Cold Bike ride!
So, Michelle's Grandma fell and broke her hip in early August, but the plan was still to have her b-day party as planned. That all changed when she got an infection and had to stay in the rehab facility. We decided to go to Calgary anyway and just have a weekend for ourselves.
The original plan was to take the bike if the weather cooperated, so we figured we would still plan for that. As the weekend approached the weather looked to be cold and rainy. I figured we would just take the car and not worry about it, but Michelle wanted to take the bike anyway. Away we went!
The trip down on Thursday after work was not too bad. No rain, just cold. 5c on the highway is pretty cold on a bike, but we made it.
Friday was zoo day and it was not a bad day. Again there was no rain, so the day worked out. I took a ton of photos and will upload them to my facebook soon.
Saturday we took a trip out to Canmore via the 1a as it is a nice ride on the bike. Michelle loved the road as it is nice and windy with nice scenery. We had lunch in Canmore at the Grizzly Paw. I had a Bison burger and a Moose Knuckle Stout. Yummy! When we got back to Calgary we went to the rehab hospital to see Grandma and have some b-day cake. After that we went to a friends place for a BBQ. Long day, but we had a great time.
Sunday we stopped out at Cochrane to look at Grandma's computer then headed home. It was raining and cold all day. I found out the hard way that my boots and gloves are not designed for wet weather. It was a LONG day as we had to stop a bunch of times to warm up.
While the trip was cold, it was nice to get out on the bike for another long trip. It won't be much longer before I have to park it for the winter. :(
This coming weekend is supposed to be nice with temps up to 24c. There is a Santa's Anonymous Toy Ride scheduled for Sunday that I will probably participate in, so that should be nice. Hopefully we can get a bit of a ride in on Saturday too...have to wait and see how things progress I guess.
That's about it for now...
Just some random thoughts that noone in their right mind would ever care to read...for the rest of you, enjoy!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The month of August
So...Fragapalooza was to be the highlight of my summer vacation again this year, and once again it didn't disappoint. Not only did I have a blast, but we had a ton of power issues on our first day that caused us to have to actually shut things down for 12 hours while we attempted to fix everything. What a cluster****. Beyond these problems, the event went pretty well. The venue was awesome and everyone ended up having a good time. What more can you ask for?
The next big thing was Michelle's birthday. We always go to the Fringe as she likes to get a Henna and a hair wrap. No hair wrap this year, but she did get her Henna. We also saw a booth where they do a caricature drawing and thought it would be perfect to have one done for our party. $25 lighter we had a great picture.
Speaking of our party, I spent WAY more than I expected to. The food was more, the decorations more and the costumes more. However, it was a really fun time so in the end it was all worth it. The Murder Mystery was a great time and you can look at some photos here.
The next thing to come along will be my birthday and then our 5th wedding anniversary. After that we have a trip to Calgary planned for Grandma's 90th birthday. Maybe then things will slow down a bit! LOL
In other news, I have put almost 7000km on my bike since June. I ride that thing whenever I get the chance and am really enjoying it. It doesn't hurt that Michelle loves going for rides too! Hopefully the weather will stay nice for a while yet as I am not ready to put it away.
That's it for now...don't stay tuned as these updates are too infrequent...
The next big thing was Michelle's birthday. We always go to the Fringe as she likes to get a Henna and a hair wrap. No hair wrap this year, but she did get her Henna. We also saw a booth where they do a caricature drawing and thought it would be perfect to have one done for our party. $25 lighter we had a great picture.
Speaking of our party, I spent WAY more than I expected to. The food was more, the decorations more and the costumes more. However, it was a really fun time so in the end it was all worth it. The Murder Mystery was a great time and you can look at some photos here.
The next thing to come along will be my birthday and then our 5th wedding anniversary. After that we have a trip to Calgary planned for Grandma's 90th birthday. Maybe then things will slow down a bit! LOL
In other news, I have put almost 7000km on my bike since June. I ride that thing whenever I get the chance and am really enjoying it. It doesn't hurt that Michelle loves going for rides too! Hopefully the weather will stay nice for a while yet as I am not ready to put it away.
That's it for now...don't stay tuned as these updates are too infrequent...
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
So, our trip to Bonnyville was pretty good. We did take the bike and managed to get everything we needed for the weekend in the saddle bags and in one medium duffel bag that we tied to the back of the sissy bar.
The ride there was cloudy and a bit windy, but there was no rain. Always a bonus when traveling anywhere by motorcycle! We checked into the hotel then headed out to the cabin for the party.
It is a really small world...Michelle knew a bunch of people there. Some from when she was growing up, some from her work and some from the Folk Fest. Strange how that works eh? After talking to one couple for a while I found out that he grew up in the same town as I did, and was in the same class/year as my brother. Small world!
We ate too much, drank too little (can't drink when riding the bike) and I was relaxing on the front porch when I heard my name being called over the PA system. Kathleen's brother is a stage hypnotist and was apparently about to put on a show. Seeing as I have been hypnotized before they wanted me in the show. I reluctantly agreed.
As it turns out, I was the ONLY one who got hypnotized, so I WAS the show. Apparently I am a Barbie Girl, I can teach Irish Dancing, I can't do the Twist but I can dance like Cyndi Lauper. I am a gentle but firm Spiderman, swear when I lose the winning Lotto Max ticket and kissed a ton of people. At least Joe was nice and kept the show clean! LOL
The ride home was looking to be perfect on Sunday. Not a cloud in the sky. We stopped in Vegreville at my friend's place for a BBQ and when we were leaving the storms had come. Almost the whole ride was in the rain. Oh well...the windshield on the bike kept us pretty dry actually so it wasn't bad.
