SwiftFix 06: Disable Automatic Login

So, with anything 3.0 or above on the iPhone or iPod Touch there is the hotspot feature for automatic wi-fi login. This is a problem with proxy servers. My school's network doesn't support this at all. It's annoying. So, I found a SwiftFix for it. Download the Boingo app. You don't ever have to create an account or boot it up. Ever. Simply having it on your home screen is enough. It somehow overrides the hotspot feature. Note: if you have the Cydia app Categories, don't put it in a category, leave it on the home screen. It messes it up. The App store link is here.


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

SwiftFix 05: Fix iPod Earbuds

**NOTE:  Unplug your earbuds before doing this fix.**
**NOTE:  I am in no way responsible for permanently damaging your earbuds**


Sometimes my iPod's earbuds (the ones that came in the package) screw up and I hear an annoying buzz in them.  This usually happens when any bass is on the music.  The reason they buzz is usually because something breaks lose inside of them.  I don't want to go out and buy a $15 pair of earbuds to fix this.  Instead, I found a quick, easy, and free fix to this problem.

To fix this, all you have to do is put the end of the earbud that's buzzing (the side the sound comes out of) into your mouth and blow gently.  Be sure not to get and saliva on the earbud.  Put back in the cord and see if that fixed it.  It probably should have fixed it, but if not, unplug them and try it again.  If it still hasn't fixed it, your earbuds might be permanently damaged.

This seriously worked for me!  I am NOT kidding!  Just try it, you will be as surprised as me when I figured it out!


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

SwiftFix 04: Download Multiple Files at Once

You suddenly got onto a page where you can download the entire Red vs Blue episode collection (That's when I first used this).  You are presented with all these links!  There were questions that ran through my head when I saw the links.  First, 'Do I start with the ones I haven't seen yet?'. Next there was 'Don't I have a life other than clicking "Save Link As", choosing a folder, choosing a name, and so many other options?'.  I found a solution though.  The answer is DownThemAll.  This is a Firefox add-on, so you will need to download and install Firefox for this to work.  I have Firefox on my computer, but Google Chrome is my default browser.  I just use a Firefox/Chrome combination to do my web hacking.

First you need to right-click on a file on the page, then select "Save ~~~ with DownThemAll!" (the '~~~' is just the type of web object).  After you set the download directory and the filename format (it should do this automatically), just click "Start!".  For the next files, all you have to do is right click and press "O" (that's the letter).  All the files will show up in the newly-opened DownThemAll download manager and you can play around with settings a little bit, while tracking speed and performance.  If you want to select a new batch of files, just right-click and select "Save ~~~ with DownThemAll!" again.  This will restart the process and you can now save the files to a new directory.

I hope this helped some people.  I know it helped me!


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

ValidReport 03: iPod Touch 3rd Generation

Apple has designed 3 versions of the iPhone already and 2 versions of the iPod Touch.  First came the iPhone.  Then the iPod Touch.  Later the iPhone 3G.  Next the iPod Touch (2nd Gen).  Lastly the iPhone 3GS.  See the pattern?  I do!  Hmm.  Is that evidence just not cutting it for you?  Not me either.  I needed more substantial evidence.  I needed pictures...  I would need a picture of a new case for an iPod Touch or prototype examples. Christmas must have come early this year!  I have BOTH!  Speaking of Christmas, doesn't Apple usually release new iPods before the holiday season?  Actually, both iPod Touch models have been released in the first 2 weeks of September (2007 and 2008).  Apple has a new event coming September 9th (2009).  I see a connection!

This photo of the iPod Touch 3G internals shows that it has a red PCB board.  A red board usually means that this is a prototype, verifying that this might be the 3G iPod Touch prototype.

This next photo shows the iPod Touch with a camera.  If you look to the left, you can also see a tiny hole for the microphone.  The lock button is on the left side (it's the backside), while the iPhone has a lock button on the right side.






This final prototype photo shows that this indeed might be a prototype because it compares the iPod Touch 3G with the iPod Touch 2G.  They both have the same dimensions and same shape and placement of the wireless antenna rectangle.






These next 2 photos show the case of an iPod Touch 3G.  These are from a different source (Engadget) than the iPod touch prototype pictures (Covino and Rich).  This gives even more credible evidence to a new iPod Touch.

The case to the right shows a box with the words "für/for iPod touch 3G".  The case is made by Hama (a German company).  The case to the left shows a square hole for the camera (the same place that the camera would be on the prototypes).




If you still aren't persuaded to believe this and think that these are photoshopped, you can watch this video.  The link is here.  (**NOTE: you must have flash player installed to video the video.**)


Well, I'm thoroughly convinced.  If you aren't, you probably will never be until you hold the new iPod in your hands and actually take a picture.  I hope that this has convinced some people and informed others.  Won't the non-believers feel dumb when the iPod is unveiled?!


