Ausound

pPerhaps the story of the iPhone could appear as a feature on the teevee show #8220;Modern Marvels.#8221;/p
pMy tenor is somewhat sarcastic, for as I am writing, my iPhone is, and for very nearly the past month, has been nothing more than a chic lovely paperweight./p
pI have a 32GB iPhone 3G which I purchased at a #8220;race horse#8221; price #8211; $150. It was refurbished. It had not even one scratch on it, and was brand-spanking, shiny new when I peeled the protective plastic off the screen./p
pIn short order, I unlocked and jailbroke the 3.1.2 OS phone using blackra1n, which is a free/no-cost tethered jailbreak #8211; meaning it must be attached to the computer during the process. The baseband is 5.11.07./p
pTo clarify, #8220;unlock#8221; refers to span id=more-1380/spanallowing the phone to work on another cellular network carrier, while #8220;jailbreak#8221; refers to the unharnessing of the computer side of the device, allowing it to do the really kewl things it has the ability to do. (emstrongspan style=text-decoration:underline;*More on this anti-consumer philosophy in a later entry/span/strong./em)/p
pThe much-wiser Apple Computer folks (I write in sarcasm), prevented the phone from doing many features that most computer uses take for granted, such as Bluetooth file transfer, the ability to download and save files in a location of your choosing, customizing the keyboard, command line interface in a #8220;Terminal#8221; command style using Unix type commands, improved text messaging, phone call/text message management, and more./p
pI had been enjoying using the iPhone, though I found what I thought were particularly annoying shortcomings/faults of the device, such as opening to alpha input when creating an address (every address I#8217;ve ever seen first has a number, then a name), although most of which Apple Computer created as an inherent crippling of the powerful pocket-sized, computing device./p
pFor those unaware, the iPhone is a Unix-style computer platform with a lovely Graphical User Interface (GUI) married with a cell phone. While the two functions can be separated and differentiated, the really kewl part of the iPhone is that they are not./p
pEspecially interesting is a new iPhone application (app) from the Apple store #8211; apps from the App store#8230; kinda#8217; cute, ain#8217;t it? #8211; which has some phenomenally groundbreaking implications./p
pA new product called #8220;Line2#8221; which is a VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) application that allows the user to make telephone calls over a WiFi network with phenomenal reception, even indoors, where ATamp;T#8217;s cellular coverage is often weak, and can turn an iPod Touch into a full-blown cellphone. The app costs $1.00 from Apple#8217;s app store, and service from the Line2/Toktumi company is $15.00/monthly./p
pBut back to the unlock/jailbreak aspect./p
pOne evening, I noticed that the springboard crashed, though an extension installed through the Cydia app actually prevented a total crash. Cydia is repository app for unlocked/jailbroken (UJ) iPhones which hosts software/apps that run only on UJ iPhones, and provides a no-cost back-up service #8211; particularly useful if an Apple #8216;upgrade#8217; fouls your iPhone, even if you don#8217;t unlock/jailbreak./p
pAfter restarting the iPhone, I noticed that Apple#8217;s resident WiFi connection wasn#8217;t connecting with the local WiFi network, and used another app #8211; eWiFi #8211; to connect. The free application eWiFi (by eFUSION Co., Ltd.) can even find hidden networks, and is #8211; in my opinion #8211; a superior product to Apple#8217;s resident WiFi connectivity. Thinking all was well, I went to sleep that evening. Next morning, I proceeded to check e-mail as I usually do, and noticed the same problem was recurring. After trying numerous #8220;work-arounds#8221; with no success, I eventually chose the #8220;Reset Network Settings#8221; option as a last resort./p
pAfter choosing that option, a restart was required. It was then that problems began./p
pThe iPhone then went into a continuous, recovery-mode loop./p
pI#8217;ve downloaded various tools #8211; iRecovery, com.Semaphore.Umbrella, Pwnage Tool, and more, and operated most with varying degrees of success, but none have been able to break the vicious recovery-loop mode cycle./p
pI am patiently reluctant to move to Apple#8217;s 3.1.3 upgrade, which, according to all other UJ developers, is no upgrade at all, and actually may prevent iPhone owners from getting their iPhones UJ./p
