William

I still remembered playing Red Alert 10 years ago. The graphic is not as awesome as what we can have now (imagine Starcraft back then), but the story and gameplay was one of THE best.

Just select a side to play (Allies or Soviets). Then switch side to enjoy two side of the game.

Now, Red Alert 3 made the story a bit more complicated. Just that this time round, you have no nuke.

I purchased this game from one of the Mall here (Jakarta). And of course, it is pirated. Their pirated game are compiled in a very funny method (very similar to Hong Kong). If the game is a dual-layer dvd, they will break the entire images into 5 or 6 pieces. Burn the first few into 1 dvd, and fit in the rest with the second dvd.

The reason is simple, single-layer dvd is way way cheaper than dual-layer. And by doing so, they make it less friendly for many people. Save everything you have from discs to your desktop, and unrar or uncompressed them by starting with the file which name ends with “001″.

And of course, you should be using Windows to do these..

I wanted to play this game, but too skeptical about the 3D graphics performances which both Parallels and VMware had promised. So I use Boot Camp to setup a Windows. Well, after the installation is sucessful, for some unknown reason, I decided to give VMware (version 2) a shot.

It is very easy to run your Boot Camp partition using VMware. It auto-detect the boot camp partition and you can start from there. I just change a minor setting on the Memory and assign 1GB for it. Red Alert 3 need at least 1GB ram.

The result?

There is a lot of videos in RA3. This is also one of the few features that keep the players going.

On my VMware (via Boot Camp partitiion), the video is running fine. The game playing is good enough. Just make sure you don’t have anything running on your Mac that will occupy the memory and cpu resources, somehow, this will slow things down.

It used to be very diffcult, and in my personal point of view, very pointless. Not because I have to hack it so I can use with other Phone Carrier, but rather Apple’s stupid policy to stick with one.

They done it 20 years ago with their family jewel (Mac OS), sticking the Operating System only to the Computer they designed.Now, they done it again with iPhone. Just that this time round, they stick with a service provider.

The iPhone is completed. The design and everything is awesome. But I don’t see the point of working with only 1 service provider. Obviously, Apple got lots of $$$ for doing so. However, since when Apple is about making money? Many years ago, consumer and developers were their main focus.

Nevertheless, finally got my chance to jailbreak & unlock a iPhone. A few days ago, Dennis passed us (training department) his iPhone to check his camera, he could not save the photos he took with his iPhone. Even though it is our first “encounter” with iPhone, we decided to bring it further.. Dennis has nothing important, just a few pictures he took with his iPhone.

To save the pictures, all you need is “DiskAid”!

The thing about iPhone and iPod Touch is, it does not allow you to mount it as a external volume. Something you can only see with classic iPod or the Nano. With Disk Aid, you can connect it and all you need to do is to drag the folder “DCIM” onto your desktop will do. This, will back-up the photos he took.

You may download Disk Aid for FREE HERE!

Secondly, make sure you have the following ready:

1. Firmware (2.1 or 2.2) for your iPhone.

2. Pwnage Tool (latest version 2.2.1)

3. Make sure your iTunes is 8.0.2 or latest.

Once ready, go ahead:

A. Fire uo Pwnage Tool 2.2.1 and select “Expert Mode”.

B. Select your iPhone version (or iPod Touch) and click “Next”:

C. Allow Pwnage Tool to find the iPhone 2.2 OS Firmware that you had downloaded to your Mac.

D. Select the Firmwar and click “Next”.

E. Select “General Category” and click “Next”.

F. Under “General Settings”, if you have a legitimate carrier (ex: AT&T, Singtel etc), you will need to uncheck the box next to “Activate”. However if you don;t have one, you need to ensure that “Activate” is checked. This will “Hacktivate your iPhone to use other carrier services.

G. Change Root Partition size to 1000MB.

H. Keep clicking “Next” until you get back to “Build” screen. And select “Build”.

I. Click “Next” and save the custom restore file to your desktop

Example: The iPhone 3G should be named – iPhone1,2_2.2_5G77_Custom_Restore.ipsw

Wait for Pwnage Tool to build your custom iPhone Firmware file. This may take a while.

J. When asked if the iPhone has been Pwned before, choose the appropriate option. Simply follow the directions given to enter your iPhone to DFU mode.

K. Once completed, you will see “I Can Haz Success”. Then quit Pwnage Tool.

L. Fire up your iTunes, you will be told your iPhone needs to be restored, click “OK”.

M. Option+Click “Restore“

Of course, on PC you will use “Shift+Click” to do it. This is to select the firmware (in which you already downloaded to your computer). Just make sure you hold down the “Option” key on the keyboard while clicking on “Restore”.

O. You will see the following pic, just select your (restore firmware: ex The iPhone 3G should be named – iPhone1,2_2.2_5G77_Custom_Restore.ipsw) from the right location:

P. Wait and wait for your iPhone to be restored. After some waiting, you will be told that your iPhone has been restored. Just click “OK”.

Q. Disconnect iPhone after iTunes recognizes it. Then restore backup of iPhone data.

There you are.. Enjoy your jailbroken iPhone running 2.2 OS!!

Many years ago, I tried to do this on Treo 650. Installed VNC on Treo 650, connect and view my iBook. The Treo did not come with wifi built-in, so I used GPS instead. I am able, to view and control my iBook, even when I was miles away from home.

Those days, in order to do this, you need to have good knowledge on network, computers, etc. Now, everything is so easy. Even sophiscated iPhone/iPod Touch jail-breaking are made easy now (Pwnage Tool). Connecting to your PC, no longer require you to be equipped with a Diploma in Computer Networking.

From iTunes Store, you can download VNC Lite for FREE. Once you installed onto your iPod Touch (or iPhone), you may proceed to your Mac.

1. Go to “System Preferences”.

2. Select “Sharing”.

3. Check on “ScreenSharing”

You will see “Other users can access your computer at vnc://xxx.xxx.x.xx…

4. Click on “Computer Settings”.

5. You may issue a password, then click on “OK” to proceed.

On your iPod Touch (or iPhone), select VNC Lite application:

A. “Edit Connections”.

B. Choose an empty slot.

C. Enter your Mac IP address, Server Port remains 5900.

D. Enter your password which you had previously assigned (Step 5).

E. Enter the name of your computer.

F. Turn on “Mac OS X Server” to use a Mac Keyboard.

G. Turn on “Mouse with offset” to be able to use the mouse with your fingers..

Smile..

I guess no one will be surprised to see stalls selling pirated software in Jakarta. If you take a walk around Mal Ambasador or ITC Manga Dua Mal, you will see plenty of shops selling software for PC, Mac and Linux.

Well, the thing is, they took piracy to another level.

Not only they have wide and latest selections, they also have 1 or 2 rows of PC which allow you to install the game and try (to see it work, or at least you like what you see).

And recently, they upgraded their PC. They added a new iMac 20″ to allow Mac users to “try”.

Mac collections increased threefold since the last time I visited them. Now, they even have Logic 9…

Now, they save their printing (on disc) and give you stickers instead. I believe they are having some issue and now, they are burning the discs themselves. However, they are really nice to include CD stickers for your disc.

After staying in Jakarta for 7 months, I’d heard terrible stories of flooding stories in Jakarta. I was also told that the worst only strikes between Jan to Feb..

A bit skeptical about it.. But I think the threat is getting more and more real..

This is taken right beside WTC Manga Dua Mal.