There is a particularly nasty iPhone bug going around. Judging by the scuttlebut on the internet (and from the guy I talked to at the apple store) it is no rare occurrence, yet it doesn’t seem to be all that well known. The bug is that all downloaded applications stop working – they load up until the splash screen and then crash. Given that the iTunes applications were a major selling point of the 2.0 software, this is sort of a big deal!
From what I’ve gathered, this is a problem in the DRM signatures of the applications. They aren’t matching with the information with the phone, so they just silently fail. Evidently the information in the phone and computer you sync to can come out of sync. The silent failure is a big problem in and of itself – it sure would be nice if there was a crashlog built in where you would see “Facebook – unable to load, invalid DRM signature” or such. The other big problem is that the solution to this bug is incredibly heinous. You have to erase your phone (a 90 plus minute process on the 16GB phone, maybe it’s faster on the 8GB – but this appears to be a byte-by-byte reset of the NVRAM). Then you have to restore it as a NEW iPhone via iTunes (my roommate, stega, claims you can restore it to your backup, but I had no success with that, but the new phone image worked on the first try). Most everything you had on the phone of value – photos, contacts, music, is easily backed up to your computer such that they survive the process. But there are two things that are ONLY backed up as part of the old image – SMS conversations and Notes, and as such these are completely lost.
Furthermore, the way to avoid this bug is to not download any itunes applications via the phone, and only to do it on your computer. This is an inconvenience to say the least. The next software update is suppose to cure this but I am not holding my breath!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
1lb zucchini or other summer squash. Cut off the end ends and slice into discs about 1/4″ thick
3/4 lb potatoes cut in to 1 inch cubes
1 small to medium onion cut in half then cut in to 1/4″ thick semi circles
Grease a roasting pan or baking sheet with olive oil. You can also use a large (12″+) cast iron skillet. Spread the veg on the pan, sprinkle with salt, and drizzle with more olive oil. You can use any olive oil, no reason to use your fanciest extra virgin.
Put a few sprigs of herbs across the top. I’ve used both tarragon and rosemary, seperately. Feel free to experiment.
Roast for 1 hour. About halfway through stir the vegetable some.
When it is done, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to taste. You can also sprinkle it with some ground chipotle chili for extra kick. Serves about 4 as a side dish, or one hungry person for a vegetarian meal.
I mentioned this in a comment, but the landlord called my roommate back and said he is working on “modifying the terms of the loan.” In other words, he is trying to keep the house. I wonder why it took until foreclosure started to do that. We’re basically in a wait-and-see state. We have the URL for the auction, so we can keep on eye on that. So far there is no first bid from the bank, which is a better than bad sign.
If the house does get sold, the worst case, near as I can reckon, is we get 60 days to move out. But it could be more complicated than that, since Foreclosures Do Not Affect Rent Control Rights. My current belief is that this house is covered by rent control, but I do not have proof of that. Basically it would mean that we are safe through the end of the lease (not that much longer than the 60 days past the sale) and that they couldn’t arbitrarily evict us, or raise the rent arbitrarily. San Francisco is a weird city. There are other possibilities of what might happen as well, but the worst case is livable, I suppose – save this would make it three years in a year that I’d move, and four out of the last five.
On a brighter note, here is a cute picture of a kitten:
A notice that the house is in default and due to be auctioned on 9/29. I sort of wish this came a few days ago, so I wouldn’t have paid rent to the landlord who evidently isn’t using it to pay his mortgage. Well, we left him voicemail and email, so we’ll see what he has to say on the matter. But I am not a happy campter.
Oh yes, I have a cold too.