The powerful Vim text editor is a longstanding favorite amongst developers and sysadmins, and now it has been ported over to the iPad and iPhone. The version for iOS is full featured, including automatic indentation, visual mode, language-aware syntax highlighting, integrated scripting capabilities, macro recording and playback, place markers, multiple clipboards, and much more.

• Download Vim for iOS free from the App Store

If you already use Vim, you’re well aware of the advantages, if you haven’t used Vim or you never bothered to learn it’s intricacies, it can seem confusing and rather foreign. I’ve never been a huge fan of VI or Vim myself, but for those who like the text editor this should be a great app to add to their iOS repertoire.

Due to the difficulty of touch typing at any length, it’s recommended to use a Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad or iPhone if you plan on using the Vim for anything lengthy.

Another option when enabling zoom in OS X Lion and other newer Mac OS X versions is to use a smaller floating zoom window, rather than zooming into the entire screen. This allows you to zoom into screen elements using a small zoom window that hovers over screen elements, kind of like a virtual magnifying glass.

This is an accessibility feature but it’s useful for many Mac users. Additionally, some users may prefer this to the full-screen enlargement offered in the broader zoom trick, we’ll show you how to enable this feature in MacOS and Mac OS X.

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As recently as 2002, most of Apple’s products were manufactured in the USA. What happened? Why is nearly everything, from Macs to iPhones, made in China now? The New York Times provides an in depth report on Apple’s move overseas, and it’s not as simple as you might think.

It isn’t just that workers are cheaper abroad. Rather, Apple’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that “Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most Apple products.

If you enjoyed the “Mr Daisey and the Apple Factory” podcast, you’ll probably enjoy reading this too, as it sheds some light on the business decisions driving factories like Foxconn. Here’s an example on the challenge Apple faced when hiring skilled engineers in the USA vs China:

Apple’s executives had estimated that about 8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers eventually involved in manufacturing iPhones. The company’s analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine months to find that many qualified engineers in the United States. In China, it took 15 days.

The lengthy read also includes several anecdotes about Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, as well as plenty of quotes from other unspecified current and former Apple executives. If you’re interested in Apple and Apple history, don’t miss it.

Read New York Times: How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

Modern versions of Mac OS X include a great tool called tmutil that lets you interact with with Time Machine from the command line. It’s a powerful utility that has a ton of options, and we’ve used it before to disable local snapshots, but for the purposes here we are going to use tmutil to compare Time Machine backups and list changes between the compared backups.

Launch the Terminal from /Applications/Utitilities/ and let’s get started.

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The Greenpois0n Absinthe A5 jailbreak utility for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on iOS 5 has been updated to version 0.2, and now includes a Windows release alongside the Mac OS X version.

In addition to bringing the jailbreak to Windows PC’s, the new version aims to resolve some of the earlier database problems, white screen errors, and white icon errors that some users encountered during the process. If you had problems with the first version of Absinthe and gave up on jailbreaking, try again with this version. If you’re already jailbroken, you don’t need to bother and this version doesn’t offer any changes to you.

Instructions on how to use Absinthe A5 for jailbreaking are the same for both Mac and Windows PC’s, and continue to only support A5 hardware, including iPhone 4S with iOS 5.0 or iOS 5.0.1, and iPad 2 with iOS 5.0.1.

Download Greenpois0n Absinthe A5 Jailbreak v0.2

• Download now – Mac OS X
• Download now – Windows

After the jailbreak has finished on the device, if you hit an error remember to enable VPN from Settings > Network to cause the reboot.

Simple desks are often the best, with nothing unnecessary to distract you from getting things done. This nice nearly wireless reader submitted Mac setup comes to us from Roland C. Sure there’s a power cable for the iPhone and probably for the MacBook Pro too, but the rest of this is uncluttered joy. Here’s what’s featured in the shot:

• Macbook Pro 13″
• iPhone 4s
• Wireless Keyboard
• Magic Mouse
• Apple Remote

Thanks for sending this in Roland! Send in your desk shots to: osxdailycom@gmail.com

Apple’s free interactive book creation app iBooks Author was just released, allowing for anyone to make multi-touch iBooks for iPad. Unfortunately it’s officially for Mac OS X 10.7 only, and if you try to install it on Snow Leopard, you’ll get an error message. With a little work we can get around that error message and install and run iBooks Author in Mac OS X 10.6.8.

This is not supported by Apple, although the app appears to work fine and if you just want to explore the application it’s more than enough. If you plan on publishing with iBooks Author, you should use OS X Lion though.