pWhat is curious to me, is why Apple Computer (which Jay Freeman, aka #8220;Saurik#8221; refers to as the #8220;overlord#8221;) feels compelled to FORCE something upon me which I DO NOT want. Even more curious, is why Apple Computer doesn#8217;t want iPhone owners to modify their own, personal property, and goes to great effort to make such modifications difficult. Ford Motor, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler and others neither forbid, nor attempt to forbid their customer base from modifying their own personal property. In fact, there are thriving secondary/after market and modification markets that cater to those automobile owners. (emstrongspan style=text-decoration:underline;*More on this anti-consumer philosophy in a later entry/span/strong./em)/p
br /In the beginningbr /In 1895, John M Studebaker#039;s son-in-law Fred Fish urged for development of #039;a practical horseless carriage#039;. When, on Peter Studebaker#039;s death, Fish became chairman of the executive committee in 1897, the firm had an engineer working on a motor vehicle.:p.66 At first, Studebaker opted for electric (battery-powered) over gasoline propulsion. (See main article Studebaker Electric (automobile).) But in those days there was no future for a slow car dependent on heavy, primitive batteries. While it attempted to manufacture its own electric vehicles from 1902 to 1911, the company entered into body-manufacturing and distribution agreements with two makers of gasoline powered vehicles, Garford of Elyria, Ohio, and the Everett-Metzger-Flanders (E-M-F) Company of Detroit. Beginning in 1904, Studebaker began making gasoline-engined cars.br /br / Garfordbr /Under the agreement with Studebaker, Garford would receive completed chassis and drivetrains from Ohio and then mate them with Studebaker-built bodies, which were sold under the Studebaker-Garford brand name at premium prices. Eventually, vehicles with Garford-built engines began to carry the Studebaker name. Garford also built cars under its own name and, by 1907, attempted to increase production at the expense of Studebaker. Once the Studebakers discovered this, John Mohler Studebaker enforced a primacy clause, forcing Garford back on to the scheduled production quotas. The decision to drop the Garford was made and the final product rolled off the assembly line by 1911, leaving Garford alone until it was acquired by John North Willys in 1913.br /br / E-M-Fbr /Studebaker#039;s marketing agreement with the E-M-F Company was a different relationship, one John Studebaker had hoped would give Studebaker a quality product without the entanglements found in the Garford relationship, but this was not to be. Under the terms of the agreement, E-M-F would manufacture vehicles and Studebaker would distribute them through its wagon dealers.br /br /The E-M-F gasoline-powered cars proved disastrously unreliable, causing wags to say that E-M-F stood for Every Morning Fix-it, Easy Mark#039;s Favorite and the like.:p231 Compounding the problems was the infighting between E-M-F#039;s principal partners, Everett, Flanders and Metzger. Eventually in mid-1909, Everitt and Metger left to start a new enterprise.:p88 Flanders also quit and joined them in 1912 but the Metzger Motor Car Co could not be saved from failure by renaming it the Flanders Motor Company.br /br /Studebaker#039;s president, Fred Fish, had purchased one-third of the E-M-F stock in 1908 and followed up by acquiring all the remainder from J. P. Morgan in 1910 and buying E-M-F#039;s manufacturing plants at Walkerville, Ontario, Canada, and across the river in Detroit.br /br / Studebaker marque establishedbr / br /Studebaker Speedster 1916 br / br /Studebaker Touring 1916 br / br /Studebaker#039;s Big Six Touring Car, from a 1920 magazine ad. br / br /1928 Studebaker GB Commander crossing the continent of Australia on unmade roads in 1975 br / br /Studebaker Phaeton br / br /A UK-imported right-hand-drive 1936 Studebaker 4-door sedan br / br /1938 Studebaker Bus br / br /Studebaker badge on cars produced from 1912ndash;1934 br /br /In 1911, it was decided to refinance and incorporate as the Studebaker Corporation. The company discontinued making electric vehicles that same year.:p.71br /br /After taking over E-M-F#039;s facilities, Studebaker sought to remedy the customer dissatisfaction by paying mechanics to visit each disgruntled owner and replace defective parts in their vehicles, at a total cost of US$1 million. The worst problem was rear-axle failure. Hendry comments that the frenzied testing resulted in Studebaker#039;s aim to design #039;for life#039;mdash;and the consequent emergence of quot;a series of really rugged cars… the famous Big and Special Sixesquot;.:p231 From that time, Studebaker#039;s own marque was put on all new automobiles produced at the