Category: General

One-Click Jailbreak for iPhone 1.1.3 Firmware

Paul

1.1.3jailbreak.png

Last week I detailed how to jailbreak your iPhone to the 1.1.3 firmware using Windows- or Mac-based applications and walking through a fairly long process. If that process was a bit too daunting for you, the Jailbreak Dev Team has released a one-click solution that you simply install through Installer.app. To use it, you need to have a jailbroken 1.1.2 iPhone (here’s how to do that), then it’s simply a matter of tapping the install package and waiting about 20 minutes for the entire process to complete. Before installing, make sure you’ve set your Auto-Lock feature to Never, are connected to a Wi-Fi network (it downloads a 200MB image), and you’ve got at least 300MB of free space on your iPhone. Finally, check to make sure you’ve got the latest version of Installer.app before proceeding.

I haven’t tried this method yet, but it should be scads easier than the previously posted method. As always, remember that things can go wrong, so proceed with caution. If anything does go wrong, check the panic section of this page to restore your phone to the 1.1.1 firmware and try again. As far as I know, this method will still require you to manually enable the Faux-GPS feature. Also, rumor has it that the current jailbreak method may mess with the upcoming third-party apps (though one would assume you could always downgrade and start fresh if you needed to)

This is for the IPhone people who want to jail break the newest version and use it for you own. Use at your own risk though, I will not be responsible for any damages to the Iphone. I do however want to hear if this works or not?

Get Informative File Tooltips with InfoTag Magic

Paul

infotag-magic.pngWindows only: Freeware application InfoTag Magic adds useful file information to the Windows mouse hover tooltip to give you a better idea of what’s going on inside the file you’re looking at without requiring you to open it up to find out. As you can see in the screenshot, for example, InfoTag Magic displays an MP3’s metadata so that even if a song doesn’t have an informative filename, you can still get a preview of what’s inside. Likewise, InfoTag Magic will preview the first seven or so lines of a text file when you hover over it. Infotag Magic is freeware, Windows only.

InfoTag Magic [via FreewareGenius]

[Via LifeHacker]

This is a useful item for people who have several MP3’s that need more information. I am going to try it out for myself.

The IE7 auto-rollout: fact and fiction

Paul


News is spreading that on February 12, Internet Explorer 7 will be flagged for “automatic installation” through Windows update. Microsoft has published a knowledgebase article detailing the push, but there’s plenty of misinformation out there stemming from flawed understandings of what the article actually says. In short, the Windows world isn’t about to be forced to upgrade to IE7 (although with few exceptions, the Windows world probably should upgrade from IE6 to something else, be it IE7, Firefox, or Opera).

What’s happening: come February 12, Microsoft will release IE7 as an “Update Rollup” to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). By treating IE7 as an “update roll-up,” the package can be pushed from Microsoft to WSUS without a WGA antipiracy check. This, you may recall, stems in part from a decision Microsoft made last year to treat IE7 more like a critical security update than an application update.

[Via Arstechnica]

I thought people would like to Know about the IE 7 Forced install. I know I’m having to prevent that in some systems in my company!!

Make Firefox more responsive!! (Tweak)

Paul

Type about:config into the Firefox address bar, and then filter by the following:

content.switch.threshold

Most likely the key doesn’t exist yet, so you’ll have to set it by right-clicking in the empty area and selecting New \ Integer. Use these values when prompted:

  • Key Name: content.switch.threshold
  • Key Value: 1000000

The default value is 750000, or 3/4 of a second. The more time that you tell Firefox to wait before resuming high priority mode, the more responsive the application will feel… but it will obviously take a little longer to load the pages. You could reverse this if you were more worried about speeding up page load time.

[Via How-to-geek]

I’ve had trouble with Firefox with non-responsive webpages this might actually help. Thought people would like this little tip!!

Spammer sues Anti-Spammer and Wins!!

Paul

Anti-spam activists often need to do quite a bit of hunting to track down the real identity of various spammers. Over the years, spammers have become increasingly adept at hiding from those trying to shine light on their activities. However, when one well-known anti-spammer used some standard whois and DNS lookup tools (the same kind many of us use every day) to find out the identity of a spammer, the spammer sued him… and won! The anti-spammer has to pay over $60,000 in fines, and possibly much more once lawyers’ fees are added up. The judge ruled that some rather basic tools suddenly constituted “hacking” even though the details don’t suggest any actual hacking. The anti-spammer simply used the tools available to get the information necessary. He didn’t need to break through any security or do anything malicious to get the info. If you read the ruling, it sounds like a judge could define plenty of perfectly normal online activities as “hacking.” Update: There’s a good discussion in the comments, suggesting that there’s a lot more going on here than is clear from the article itself. The judge’s finding of facts suggest that the anti-spammer did some questionable things, including lying and ignoring an injunction — which certainly hurt his case. However, others are suggesting that the judge’s finding of facts are incorrect and there’s much more to this story that will come out on appeal.
[Via TechDirt]

Now this really boils my blood. I haven’t read the comments, but I will later on today. I don’t know what the judges are thinking these days? Do they even have internet access at home to even understand this process. I think this will turn out to be a big thing in the appeals court. I know I will be interested in the decision there.