iOS5 Untethered Jailbreak

So last night, after months of not having had a jailbroken phone (since the update to iOS 5) I took the step to jailbreak the phone. The motivation behind this was the release of the untethered jailbreak this week, courtesy of the iPhone-Dev team and @pod2g.

Supported devices are:

• iPhone 4 (GSM – CDMA)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPod touch 4G
• iPod touch 3G
• iPad 1

It was not without some issues.

There are some steps you need to take before you begin:

1. First off, to jailbreak the phone, you need to download Redsn0w ver. 0.9.10b3 for Windows or for Mac
2. Download the IPSW for iOS 5.0.1 for your specific device. This page has a list of IPSW’s for the different models.
3. Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes.
4. Make sure you are on the 5.0.1 version of the iOS. (Settings->General->About->Version
5. BACKUP YOUR PHONE

Now that you have all of the items you need, here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Connect your device to the computer you have it partnered with and hold the power key down until the slider to shutdown the device.
2. Launch Redsn0w
3. Click on Extras->Select IPSW->Select the one you want.
4. Go back to the main screen and click the Jailbreak button
5. Make sure the “Install Cydia” box is ticked
6. Click Next
7. Make sure your device is bot turned off and plugged into your computer before you get to the next step
8. At the next step, you need to put the device in DFU mode. Follow the steps on screen.
9. Once this is complete (it takes a bit of time), you will see a Cydia icon on the screen. Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a jailbroken phone.

What next? Check out my earlier blog post on what to do after you jailbreak your device.

Happy New Year and A Resolution (or two)

Haven’t been posting in a while, primarily because work has been crazy busy. Also because just as most families in this time, we are filled with kids activities, adult activities, travel, conferences, holidays, blah, blah, blah.

I hope that all of you had a good holiday and here’s to a great 2012, regardless of what the Mayans say.

I only have one resolution this year and that’s to live a healthier and greener lifestyle. I figure if I make the resolution broad enough, then I can claim success even if I am only able to make an incremental improvement in my lifestyle.

So, one change we are making is to eat as per the new health guidelines, using whole grains, more veggies, more fruit and less sugar. So far, the biggest issue is keeping enough fruit and veggies in the house to accomodate the kids’ appetite. Zachary had four apples (!) as a snack on Sunday (not all at once). We also switched to brown rice. This was most difficult for me. after all, growing up in Asia, white rice was all we ever used. Rice cookers do not work with brown rice, they work better with plain old white rice.

So those small incremental changes will be accompanied by a slight change in our shopping habits. In an effort to reduce recycling and trash, we want to try to get as close to a zero waste kitchen as possible.

I found this great site, http://thezerowastehome.com/ which tries to limit the huge amount of crap we throw out every day. I am pragmatic enough to know, especially with a child with allergies, that we will not be able to achieve true zero waste (the need to have soy milk and soy yogurt comes to mind); nevertheless, any step towards that goal will be helpful.

OK, maybe I have another resolution. I will try to post at least once a week on the blog, even if it’s just a link.