20 Oct 09 How To Jailbreak An iPhone 3G S
Back in the early days of iPhone jailbreaking, things weren’t exactly easy. Jailbreaking my first generation iPhone took the better part of a few hours, running command line scripts and ensuring that you had the correct files for your particular baseboard or flavor of OS.
I’m happy to say that this time around, it’s a whole lot easier!
First off, jailbreaking, not to be confused with unlocking, is the process of breaking the chain of trust within the iPhone, giving it the ability to run unsigned and unapproved apps. While jailbroken phones are often unlocked as well, allowing them to function on any GSM carrier (not just AT&T), one does not need to unlock the phone to take advantage of a plethora of useful apps.
Jailbreaking the iPhone via Pwnage Tool will not only give it the ability to run unsigned apps, but will also install the Cydia package management system (think unofficial App Store, if you will). You can the install and/or uninstall tons of apps, extensions and add-ons to your iPhone directly over the air.
Step 1: Back-up Your iPhone
This seems rather self-explanatory, but it’s best to back up your content and media before attempting a jailbreak. This takes on an extra level of importance due to the fact that we will have to add the content back to the phone once we have jailbroken it– and it’s always best to work from a recent back-up to ensure you aren’t missing any recently added content.
Step 2: Download Pwnage Tool
The iPhone Dev Team has long been known for tackling each new firmware revision and developing a handy tool to facilitate both jailbreaks and unlocks. An international collection of developers and hackers, the Dev Team maintains an updated blog with troubleshooting information, FAQs and news about upcoming changes to the iPhone firmware. If you are interested in unlocking/jailbreaking iPhones, it’s definitely your one-stop shop.
To put this question to rest early, Pwnage Tool is only available for Mac. So if you’re a Windows user and you don’t know a Mac owner, this would be a great time to make a new friend.
Unofficial download mirrors:
Once downloaded, you can run Pwnage Tool and you should be presented with a screen similar to the one pictured. You should note that Pwnage Tool offers you a few different modes to choose from, depending on your level of comfort or desire to customize. 
That said, about 85% of users are probably going to want to opt for “Simple Mode” as it will ask you a series of simple questions to expedite the configuration of the jailbreak.
It’s important to note that Pwnage Tool will jailbreak and/or unlock phones. So if you need your iPhone to work on say, T-Mobile, make sure you answer “No” when the tool asks if your phone “would activate normally”. Once you have answered the prompts from Pwnage Tool, it should begin to create a custom installer file (IPSW) file that will replace your existing iPhone OS. In the event that Pwnage Tool cannot locate the previous version(s) of the iPhone OS (which are traditionally stored on your computer), it may prompt you to supply one. In this rare case, search Google for the most recent IPSW, noting the version number in your search.
Step 3: Apply The Custom Install File Via iTunes
When Pwnage Tool has finished performing its magic, your iPhone has yet to be changed. In order to apply the custom IPSW we built using Pwnage Tool, we must now restore from iTunes.
Pwnage Tool should have placed your phone into recovery mode (see image). In the event that Pwnage Tool does not launch recovery mode on your phone, or you faced an error and had to turn back, follow these directions to activate recovery mode.
With the iPhone in recovery mode, connecting it to iTunes should yield this message.
While the iPhone is connected, you should see a button for “Restore”. Option-click “Restore” (Shift-click on Windows). This should provide you with a file selection box which allows you to select which firmware you would like to load on to the device. Select the custom firmware bundle we created via Pwnage Tool, which more than likely resides on your desktop.
Once iTunes has installed the custom IPSW, you should note that your music, videos, apps and accounts are have been removed from the phone– no worries. Simply restore from your last back-up. It may take up to 20 minutes depending on the amount and size of the media you are transferring back to the phone.
After your phone’s media has been restored and the restart has completed, simply find the newly-installed Cydia app and start downloading unapproved apps!
That’s it! Happy jailbreaking!
13 Oct 09 You’re Due For A Rant, Palm
One of these gals wants to sell you a Palm Pre, the other already knows you don’t want one.
OK, Palm, I didn’t want to have to tell you this way, but your commercials really suck– stop trying… seriously. I’m not sure if you were going for Borg, Minority Report Precog or a combination of both, but someone should have stepped in and stopped that train wreck before it aired nationally every 60 seconds.
To put it in perspective, if the smartphone world was a boy band you would be Chris Kirkpatrick. Who’s that, you ask? Exactly.
The numbers sum it up best. In 2000, your stock traded at up to $669 a share while today it trades for just over $11, prompting Time to call you one of the 10 biggest tech failures of the last decade. Quite the achievement.
Furthermore, you went on to hack iTunes and then cried about it to the USB board when Apple closed the loophole. So I can’t say anyone has a great deal of sympathy for you.
That said, your commercials are painful and the otherworldly vibe isn’t very inviting. Moreover, what the hell is she talking about? I guess wherever she comes from a synced calendar and address book equate to a religious experience. She must have had a Razr before.
Watch Agatha the Precog get all deep and stuff
Yeah, yeah, the schnozberries taste like schnozberries, we get it. If you found that her riveting diatribe shook you to your core and made you question life and reality as you know it, then I’m willing to bet that the Hannah Montana movie resides somewhere near the top of your list of life changing events.
I can only hope that Palm will run out of money for ad campaigns soon.
Tags: Minority Report, Palm, Pre, Rant
13 Oct 09 My iPhone Groom’s Cake
IMPORTANT NOTE: For greater appreciation and a good laugh, check out San Francisco Weekly’s 6 Saddest iPhone Cakes first.
I recently got married and my amazing wife had a fantastic iPhone groom’s cake made for me. There’s no doubt about it– it was definitely a huge hit!
Also, I learned that clever cakes, photo booths and crab cakes are all major crowd favorites. Plan accordingly.
Not knowing what to expect, I had a feeling that my groom’s cake would be Xbox related, but I was super surprised to find the best iPhone cake I’ve ever seen.
The cake was created by Puff ‘N Stuff in Orlando, Florida and was amaretto flavored with a vanilla cream icing.
Tags: cake, groom's cake, iPhone, wedding
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