Any excuse to ride...another 500km on the bike! :)
The ride there was cloudy and a bit windy, but there was no rain. Always a bonus when traveling anywhere by motorcycle! We checked into the hotel then headed out to the cabin for the party.
It is a really small world...Michelle knew a bunch of people there. Some from when she was growing up, some from her work and some from the Folk Fest. Strange how that works eh? After talking to one couple for a while I found out that he grew up in the same town as I did, and was in the same class/year as my brother. Small world!
We ate too much, drank too little (can't drink when riding the bike) and I was relaxing on the front porch when I heard my name being called over the PA system. Kathleen's brother is a stage hypnotist and was apparently about to put on a show. Seeing as I have been hypnotized before they wanted me in the show. I reluctantly agreed.
As it turns out, I was the ONLY one who got hypnotized, so I WAS the show. Apparently I am a Barbie Girl, I can teach Irish Dancing, I can't do the Twist but I can dance like Cyndi Lauper. I am a gentle but firm Spiderman, swear when I lose the winning Lotto Max ticket and kissed a ton of people. At least Joe was nice and kept the show clean! LOL
The ride home was looking to be perfect on Sunday. Not a cloud in the sky. We stopped in Vegreville at my friend's place for a BBQ and when we were leaving the storms had come. Almost the whole ride was in the rain. Oh well...the windshield on the bike kept us pretty dry actually so it wasn't bad.
Any excuse to ride...another 500km on the bike! :)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Motorcycle Trips
So...in the past 2 weeks I have put on over 2000kms on my motorcycle. YAY!
The first 1200km was a weekend trip with some friends. 2 of us rode to Hinton on a Friday to meet up with the other guys who were coming from Grande Prairie. The 4 of us (with a 5th following in a car) then rode to Jasper where we spent the night.
Saturday we rode the Icefield Parkway from Jasper to Banff. We made a bunch of stops along the way to check out some of the sights, as well as rest. The ride was AMAZING but at one point it did hit 8c, though when we were riding by the glacier it felt a LOT colder than that.
Sunday we left Banff and headed home. At Canmore we veered off and took the 1A to Cochrane, which was an amazing ride in itself. From there we headed home.
It was a long 3 days of riding, but worth every second. Of course, the day after we get home my new seat arrived. Even after doing 1200km in 3 days I still had to test out the new seat. 150km later I can say that the new seat is worth every penny.
One thing I didn't have for this trip was a windshield. After fighting the wind for 1200km I knew I had to have one. Subtract another $350 from my bank account and that problem has been resolved.
This past weekend Michelle and I went on our first bike trip together. We did a "Giants of the Prairies" tour and hit 5 of the "giants" - Pumpkins, Mushrooms, Perogi, Easter Egg, Sausage.
The ride started out with rain, but we had our gear on and were prepared for the worst. It was a super long day, but it turned into a beautiful evening and we had a blast. The new seat held up nicely for Michelle, so again...worth every penny. I look forward to more day trips like that one!
Photos for both of these trips are on my Facebook page. I may upload them to my Shutterfly page, so I will update the blog if I do with the address.
Next weekend, we are to go to Bonneyville for a wedding reception. If the weather is even remotely nice, we will be taking the bike again so I can look at putting another 600km on it.
I have to say...I am sure enjoying my mid-life crisis. I put a lot of money into it, but I plan on getting a TON of enjoyment out of it, so it will be worth it.
Keep the shiny side up and your right hand cranked!
The first 1200km was a weekend trip with some friends. 2 of us rode to Hinton on a Friday to meet up with the other guys who were coming from Grande Prairie. The 4 of us (with a 5th following in a car) then rode to Jasper where we spent the night.
Saturday we rode the Icefield Parkway from Jasper to Banff. We made a bunch of stops along the way to check out some of the sights, as well as rest. The ride was AMAZING but at one point it did hit 8c, though when we were riding by the glacier it felt a LOT colder than that.
Sunday we left Banff and headed home. At Canmore we veered off and took the 1A to Cochrane, which was an amazing ride in itself. From there we headed home.
It was a long 3 days of riding, but worth every second. Of course, the day after we get home my new seat arrived. Even after doing 1200km in 3 days I still had to test out the new seat. 150km later I can say that the new seat is worth every penny.
One thing I didn't have for this trip was a windshield. After fighting the wind for 1200km I knew I had to have one. Subtract another $350 from my bank account and that problem has been resolved.
This past weekend Michelle and I went on our first bike trip together. We did a "Giants of the Prairies" tour and hit 5 of the "giants" - Pumpkins, Mushrooms, Perogi, Easter Egg, Sausage.
The ride started out with rain, but we had our gear on and were prepared for the worst. It was a super long day, but it turned into a beautiful evening and we had a blast. The new seat held up nicely for Michelle, so again...worth every penny. I look forward to more day trips like that one!
Photos for both of these trips are on my Facebook page. I may upload them to my Shutterfly page, so I will update the blog if I do with the address.
Next weekend, we are to go to Bonneyville for a wedding reception. If the weather is even remotely nice, we will be taking the bike again so I can look at putting another 600km on it.
I have to say...I am sure enjoying my mid-life crisis. I put a lot of money into it, but I plan on getting a TON of enjoyment out of it, so it will be worth it.
