Back in those dark ages when the only way to add applications to an iPhone/iPod touch was to jailbreak it, one of my favorite apps was a little thing called Mobilecast. The app did one thing, and did it well: It allowed podcasts to be downloaded over WiFi or a cellphone data connection for later listening. I lost Mobilecast when I upgraded to firmware 2.0, but I wasn’t worried, as the developers had announced they were working on a new version that would be available in Apple’s App Store. However, the developer, Frank Lynch, apparently reversed course; after announcing that the beta of the new version would be available as an ad-hoc download, he instead chose to offer it via Cydia, an application installer for jailbroken iPhones.

While I don’t know for sure why Lynch changed his mind, I can hazard a guess: Apple recently killed a similar application, Podcaster, with the explanation that “it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes,” and I assume Lynch decided that skipping the App Store route altogether was the best way to get his application out the door. And he might be right. Apple’s answer to the Podcaster developer has flummoxed Apple fans and critics alike, given that a) the version of iTunes on the iPhone/touch doesn’t support podcasts, and b) the desktop version of iTunes is, well, a desktop program. The ban would be less puzzling if it was part of an overall strategy to limit bandwidth-hungry applications to avoid overtaxing AT&T’s 3G infrastructure. But, in fact, the iPhone and touch come with plenty of built-in media guzzlers, including YouTube and iTunes. And third party apps that stream audio and video have proliferated in the App Store. (Not to mention the fact that the iPhone/touch versions of Pandora and Last.fm make iTunes superfluous for many users.)

What, then, is the issue with podcatchers? At this point, I’m as confused as ever. Did Apple merely take offense at the name “Podcaster” (after all, the company forced one developer to rename a similarly tagged desktop app a while ago)? Does the company want to force users to retrieve podcasts via iTunes as a way of making sure they keep the iPod/desktop iTunes symbiosis alive (a possible solution; I rarely synced my touch when I was using Mobilecast under 1.1)? Or is Apple planning to add podcasts to the mobile version of iTunes, and is merely trying to avoid making its customers pay for something that will soon be available for free (that would certainly be a good outcome for consumers, though it’s still inconsistent, given that there are already plenty of pay apps available that compete with Apple’s free ones, including weather and note-taking tools).

Regardless, I’ve jailbroken my touch, using the idiot-proof QuickPwn application. I’ve got Cydia, Installer, the new Mobilecast beta—and access to a slew of functions that Apple, for whatever reason, has yet to offer via the App Store.
Standard disclaimer: My opinions are mine alone and not those of my employer or anyone affiliated with my employer.

Yglesias on what happens with mass foreclosures:

So the homeowners lose their homes, which is bad for them. And the banks, rather than being able to recoup the losses by taking over the properties, are left with a bunch of worthless houses, which is bad for them. And then this situation adversely affects the value of everyone else’s house in the area. And many of the foreclosed houses wind up left standing vacant, which is bad for the whole neighborhood in a whole bunch of other ways.
...
Since we know the end state will involve more-or-less the same set of people living, in the aggregate, in more-or-less the same set of houses and making, in the aggregate, lower monthly mortgage payments we ought to be able to short-circuit some of the dislocation. Have people stay in the houses they’re in right now. Adjust their monthly payments down to something they can afford, but that constitutes a better deal from the bank than what they’d be able to get by auctioning the property.

Might seem simplistic, but it’s a strong argument. Unfortunately, it’ll never happen. We’ll give $700 billion to the big banks for their mortgage junk, but won’t spare a dime for homeowners, even though, in the long run, it would actually help the homeowners, banks and the broader economy to do so.

More here.

On what happens next January if Paulson gets his way:

I’ve been pointing out that the dictatorial powers Paulson has sought would accrue to the next Treasury secretary, who might well be Phil Gramm. I’ve been trying to come up with a liberal-leaning name who might seem equally horrifying to Republicans, and the only one I’ve come up with is … me.

More here.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a legitimate scientific poll in which a value was actually zero. Until now. In an American Research Group poll on the national economy released today, one of the findings is that “No Americans say they think the financial situations in their households are getting better.” Nobody. Zero. Zip. Yes, this poll was conducted last week, as venerable financial companies crumbled and the government put together plans for a $700 billion blank check bailout plan. But zero? The pollsters couldn’t get one person on the phone who cleaned up shorting AIG? One person who just started a new job after being unemployed for six months? Nope. Nada. As everything seemed to collapse last week, the pollsters at ARG couldn’t find anyone in their representative sample of 1,100 American households who could boast that his or her personal situation was getting better. It brings to mind that old saw that frequently made the rounds during the final days of the dot-com bubble, as bottom fishers occasionally bought up the stocks of distressed companies like Kozmo.com and Pets.com for pennies. Such bargains! Unlimited upside! No, actually, even at penny-stock prices, those companies were overpriced. “It could go to zero,” was the warning from finger-wagging naysayers. It could, and it did. And now, it has again.

It drives me crazy when people use a tragedy or natural disaster to try to hawk a product. Yes, I know it’s done all the time—even by those who consider the Iraq war a “product”—but that doesn’t make it right. Here’s an example that just landed in my inbox:

Hurricane Gustav chased an estimated two million people from their homes. Fires in Southern California and Yosemite Park areas destroyed thousands of acres and burnt hundreds of homes. Floods in the Midwest swept into homes despite residents’ best efforts. Every day natural disasters take their financial and emotional toll.

