The proper procedure for your iPhone 3G is basically this:  !!!ONLY DO THIS ON iPhone 3G!!!! I am not responsible if you fuck up your phone! Use at your own risk and don’t attempt if you are a clueless moron.

-Restore to the official iOS4 firmware that iTunes downloaded today, be sure to click SHIFT+Restore from within itunes

-This will take about 15-20 minutes as the firmware is installed to your iPhone 3G

-Once the 4.0 Firmware has been restored, before you restore your iPhone settings from backups, launch redsn0w

-From within redsn0w choose the CURRENT iOS4 FINAL release firmware you just installed the file name should be iPhone1,2_4.0_8A293_Restore.ipsw

-redsn0w will then churn away at the firmware and do some validation, once it’s been validated click next

-You’ll then be prompted to turn off your iPhone.  Make sure the iPhone is plugged into the computer before you power the device down.  Hold the power button down until the power slider gives you the option to shut the phone down.

-Get ready, after the next step you’ll have to follow the instructions on the redsn0w screen FAST. Once the device is plugged into the computer and powered off, click next

-Follow the on screen instructions in redsn0w.  You will have to hold the power button for 2 seconds, then both buttons for 10 seconds, then release the power button and hold only the home button for another 30 seconds or so.

-If you’ve followed the instructions correctly, redsn0w will show a progress bar.  At that point it is safe to release the home button.

-Allow the process to continue and complete without pressing anything or disconnecting anything

-After a few minutes you’ll see the PWNAPPLE logo and “Flashing NOR” on your device…this is a good thing!  Then installing Bundles…

-Then the device will reboot, and if you’ve chosen verbose startup in redsn0w you’ll see a linux-like boot sequence

-Congratz! You’ve now Jailbroken iOS4 on your iPhone 3G!  Pretty easy huh?

-Your Cydia app icon will be a white icon, but run it once and allow it to pull down sources/updates and it should go to the normal Cydia app icon.

-You can now sync with iTunes and restore from your previous backups

Jailbreak iOS 4 for iPhone 3G Screenshots

That’s about it!  I hope that this helps some folks who are looking at Jailbreaking their iPhone 3G with iOS4.  Tons of thanks to the iPhone Dev Team for all their great work and efforts, and a big “fuck you” to all the people who bitch and moan about the pace of their work. Got a problem? Do it better yourself then.

Feel free to discuss in the comments below!

Spiceworks, my favorite tool for managing IT networks, has released a new version. Spiceworks scans your entire network and audits the devices in you infrastructure. Not only does Spiceworks create a comprehensive IT inventory, but it also monitors the health of vital systems. It can alert you when certain conditions are met, errors are found, systems run out of hard disk space, printer ink is low, and much more.

Another cool feature is to have Spiceworks scan multiple sites, and report back to a central collector. This is great for me, as the company I work for, is an outsourced IT Helpdesk for several medium sized businesses. We’ve deployed Spiceworks at all of our clients with more than 10 PCs. This allows our business to be proactive in our approach to IT instead of reactive.

Don’t even get me started on how good Spiceworks has been for License Management.

Spiceworks 4.6 brings a host of new features include:

• View and Kill Processes Remotely
• Ability to discover virtualized servers on VMware (vSphere & ESX/ESXi), showing all the virtual machine data and configuration details
• Better Helpdesk ticket management
• Network mapping improvements
• See network alerts and notifications in your Spiceworks Toolbar
• And more…

If you have never tried Spiceworks, you should. It is free, and after you use it, you will be converted. Oh yeah, did I mention it’s FREE (As in BEER)? I used to work for a software company that developed one of the premier Enterprise IT Discovery platforms, and believe me, Spiceworks can do a lot more than even some multimillion dollar Enterprise platforms. That was always the “dirty little secret”. Anyways, check it out, you’ll love it.

Dear Rep. Velazquez,

I won’t bore you with a form letter. I am writing today to ask you co-sponsor HR 1207 to allow the G.A.O. to audit the Federal Reserve.

As a member of the financial services committee you are in a unique position to help further President Obama’s promise of transparency and vote in this bi-partisan issue. This bill has over 200 sponsors from both sides of the isle, and is now being considered by your committee for further action.

There is no logical reason why the Federal Reserve shouldn’t be audited by Congress. Your efforts in supporting this important legislation would go a long way in proving to your constituents that you not only hold the Federal Reserve to the same standard as you do your constituents, but it would also show that you believe in transparency. Anything less than support for this resolution suggests that you are in favor of secrecy and a lack of accountability to the people who pay the bills. We pay the tab; we have a right to know where our money is going.

If you are not going to support HR 1207, I would appreciate a letter from your office with the reasoning behind your decision, so that I may further understand all sides of this issue. At this point I see no logical reason why this shouldn’t be supported by all members of congress.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this very important matter. We have a historical opportunity to change this country for the better, and I hope we can make it happen.

-Concerned constituent in NYC

I encourage everyone to contact their members of congress and ask that hey support H.R. 1207. There are currently over 200 cosponsors as of today (June 9, 2009), both Democrats and Republicans.

