Social Media Revolution

I saw this video and it really sparked my interest and got me thinking. Is online social media really going to cause some kind of revolution or is it just another fad that will die out sooner or later? Personally, I think it might be a lot closer to the former that I initially thought a couple of years ago.

JailbreakMe 2.0

JailbreakMe 2.0 is a website that will jailbreak Apple i-devices simply by visiting http://www.jailbreakme.com from within the i-device’s mobile version of Safari.

One of the very first methods developed for users to “jailbreak” the original iPhone was via a website called JailbreakMe. Those who owned the iPhone could simply visit this website right from the iPhone mobile version of Safari and the website would jailbreak the iPhone, allowing owners to install unofficial applications and utilities that Apple will not allow into the official App Store. One such utility, for example, is capable of software unlocking the iPhone, ie allowing it work on other mobile service carriers.

This jailbreak service worked for a short period of time before Apple was able to identify the mobile Safari loophole and block it.

While other methods of jailbreaking have since then been released, JailbreakMe 2.0 is now capable of jailbreaking any iOS device (iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads) that runs either iOS 4.0, 4.0.1, or 3.1.2.

Safari: Download Flash Video

Here’s a neat trick for downloading flash videos right from within the Safari web browser. While there are tons of free programs or plug-ins out there that will do this for you, this trick uses features built right into the Safari browser.

By downloading these videos and a compatible player, you can watch the videos anytime you want, even without an internet connection! Additionally, if you have a handy video converter utility, you can put these videos on your iPod, Android, iPhone, PSP or other personal media player or smartphone.

Most online videos that use a flash player are actually streamed in a file format called “.flv” which stands for flash video. Examples of such videos are located on YouTube, Vimeo, and other popular video sites.

Here’s how to get started:

1. First of all, you’ll want to make sure you have Safari. If you’re using an Apple computer running Mac OS X, Safari should already be either in your dock or your Applications folder. If you’re using a PC, you will have to download Safari from here: http://www.apple.com/safari/
2. Launch Safari and go to the video of your choice. If you’re on YouTube, for example, go ahead and start the video and click play.
3. Now you’ll want to launch the Safari Activity Window from either the Safari Menu Bar on a Mac or the Safari Tool Bar on a PC. This utility allows you to see every single component, as it loads, that is involved in making a web site look and behave the way it does. You’ll also be able to see how much space, ie memory, that the component takes up.
4. You should be able to spot a single component that is bigger in memory size than all the others. Additionally, this component should also still be downloading, ie the streaming video. You’ll see the number go up right in front of your eyes as more of the video loads in the player on the actual website.
5. Double click this downloading component when you’ve found it and Safari should automatically add it to your Downloads list as a file that ends with the extension “.flv”

That’s it! You’ve now got the video downloaded on your computer to watch whenever you want. However, you will need a compatible player.

If you’re on a Mac, I recommend you install Perian, which will enable QuickTime to play back almost any kind of video file.

If you’re on a PC, I recommend you use either VLC or MPlayer. Either player is capable of playing back many, if not all, of the popular video formats.

Mobile YouTube

Most smartphones, like the iPhone and Android-powered phones, come with a YouTube app of some kind built-in. Regardless of the phone’s model or OS, the app is usually pretty pretty basic in terms of functionality and really just delivers the core set of YouTube features.

If you want a better, more powerful and robust YouTube experience on your smartphone, then I recommend you visit the actual YouTube website on your smartphone browser. It should automatically forward you to the new Mobile YouTube site, which has been completely redone all in HTML5.

Check out the new features in this official YouTube video:

Use Xmarks to Sync Firefox Bookmarks to an iPhone or iPod Touch

I’ve been looking for a way to do this for a very long time and was happy to see Lifehacker post instructions on how to do this:

iPhones and iPod touch models can’t sync with Firefox bookmarks, but you can regularly push your bookmarks to them on a Windows system. The trick involves the Xmarks sync service, Internet Explorer, and a tiny system tray utility.

It’s not quite automatic, but the way blogger Shawn0 details his own solution for synchronizing his Firefox bookmarks to his iPod touch, it’s much better than a manual import/export of HTML files. And, as Shawn found out, some of the previous Firefox-to-iPhone solutions don’t work with the latest builds of Firefox (3.0 and newer, specifically). It’s not a tricky process, just systematic, and requires, at most, a right-click of a system tray utility (intended for Internet Explorer users of Xmarks) before you next sync your iPhone.

This post taken from Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/5436240/use-xmarks-to-sync-firefox-bookmarks-to-an-iphone-or-ipod-touch