Keep the shiny side up and your right hand cranked!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Empire Avenue
If you look to the left you will see a new widget for Empire Avenue. This is the newest thing to social networking. Basically, it is a stock market where YOU are the commodity and your stock value will depend on your social media footprint.
At this point I am not sold on it yet. It appears to require people to basically spam all the social media tools they use in order to keep their stock value high. For someone like myself who only posts a few updates a day, my stock is rather neutral. I will continue to play with it as they continue to tweak things, and we will see where it goes.
If anyone is interested in an invite, I do have some left that I can give out. Let me know!
At this point I am not sold on it yet. It appears to require people to basically spam all the social media tools they use in order to keep their stock value high. For someone like myself who only posts a few updates a day, my stock is rather neutral. I will continue to play with it as they continue to tweak things, and we will see where it goes.
If anyone is interested in an invite, I do have some left that I can give out. Let me know!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
BYU for mayor!
So, somebody has created a Twitter account called bobs_yer_uncle and has been tweeting about stuff from work. Normally I wouldn't even mention this, but apparently this Bob character has caused quite a stir.
It started during Technocon, which was a joint tech conference put on by the UofA and the COE. Apparently tweets were made during the conference that were basically making fun of a bunch of stuff. The thought was that this person had to be at the conference as they were referencing stuff that was happening - as it happened. Instead of talking about individual tweets, you can read them for yourself.
Now...the thing that stood out for a lot of us, was that these tweets basically captured what a lot of people were thinking, but nobody had the balls to say. Most everyone that heard about it assumed it was me!!! I know I have been very vocal about stuff in the past, but why would I need to create a fake account when I am vocal on my own twitter account?
A lot of people are trying to find out who is behind the account. It would seem we all have our suspicions, but nobody seems to know.
Our CIO was at a web conference in Toronto and apparently did some sort of panel discussion. During this discussion he apparently talked about BYU and how this person was rumored to be one of Chris' staff using twitter to criticize him. The fact that this has been brought up in some nationwide public forum is almost funny. Bobs_yer_uncle is famous! LOL
BYU was quiet for a while, and then made fun of some survey results. Through all of this, if nothing else, it got a lot of people animated, engaged and talking about all the things that BYU said in his tweets. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. HOWEVER...it now appears that there is a manhunt on for BYU. Rumor now has it that HR is trying to track this person down. For what? From what I have read, nothing was said that: wasn't true; was hurtful; slanderous; or personally attacking someone. Perhaps the line was bent somewhat on some of the posts, but I personally don't think he ever crossed it.
What is going to happen if/when the secret identity of Bobs_yer_uncle is ever discovered? Will the person be "Merl'd"? Will they get a slap on the wrist? Will they be publicly ridiculed?
As some other people in the branch have said, even if they knew who this person was, they wouldn't tell. That is the stand I am going to take. As long as BYU continues to keep his tweets clean, concise, honest and to the point, I will quietly cheer him on. BYU has been quiet lately, so maybe someone found out who it is and he decided to quit, or maybe the person behind BYU is away...here's hoping we never find out.
Oh yeah... BYU for Mayor!
It started during Technocon, which was a joint tech conference put on by the UofA and the COE. Apparently tweets were made during the conference that were basically making fun of a bunch of stuff. The thought was that this person had to be at the conference as they were referencing stuff that was happening - as it happened. Instead of talking about individual tweets, you can read them for yourself.
Now...the thing that stood out for a lot of us, was that these tweets basically captured what a lot of people were thinking, but nobody had the balls to say. Most everyone that heard about it assumed it was me!!! I know I have been very vocal about stuff in the past, but why would I need to create a fake account when I am vocal on my own twitter account?
A lot of people are trying to find out who is behind the account. It would seem we all have our suspicions, but nobody seems to know.
Our CIO was at a web conference in Toronto and apparently did some sort of panel discussion. During this discussion he apparently talked about BYU and how this person was rumored to be one of Chris' staff using twitter to criticize him. The fact that this has been brought up in some nationwide public forum is almost funny. Bobs_yer_uncle is famous! LOL
BYU was quiet for a while, and then made fun of some survey results. Through all of this, if nothing else, it got a lot of people animated, engaged and talking about all the things that BYU said in his tweets. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. HOWEVER...it now appears that there is a manhunt on for BYU. Rumor now has it that HR is trying to track this person down. For what? From what I have read, nothing was said that: wasn't true; was hurtful; slanderous; or personally attacking someone. Perhaps the line was bent somewhat on some of the posts, but I personally don't think he ever crossed it.
What is going to happen if/when the secret identity of Bobs_yer_uncle is ever discovered? Will the person be "Merl'd"? Will they get a slap on the wrist? Will they be publicly ridiculed?
As some other people in the branch have said, even if they knew who this person was, they wouldn't tell. That is the stand I am going to take. As long as BYU continues to keep his tweets clean, concise, honest and to the point, I will quietly cheer him on. BYU has been quiet lately, so maybe someone found out who it is and he decided to quit, or maybe the person behind BYU is away...here's hoping we never find out.
Oh yeah... BYU for Mayor!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Honest...
So, every time I think to myself "I should really update my Blog", something comes up and I forget about it. Then another week goes by and I repeat the process. Well, today I decided at the very least I will make a small contribution to the vastness that is the interwebz.
In the past few months I have purchased a motorbike, taken my bike safety course, and have booked my road test. You may say this is nothing more than my mid-life crisis, and you would probably be right. However, as far as mid-life crisis goes, this one is pretty tame IMHO.
