Jim Lynch

There’s been a lot of talk about the “Mac Cult” or “Apple Cult” in the media. There’s even been a popular book about it called, appropriately enough, The Cult of Mac. But I’ll let you in on a little secret…there is no “cult of mac” and there’s no “apple cult” either. There is, however, a very large and powerful cult but it’s one of personality not product.

Yep, it’s the Cult of Steve Jobs and what a powerful and dangerous cult it is in its own way. The danger comes from mistaken and silly notion that Steve Jobs somehow IS Apple. Contrary to what many people seem to think, Apple is FAR more than Steve Jobs. The company is comprised of thousands and thousands of talented individuals who produce some great products.

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I’ve been online for quite a long time now…16 years or so in one way or another. So I go back way before the current iteration of online social networking existed. Yes, I’m probably dating myself by saying this but there it is: I’m a bit of an old salt as far as the online world goes at this point.I’ve been managing forums, chat, etc. for what seems like forever; online communities became a part of my life ages ago.

The real action and growth in online communities today is in social networking though, not forums. The recent explosion in social networking sites has made discussion forums seem like quaint relics of a bygone age.

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I listed 25 free apps and 8 free games in earlier iPhone software articles. But what about other utilities? Surely there has to be some additional cool freebies available in the app store?You bet there is and here they are for your downloading enjoyment!

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Since Apple has released its app store, there are quite a few games available for purchase, but why pay for games when you can get some for free instead?

Here’s a list of my favorite 8 free games for the iPhone. They run on both the iPhone 3G and the iPhone Classic (the non-3G iPhone).

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Apple has launched its app store and there’s a bunch of great stuff to download for your iPhone. But not everybody wants to spend their hard earned cash on applications so I’ve put together a list of twenty five of my favorite free iPhone applications.

Yup, that’s right…free! You don’t have to pay a dime to get these awesome applications.

Here’s my favorite 25 free iPhone applications—plus a special bonus application.

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Curses are tough things to deal with. Sometimes they take a long time to get rid of as the Red Sox know very well. The team was plagued for 86 years by the “Curse of the Bambino” and it wasn’t until 2004 that the Red Sox finally vanquished the curse by beating the lame New York Yankees. Red Sox fans everywhere rejoiced in the team’s triumph as the curse was ended and the evil Yankees were finally put in their rightful place as losers.
Red Sox Logo

In its own way Apple had to deal with an equally vexing curse: gaming. Apple has never been able to make its products into the kind of gaming successes that other companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony have been able to achieve. Macs have long been the laughingstock of the gaming world with few games being produced for them with the exception of products from Blizzard and a few other companies.

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They say it’s not nice to kick a guy when he’s down but how about kicking him when he’s retiring? Seems to me that that’s fair game. In case you haven’t noticed there’s been a lot of media coverage about Bill Gates retiring from Microsoft and quite a lot of it has been more than a little fawning. Well it’s time to set aside the fanboy accolades and cut to the truth about Bill Gates.

Bill Gates’ reign at the top of tech plunged the computing world into a new dark age that only the Internet, Apple, Google, and Linux have begun to liberate us from. 

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In my last column I pointed out why I’ve decided not to buy the new 3G iPhone. But since then new information has come to light that indicates that the 3G iPhone is ever worse than I thought initially. The 3G iPhone shouldn’t be called the second coming of the Jesus phone; it should be called the first coming of the Satan phone instead.

Given all of the hype about the 3G iPhone, some people are bound to be taken in by it and that’s why the alarm needs to be sounded about why this phone just isn’t a good deal and should be avoided by anyone who wants an iPhone.

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Well another WWDC has come and gone and this one left me somewhat disappointed. Oh sure, I thought the apps coming out for the iPhone were cool and it looks like the 2.0 software update is going to be great. I’m particularly interested in getting some fun games for my iPhone. I can’t wait to use my phone as a steering wheel and that sort of Wii-ish gaming stuff. It’ll probably be the first handheld gaming system that I ever really wanted to own.

However, the other big thing—the 3G iPhone—at WWDC 2008 was a major disappointment. My initial feeling was that I was going to buy one, mainly for the GPS feature and perhaps also for 3G (3G chipset). But I’ve since reconsidered and I don’t think I will be buying one after all. The iPhone I currently have is meeting my needs just fine for now so I think I’ll hold off.

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Microsoft has gone from being a feared technology powerhouse to being a mocked has-been and shell of its former self. The glory days of being able to run roughshod over competitors and instill a sense of terror in rivals have come to a screeching halt as competitors such as Google , Sony, and Apple  have rolled out incredible products and services that put Microsoft’s own products to shame.

But why? What’s been happening inside of Microsoft that has resulted in the former software giant becoming a pale echo of its former self? Well they say that a fish rots from the head down and in Microsoft’s case the fish’s head has been rotting and stinking up the technology world for a long time and, frankly, it’s time for him to go.

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