• From the Mac OS X desktop, hit Command+Shift+G and enter /System/Library/CoreServices/
• Locate SystemVersion.plist and make a backup copy of it to the desktop
• Launch the Terminal and type the following:

sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

• Locate the keys ProductUserVisibleVersion and ProductVersion and change their strings from “10.6.8” to “10.7.2”
• Hit Control+O to save the file
• Now launch the Mac App Store and find and download iBooks Author
• After iBooks Author is finished downloading – do not launch it yet, instead open /Applications/ and find the app, then right-click on it and choose “Show Package Contents”



• Now open the folder “Contents” and locate and open “Info.plist”, you can use nano or your favorite text editor
• In Info.plist, look for “LSMinimumSystemVersion” and change the accompanying string from “10.7.2” to “10.6.8” and safe the file
• Almost done! Now go back to the SystemVersion.plist file and open it again:

sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

• Locate keys ProductUserVisibleVersion and ProductVersion again, but change their strings from to “10.7.2” back to “10.6.8”
• Save SystemVersion.plist
• Launch iBooks Author

The iBooks Author icon will probably keep it’s strike through it, but the app opens fine and everything seems to work. You may also need to upgrade to iTunes 10.5.3 if you want to sync the iBooks to an iPad.

Some users with the new Greenpois0n Absinthe jailbreak for A5 hardware are encountering a database error when they are at the end of their jailbreak and trying to launch Absinthe on the device itself. If you see the “Error establishing a database connection” at this stage in the process, it’s easy to fix:

• Launch “Settings” and tap on “Network”
• Tap on VPN and turn to “ON” and ignore the error
• Reboot the device
• Launch Absinthe again

Alternatively, you can just wait it out. The error is due to a massive amount of users trying to access the Greenpois0n server.

You’ll know Absinthe works because you won’t see the error and instead it will load Cydia, finalizing the jailbreak. Thanks to Rizwan on Facebook and @pod2g for pointing this fix out on Twitter.

If you’re confused, follow our guide on using Absinthe to Jailbreak iPhone 4S & iPad 2

Another tip from @planetbeing:

Toggle VPN only AFTER Absinthe says it’s done, or it will not work. VPN SHOULD error and then reboot soon. If it does not, rerun Absinthe!

The newly released and highly anticipated Absinthe A5 jailbreak is the first public jailbreak for iPhone 4S users and the first jailbreak for iPad 2 with iOS 5. If you’ve been waiting for an untethered jailbreak for either device with iOS 5, this is it, and it’s very easy to use. Absinthe is compatible with iPhone 4S or iPad 2 running the following iOS builds:

• iPhone 4S iOS 5.0 – build 9A334, iOS 5.0.1 builds 9A405 or 9A406
• iPad 2: iOS 5.0.1 – build 9A405

Backup your iOS device before proceeding, you can do this manually with iTunes.

Jailbreak iPhone 4S or iPad 2 on iOS 5 using Absinthe

• Download Absinthe A5 tool – (Mac OS X) (Windows)
• Connect the iPhone 4S or iPad 2 to the computer
• Launch Absinthe and click on “Jailbreak” and let the device sit and run the jailbreak, this may take a while



• When the jailbreak is finished, you’ll see an Absinthe icon on the home screen, tap on that to load the Greenpois0n site and download Cydia

The device is now jailbroken. This is a fully untethered jailbreak, meaning you can reboot at will without the need for boot assistance from an application or computer.

Troubleshooting: If you see an “Error establishing a database connection” error during the process, just wait it out and try again, or start a VPN tunnel through Settings > Network > VPN > ON (via @pod2g). The Absinthe Greenpois0n servers are swamped by the initial demand but things should even out shortly.

The hotly anticipated jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is finally here, providing an untethered jailbreak for either A5-based device running iOS 5.0.1. Put together by the Chronic Dev Team who are known for making Greenpois0n, the utility is called Absinthe A5 and it is hot off the presses.

Backup your iPhone or iPad before using Absinthe! This is an early release jailbreak and could have some bugs to iron out still.

Download Absinthe A5

• Download now – (Mac OS X)
• Download now – Windows
• Download now – Linux (soon)

A Linux version will be released shortly and we’ll update when links are available.

Not sure what to do? Read our guide on how to jailbreak iPad 2 or iPhone 4S with Absinthe for iOS 5.0.1, it’s very easy.

Specific compatibility with Absinthe is as follows:

• iPhone 4S: iOS 5.0 (9A334) and both builds of iOS 5.0.1 (9A405, 9A406)
• iPad 2 Wi-Fi, GSM, CDMA: iOS 5.0.1

Again, this is for A5 CPU hardware only, other devices can jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 with Redsn0w.

The Dev Team warns iPhone 4S users who want a software unlock to stay on iOS 5.0 or build 9A405 of iOS 5.0.1. There is no expected release of an accompanying software unlock.

You can monitor disk activity in Mac OS X by using the Activity Monitor app or several command line tools. Activity Monitor is the easiest and most user friendly, but the Terminal options allow further information to be retrieved.

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Apple has posted an hour long video of todays education event held in NYC. The event saw the unveiling of iBooks Author, iTunes U app for iOS, iBooks 2.0, iBook Textbooks, and later lead to the release of iTunes 10.5.3 for compatibility with the new releases.

A great way to learn about Apple’s latest creations, the video is a must watch for publishers, teachers, authors, or anyone who just wants to keep on top of all things Apple.