former E-M-F facilities as an assurance that the vehicles were well built.br /br / Engineering advances from WWIbr /The 1913 six-cylinder models were the first to employ the important advancement of monobloc engine casting which became associated with a production-economy drive in the years of World War I. At that time, a 28-year-old university graduate engineer, Fred M. Zeder, was appointed chief engineer. He was the first of a trio of brilliant technicians, with Owen R. Skelton and Carl Breer, who launched the successful 1918 models, and were known as quot;the Three Musketeersquot;.:p234 They left in 1920 to form a consultancy, later to become the nucleus of Chrysler Engineering. The replacement chief engineer was Guy P. Henry who introduced molybdenum steel,:p236 an improved clutch design and presided over the six-cylinders-only policy favoured by new president Albert Russel Erskine who replaced Fred Fish in July 1915.:p234br /br /John M Studebaker had always viewed the automobile as complementary to the horse-drawn wagon, pointing out that the expense of maintaining a car might be beyond the resources of a small farmer. As a result, the manufacture of horse-drawn vehicles was not wholly ceased until Erskine ordered removal of the last wagon gear in 1919.:p.90 To the cars, Studebaker added a truck line, which later replaced the horse-drawn wagons. Buses, fire engines and even small rail locomotives were produced using the same powerful six-cylinder engines.br /br / First auto proving groundbr /In 1925, the corporation#039;s most successful distributor and dealer Paul G Hoffman came to South Bend as vice-president in charge of sales. In 1926, Studebaker became the first automobile manufacturer in the United States to open a controlled outdoor proving ground on which, in 1937, would be planted 5,000 pine trees in a pattern that spelled quot;STUDEBAKERquot; when viewed from the air. Also in 1926, the last of the Detroit plant was moved to South Bend under the control of Harold S Vance, vice-president in charge of production and engineering. That year, a new small car, the Erskine Six was launched in Paris, resulting in 26,000 sales abroad and many more in America.:p.91 By 1929, the sales list had been expanded to 50 models and business was so good that 90 per cent of earnings were being paid out as dividends to shareholders in a highly competitive environment. However, the end of that year ushered in the Great Depression which saw many layoffs and massive national unemployment for several years.br /br / Plant facilities in the mid-#039;twentiesbr /Studebaker#039;s total plant area was 225 acres (0.91 km2), spread over three locations, with buildings occupying seven-and-a-half million square feet of floor space. Annual production capacity was 180,000 cars, requiring 23,000 employees.:p237br /br / South Bendbr /The original vehicle plant continued to be used for small forgings, springs and making some body parts. Separate buildings totalling over one million square feet were added in 1922-23 for Light, Special and Big Six models. A total of 5,200 bodies were in process at any one time. South Bend#039;s Plant 2 made chassis for the Light Six and had a foundry of 575,000 sq ft (53,400 m2), producing 600 tons of castings daily.:p236br /br / Detroitbr /Plant 3 made complete chassis for Special and Big Six models in over 750,000 sq ft (70,000 m2) of floor space. Plant 5 was the service parts store and shipping facility, plus the executive offices of various technical departments.:p236 All of the Detroit facilities were moved to South Bend in 1926.:p.91br /br / Walkerville, Canadabr /Here, at Plant 7, complete cars were assembled from South Bend, Detroit and locally-made components for Canadian and British Empire (right-hand-drive) trade. By siting it there, Studebaker could advertise the cars as quot;British-builtquot; and qualify for reduced tariffs.:p237br /br / Impact of the 1930s depressionbr /span style=font-size: 200%; line-height: normalFew if any industrialists were prepared for the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. Though Studebaker#039;s production and sales had been booming, the market collapsed and plans were laid for a new, small, low-cost carmdash;the Rockne. But times were too bad to sell even cheap cars. Within a year, the firm was cutting wages and laying off workers, but not quickly enough. Erskine maintained faith in the Rockne and rashly had the directors declare huge dividends in 1930 and 1931. He also acquired 95% of the White Motor Company#039;s stock at inflated price and in cash. By 1933, the banks were owed $6m, though current assets exceeded that figure. Instead of reorganizing in