It has been about 5 months since I created a Facebook account and was amazed by the user-friendliness and solid coding of the website, as well as the innovative API that allows for the development of applications by both Facebook and by third parties.

Well, many have seen in the news few months ago that MySpace has implemented a feed that shows you what your friends have done such as updating their profiles. This feature was taken pretty much completely from Facebook; as many may remember the controversy over this action feed sometime last year over concerns of stalking.

But in any case, MySpace has once again started its photocopiers. It, too, is creating an API for applications.

I remember last month seeing a box labeled “Apps” on the right hand side column on the “home page” you get after logging into MySpace. However, when clicking on “get apps” I was presented with the annoying “An unexpected error has occurred.” In any case, now, a beta of the MySpace Apps system is up and running and it is striking similar to that of Facebook’s. The mainly 3rd party applications, which includes Superpoke, are placed on one’s profile, similar in a manner to that of Facebook. Even more so, like Facebook, each application is represented by a little 16×16 icon. Moreover, when you add an application, you get a Facebook-esque AJAX modal window prompting you with a few check boxes about whether to allow the app to access your information.

While I commend MySpace for improving their services and transitioning the website into something truly Web 2.0 grade, it is startling the way they are going about doing this. The new features they have added are blatant ripoffs of innovations that Facebook created. If they are to create a truly excellent service, they themselves need to create something new and innovative. It is even more interesting at how similar the look and feel of the action feed and application systems are on MySpace when compared to the originals on Facebook. Unless there is some behind the scenes agreement between Facebook and MySpace currently regarding these services, I predict at one lawsuit battles quite soon.

I have just upgraded the blog to Wordpress 2.5. This new version has a vastly improved WP-Admin. I really like the new interface. It is very pleasing to the eye and more user friendly than that of previous versions. Upgrade went without a hitch and I was able to get pretty much all the plugins re-activated smoothly (except ZenPhotoPress which is not appearing on the editor).

In any event, I really like the new features in the writing post page, especially the box that is created for tags. I have been trying to clean up the tags on this blog and this new tool makes it much easier.

Anyway, now I need to update ZenPhoto and I’ll get around to that eventually. =D

My March desktop. I decided to call it “Requiem” because of the wallpaper and color scheme and thought that this name would be cool. =D

Anyway:
OS: Windows XP Media Center Edition - my fresh install
VS: VistaXP
Rainlendar: Lucid

Today I made a clean install of the HP Photosmart PC that I have been using as it was getting bloated with years of accumulated buildup of software/patches, some that I use, some that are there for reasons I know not of. This followed an epic backup session where I had to constantly monitor the process and check the files that have been copied since for some reason the “accessed” denied error popped up extremely frequently. Afterwards, I decided to remove the 250 GB internal HDD lest some files were not copied somehow and replace it with a new Western Digital 400 GB SATA.

Anyway, the installation went without a hitch and after logging into Windows XP MCE2005 for the “first” time, I did the usual round of removing some bundled crapware (yes, that is a term techies use now) that was taking up disk space that could be used for other stuff. And then came Windows Update.

As usual when one does a clean Windows install, assuming it is a genuine installation, one goes on Windows Update to install the latest patches and security updates. Well, I did and the list of updates was quite an eye-opener. When WU finished checking, it plopped out a list of 94 Critical Updates!! While I do commend Microsoft for being hot on the tails of security exploits, the sheer number of Critical Updates, needless to say the other optional ones, was quite enough to culminate in a Service Pack. In any case, here I am, writing this post, about 30 minutes into the installation of the 94 updates, which I hope will end soon.

Before I get started on my rant, a few things first. I know that I have not been here for a long time. The past few…months (I guess), have been quite hectic, busy, and critical. The worst of it is over and I think I have more time on my hands now to get back to work updating this blog and gallery, both content-wise and software-wise.

Anyway, there has been a stir caused by the announcement and beta-release of the iPhone Software Development Kit by Apple. Since the iPhone and the subsequent iPhone sans phone aka iPod Touch were released, the hacking community went straight to work bypassing the restrictions Apple has been widely known to put in their devices. Thus the iPhone/iTouch Jailbreak scene was born with a focus on unlocking restrictions and allowing users to install applications and greatly extend the capabilities of both devices, unwilling to wait for the release of the official SDK that Steve-o promised soon after the release.

Now, the SDK has been “released.” With a subscription fee, one can gain access to developer tools to create applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch that one can distribute through the so-called “App Store” either for free or for a price. Sounds great? But, as always with Apple, there is a catch.

Unlike the free-for-all development in the Jailbreak community, Apple has placed several disenchanting restrictions on software development with the iPhone SDK. These restrictions include prohibiting more than one app from running at the same time, prohibiting 3rd-party API’s, and restricting distribution to the “App-Store.” Although the last is somewhat understandable, it is ironic that they would not allow more than one application to run at the same time as one of Apple’s major selling points of the iPhone/iTouch is the multitasking abilities of the mini-OS X that these devices run on.

As a result, I can safely conclude that the Jailbreak community will not die, as some have feared. On the other hand, the release of the SDK may actually bolster the movement. In any event, we will see when the final SDK and the 2.0 software that allows for SDK-created apps to come in June.

~DC