• Watch the Apple Education Event online
• Download the Apple Education Event video from iTunes

Heads up to MacStories for first finding the post on Apple.com

Apple has released iBooks Author, an easy to use app for Mac OS X that lets anyone create interactive multi-touch books for the iPad, these can be published on the iBookstore or iTunes U and offered as free or paid titles.

iBooks Author should be a big hit with both small and large publishers, teachers, and anyone else who wants to become a published eBook author. While the original aim is the educational market, made obvious by all six templates being textbooks, iBooks Author really has much wider appeal and could very well start an independent iPad book publishing craze on the iBookstore just like the App Store did years ago for apps. I’ve been playing around with the app all morning and it really is nice, with surprisingly powerful tools put into a simple to use interface.

iBooks Author is a free download and requires Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later and iTunes 10.5.3 or later:

• Download iBooks Author from the Mac App Store

One unfortunate obstacle for publishing that is beyond Apple’s control: ISBN numbers. ISBN’s are a series of numbers sold by a monopolistic organization who charges a highly inflated $125 for a single number, or sells them in packages at $1000. These numbers required to sell a book through the iBookstore (or anywhere else for that matter). Other than that, there are no fees attached, but Apple does take their customary 30% of each book sale to provide the iBooks service and store.

If you’re interested in the iBooks publishing program, don’t miss the iBooks Author Gallery and check out Apple’s FAQ on the matter.

iTunes 10.5.3 has been released, the update includes support for the new iBooks 2 and iTunes U initiatives on iOS, and allows syncing of interactive iBooks to an iPad. The download weighs in around 100MB and overall it’s a fairly minor iTunes update, but it’s worth downloading to keep on top of things, and it may be required for the next iOS update.

Download iTunes 10.5.3

There are three ways to get the latest iTunes:

• Download from Apple
• Get it through Software Update
• Update through iTunes

Downloading from Apple is the best way to get the update at the moment, with iTunes not yet informing all users that the update is available.

The installation notes are brief, focusing on iBooks:

iTunes 10.5.3 allows you to sync interactive iBooks textbooks to your iPad. These Multi-Touch textbooks are available for purchase from the iTunes Store on your Mac or from the iBookstore included with iBooks 2 on your iPad.

iBooks textbooks are created with iBooks Author — now available as a free download on the Mac App Store.

Stacks are a Dock feature in Mac OS X which allows for an easy way to see the contents of Applications, Documents, Downloads, and whatever other folder placed into the Dock. There are a few different ways to view the Stacks, which appear on the right side of the Mac Dock, like grid, automatic, list, fan, etc. This trick will allow you to quickly change the icon size of those icons when in the “Grid” view of Stacks.

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Have an older generation iPhone 3G or 2G? If so, you’re stuck on older legacy iOS versions with limited features and sluggish speeds. But not anymore with Whited00r, which installs a custom iOS build on the device to help bring it into the modern age.

Whited00r 5.1 is basically an unofficial custom made iOS build that includes many of the iOS 5 features and has been optimized to run on the older hardware. With Whited00r, you’ll get multitasking, wallpapers, folders, and variations of Reminders and Newsstand, and it’s claimed to be much faster than the default iOS 4 installations that drag the iPhone 3G down. Unfortunately there’s no Notification Center, and you will also lose the native App Store, meaning to install apps you’ll have to use iTunes or Safari. If the trade offs are worth it to you, installing Whited00r is very easy for anyone familiar with using IPSW files.

Installing Whited00r 5.1 on iPhone 3G/2G & iPod touch 1G/2G

This works for iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G, iPod touch 1g and 2g. Backup the iOS device beforehand, and proceed at your own risk:

• Download the appropriate version of Whited00r from here
• Unzip the custom IPSW package to somewhere easy to find
• Launch iTunes and hold down Option (Mac) or Shift (Windows) and click on “Restore”, now select the Whited00r IPSW you just downloaded
• Let the process continue and the iPhone will reboot on it’s own

After the iPhone has rebooted, do not restore from a backup, instead select to set up a new device. This is recommended to avoid any conflicts.

This video demonstrates the speed of an iPhone 3G running Whited00r 5.1 compared to an iPhone 3GS running iOS 5:
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Apple has provided another beta build of OS X Lion 10.7.3 to developers, just a week after the last build 11D42. The areas of focus remain the same, iCloud Document Storage, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight and Safari, but has no known issues and the quick turnaround for a new build suggests the final release is imminent.

11D46 weighs in around 1GB for the delta update, and 1.3GB for the combo. Both can be downloaded by registered Mac developers from the Dev Center.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the OS X 10.7.3 public release showed up sometime this week, maybe even tomorrow after Apple holds their education event in NYC.

All versions of Mac OS X from Lion onward (meaning Mountain Lion, Mavericks, etc) can display messages that require acknowledgement prior to the standard login screen appearing on a Mac. For administrators, this allows a user agreement or acceptable use policy to be displayed before users can login, and for personal use it lets users include a customized message before logging into a Mac.
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