iPhone tracker

In the last week, one of the bigger news hitting the Net - and I was not talking about the 1Malaysia email - was the unveiling that iPhone has been secretly recording its geolocation on the go without the user's knowledge or consent. Talk about breach of privacy.

Studying the news further, I decided to download the said software and try it for myself. And it was surprisingly easy.

First of all, head to this link. Load the software - appropriately named iPhone tracker - on the machine where the iPhone or iPad was synched. On loading, the program would search for the hidden geolocation data file and read them up. Within a few seconds, without even needing me to point the software to any target, I was presented with a map representation of the data.

I have been in JB, Langkawi and KB since I used the iPhone unit according to the program. And they were right.

Before you go all upset about the whole thing, I must point out that you must have your unit synched on the Mac for the data to be read. The program, as far as I can tell can only be run on a Mac - but I need to confirm this though. One can only read the data on the computer, so there was no chance for the data to be accessed remotely.

However, this did not explain the need for the data to be kept in the first place. One wonders who would have access to the data as I was sure, the data could be uploaded to a net server should Apple wished to do so. And when that happened, there would be no telling what it would be used for. It can be as benign as being used for targeted advertising. Or worst still can be used to profile the user as terrorist or to be uses retrospectively in the court of law. What ever it was, the fact that it was taken without consent would certainly tarnish Apple's image no doubt.

Dinner for Idlan

Believe it or not, the above snap was taken using an iPhone 4. Shows what an awesome camera it carries.

Yes, as I tweeted, we had dinner at Harrods at KLCC with my in-laws to celebrate Idlan's exam results. Sufficed to say, he did OK and Anita was really proud. They also served Irfan's favourite drink, the Fruit Punch Mocktail. And to be honest, the drink was gorgeous.

As usual, the boys had their roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. I had some sandwiches. We had a good time and more importantly, we set out early and was back home to catch the football. It just ended and United had opened a nine points lead after beating Everton. Well done Hernandes.

Sports Day

Going through the photos from the last couple of months, I realised that I did not blog about the boys' recent School Sports Day. It was held at UIA main sports stadium, on a Saturday morning I happened to be free that weekend, so I became the designated driver. I was also asked to give away the prizes for the kindergarten. Irfan happened to be one of the participants.

Getting ready for the paradeIrfan and his friendsI knew I was not fully equipped when I only turned up with my dSLRThe weather that morning was gorgeous. Too hot in fact but luckily the boys' events were amongst the first. But first, there was the serious business of marching. Both of them were involved, Irfan with his kindergarten group while Idlan was with one of the main houses, the Yellow House, Rajawali.

Usain Bolt, eat your heart out!The anchor was a bit chubby.That was why they came in only third!As usual, the marching was rather elaborate, and sometime made me wonder if that was the main event rather than the sports. A good hour passed until all the procession were done. Then, Irfan started his telematch - three games all together where everybody ended up with prizes. Idlan participated in the 25m x 4 relay. He came third and missed out on the medals. That became the main topic of talk for the rest of the day since Irfan returned with a medal. Idlan said it didn't count as it was me who gave the medals away. He kept asking me if I have any extra.

We did not stay the full event. By the time their events were done, it was already close to 11. We left for lunch at The Curve instead.

Blue Ray. Woot!

Earlier in the week, we stepped into Jusco and they were doing some sales. The DVD player - a RM200 job from 2 years back - went kaput, courtesy of my boys manhandling. Suffice to say, I was on a hunt for a new unit.

While having a look, I stumbled across a Blue-Ray player by LG going for a buck under RM400. Well, it should do the job. So far, I have bought 3 Blue-Ray discs, and Tron would be the next. Some of the special edition and bundled discs - such as the Shrek Quadrology and the Lords of the Ring Trilogy - looks really enticing. Time to start a collection I guessed.

To jog?

The weather was right gloomy and I woke up, I was contemplating whether to go for my weekly jog or to give it a miss and to do a run later in the afternoon.

Last night, Puan Anita bought a set of new trainers and clothes to join me for a jog. At 7.30, she was still asleep. Hmmm! I might as well watch some TV then. And hope it wouldn't be raining later in the day.