Oliver Siodmak's Rants & Raves

To Steve Jobs,

Of the millions of people in the world who in some way have touched me – you will alway be someone whom without you ever knowing it has had a tremendous positive impact on my life and my career.  Through your vision, drive and unwillingness to compromise you have inspired me.  Through the products you developed at Apple you showed me that it is OK to lead instead of follow. To think differently and to want more from yourself and those around you.  You demonstrated through your example that if you believe in what you are doing and continue to encourage yourself and others to keep trying, you can accomplish great things!  I will always look upon your contribution to the human race and raw strength from your example.

Thank you Steve for being an inspiration to us all.

Sincerely,

Oliver Siodmak

It’s hard to believe but in only 3 short days the Fox Sports Mobile app my IBM team and I developed for Fox is now the #1 Free Sports app in the Apple App Store – displacing ESPN!  Additionally — the app continues to receive exceedingly high ratings from new and existing users!  If you haven’t downloaded the app yet, check it out at http://itunes.com/foxsportsapp.

Additionally, the app is now appearing as #118 of all the free apps in the App Store!

UPDATE:  App is now #99th in the Top Free Apps category in the App Store!

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

I just wanted to let you know the exciting news that the Fox Sports Mobile v2.0 iPhone app my team and I developed for Fox Sports Interactive Media went live last night.  This FREE sports app provides you access to a wealth of news, scores, video, team and player profile data and an endless supply of stats for over 14 different sports categories.  The app also allows you to follow your favorite teams and customize the presentation of sports.  Can’t go to the game or watch it on TV .. then follow the plays live under Gametrax with play by play summaries and stats!

The app was a custom development effort built using the Apple iOS SDK by resources from IBM Interactive & IBM Digital Media. You can download the app using the following URL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fox-sports-mobile/id294056623?mt=8

If you already have the Fox Sports Mobile app installed, an update will be downloaded for you when you click on updates in iTunes on your Mac, PC or on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

The app is free so if you have access to an iPhone (or iPad) please check it out.  I am also encouraging you to share this email with all your employees, colleagues and family members so they can check out the app as well!

Thanks & enjoy!

OJS

P.S. – For all you DROID fans, an Android version of the app is currently under development and will be released in the 1st Qtr 2011.

Interested in getting a MacBook Pro as a first your first laptop or a second machine as a backup? I just posted my MacBook Pro 15.4″ 2.33 GHz for sale on eBay (Auction #250467093464).

This MacBook Pro 15.4″ 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo has been my primary work machine for the past 1.5 years. I have upgraded both the RAM (3 GB) and hard drive (320 GB). Original display and both batteries were replaced 3 months ago under AppleCare warrantee.

The MacBook Pro specifications are a MacBook Pro 15.4″ 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/:

• 3 GB RAM
• 320 GB Hard Drive
• Dual Layer Super DVD Drive
• Built-in iSight Camera
• Built-in 802.11n Airport Extreme (WiFi)
• Built-in BlueTooth (v2.1.6g8)

Package also includes:

• 2nd battery w/ black battery carrying case
• Mac OS X Leopard installed (disks not included) and upgraded to 10.5.7
• Original restore DVDs
• Apple iLife ’09 installed (disks not included) and upgraded with latest updates
• Original Box and documentation
• Applecare TechTools disk
• Remaining AppleCare service (coverage expires on 11/25/09)
• Speck “see-thru” hard shell case (plastic case that protects your Mac)
• Marware leather wrist rest

The machine is in great condition but does show signs of being used; Command, Shift and N keys are slightly worn, exterior case shows some scratches.

AppleCare coverage includes telephone and in-store Apple Genius hardware and software support.

Reason for selling: Recently upgraded to 17″ MacBook Pro

Check out the auction on eBay (Auction #250467093464)

One of the features I normally implement on my Mac .. especially my MacBook Pro .. is the firmware password. By activating the firmware password you prevent someone from rebooting your mac using an external drive or forcing your machine into “firewire” mode which allows then to use your mac as a large hard drive.


While this doesn’t prevent someone from ripping open your machine and stealing your hard drive, it does prevent the casual thief from trying to steal files off of your machine while you are at lunch.


Unfortunately, not all Firmware Password Utility programs from Apple are the same. And with the release of Leopard 10.5, you have to know the secret to where the utility file is located. After a heart stopping experience (A.K.A. using the wrong utility from an old Start-Up Disk), I was able to learn the double-secret hidden location of the file and how to use the utility.


Before you attempt to apply this password on your machine, I strongly recommend that you read Apple Knowledge-base article #106482.


While the information I am providing here provides new information (from Apple Support) on locating and implementing the Apple Firmware Password Utility for Intel-based machines running Leopard 10.5, the article does provide a thorough of the program. I have no doubt Apple will be updating the #106482 article at some point in the near future.


Let’s get down to it. You’ve decided that implementing a firmware password on your machine is a good thing.


You will need the following items:

• Intel-Based Mac with Leopard 10.5 installed
• Leopard 10.5 Installation DVD
• Access to an Administrator account on the machine

Implementation steps:

1. Boot the Mac and log into the Administrator account
2. Load the Leopard 10.5 DVD in the DVD drive
3. Once the DVD loads, go to the Finder
4. From the GO menu pull-down, select “Go to Folder …”
5. When the Go To Folder dialog box appears, enter “/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/Applications/Utilities/”
6. When the Finder window appears, scroll down the list until you see a program called “Firmware Password Utility”
7. Drag this file to your /Applications/Utilities directory on your Macintosh HD (or whatever you call your primary hard drive)
8. Navigate to the /Applications/Utilities directory and run the “Firmware Password Utility” program
9. The dialog box that appears with describe what this utility will do and warn you that you must be using an account with Administrator capabilties to run this program.
10. Click the “Change” button
11. A new dialog box will appear allowing you to activate the firmware security and set a password following dialog box will appear
12. To activate the utility, mark the “Require password to change firmware settings” check box and enter a password
13. As with any administrative password on your system … Don’t Lose It!

 

I will warn you that while the dialog box for this utility is simple, it is very powerful. Once the Firmware password is in place you can not boot of a CD or an alternate drive unless you have the Firmware password.


Read the above referenced Apple Knowledge-base article carefully.


Best of luck .. hope you found this helpful.