To my surprise, however, I’m realizing that I don’t really miss the jailbreak, nor did I have any jailbroken apps that were really useful or only available via a jailbroken iPhone.

I lost my LockScreenInfo, which IMO is the best app out there.. Apple really dropped the ball on the homescreen info. Another piece of jailbreak that I miss is my custom wallpaper, 5 icon dock and the absence of that nasty grey bar at the bottom.

Other than these 3 or 4 small things.. jailbreaking? meh..

Don’t get me wrong. It really pisses me off that I can’t customize my iPhone the way I want, but in the end. I can live. It’s still the best mobile device on the plant. =P

—- >

Bjango iStat for iPhone is a fantastic app for keeping an eye on a Mac server and thanks to the work William Tisater, can monitor Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris servers as well.
I installed iStat server on a server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 but these instructions should work with other Red Hat, CentOS and Fedora distros. For Debian and Ubuntu distros, pop over here.
Preparation
You shouldn’t be logged in as root but let’s give ourselves temporary root permissions for the install:
sudo -i

If you’re a good sys admin and have locked down all unused server ports, open up port 5109 with system-config-securitylevel-tui and adding 5109:tcp to the Customize, Other ports field if planning on using the default iStat port. You’ll also need to install development tools if you haven’t done this already:
1.    yum groupinstall “Development Tools”

Download iStat server
iStat server for Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris is maintained at github and you should pop over there to make sure the latest version corresponds with the wget command below:
1.    wget http://github.com/downloads/tiwilliam/istatd/istatd-0.5.6.tar.gz
2.    tar -zxvf istatd-*.tar.gz
3.    cd istatd-*

Setup iStat server
Configure iStat for your server:
1.    ./configure

If, like me, you get an xml2-config error, install libxml2-dev and run ./configure again:
1.    yum install libxml2-devel
2.    ./configure

Compile and install:
1.    make
2.    make install

Add an istat user and create a directory to store istat.pid:
1.    useradd istat
2.    mkdir /var/run/istat
3.    chown istat /var/run/istat

Tweak the iStat server configuration
Before launching the iStat server, first modify the configuration file for your system:
1.    nano /usr/local/etc/istat.conf

Modify the server_code and anything else to match your system. In my case I also modified monitor_disk:
1.    #
2.    # /etc/istat.conf: Configuration for iStat server
3.    #
4.
5.    # network_addr 127.0.0.1
6.    # network_port 5109
7.    server_code 12345
8.    # server_user istat
9.    # server_group istat
10.    # server_socket /tmp/istatd.sock
11.    # server_pid /var/run/istat/istatd.pid
12.    # cache_dir /var/cache/istat
13.
14.    # Note: Only support for one network interface, limited by client.
15.    monitor_net ( eth0 )
16.
17.    # Array of disks to monitor. Specify mount path or device name.
18.    # monitor_disk (  /home ) for multiple disks (  /home /dev/hd9 /dev/hd6 )
19.    monitor_disk ( / )
20.
21.    # Set to 1 if you want to use mount path as label instead of the device name.
22.    disk_mount_path_label 0
23.
24.    # Try to probe the filesystem for disk label, will override the mount path label.
25.    disk_filesystem_label 1
26.
27.    # Set custom disk label. Will override all other labels.
28.    # disk_rename_label /dev/sda1 “root”
29.    # disk_rename_label /home “home”
30.
31.    # End of file

Launch iStat server
With the configuration saved, iStat server is ready to launch:
1.    /usr/local/bin/istatd -d

Add your server to iStat for iPhone using the server_code in the iStat server configuration file and start enjoying Bjangolicous server stats.

iStat server running on Red Hat
Launch iStat server at startup
It’s not a bad idea to launch iStat server at startup:
1.    nano /etc/rc.d/rc.local

Add the following to the bottom of /etc/rc.d/rc.local should do the the trick:
1.    /usr/local/bin/istatd -d

You may want to restart your server to confirm iStat server launched OK

Download this: SetupVirtualCloneDrive5432

It’s free software courtesy of SlySoft.

Download this: FixCirrusAudioVista64

(Note: This is for W7 64Bit only. There is a 32Bit version but if you’re running 32Bit… well, your lame. Sorry)

• Minimize window to program icon rather than as a new window icon in dock. Check Minimize windows into application icon.

• Boot 64 bit kernel. Restart your mac holding down the “6″ and “4″ keys.

• Auto-sync your contacts via Address Book with MobileMe, Google, Yahoo. Address Book > Preferences > Accounts…

• Detailed Volume information. Option + Click the volume icon.