receivership, Erskine committed suicide, leaving it to successors Harold Vance and Paul Hoffman to trade the company out of the bad times.:p.96-98/spanbr /This they did. By December 1933, the company was back in profit with $5.75m working capital and 224 new Studebaker dealers.:p.99 With the substantial aid of Lehman Brothers, full refinancing and reorganization was achieved on 9 March 1935. A new car was put on to the drawing boards under chief engineer Delmar quot;Barneyquot; Roosmdash;the Studebaker Champion. Its final styling was designed by Virgil Exner and Raymond Loewy. The Champion doubled the company#039;s previous-year sales when it was introduced in 1939.:p.109br /br / World War IIbr /From the 1920s to the 1960s, the South Bend company had originated many style and engineering milestones, including the Light Four, Light Six, Special Six, Big Six models, the record-breaking Commander and President, followed by the 1939 Champion. During World War II, Studebaker produced the Studebaker US6 truck in great quantity and the unique M29 Weasel cargo and personnel carrier. After cessation of hostilities, Studebaker returned to building automobiles that appealed to average Americans.br /br / Post-WWII stylingbr / br /1948 Studebaker M16 52A Truck br / br /Studebaker 4-Door Sedan br / br /1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner, showing the streamlined design of the 1950s Studebaker. br / br /Even as financial difficulties continued to mount in 1963, Studebaker offered a full range of models, including the Avanti, Hawk, Wagonaire and Lark-based Cruiser, Commander, and Daytona convertible. br /br /Studebaker prepared well in advance for the anticipated post-war market and launched the slogan First by far with a post-war car. This was substantiated by Virgil Exner#039;s designs, notably the 1947 Studebaker Starlight coupeacute;, which introduced innovative styling features that influenced later cars, including the flatback quot;trunkquot; instead of the tapered look of the time, and a wrap-around rear window. Exner#039;s concepts were spread through a line of models like the 1950 Studebaker Champion Starlight coupe The new trunk design prompted a running joke that one could not tell if the car was coming or going.br /br /Ballooning labor costs (the company had never had an official United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and Studebaker workers and retirees were among the highest paid in the industry), quality control issues, and the new car sales war between Ford and General Motors in the early 1950s wreaked havoc on Studebaker#039;s balance sheet.:p254-255 Professional financial managers stressed short-term earnings rather than long-term vision. There was enough momentum to keep going for another ten years, but stiff competition and price-cutting by the Big Three doomed the enterprise. There was also a labor strike at the South Bend plant in 1962.br /br / Hamilton, Ontario plantbr /See also Studebaker Canada Ltd.br /br /On August 18, 1948, surrounded by more than 400 employees and a battery of reporters, the first vehicle, a blue Champion four-door sedan, rolled off of the Studebaker assembly line in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The company was located in the former Otis-Fenson military weapons factory off Burlington Street on Victoria Avenue North, which was built in 1941. Having previously operated its British Empire export assembly plant at Walkerville, Ontario, Studebaker settled on Hamilton as a post-war Canadian manufacturing site because of the city#039;s centrality to the Canadian steel industry.br /br / Merger with Packardbr /span style=font-size: 200%; line-height: normalFrom 1950, Studebaker declined rapidly and, by 1954, was losing money. It negotiated a strategic takeover by Packard, a smaller but less financially troubled car manufacturer. However, the cash position was worse than it had led Packard to believe and, by 1956, the company (which had been renamed Studebaker-Packard Corporation, was nearly bankrupt, though it continued to make and market both Studebaker and Packard cars until 1958. The quot;Packardquot; element was retained until 1962, when the name reverted back to quot;Studebaker Corporationquot;./spanbr / Contract with Curtiss-Wrightbr /A three-year management contract was made with aircraft maker Curtiss-Wright with the aim of improving finances. C-W#039;s president, Roy T. Hurley, attempted to cure Studebaker#039;s ruinously lax employment policies. Under C-W#039;s guidance, S-P also sold the old Detroit Packard plant and returned the then-new Packard plant to its lessor, Chrysler. The company became the American importer for Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and DKW automobiles and many Studebaker dealers sold those brands as well. C-W gained the use of idle car plants and tax relief on their aircraft profits while Studebaker received further working capital to continue car production.br /br / Exit from auto businessbr /In 1963, in an effort to curtail heavy losses, the second Studebaker Corporation consolidated all automobile operations by placing them under its Canadian division, which had always been profitable. This decision resulted in a doubling of the Hamilton plant#039;s production from 48 vehicles per day to 96 through the addition of a second shift.br /br /Studebaker announced the shutdown of its last car factory on March 4, 1966. Assembly line production concluded on March 16 of that year with the completion of a turquoise Lark cruiser. The closure adversely affected not only the plant#039;s 700 employees, who had developed a sense of collegiality around group benefits such as employee parties and day trips, but the city of Hamilton as a whole; Studebaker had been Hamilton#039;s tenth largest employer.br /br / Non-auto activitiesbr /By the early 1960s, Studebaker had begun to diversify away from automobiles. Numerous companies were purchased, bringing Studebaker into such diverse fields as the manufacture of tire studs and missile components.br /br /The company#039;s 1963 annual report listed the following divisions:br /br /Clarke - Floor Machine Division, Muskegon, Michiganbr /CTL[disambiguation needed] - Missile/Space Technology Division, Cincinnati, Ohiobr /Franklin[disambiguation needed] - Appliance Division, Minneapolis, Minnesota (home office; other locations also in Minnesota, Iowa and Ontario)br /Gravely - Tractors Division, Dunbar, West Virginia and Albany, Georgiabr /International - South Bend, Indiana (handled business matters for all divisions doing business overseas)br /Onan - Engine/Generator Division, Minneapolis, Minnesotabr /STP - Scientifically Treated Products Division, Des Plaines, Illinois and Santa Monica, Californiabr /Schaefer - Commercial Refrigeration Division, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Aberdeen, Marylandbr /Studebaker of Canada - Automotive Manufacturing, Hamilton, Ontariobr /SASCO - Studebaker Automotive Sales Corp., South Bend, Indiana, Closed and liquidated 2009.br /Studegrip - Tire Stud Division, South Bend, Indiana, Jefferson, Iowa and Minneapolis, Minnesotabr /The Franklin Appliance Company manufactured home appliances such as refrigerators until its sale to White Consolidated Industries .br /br /Having built the Wright R-1820 under license during World War II, Studebaker also attempted to build what would perhaps have been the largest aircraft piston engine ever built. With 24 cylinders in an quot;Hquot; configuration and a bore of 8 in (203 mm) and stroke of 7.75 in (197 mm), displacement would have been 9,349 cubic inches (153.20 L), ergo the H-9350 designation. It was not completed.br /br /span style=font-size: 200%; line-height: normalStudebaker subsidiaries also manufactured STP automotive additives, Gravely power lawn and garden implements, Onan Electric generators, and Clarke floor machines./spanbr /The automobiles that came after the diversification process began, including the ingeniously-designed compact Lark (1959) and even the Avanti sports car (1963), were based on old chassis and engine designs. The Lark, in particular, was based on existing parts to the degree that it even utilized the central body section of the company#039;s 1953-58 cars, but was a clever enough design to be quite popular in its first year, selling over 130,000 units and delivering an unexpected $28.6 million profit to the automaker.br /br /However, Lark sales began to drop precipitously after the big three manufacturers introduced their own compact models in 1960, and the situation became critical once the so-called quot;senior compactsquot; debuted for 1961. The Lark had provided a temporary reprieve, but nothing proved enough to stop the financial bleeding.br /br /Despite a sales uptick in 1962, continuing media reports that Studebaker was about to leave the auto business became a self-fulfilling prophecy as buyers shied away from the company#039;s products for fear of being stuck with an quot;orphanquot;. By 1963, all of the company#039;s automobiles and trucks were selling very poorly. After continued poor sales of the 1964 models and the ousting of president Sherwood Egbert, the company announced the closure of the South Bend plant on December 9, 1963, and produced its last car in South Bend on December 20. The engine foundry remained open to supply the Canadian plant until the end of the 1964 