RTMPDump is a very powerful software to download/capture Flash streams. It’s incredibly useful for sites that don’t let you download Flash videos for offline usage. And you know what, it’s free to use (GPLv2)! RTMPDump is command line only though so if you’re looking for a nice user interface, RTMPDump may not be for you.
If you want to use the latest version of RTMPDump you need to compile it on the Mac as there’s no official version provided for Mac OS X. Compiling RTMPDump is pretty easy even though you need to modify a Makefile in order to build the binary. You also need a build environment like Apple Xcode. If you decide to download my binary of RTMPDump you can skip the next section about compiling it. The RTMPDump binary runs pretty well on Snow Leopard 10.6.4 but may not do so on earlier version of Mac OS X. Read more »

Ever since upgrading to iOS 4.0 my iPhone 3G performed like a piece of crap. I’ve seen that Apple published an iOS 4.1 beta on its iPhone developer network website and I was willing to give it a try to see if there are any performance improvements. To make it short: yes, there are. While it’s not as good as with v3.x the phone is a lot more responsive than with v4.0 or v4.0.1, without having to turn off Spotlight indexing! Let’s hope these changes make it to the 4.1 GM.

To activate iOS 4.1 beta your iPhone’s UDID needs to be registered with an Apple iPhone SDK account ($99 a year). As every account comes with 100 UDID slots for iDevices you just need to find a developer who adds your iPhone’s UDID to the beta SDK list. Some do it for free, some charge a couple of bucks to do it. I may have one or two UDID slots left in my dev account so you may want to leave a comment if you want to have your iPhone registered (please provide the UDID for the iPhone- but don’t ask me where to look it up). You also have to find the beta firmware on your own (Torrent sites may be a good place to start). Sorry, I don’t have any more UDID slots to give.

Btw. initally I tried to install iOS 4.1 beta on my iPhone 3G without a registered UDID. I used redsn0w 0.9.5b5-5, iOS 4.0, iOS 4.1 beta and iPhoneExplorer to remove the beta-tag in SystemVersion.plist. While I was able to activate my iPhone 3G that way I lost 3G/WiFi network connectivity. The problem seemed to be related to DNS. Making/taking calls, SMS worked perfectly though. This way of activating a phone most likely requires a new redsn0w version in order to work properly.

Just in case you’re running your ASUS P6T mainboard with a Windows operating system and your iPad always displays “Not Charging” near the battery icon: there’s a software based solution from ASUS, the “Ai Charger”. In addition to recharging your iPad it also claims to recharge any Apple i-device up to 50% faster than conventional USB ports do.

With the exclusive ASUS Ai Charger, all of your motherboards, and desktops become universal chargers for your iPod, iPhone and now, the new iPad. Ai Charger turns any PC into a flexible power-up station for popular Apple devices through a simple USB connector, extending their usability and benefit in every lifestyle. Charging goes up to 50% faster* and smoother while you do your work or have fun – whether at home or on the go.

Head over to the ASUS website to download Ai Charger.