The bike course was actually really good. Anyone can get on a bike and go fast. It is the actual SKILL stuff that we all need to learn/practice. This course (at TNT Motorcycles BTW) was fantastic. We spent like 12 hours on the bike, right from the first hour we were there. Learning everything from the correct way to make u-turns, to controlled swerves and stops, the course was awesome. If I had something bad to say, it was that the bikes were too small for me. I am not so much concerned about the power, but the physical SIZE. I was unable to try out the Honda CBR's because the handlebars kept hitting my knees. Oh well...still learned a lot.
The next step is to actually GET my Class 6. May 28 I take the road test and if all goes well, I will be able to legally ride my motorcycle without a chaperon.
Other than the motorbike stuff, I did a small amount of work around the house. We had a Sunshine Ceiling that had all but one of the ballasts go within a 2 week span. I spent literally months trying to decide what to do - replace them with new ballasts, replace the whole fixtures, or tear down the sunshine ceiling and replace it with something else. I finally decided to replace the ballasts and the panels with new ones. Looks really nice now. Here is an example of what a Sunshine Ceiling looks like (not mine) in case you were wondering.
That's all I have for now...like every post I promise to update more often. Don't hold your breath. :P
In the past few months I have purchased a motorbike, taken my bike safety course, and have booked my road test. You may say this is nothing more than my mid-life crisis, and you would probably be right. However, as far as mid-life crisis goes, this one is pretty tame IMHO.
The bike course was actually really good. Anyone can get on a bike and go fast. It is the actual SKILL stuff that we all need to learn/practice. This course (at TNT Motorcycles BTW) was fantastic. We spent like 12 hours on the bike, right from the first hour we were there. Learning everything from the correct way to make u-turns, to controlled swerves and stops, the course was awesome. If I had something bad to say, it was that the bikes were too small for me. I am not so much concerned about the power, but the physical SIZE. I was unable to try out the Honda CBR's because the handlebars kept hitting my knees. Oh well...still learned a lot.
The next step is to actually GET my Class 6. May 28 I take the road test and if all goes well, I will be able to legally ride my motorcycle without a chaperon.
Other than the motorbike stuff, I did a small amount of work around the house. We had a Sunshine Ceiling that had all but one of the ballasts go within a 2 week span. I spent literally months trying to decide what to do - replace them with new ballasts, replace the whole fixtures, or tear down the sunshine ceiling and replace it with something else. I finally decided to replace the ballasts and the panels with new ones. Looks really nice now. Here is an example of what a Sunshine Ceiling looks like (not mine) in case you were wondering.
That's all I have for now...like every post I promise to update more often. Don't hold your breath. :P
Monday, March 8, 2010
I'm back!
So it's been a while since I updated this Blog...that must mean either I am too lazy, or not much has been happening that warrants an upgrade. How about C) all of the above? :)
There was a 17 day period where I basically vanished from reality - we will call it the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics! That's right...for 17 days I was either at work, or sitting in front of the TV watching the Olympics. For some reason (those that know me will get this) I prefer the winter sports over the summer sports. I watched more Winter Olympic coverage in one day than I have watched of ALL the Summer Olympics. But I digress...
So...on the topic of Winter Olympics...who here like the hockey? Both the men's and women's games were OUTSTANDING. It was like an NHL all-star game, except exciting. There was hitting and the players looked like they actually WANTED to be there. It was AWESOME!
My favourite sports in the Winter Olympics are (in no particular order):
The Opening Ceremonies was pretty good, though I thought it was a little too much with the Native Culture. The rest of the world probably thinks we are all like that...maybe I am wrong. However, I thought they did a good job. The thing I hated the most was the singing of our National Anthem. While she might have a great voice, her arrangement was absolutely BRUTAL. Here is a youtube link that has the audio. To me she sounded like a lounge singer. The National Anthem is meant to be sung by everyone in attendance and there was NO WAY you could ever sing along with this. BRUTAL! The other bad part was the lighting of the flame and the epic failure with the one arm that didn't raise. It was too bad that Catriona Le May Doan didn't get to light the flame.
The Closing Ceremonies were not quite what I was expecting. I liked the way they joked about the 4th arm and how they got it to finally raise up, but what I really liked was that Catriona got to light it. Very classy on the part of the VOC. What I did NOT like, was the choice of musical numbers. Were none of the talented Canadian musical acts available? I know some people really like Nickelcrap, I am just not one of them. I could rant about them for a while, but I won't. :P I did like the way we made fun of ourselves though with the flying moose and big beavers...typical Canadians! :)
After the Olympics the NHL Trade Deadline came and went. I think everyone expected the Oilers to do some big things...instead they traded away our best 2 defensemen. We did get some decent ones back, but it was far short of anyone's expectations. Hopefully the team can get rid of the dead weight in the off-season. We can only hope I guess!
I got my Oilers Season Ticket renewal in the mail...looks like they didn't increase the price this year. YAY! LOL I also get a chance to enter a draw for the WJHC being held in Edmonton/Calgary at Christmas. Unfortunately, the medal games will be held in Calgary so the chances of getting tickets will be next to impossible. Oh well...hopefully I get selected!
That's it for this time around...blog ya later!
EAVB_IAHZTKDBEL
There was a 17 day period where I basically vanished from reality - we will call it the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics! That's right...for 17 days I was either at work, or sitting in front of the TV watching the Olympics. For some reason (those that know me will get this) I prefer the winter sports over the summer sports. I watched more Winter Olympic coverage in one day than I have watched of ALL the Summer Olympics. But I digress...