So far, so fair, right? I mean, this is tug-at-the-heartstrings stuff, and if it’s part of an effort to help out the Red Cross or send help to stranded Texans, fine. But it’s not. What’s being sold here? The pitch comes a little later:

Katrina was a wake-up call for Donna to convert her old family film into digital files…just in case. Scanning 20 years of photos wasn’t something Donna found fun but she’s glad the task was done. ... Having invested so much time in digitizing her photos, Donna wanted to create a fail safe backup and archiving plan. “I found a website, [redacted] that highlighted the benefits of different archiving and backup solutions…”

That’s right. This is a press release for a backup service. Sure, backing up your photos is important; I do it all the time. But come on! It’s just a few days after Ike, and people are still trapped and dying in Galveston. And, this guy is using storms and other tragedies to pitch a backup service! It’s just loopy. No, I’m not going to post the flak’s name, or the name of his client, here. But I’m definitely adding a spam filter to my mailbox, so I can avoid seeing any more of this lunacy. And I’m going to send the Red Cross a few bucks right now, just to feel clean again after having read this stuff!

Gotta love the independent ecommerce site Democratic Stuff. While their collection of hundreds of buttons for affinity groups includes some of the typical ones you’d see on any similar site (Teachers for Obama), it also features some that are downright loopy. Many reflect musical interests, including—I am not making this up—Thereminists for Obama. Others options for microcultures include Mullets for Obama, Avant Garde for Obama, and Bug Enthusiasts for Obama. Of course, since it’s all print-on-demand, the Dem Stuff folks can be as creative as they want, since it really doesn’t matter if they actually sell any Breakfast for Obama buttons. Still, the fact that they took the trouble to design and market these speaks to the diversity that really does exist within the Democratic Party. Somehow I can’t imagine anyone on the other side trying to reach out to mathematicians, moon walkers, trekkies, roller girls, recyclers, surfers and, of course, community organizers. They appeal to a segment of the population that defines itself far more narrowly, and one that doesn’t embrace the huggers, beards, punks, environmentalists and LGBT found on Dem Stuff. Though if they want the mullets, they can have them.

Try to remember the kind of September
when life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
when grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
when you were a tender and callow fellow,
Try to remember and if you remember, then follow.

Try to remember when life was so tender
that no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender that
dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender that
love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember and if you remember, then follow.

Deep in December it’s nice to remember
although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December it’s nice to remember
without the hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December it’s nice to remember
the fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow …

- Tom Jones, The Fantasticks

No black hole, but lots of cool tributes like this one. Of course, the one good thing about falling into a man-made black hole would be that we wouldn’t have to listen to any more inanities from the John & Sarah show about lipstick on pigs.

When I worked for Sondhi Limthongkul in the early 90s, everyone thought he was well on his way to becoming the Asian Rupert Murdoch. However, Sondhi’s media empire largely collapsed in the Asian economic downturn of the mid-90s, and it turned out that Asia’s Rupert Murdoch was … Rupert Murdoch.

But Sondhi’s place in history is more than secure now that he has, quite spectacularly, played a major role in the overthrow of not one, but two, prime ministers in his native Thailand. As Asia Times Online—the web-only spinoff of a newspaper Sondhi founded—put it today, “whether one is for him or against him, media mogul and anti-government protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul has indelibly changed the course of Thai history.”

Will Sondhi’s next step be to move from angry protest leader to conventional politician? “I’m not running for office, I’m not interested,” he told Asia Times, before adding that, if he was “invited and had the power to change things,” he’d be willing to work on a panel “to reform and supervise the country” as his “final act for the country.” Something tells me Sondhi’s real final act is likely to be a long way off.

Apple’s big update today included some nice treats at just about every stage of the food chain, from the recolored shuffles to the reworked nano (bye, bye, fatty!) to an even thinner touch (32GB! Built-in speaker! My old one will be on eBay soon!). So, what was missing? Well, let’s put it this way: At an event where one of the first things Steve announced was the addition of more HD programming to the iTunes store—including the long-awaited return of NBC —the only screens he showed off on which viewers could watch that fabulous HD were about two inches (okay, the touch is 3.5 inches, but still). I don’t know about you, but I somehow find it hard to believe that you can appreciate the full impact of watching a Cylon basestar explode in glorious 720p on a 3.5-inch screen. No, what you really need to do is download that puppy to a box that can play it back on that 60-incher in your living room. Any idea where I can pick up such a box?

Anyone?

That’s right! AppleTV, Steve’s long-running, long-suffering hobby. AppleTV wasn’t mentioned once at today’s event, and if you didn’t know about it, you’d be hard pressed to find out about it from Apple. Go to the front page of Apple.com, and you’ll find the touch (with its cringe-inducing “funnest” tagline), the nano, and iTunes 8. Even the el cheapo shuffle gets a spot in the limelight. AppleTV? No way. And, of course, despite the fact that Steve rolled out new software for just about every media-savvy product Apple makes, AppleTV is still running the same old “take two” firmware. Forget about using the “Genius” function when you’re playing music on AppleTV. Oh, and the AppleTV page hasn’t been updated to show off all of those hot NBC shows. Monk, BSG, 30 Rock. Sure, Steve plugged them today. But if you’re in the market for an AppleTV, you’d never know it.

Okay, I’m done ranting. At least Apple mentioned AppleTV in their press release for iTunes 8. And tonight, I’ll be downloading some of that HD programming and watching it on a big screen in my living room. So, Steve, I’m helping you keep your hobby alive. Now, please, get out there and do something new with it!

Standard disclaimer: My opinions are mine alone and not those of my employer or anyone affiliated with my employer.