 2008
“Dear Donor,
In order for me to locate and track your donation, can you please provide me
with your complete address, reference number and the name used at the time
of donation. This will allow me to access the correct donation and locate
your laptop.Thank you for your interest in One Laptop Per Child.
OLPC
Donor Services”
My Reply January 11th 2008
“Are you serious?
Our company name is hostgator.com
My name is Brent Oxley
How many $25,000 donations do you receive? Please spend the minute that
it would take to look up the donation. Thank you.”
(we received automated email back instantly confirming they did receive our email)
Twenty days later and we still have not had a follow up response or anyone in the company making any type of contact with us other then what’s listed above!!!
OPLC has been getting slammed recently after Intel left the group January 3rd of this year. There are many critics that argue the money can be spent better on libraries, food, water, etc. You can read up more on OLPC on wikipedia. Even with all the negative publicity I and many of our customers believed it to be a worthy cause that deserved our help.
Based on our experience it’s quite obvious OLPC is being mismanaged to the point of failure. I now feel our donation would have been put to better use had we mailed 25,000 one dollar bills for the children to use as toilet paper.
Posted in Brent Oxley | 28 Comments »
500,000 Dollar Google USB Drive
Written by Justin G on December 11, 2007 – 7:17 pm -I’m sure you might be expecting a USB drive made of Gold with inlay diamonds sparkling away, but all that glitters isn’t gold, and as a matter of fact, you won’t find anything at all that is absolutely stunning. We merely want to show you what you could expect if you were to lay down about 500 big ones for Google advertising. We received the annual gift from Google and just wanted to show you what its all about.
The presentation was nice and Google does a good job of customizing their gifts while incorporating a touch of advertising. The video below shows us opening the gift, and you can see by our excitement that when you get something from Google, it’s special. This is the video of what we like to call the $500,000 Google USB Drive.
You choose where it goes
So if you watched the video you will notice we received a card for DonorsChoose.org, and it appears we have $100 dollars in credit to donate to a cause related to schooling. We went through the list of causes to donate to and had a hard time choosing something. We want to leave it open to you, the people that read this blog, to give us some feedback with your comments and tell us what cause you think would be the best.
Posted in Random | 21 Comments »
Pearl Harbor Day Remembered
Written by Justin G on December 7, 2007 – 5:33 pm -Whether your 16 or 86 years old, most remember the Attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii back on December 7th 1941. Today commemorates that fateful day 66 years later. There is something a bit different about today though. The Oklahoma, a ship that many men lost their lives aboard, was the second largest for the most amount of casualties than any other ship at Pearl Harbor except the Arizona. It is also the only battleship which has never been officially memorialized in Hawaii up until today. Below are some of the pictures of the original Pearl Harbor attack, in comparison to those of today. The last image is a topical from Google Earth.
Posted in World Gator | 1 Comment »