So...on the topic of Winter Olympics...who here like the hockey? Both the men's and women's games were OUTSTANDING. It was like an NHL all-star game, except exciting. There was hitting and the players looked like they actually WANTED to be there. It was AWESOME!
My favourite sports in the Winter Olympics are (in no particular order):
- Hockey
- snowboard cross
- ski cross
- speed skating - both long and short track
- moguls
The Opening Ceremonies was pretty good, though I thought it was a little too much with the Native Culture. The rest of the world probably thinks we are all like that...maybe I am wrong. However, I thought they did a good job. The thing I hated the most was the singing of our National Anthem. While she might have a great voice, her arrangement was absolutely BRUTAL. Here is a youtube link that has the audio. To me she sounded like a lounge singer. The National Anthem is meant to be sung by everyone in attendance and there was NO WAY you could ever sing along with this. BRUTAL! The other bad part was the lighting of the flame and the epic failure with the one arm that didn't raise. It was too bad that Catriona Le May Doan didn't get to light the flame.
The Closing Ceremonies were not quite what I was expecting. I liked the way they joked about the 4th arm and how they got it to finally raise up, but what I really liked was that Catriona got to light it. Very classy on the part of the VOC. What I did NOT like, was the choice of musical numbers. Were none of the talented Canadian musical acts available? I know some people really like Nickelcrap, I am just not one of them. I could rant about them for a while, but I won't. :P I did like the way we made fun of ourselves though with the flying moose and big beavers...typical Canadians! :)
After the Olympics the NHL Trade Deadline came and went. I think everyone expected the Oilers to do some big things...instead they traded away our best 2 defensemen. We did get some decent ones back, but it was far short of anyone's expectations. Hopefully the team can get rid of the dead weight in the off-season. We can only hope I guess!
I got my Oilers Season Ticket renewal in the mail...looks like they didn't increase the price this year. YAY! LOL I also get a chance to enter a draw for the WJHC being held in Edmonton/Calgary at Christmas. Unfortunately, the medal games will be held in Calgary so the chances of getting tickets will be next to impossible. Oh well...hopefully I get selected!
That's it for this time around...blog ya later!
EAVB_IAHZTKDBEL
Friday, February 5, 2010
What is this jailbreak - Part 2
So, if you read my last post talking about just exactly what a Jailbreak is, you might have come to the decision to actually perform the jailbreak on your device. Congratulations! Not only is it really easy to do, but you will open up a whole new world of options on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
There are a couple of important points I need to make before you can go any further.
NOTE
If you are still reading, it must mean you are not on the 3.1.3 firmware and want to use Blackra1n to jailbreak. YAY!
If you have an iPhone 3G and want to be able to unlock your device, the Blackra1n application that was installed will have an option to install Blacksn0w. This will unlock your device.
Now that you are jailbroken and have installed Cydia, I am going to simply list the applications that I have installed which are cool. If you do a simple Google search there will be TONS of suggestions as to the best applications to get.
There are thousands of great applications that you can now install, and thousands of themes to customize the look and feel of your device. Have fun!
Thanks go out to the iPhone Dev-Team and GeoHot for all the specific information and tools used to jailbreak! Without you guys we would be locked into what Apple thinks we should be.
Thanks also to Redmond Pie for the tutorials on using the newest tools available.
There are a couple of important points I need to make before you can go any further.
- If you have one of the newer iPhone 3GS or iPod Touch 3G, your Jailbreak will be what's called a "Tethered jailbreak". This means that the tools available are not 100% compatible with your device and you will need to connect it to your computer every time you want to reboot it. Granted, you should not need to reboot all that often, but it is definitely something to keep in mind.
- If you have an iPod Touch with a model number starting with MC, you will also be limited to the Tethered Jailbreak. To determine if this affects you, go to Settings -> General -> About and scroll down until you see the model number. If it starts with MC you are stuck with the tethered jailbreak.
When I first got my iPod Touch I was limited to a Tethered Jailbreak for the first month or so. This is only inconvenient if you need to reboot your device. The teams that come up with the Jailbreak tools will find a way to fully support the newer devices, just like they did with mine. You can either go ahead with the Jailbreak, or you can wait for the tools to support it. If at any time you feel it is too inconvenient, you can always restore your device in iTunes to default and this will remove the Jailbreak.There are two main methods of Jailbreaking your device. The first is Blackra1n, which will NOT work if you have the newest 3.1.3 firmware from Apple. However, if you are on 3.1.2 it is the easiest and fastest method. The second is Redsn0w which has been modified to work with the new firmware. I have not had the chance to upgrade and test mine yet, so I cannot confirm the functionality yet. Please go here for detailed instructions on using Redsn0w.
NOTE
If you have an iPhone and plan on Unlocking your device, there are new tools available as of today that will allow you to upgrade, jailbreak and unlock. Please go here and here for specific information. I do not own an iPhone so I have not been able to test these methods. If you attempt these methods and run into any problems you can always restore your device to factory default to undo them.Let's do the actual Jailbreak now shall we?
If you are still reading, it must mean you are not on the 3.1.3 firmware and want to use Blackra1n to jailbreak. YAY!
- Perform a backup of your device in iTunes. This will protect you in the unlikely event something goes wrong and you are forced to restore your device. Do not upgrade your firmware at this point unless you want to use Redsn0w instead.
- Go to Blackra1n and download the appropriate version for your operating system.
