Jaibreak your iPad using GreenPoison

So I finally got bitten once again by the "Jailbreak" bug but this time however it was with my iPad. I'd jailbroken my previous iPhone 3G and despite having tons of cool apps, I found my handset to be very problematic thereafter. But after chatting with a number of friends with Jalibroken iPads having no problems at all, I decided to take the leap. 

There are a few things to consider when deciding to jailbreak an iOS device like software versions, basebands, tethered or untethered and whether your device relies on an unlock. I'm not going to bore you with lengthy explanations of what exactly all this means and how they come into play when jailbreaking but I will add a link at the end of this post to help you decide which Jailbreak application is for you. My iPad is running on a 4.2.1 software with a baseband of 07.10.00 and until recently a jailbreak app for these specs was not available. The guys at Chronic Dev Team has recently released the much awaited GreenPoison RC5 which brings a full untethered Jailbreak to all iOS devices running on 4.2.1. Unlike its predecessors, GreenPoison RC5 is not complicated and is so simple that you could jailbreak any iOS device even out of the box.


The following are step by step instructions on how to Jailbreak your iPad (4.2.1) using GreenPoison:


Step 1: Download GreenPosion from the following link ... www.greenpoison.com

Step 2: Connect your iPad to your Macbook or iMac and click on "Jailbreak" as seen below.

Step 3: Follow all the on-screen instructions to enter DFU mode: 

• Press and hold the Sleep button for 2 seconds.
• Continue holding the Sleep button, then press the Home button for 10 seconds.
• Now release the Sleep button and continue to hold the Home button for 15 seconds.

Step 4: GreenPoison will now start Jailbreaking your iPad.

Step 5: Once this process is complete your iPad will successfully be Jailbroken. Now start Loader found on the home screen to install Cydia. 

And that's it! In 5 easy to follow steps your untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 is complete! Enjoy!!!

Below is a step by step video guide, compliments to the guys at RedmondPie.com 

Note: Jailbreaking is done at your own risk so make sure to backup your iPad using iTunes before attempting Jailbreak.

Associated links: 
http://jailbreak-me.info/
http://www.geohot.us/ 

U2 360 Degree Concert Tour

Last night I attended what was without a doubt the greatest concert ever!!! The last time U2 performed in South Africa was over 10 years ago and I was not prepared to miss this concert at the risk of having to wait another 10 years to see them. I am lucky enough to have a girlfriend who knows what I love and was thus suprised with U2 tickets as a Valentine's gift. 

Due to the massive crowds that were drawn in for the event I parked in Bo-Kaap at about 6:30pm and decided to do the fan walk which was the best decision by far. The fan walk was amazing, the atmosphere was exhilarating. All the coffee shops, bars and restaurants were packed to the max. The famous Cape Minstrels (Kaapse Klopse) were there as well gracing us with their presence. The ques going into the stadium were really long but kudos to the organizers because the wait was not long at all, I was definitely impressed with the way this was coordinated.

Entering the stadium was a feeling that can best be described by experiencing it, saying it was absolutely breathtaking would be an understatement. The atmosphere inside was electrifying and the claw-like 360 degree stage was a beautiful site to look at. The opening act was by the Springbok Nude Girls with Arno Carstens as the lead singer. It was really great to see a local band like the SNG open up for U2 and I have to admit that even though I don't know all of their music, they definitely brought their 'A Game'.

U2 eventually came on stage at about 9:30pm and opened up with "Beautiful Day" and they could not have made a better choice, the crowd exploded with applause and screams. The visual effects were somewhat out of this world with the claw like stage changing color at every song. Bono is such an amazing performer filled with so much energy, it was truly an honor to see him perform live. 

I have to admit that the quality of the sound was initially really bad. There was way too much bass and I could hardly here a single word Bono was saying. I assume the sound engineers picked up on this and tweeked it a bit because the sound drastically improved later on. At first I thought it was my location in the stadium, but after speaking to many others I came to the conclusion that it was definitely a slip on the part of the guys handling the sound.

Having said that I still undoubtedly had an incredible and unforgettable night. U2 sorta brought back the whole Fifa World Cup moto of "I was there!!!" Friday the 18th of February Cape Town stadium became a City of Blinding Lights!!!

BBM vs WhatsApp

So it's become evidently clear that text messaging is the preferred way of communicating. Even though people like myself who are old fashioned and still believe in actual voice calling, we have to admit that sometimes text messaging presents an easier and sometimes more direct approach. Besides the most common method of text messaging (sms), other methods have somewhat become more popular of late like Instant Messaging (IM). I remember a time years ago when IM applications like IRC were very popular and others like Skype, MSN, Yahoo and ICQ dominated the market. The downside to this was that to chat with a contact both you and the contact needed to be online via a desktop computer or laptop and also needed to be connected to the internet. As we know many things have changed since then, IM has become possible via mobile phones and there are hundreds of applications that allow for conectivity. Not to say that applications like Skype, MSN, ICQ and the rest have become obsolete but mobile phone users seem to lean more to other mobile phone specific IM applications like Blackberry's Messenger (BBM), WhatsApp, Mxit and many others.

BBM has been a favourite in the market of mobile IM applications for sometime now. BBM is an IM application specific to Blackberry users and allows for many features like unlimited character length, group chats, push notifications, sharing of pictures and videos and many more. WhatsApp on the other hand is a cross platform IM application, meaning it works with iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia, Android and other smartphone handsets. Its features are very similar to BBM and is fast becoming a popular application. Some of WhatsApp's features in addition to sending text messages are sending Multimedia (audio, photo, video) as well as Map locations. WhatsApp will also automatically scan your contact list on your phone to find friends already using the service to add to your contact list.

Below i've added a Pro's and Con's list of the two applications.

Blackberry Messenger (BBM)

Pros:
Threaded text messaging
Group chat
Custom avatars
Set status
Emoticons/Smileys
Take a picture of your friend's bar code to instantly add them to BBM
New interface design
Ability to backup contacts list remotely or locally

Cons:
Voice Notes sometimes fail to send, if not, very slow transfer rate
Pictures sometimes fail to send, if not, very slow transfer rate
Pictures must be saved to your Device Memory or Media card first before viewing
Status updates is limited to two lines

WhatsApp 

Pros:
Cross platform (works on all smartphones including Blackberry)
Automatically scans your phone's contacts to find friends using the service
Can send all multimedia (videos, photos, audio) and map locations
Includes delivered and sent items in thread
Clean interface
Set status

Cons:
No group chat
Free only for the first year, thereafter $1,99 

At the risk of sounding biased, I will have to admit that a cross platform application definitely trumps the limitation of being able to only text to contacts using the same make of handset. I myself use Whatsapp and have contacts using various smartphones. Having said that, BBM has been around for some time longer than WhatsApp thus being more popular and who knows, the developers might just add a cross platform feature. Anyways, this topic kinda stuck in my head all weekend, hence this post, so I hope you enjoyed it! 

Posted on 14th February 2011
Note: As of February the 10th, WhatsApp now allows for Group Chat.