iPhone 5

After expecting the iPhone 5 earlier this year and instead being presented with the iPhone 4S, a lot of people have dismissed the iPhone 5 for now.  Not us though!  We are still digging through rumors and strangely worded press releases to get the truth for you!  We have come to the conclusion that the release date for the iPhone 5 will likely be in mid 2012.  We would bet on Summer 2012.  As soon as we get more information, we will post it here!   Below are some rumors about the coming iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 Specs

If you want to know what will be in it, just look at the licensed hardware manufacturers!  A glimpse at ARM’s roadmap shows a quad-core processor planned to launch around the same time as the iPhone 5.  It will likely be called the A6.  Quad-core will be the mobile trend of 2012.

iPhone 5 Mobile Network

The iPhone 5 will most definitely be 4g LTE.  It would be the death of the iPhone if it didn’t!

iPhone 5 Form Factor

When the iPhone 5 is released, we will be seeing a completely new form factor.  It will likely be a drastic change from the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.

We will continue to post updates here as we get them!

Eclipse

A while back, we published an article chock full of free apps.  There was a lot of stuff that we left out though.  One of the glaring holes was in the Programming/Development section.  We completely left out Eclipse.  One reason for this is that Eclipse isn’t really an app.  It is an entire development environment.  The project is completely open source and it is one of the most powerful resources available to developers…and it’s free!  So, what is Eclipse exactly?

About Eclipse

From their website: Eclipse is an open source community, whose projects are focused on building an open development platform comprised of extensible frameworks, tools and runtimes for building, deploying and managing software across the lifecycle. The Eclipse Foundation is a not-for-profit, member supported corporation that hosts the Eclipse projects and helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services.

Where to Download

You can find the Eclipse Project at http://www.eclipse.org.

An example of a botnet used for email spam

I get this question a lot from less technical users.  Why do people make computer viruses?  Well, to start, traditional “viruses” only account for a tiny fraction of malicious software infections.  A good catch-all term to use for malicious software is “malware”.  So, why does malware exist in the first place?  I have found that a lot of people just assume that malware is produced by devious hackers who have nothing better to do than mess people’s stuff up.  It’s often viewed by less technical users as little more than digital vandalism.  It is important to understand why malware is out there.  It does serve a very practical purpose to criminals (and government agencies).

In order to understand the root of the malware problem, a good place to start is with Botnets.  A botnet is a collection of compromised computers connected to the internet and maliciously networked together.  They are then used by the controlling criminal (or government agency) to direct cyber attacks on specific targets.  It helps to think of it like a farm of zombie computers that are controlled by malicious users to do their bidding for them.  This allows the attacker to have a lot more fire power than just one computer could provide.  It also allows the attacker to be masked behind this army of zombie computers and makes it more difficult to identify the guilty parties.

Some of the different attacks that botnets are used for are denial of service (DoS), Email Spamming, click fraud, fast flux attacks, brute force password attacks, online gambling fraud, and many more.  The flexibility and fire power that comes with a botnet makes them incredibly dangerous.

Botnets present a powerful reason for even the most technical users to protect their computers from malware.  Make sure that you have real time malware protection installed on your computer.  As always, the very best form of protection is to browse smart.  Don’t just click on every link that you find…there are a lot of dark alleys on the internet filled with software just waiting for you to become click happy!

It still works...

We here at TechRemedy are sad to report that Steve Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple Computers has died at age 56 from a rare form of pancreatic cancer.  Over the years, Steve Jobs has impressed, confused, infuriated, and intrigued me a million times over.  No matter where you stand in the Apple Vs. Windows or iOS Vs. Android debates, it is truly a sad moment.  Steve Jobs was paramount in completely changing the world.  His impression will be left until the end of humanity.

What I loved the most about Steve Jobs was his ability to place all the focus on what computers could do, rather than focus on HOW computers do what they do.  As a tech and gear head, I was always more interested in the latter, but his vision helped put computers and smartphones in the hands of people who otherwise never would purchase one.

So here’s to you Steve Jobs…a creative visionary with a positive genius for simultaneously inspiring and infuriating the masses of humanity.  Your mark will last forever and you will be missed.

RIP Steve Jobs

Jobs and Wozniak, courtesy of Gizmodo

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.” —Steve Jobs, August 24, 2011

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the big news that Steve Jobs is stepping down as Apple’s CEO, and the current COO Tim Cook will be taking his place. I can’t say that I’m surprised, Jobs has been ill for quite some time, and he needs to focus on himself and his family. So where does that leave Apple?

I’m not going to say that it’s all going to hell in a handbag, but I think Cook has some huge shoes to fill. Regardless of your IOS v. Droid/Mac vs. PC point of view, you can’t argue that Jobs is an amazing innovator and has made some very smart choices to get Apple to where it is today. Seriously, companies are going under and businesses are reporting losses, but people are still finding the money to buy the latest iPhone. People can ironically bitch about the economy while sipping a latte at the corner coffee shop while checking their stocks on an iPad2. Even in the worst economic times since the Great Depression, people thirst for Apple products. Yes, yes, there is an entire marketing team and countless others behind the company, but with Jobs at the wheel, they have consistently portrayed their products as hip, cool, and sexy—and we eat it up.

Okay, so you’re shaking your head because you could care less about Apple. Come on, you’ve got to give the man credit for being an innovator. Sure, I love Android OS on my phone, but who had the first true “smart phone”? Apple. I also dig the Droid Tablets now, but who had it first? Apple. What we know now as “Windows” originated with the Apple Macintosh. It’s one thing to take an idea that has already been created and make it better, but its quite another to give the public something completely new.

Oh, don’t give me the “he stole it from Xerox” argument. Okay, let’s say that he “stole” the GUI from Xerox—he sure as heck executed it in a way that no one else even thought of.