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

ValidReport 02: USB 3.0

Ahh.  Remember when the USB (Universal Serial Bus) first came out?  All it was really good for was external computer hardware (mice, keyboards, printers).  At max, the speed was 12 mbps (Full-Speed).  This was all good because many people didn't own iPods, cell phones that could connect to the computer, or PSPs.  The first widely-adopted USB version was 1.1.  This was the port with the max of 12 mbps. (On a side note, my desktop PC only has 1.1 and it's a beast to sync my iPod).  The next version was 2.0 (Hi-Speed).  This had a max of 480 mbps, even though devices usually only reached 350-380 mbps.  This was a hug leap from USB 1.1.  The time is nigh to begin another huge leap.

In September of 2007, USB 3.0 was demonstrated at the Intel Developer Forum.  This SuperSpeed USB port achieves a max of 4.8 gbps (the expected transfer rate is approxamately 3.2 gbps after protocol overhead though).  This is more than 20x faster than USB 2.0!  USB 3.0 can make this happen due to it's full-duplex system.  This allows data to be sent and received with 2 wires for power and ground, 2 wires for non-superspeed data, and 4 wires for superspeed data.  The bus power spec has been upgraded in USB 3.0 to accommodate a unit load of 150 mA.  An unconfigured device can still draw only 1 unit load, but a configured device can draw 6 unit loads (900mA)!

Consumer products for USB 3.0 are expected to become available in 2010 and the commercial controllers are expected to be mass-produced in to first quarter of that year (around $15 each).  The OS that supports USB 3.0 at this time is the Linux kernel, while Windows 7 drivers are under development (either to be released with Windows 7 or as an update).  No word has been reported from Apple about Macs supporting this new peripheral (although expected as a Snow Leopard  update).

I'm going to be waiting and being unable to wait with you guys.  I'm just happy that I'm going to buy my laptop Senior year of high school (2nd quarter of 2010).  Now only if the new iPod 3rd Generation (rumored) can have USB 3.0 integrated. Come on Apple!  You can do it!


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

How-To 04: Making a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard

This is going to be a short how-to post because of the length of the actual guide (on another site).

Snow Leopard was released earlier this week and it already has been ported to the PC.  That's good for people like me who want to stay up to date and keep making iPhone apps.

*NOTE: you must have a working Leopard OS first.

*You can find the guide here.
*If you're trying to decide whether Snow Leopard is good or not, you can go here to find 100 new features of this OS X.
*You can find the guide to get a Leopard OS, go here.  This dual-boots Windows Vista and OS X Leopard.


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

Sending MMS on iPhone now

Ok so I know that MMS will be available on the 25th, but what if you want to send it now. I know I often have come up on wanting to send a picture. Now sure you could go out and buy picfree or some other app, but there's a free alternative. Email. Send an email with the picture to [insert number here (area code + number no spaces)]@mms.att.net. The same works for free text messaging. just change it to @txt.att.net




Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

ValidReport 01: MMS coming to AT&T iPhone

Finally!  MMS is coming to the iPhone 3G and 3GS on September 25!  This is pretty much what every AT&T iPhone customer has wanted since the OS 3.0 came out!  Come on AT&T, what took so long!  The OS has been out for nearly 3 months!  What happened to "It will be ready this summer"?!

For those of you who live in the Stone Age, MMS is picture/video message.  It stand for Multimedia Messaging Service.  Anyways, here is a screenshot of MMS working and it IS in fact coming out.  Praise be to [insert god's name here]!




Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

How-To 03: Install .DEB Files

DEB files are files with the extension ".deb".  These are the files that Cydia uses to install its "apps" on your device.  There can be many reasons for wanting to install a DEB file.  The first might be that the file you want doesn't have its own repository (i.e. your friend made it or someone cracked a paid app).  Another reason might be that you want to downgrade an app to an older version. This happened a lot recently when the new version of Installous wasn't working for the 2.2.1 firmware.  This How-To is a LOT easier than it sounds.  Now, down to business!

**NOTE:  You must use an SSH client, iPhone Browser, iFile, or something that you can view your device's system files on to install a DEB file.


I am in no way responsible if you install a bad DEB file and your device doesn't work later.




1.  Download the DEB file you want to install and have it ready.

2.  Locate the directory on your device "var/root/Media/Cydia/AutoInstall".  If you can't find the "AutoInstall" folder, just create it (it IS case sensitive.  Type it exactly as I have without the quotation marks).

3.  Copy/Paste the DEB file into that directory.

4.  Reboot your device now.  After it reboots, just respring it.

5.  Your device should now have the DEB file installed.  Cydia automatically deletes the DEB file after installation.


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!

SwiftFix 03: Delete Cydia Apps Without Opening Cydia

So, as many of you with the best graphical interface for installing packages know,  it can be slow loading, reloading, and downloading.  If you just want to delete one small app you never use, this is a PAIN!  I got tired of it, so I found a better solution.  The 'app' is called CyDelete.  It is not really an app but a Mobile Substrate add-on.  You can download this add-on in Cydia.  It is in one of the automatically installed repos.


Remember, if you have a new idea, just email me at zortrox.blogspot@gmail.com!