- Once it has been downloaded, connect your device and run the blackra1n.exe file. Click the "make it ra1n" button. In about 30 seconds your device will reboot itself, display a picture of Geohot (the person who made blackra1n) and reboot itself again. At this point you should have a new icon on your device called Blackra1n. Congratulations, you have now jailbroken your device. (wasn't that easy?)
If, when the device reboots, you get a Conenct to iTunes message, it means you are one of the unlucky people to have a device which requires a "tethered jailbreak" If you get this message you can simply connect it to your computer and run the Blackra1n program to boot your device. You will be forced to do this every time you reboot the device. If you don't like this, simply launch iTunes and choose to restore your device.Now you are thinking to yourself, "now what?" On your device, click the Blackra1n icon and select to install Cydia. Cydia is the program that gives you access to all the wonderful jailbroken applications that you have heard so much about. After it has installed you can now start searching through and start installing all the applications and themes.
If you have an iPhone 3G and want to be able to unlock your device, the Blackra1n application that was installed will have an option to install Blacksn0w. This will unlock your device.
The unlock is different than the jailbreak. The unlock gives your phone the ability to be used on a different carrier than the one it was originally "locked" to. This will be handy if you purchased a used iPhone as you can then use it on any mobile provider.My favourite Cydia Applications
Now that you are jailbroken and have installed Cydia, I am going to simply list the applications that I have installed which are cool. If you do a simple Google search there will be TONS of suggestions as to the best applications to get.
- Winterboard - this application allows you to install custom themes on your device. This is one of the best reasons for jailbreaking your device.
- Five Icon Dock - allows 5 icons to reside in the Dock area of your device (bottom of the screen)
- Five Column SpringBoard - allows a 5th column to be added to your screen, so instead of 4 icons across, you can have 5.
- MakeitMine - allows you to change the carrier information at the top of your screen. On the iPod Touch it will usually just say iPod, with MakeitMine you can change that be whatever you choose.
- OpenSSH - Allows SSH access into the device itself. If you are not a power user, this app might not be for you. If you do install it, make sure you change the default password!!!
- ProSwitcher - Allows you to multitask, which is something Apple doesn't want you to do. Another great reason to Jailbreak!
- SBSettings - adds a dropdown menu to give you instant control over important settings on your device. The ability to turn on/off Wifi, 3G, Bluetooth, SSH.
- Shrink - Cydia includes some apps that you have to pay for, just like the Apple App store. Shrink is one that I use to reduce the size of my icons. This is really handy with the use of the Five Column SpringBoard application. I highly recommend it!
- CyDelete - allows you to uninstall Cydia applications the same way you uninstall App Store applications. Really handy!
- Simple iPad Theme - This theme adds some of the look of the newly announced iPad to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Spiffy!
There are thousands of great applications that you can now install, and thousands of themes to customize the look and feel of your device. Have fun!
Thanks go out to the iPhone Dev-Team and GeoHot for all the specific information and tools used to jailbreak! Without you guys we would be locked into what Apple thinks we should be.
Thanks also to Redmond Pie for the tutorials on using the newest tools available.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
What is this Jailbreak you speak of?
Ever since I got my iPod Touch I have had it Jailbroken. People always ask me about it so I thought I would put up a post on what exactly it is and why you should do it.
Jailbreak is the term given to the act of "hacking" your iPhone or iPod Touch. By using the word "hacking" I have given it a negative connotation, when in reality Jailbreaking your iPhone or iPod Touch is simply giving you control over the device you have already paid for. Apple may have a problem with it, but contrary to what you may have heard - it is not illegal.
So...what is this Jailbreak you speak of?
So, now that you technically know what Jailbreaking is, the question I get all the time is why? Why should I do it? Why risk voiding my warranty?
A Google search will return more than a million hits for the simple question of "Why jailbreak?" Here is a link to the best list of reasons I have found from Big Boss.
What about "bricking" my iPhone/iPod Touch?
I am not going to go into a great amount of detail since I would basically be repeating what has already been written so many times before. Suffice it to say that not jailbreaking your device is like not being able to paint or renovate your house. Everything is functional, but it doesn't look as nice as it could, and it would sure be nice to put a jacuzzi tub in the master bath!
One of the nicer things I have seen recently is the ability to "skin" your iPhone and iPod Touch to look like the recently announced iPad. I have personally gone through and implemented some of the changes and I am quite happy with the results.
Once you have gone through all the information that is available, you can then decide if it makes sense for you to Jailbreak your device or not. The actual process is not that difficult and I will make a new post in a few days to describe that process. If after jailbreaking you are not convinced that it's for you, you can always return your device to factory default. There is literally no risk to you.
NOTE:
Jailbreak is the term given to the act of "hacking" your iPhone or iPod Touch. By using the word "hacking" I have given it a negative connotation, when in reality Jailbreaking your iPhone or iPod Touch is simply giving you control over the device you have already paid for. Apple may have a problem with it, but contrary to what you may have heard - it is not illegal.
So...what is this Jailbreak you speak of?
The technical answer is the act of Jailbreaking your device gives you access to the actual system and the file system of the device. The iPhone and iPod Touch run a type of Mac OSX/Unix Operating system and Jailbreaking your device gives you access to this.
The easy to understand answer is that: Jailbreaking your device allows you to install 3rd party applications that are not available on the Apple App Store; the ability to change the appearance of your icons, wallpaper, dock etc (themes); and the ability to have more control over settings and functionality that already exist on the device.
So, now that you technically know what Jailbreaking is, the question I get all the time is why? Why should I do it? Why risk voiding my warranty?