On the flip side, what happens when you try to be super innovative with your wacky products? You have some failures. Hey, it happens! Check out this list of Apple products that failed from www.minyanville.com. Some of those are such a flash from the past. I remember wanting a Newton so bad back in the day—it was going to change everything! And it would look oh-so-sweet next to my LC2. Even though these products didn’t make it, you can see how they led to better, more polished machines. You can’t win every time!

Another point to show how badass Jobs has made the company—you know how folks complain that iPads aren’t as good as Droid tablets because they don’t support Adobe Flash? What I find amazing is that it’s not stopping Apple. What are web developers doing? Making iPad versions of their sites that use alternatives to Flash! Hah, people bend over backwards to conform to iPad—most excellent.

Back to my original point, Cook has some huge shoes to fill. Maybe his leadership will do even greater things for the company! I know there are loads of people working behind the scenes at Apple, but none of that occurs without a great leader making the right decisions. I know, I’ve called Jobs “smug” in the past, but I think it’s okay to be smug when you can back it up. I wish luck to Cook, health to Jobs, and I look forward to seeing what Apple comes out with next. The competition between IOS, Droid, Windows, etc. is great—it just means we’ll keep getting more awesome products out of all these guys!

June 15 marks the public launch date of the Google Chromebook in the U.S. and U.K. So will this date go down in history, like the Wright Brothers first flight or the Apollo 11 moon landing? Or is it doomed to be a failed attempt to unseat Microsoft (and maybe even Apple) as the reigning champion of the Operating System world?

The Chromebook is different because Google has designed its operating system from the ground up to work as part of the “cloud”-that oh so nebulous term used by informed and uninformed alike to describe what is essentially a terminal. Google is moving forward by looking back to the days when terminals existed for user input, and the mainframe or server did all the work and storage. Now admittedly the Chomebook and Chrome OS are slightly more complex, but at the basic level the machine is a web terminal.

Those of you familiar with the Chrome browser will feel right at home on the Chromebook. It utilizes your Google login to grant you access, and all activities are done within that same Chrome shell. Little to no data is stored locally, and once you logout, no one else can access your profile.

I had an opportunity to sit down with one of the CR48 Beta units, and I must admit it was pretty slick. With its SSD the machine was booted up and I was logged in in under 30 seconds. Of course, you could do the same thing now with Win7 or OSX and an SSD. Chromebook also comes with built in B/G/N Wifi capability, as well as onboard 3G wireless, with 100 MB monthly at no charge through Verizon Wireless. Google has also dumbed down the updating and security processes, making them all automatic on the Chromebook. Chrome also has an increasingly large selection of apps, much like those available in iOS or Android.

Overall, for someone who is already cloud-oriented, and is looking for a moderaterly priced laptop/netbook, the Chromebook would be a decent choice. For now, I’ll chose to stick with something that allows more in the way of customization and local storage until the tech becomes more mature and full-featured.

For more information, check out http://www.google.com/chromebook/

PHP while loop with MySQL

I have been coming across a lot of “Essential Tools For Web Developers” lists lately and I noticed that they are all really extensive.  Some of them have as many as 100 tools listed!  This begs the question, “Do you understand what ‘essential’ means?”.  So here is my EXTENSIVE list of essential tools for web developers.  This is literally every essential tool you will need to develop web applications.

Web Server Software and Extensions

First and foremost, you’re going to need a web server.  If you have a web host, disregard this tool because this is essentially the service that they provide.  If you plan to run your own web server, check out WAMP for Windows and LAMP for Linux.

Text Editor

Notepad will work.  However, I would recommend getting a better one than that since it doesn’t really have any features!  There are a ton of free options.  Some people swear by Eclipse.  I prefer Notepad++ on Windows, TextWrangler on Mac, and VIM on Linux.

FTP Client

After you have created a new script or app using your awesome text editor, you will have to upload it to the web server.  Again, there are several free FTP clients out there.  I prefer FileZilla personally.  It was originally written for Windows, but has since been ported to Mac and Linux.  The Mac version can be a tad buggy from time to time but it’s super fast still and I love it!

Ummmm…yeah…that’s it.  Nothing else is needed to develop web applications.  There are lots of helpful tools out there and they should certainly be used, but they are NOT essential!

Free is an amazing word! I decided to compile a list of 100+ of the very best free apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Not all of the free apps listed work on all platforms…so make sure to look into it on your own. This list is broken down into 11 pages. Each page accounts for a software category. Feel free to leave additional free apps that you like in the comments!

Categories:

• Web Browsers
• Anti-Virus/Security
• Graphics/Photos
• Media Players/Converters/Streamers
• Bit Torrent Clients
• Programming/Development
• FTP/SCP/SSH
• System Tools
• Chat/Messengers/Social
• Archive Management
• Productivity

1. LinuxConfig.org Bash Script Tutorial

2. Mendel Cooper’s Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

3. Mike G’s Bash Programming Introduction

4. Steve Parker’s Unix/Linux Shell Scripting Tutorial

5. Vivek Gite LSST

6. IBM’s Bash By Example

7. The Geek Stuff – 5 Practical Examples

8. Going Linux – Shell Scripting Tutorials

9. USALUG – Bash Script Beginner Tutorial

10. jbsnake’s Intermediate Bash Script Tutorial

11. Linux.com – Writing a Simple Bash Script

12. HypeXR’s Getting Started With Bash

13. SiteGround – Advanced Bash Loops

14. Conditions in Bash Scripting

15. Lutus’ Bash Shell Programming in Linux

16. Advanced Bash Environment Variables

17. GNU Universal Bash Reference Guide

+1: Bash Pitfalls…How NOT to write Bash Scripts

Bash Script