• Detailed MobileMe sync history. Option + Click the MobileMe Sync icon.

• Detailed Battery info. Option + Click the battery icon.

If you’d like to try it yourself restart your Mac and hold down “6″ and “4″ keys. To see if you have booted in 64 bit mode correctly go to About This Mac … More Info … Software

In default (32 bit) boot mode the Yes will read No.

I am constantly on the go, on the phone and trying to keep a mental log of the time I’ve spent talking to clients, working on a project or keeping track of the time I’m spending on a specific task. Thankfully, an app like ClockedIn has offered the ability to do this on the iPhone.

My first few hours with ClockedIn I decided to setup all of the current Client/Projects I am working on. I also went one step further and created a few typical activities under each, such as; phone call, concept design, meeting, research.

The great thing is, when a customer calls I can quickly load ClockedIn, select the customer/project and track the time of the phone call, in real-time. At the end of the week, you can output your tracked time to a nicely formatted report which you can email to yourself.

ClockedIn also features a calendar where you can view daily, weekly and monthly summaries. It calculates project totals by adding all activities within that project together. You can also jump to the daily calendar to edit the details of a previously tracked activity or project.

For those of you who are on the go and constantly managing several projects. This is a great way to keep track of your time while on the move.

Another thing that the developers have assured me is that the new, updated release will be appearing in the App Store by the end of September. I highly recommend trying ClockedIn. IMO, it’s a great app that can only get better.

Overall Rating: 4/5

The app will be available via the App Store and will give customers who own the Blu-Ray disc an opportunity to view images of cars from the movie in 3D, as well as display vehicle information using the “Virtual Garage” feature.

Universal’s objective is to give customers an opportunity to interact with the Blu-Ray movies in a way that’s never been possible – using their iPhone or  iPod touch as a remote control. This will give customers the ability to access real-time information about the movie while it’s being watched and download bonus content directly to the iPhone or iPod Touch and eventually incorporating Twitter and Facebook social aspects.

UPDATE:
I found a post outlining how the iPhone will actually communicate as a remote. Via slashgear:

The software, which will be distributed free through the App Store, takes advantage of Blu-ray Profile 2.0. Profile 2.0 allows for network access by a Blu-ray player over ethernet or WiFi connection, and has in the past been used to access exclusive online content and link it in to the menu structure of a Blu-ray disc.  This new Universal app, however, will use the viewer’s home WiFi network to communicate with the iPhone or iPod touch, with the device used to view cars and tap on specific features for more information.

I used to be an avid BB user. I praised it’s ingenuity and ease of use until I fully switched from PC to Mac back in 2008. Truthfully, I ended up buying my first iPhone 3G simply because I was frustrated with the lack of sync support between RIM, Apple and Entourage.

Does RIM realize how many users they have already lost because it took them so long to release a real DM for the Mac? Honestly guys, get a life. Don’t even try to appeal to the Apple crowd. We’re too smart for you. Stick with the middle aged IT guys working for blue-collar companies that are still running Internet Explorer 6.

I can’t believe how furious I am that it took them so long to get this right… Too little, too late guys. Blackberry sucks =P

App Store Category Breakdown by Downloads

There’s been a lot of buzz around the 1 year anniversary of the App Store and it’s whopping 60,000 apps currently available for download. The App Store totaled over 1.5 billion downloads in it’s first year. Games accounting for almost 20% of the total downloads, Utilities just under 8% and  Business apps under 3%.

I’ve wasted countless hours browsing through every app in the app store since it’s inception. On the odd night, once a month or so, I’ll lay in bed and go through page after page of apps wondering if, perhaps, I’ve missed some great app that I don’t yet have.

In my opinion, the reality is that there is far more garbage in the App Store than useful apps. Games aside, 80% of the apps currently available are pretty useless when it comes to every day use or productivity. Don’t get me wrong, I love games and I love useless apps (iPint) but it seems important for the long-term outlook of the iPhone to become a tool of productivity.

I’ve written a few posts about apps that I use daily. Tools that make it possible for me to work on the road and actually get things done, but it’s really starting to get under my skin that all of these apps seem to be lacking in some form or another.

Most VCs are dumping money into the development of games and social networking apps. What about productivity apps and utilities? When developers like Inner Four Inc., are making apps like Mirror Free and generating upwards of $3000 a day through mobile ads it makes me wonder where we’re headed as a society that would rather be downloading mirror apps with selectable frames rather than an app that will improve our ability to think or work.

I hate to sound like a workoholic or something, because that’s not the case at all. I guess I’m just getting tired of waiting for that “killer” app that really helps me step up my game.