A Google search will return more than a million hits for the simple question of "Why jailbreak?" Here is a link to the best list of reasons I have found from Big Boss.
What about "bricking" my iPhone/iPod Touch?
It is nearly impossible to damage your device by Jailbreaking it. The worst you should ever see is the Jailbreak is lost (either from a failed attempt, or a firmware upgrade) or you may be forced to restore your device to factory default. Neither scenario is destructive to the device itself. Apple included a nice recovery mode in the event anything ever goes wrong with the device. This allows you to "recover" your device. If you feel you have completely "bricked" your device and it will simply not function anymore, Apple has included one more mode which will recover your device for you - DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode. As you can see, Apple has made it very safe for us to Jailbreak. :)Will I lose the existing functionality if I Jailbreak?
No. You will still be able to purchase apps from the Apple App Store, you will still be able to purchase music from iTunes and you will still be able to do everything that you did before. iTunes will still work the same as it did before you did the Jailbreak. The only thing that will change is the ability to enhance the device - make it better. The iPhone and iPod Touch are such powerful devices - wouldn't it be nice to use them to their fullest potential?
I am not going to go into a great amount of detail since I would basically be repeating what has already been written so many times before. Suffice it to say that not jailbreaking your device is like not being able to paint or renovate your house. Everything is functional, but it doesn't look as nice as it could, and it would sure be nice to put a jacuzzi tub in the master bath!
One of the nicer things I have seen recently is the ability to "skin" your iPhone and iPod Touch to look like the recently announced iPad. I have personally gone through and implemented some of the changes and I am quite happy with the results.
Once you have gone through all the information that is available, you can then decide if it makes sense for you to Jailbreak your device or not. The actual process is not that difficult and I will make a new post in a few days to describe that process. If after jailbreaking you are not convinced that it's for you, you can always return your device to factory default. There is literally no risk to you.
NOTE:
If you ARE planning to Jailbreak your device, do not upgrade your firmware to the newly released 3.1.3. Doing so will prevent you from being able to jailbreak at this time. If you have already Jailbroken your device, upgrading to the newest firmware will also undo the jailbreak. If this has happened to your device, you will need to wait for a new Jailbreak to become available.
Monday, January 18, 2010
MegaFPS
This past weekend was a busy one for me - I was at a LAN Party! :) For those of you who don't know what a LAN party is - Google is your friend! LOL
The guys at MegaFPS put on another LAN this weekend - JanLAN. Somewhere around 20 - 30 people came together in the GoldBar Community Hall for a weekend of GAMING! I arrived around 7:30pm on Friday and quickly setup and got down to some gaming. We played some L4D2 (Left for Dead 2), some Flatout and some more L4D2. The next thing I know it is 3:30am. I decide to go home and get some sleep. Some people elect to stay and sleep at the LAN, but seeing as I was only a 15min drive from home I felt I would sleep better in my own bed.
I drag my ass back Saturday at about noon ready for another marathon session of gaming. Armed with some coffee and pop I get down to the serious business of zombie killing. My wife and I were supposed to go to a wedding Saturday night so I left the Lan about 4pm to go get ready. About 1 minute after I leave, she calls me to say she is not feeling well and that we wouldn't be going to the wedding. I promptly turn around and head back.
After about 4 more hours of gaming, interrupted only for a pizza break (thanks Geoff and Adam!), I decide to head home for a shower and to replenish my supplies. Back at the Lan about 9:30 I settle in for the long haul armed with some typical geek Lan food - snacks and energy drinks. Seeing as I am not as young as I once was, I brought some water to keep myself hydrated, which is a good idea at any age.
Between the L4D, TF2, Flatout and some Trackmania, I decide to call it quits - at 3:30am. As things tend to end rather early on Sunday, I decided to pack up and head home, rather than come back for an hour on Sunday. This was a first for me as I always come back, if for no other reason than to help clean up. I guess I really am getting old! LOL
JanLAN was a great time. If I knew in advance that I wasn't going to the wedding, I would have brought my comfortable chair, and my RockBand. As a result of the crappy chair I spent the weekend on, my back is killing me! As a result of not bringing the RockBand, I didn't get to rock out! LOL Next time...
Sunday afternoon some of the Fragapalooza staff got together for a meeting to decide if we are going to put on another Frag this year. You heard it here first - yes we are! We don't have a venue or date set yet, so the official announcement will wait a bit. However, now that we have decided, the planning can begin.
One thing I should mention...we had our meeting at Red Robins. Gil had informed me of the pre-fill of fries, and I thought I would share it with you. As you get free refills on your fries at Red Robins, why not order a PRE-fill of fries instead of paying for an appetizer? The fries are really good and it will save you some money. :) When the waitress asks what you want, simply request the prefill.
I think I have bored you enough now...until next time, remember to get your geek on whenever possible!
The guys at MegaFPS put on another LAN this weekend - JanLAN. Somewhere around 20 - 30 people came together in the GoldBar Community Hall for a weekend of GAMING! I arrived around 7:30pm on Friday and quickly setup and got down to some gaming. We played some L4D2 (Left for Dead 2), some Flatout and some more L4D2. The next thing I know it is 3:30am. I decide to go home and get some sleep. Some people elect to stay and sleep at the LAN, but seeing as I was only a 15min drive from home I felt I would sleep better in my own bed.
I drag my ass back Saturday at about noon ready for another marathon session of gaming. Armed with some coffee and pop I get down to the serious business of zombie killing. My wife and I were supposed to go to a wedding Saturday night so I left the Lan about 4pm to go get ready. About 1 minute after I leave, she calls me to say she is not feeling well and that we wouldn't be going to the wedding. I promptly turn around and head back.