model year, after which it was also shuttered. The Avanti model name, tooling and plant space were sold off to Leo Newman and Nate Altman, who owned a Studebaker dealership in South Bend. They revived the car in 1965 under the brand name quot;Avanti IIquot;. (See main article Studebaker Avanti.) They likewise purchased the rights and tooling for Studebaker#039;s trucks, along with the company#039;s vast stock of parts and accessories. Trucks ceased to be built after Studebaker fulfilled its remaining orders in early 1964.br /br /Automotive production was consolidated at the company#039;s last remaining production facility in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where Studebaker produced cars until March 1966 under the leadership of Gordon Grundy. It was projected that the Canadian operation could break even on production of about 20,000 cars a year, and Studebaker#039;s announced goal was 30,000-40,000 1965 models. While 1965 production was just shy of the 20,000 figure, the company#039;s directors felt that the small profits were not enough to justify continued investment.br /br /Rejecting Grundy#039;s request for funds to tool up for 1967 models, Studebaker left the automobile business on March 16, 1966 after a turquoise and white Cruiser sedan rolled out through the door, the last of fewer than 9,000 1966 models. In reality, the move to Canada was a method by which production could be slowly wound down and remaining dealer franchise obligations honored.br /br /span style=font-size: 200%; line-height: normalMany of Studebaker#039;s dealers either closed, took on other automakers#039; product lines, or converted to Mercedes-Benz dealerships following the closure of the Canadian plant./spanbr /Studebaker#039;s General Products Division, which built vehicles to fulfill defense contracts, was acquired by Kaiser Industries, which built military and postal vehicles in South Bend. In 1970, American Motors purchased the division, which still exists today as AM General.br /br /Studebaker#039;s proving grounds were acquired by its former supplier, Bendix Corporation, which later donated the grounds for use as a park to the St. Joseph County, Indiana, parks department. As a condition of the donation, the new park was named Bendix Woods. The grove of 5,000 trees planted in 1937 that spelled out the Studebaker company name still stands and has proven to be a popular topic on such satellite photography sites as Google Earth . Today, the former proving ground is owned by Robert Bosch GmbH and it continues to be active some 80 years after it was built.br /br /After the final closure, Studebaker continued to exist as a closed investment group, with income derived from wholly owned subsidiaries. The policy of diversification had resulted in acquisition of companies such as Schaefer, which made commercial refrigerators, STP, which made automotive oil treatments, Gravely Tractor, Onan Electric Generators, Clarke Floor Machine and Paxton Automotive, making automobile superchargers. There was even a commercial airline, Trans International Airlines, founded by Kirk Kerkorian.br /br /After 1966, Studebaker and its diversified units were acquired by Wagner Electric in 1967. Subsequently, Studebaker was then merged with the Worthington Corporation to form Studebaker-Worthington. The Studebaker name disappeared from the American business scene in 1979, when McGraw-Edison acquired Studebaker-Worthington. McGraw-Edison was itself purchased in 1985 by Cooper Industries, which sold off its auto-parts divisions to Federal-Mogul some years later.br /br / Others seek to perpetuate the Studebaker namebr /A series of vehicles was manufactured and identified as Studebakers by the purchasers of the Avanti brand and surplus material from Studebaker at South Bend. (See article section on Avanti II and XUV.)br /br /There is a web site for Studebaker Motor Company that claims to hold the rights to manufacture future vehicles using the name quot;Studebakerquot; (obtained after the name had reverted back to the public domain). This quot;newerquot; Studebaker Motor Company plans to revive the automotive company by producing a new line of vehicles (also scooters and motor cycles). The company is currently in the planning and prefunding stages. However, the website has not been updated since June 2008.br /br / Corporate survivorbr /span style=font-size: 200%; line-height: normalThe remains of the auto maker still exist as Studebaker-Worthington Leasing, a subsidiary of Main Street Bank - Kingwood Texas, which provides leasing services for manufacturers and resellers of business and industrial products./span a href=http://www.motors.co.uk/cheap-Mercedesmore…/a