After about 4 more hours of gaming, interrupted only for a pizza break (thanks Geoff and Adam!), I decide to head home for a shower and to replenish my supplies. Back at the Lan about 9:30 I settle in for the long haul armed with some typical geek Lan food - snacks and energy drinks. Seeing as I am not as young as I once was, I brought some water to keep myself hydrated, which is a good idea at any age.
Between the L4D, TF2, Flatout and some Trackmania, I decide to call it quits - at 3:30am. As things tend to end rather early on Sunday, I decided to pack up and head home, rather than come back for an hour on Sunday. This was a first for me as I always come back, if for no other reason than to help clean up. I guess I really am getting old! LOL
JanLAN was a great time. If I knew in advance that I wasn't going to the wedding, I would have brought my comfortable chair, and my RockBand. As a result of the crappy chair I spent the weekend on, my back is killing me! As a result of not bringing the RockBand, I didn't get to rock out! LOL Next time...
Sunday afternoon some of the Fragapalooza staff got together for a meeting to decide if we are going to put on another Frag this year. You heard it here first - yes we are! We don't have a venue or date set yet, so the official announcement will wait a bit. However, now that we have decided, the planning can begin.
One thing I should mention...we had our meeting at Red Robins. Gil had informed me of the pre-fill of fries, and I thought I would share it with you. As you get free refills on your fries at Red Robins, why not order a PRE-fill of fries instead of paying for an appetizer? The fries are really good and it will save you some money. :) When the waitress asks what you want, simply request the prefill.
I think I have bored you enough now...until next time, remember to get your geek on whenever possible!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Whew! Made it through the holidays!
So...here we are in 2010. Now...is that twenty-ten, or two thousand-ten? I am torn actually...I mean I did say two-thousand-nine, so it stands to reason that I would say two-thousand-ten right? Well...the argument will come out about 1999 for instance. We said nineteen-ninety-nine, so we should say twenty-ten right? Food for thought...
Anyway...back to the topic of this post... I made it through the holidays in one piece. Santa was good to me this year. Between gift cards and some cash I managed to snag myself a nice entry level Netbook. Thanks to Best Buy for having one on sale just in time for me to get one! :)
I spent xmas morning/afternoon with my side of the family and did a nice lunch. Spent some time with my son, his gf and her son (my grandson - still really hard to say that!!!) and it was a lot of fun. Opened gifts, ate great food and contrary to a previous Blog post, the day was not as uncomfortable as I expected. LOL
We then made the trip up to Grande Prairie to spend some time with my wife's parents. The roads were pretty decent on the trip up and with next to no traffic out on xmas day we made good time. We spent the next 5 days in GP before coming home on the 30th. It was nice to get away for a bit, had a good time, but it was also nice to come home again. The drive home was a little different. The roads were pretty slick and we saw a bunch of cars in the ditch, and even a big semi trailer/truck. I drove slower to avoid any problems and made it in one piece.
New Years Eve was relatively quiet. I watched hockey until about 9:30, went to my friends house (wife had to work) and rang in the new year nice and quiet like. Home just after 1am and the best part of a quiet new years - no hangover the next day! LOL
Throughout the holidays I have been watching a TON of hockey. From the Oilers games, to the Spengler Cup (Canada didn't win this year) and best of all, the World Juniors. My wife is getting tired of all the hockey, but hey...it's only once a year right? (except with the Olympics this year...and I think there is the World Cup of hockey in the spring...)
So here I am after 10 days off and I am back to work. It was REALLY hard to get up this morning, but I managed to make it into work. With all the B.S. that has been going on at work with the re-org and the outsourcing I only have 1 new years resolution - stay employed this year. Wish me luck!
Anyway...back to the topic of this post... I made it through the holidays in one piece. Santa was good to me this year. Between gift cards and some cash I managed to snag myself a nice entry level Netbook. Thanks to Best Buy for having one on sale just in time for me to get one! :)
I spent xmas morning/afternoon with my side of the family and did a nice lunch. Spent some time with my son, his gf and her son (my grandson - still really hard to say that!!!) and it was a lot of fun. Opened gifts, ate great food and contrary to a previous Blog post, the day was not as uncomfortable as I expected. LOL
We then made the trip up to Grande Prairie to spend some time with my wife's parents. The roads were pretty decent on the trip up and with next to no traffic out on xmas day we made good time. We spent the next 5 days in GP before coming home on the 30th. It was nice to get away for a bit, had a good time, but it was also nice to come home again. The drive home was a little different. The roads were pretty slick and we saw a bunch of cars in the ditch, and even a big semi trailer/truck. I drove slower to avoid any problems and made it in one piece.
New Years Eve was relatively quiet. I watched hockey until about 9:30, went to my friends house (wife had to work) and rang in the new year nice and quiet like. Home just after 1am and the best part of a quiet new years - no hangover the next day! LOL
Throughout the holidays I have been watching a TON of hockey. From the Oilers games, to the Spengler Cup (Canada didn't win this year) and best of all, the World Juniors. My wife is getting tired of all the hockey, but hey...it's only once a year right? (except with the Olympics this year...and I think there is the World Cup of hockey in the spring...)
So here I am after 10 days off and I am back to work. It was REALLY hard to get up this morning, but I managed to make it into work. With all the B.S. that has been going on at work with the re-org and the outsourcing I only have 1 new years resolution - stay employed this year. Wish me luck!
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