Thankfully, Cynthia Mckinney was more receptive to answering the moderator’s questions than she usually is in interviews.  One example of her usual and more difficult style would be when Greta Brawner interviewed her for an hour for CSPAN’s series entitled, Road to the White House.  She displays an Palin-esque quality of avoiding any direct question and talking about whatever she feels.  This becomes annoying at best – angering at worst.  Coming from someone who generally supports her and agrees with much of what she says, I can only imagine what it must have been like to hear her reapetedly ignore the questions posed by NPR’s Neal Conan on Talk of the Nation for someone unfamiliar with her.  NPR’s Scott Simon of Weekend Edition can also be credited with giving her some airplay in one of Cynthia’s better, albeit brief, showings.

Bob Barr is polling at a modest 1.5% nationally and has also benefited by being featured on Road to the White House.  I feel he had a far better showing on both Washington Journal and Road to the White House due to actually presenting some sort of concise message.  Not only that, but he succeeded in the simple task of answering questions posed to him.  What a radical move.  Especially considering the hosts of CSPAN and NPR tend to be far more fair in comparison to most moderators.  NPR’s News & Notes also gave him a few minutes to detail his campaign goals alongside Weekend Edition’s profile of the candidate.

Unfortunately for Barr and Mckinney, neither of them appeared in the only Third Party Debate after the one at Columbia was canceled.  Complete with caller responses immediately following the event, Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin were the only two to take part.  This is a really pathetic result for something I personally deem to be quite important.  I was personally influenced by the Libertarian platform presented by Michael Badnarik in the 2004 election as a result of CSPAN airing the Third Party Debate.  Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin were both also featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

After viewing and listening to the minimal coverage the Third Party Candidates receive, I honestly have to say I’ve been the most impressed with Chuck Baldwin’s performances.  He comes off as the most honest of all the candidates and presents the most compelling message.  He is the most outspoken against real issues such as the Federal Reserve, the New World Order, gun rights, and other Constitutional principles.  This is not an endorsement, however.  Unfortunately, I disagree with him in regards to some other elements of his platform.

At the end of the day I am still an undecided voter.  All I know is that I reject the two corporate puppets that most media outlets present to us as the only options.  Its sad that many people believe them.

Joseph Biden has stated that “we’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis” and that he can “guarantee you it’s going to happen.”  He continued to state that “it’s not going to be apparent that we’re right” in regards to how an Obama/Biden administration would handle such a situation.  Here – take a listen for yourself:

He isn’t the only one that feels this way.  When questioned about Biden’s statements, Fmr. Secretary of State Madeline Albright felt that “its just a statement of fact, frankly.”  Sen. Joe Lieberman appeared on Face the Nation on 06.29.2008 and echoed Biden’s sentiments by saying that “our enemies will test the new president early.” He also went on to tell Bob Schiffer to “remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Center happened in the first year of the Clinton Administration.  9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush Administration.”  I’d like to personally thank Joe the Politician #2 for narrowing the timeline for when the next terrorist attack or crisis will strike America and the world.  It will happen with in the 1st year of the next President’s term.

However, that is not close enough.  I think I’d like to narrow it down a bit more.  Lets see what Fmr. Secretary of State Colin Powell had to say while appearing on Meet the Press on 10.19.2008:

In case you missed it, Colin Powell stated that “there is going to be a crisis [to] come along on the 21st or 22nd of January that we don’t even know about right now.”  Oh, really?  What an interesting thing to say.  However, don’t worry!  The United States Military is already in place and engaged in homeland tours – for your protection of course.  Who needs a 2nd amendment and Posse Comitatus when you have the US Army on American soil to protect you?  Oh, wait.

Issues such as stolen elections and election reform, fixing the debate structure, ballot access, and even the New World Order were discussed.  Unfortunately due to low coverage, the side drama of Bob Barr and Dr. Paul’s rejection to support McCain, most of these key issues have fallen by the wayside when discussing the press conference.  Personally, I feel this is unfortunate.  The gesture being made and the message being transmitted yesterday is far too important to allow to be swept under the rug.  Bob Barr’s decision to walk out of the press conference without warning shows me that he apparently could not put his ego and personal ambitions aside for one day to take part of something larger than himself.  The Libertarian Party is framing this as “leadership.”

Some, including members of the Libertarian Party, have come down on Ron Paul for his decision to hold this press conference and blame him for “endorsing” other candidates who don’t share his complete views on all issues.  I don’t view it this way.  Ron Paul did not endorse any candidate in particular.  Instead, he attempted to take a step back, freeing up his followers to vote their own conscience with the advice that it should be anyone besides the two front runners.  He can do this because they all agree upon the most basic and pressing issues that need to be discussed and changed before we debate the nuances of far less pertinent issues.  Honestly, I’d say that’s mighty libertarian of him.

I generally consider myself a Libertarian in philosophy when it comes to national governmental structure, but no longer really associate myself with the party.  Numerous factors have amounted to this feeling, the latest with Bob Barr and people in his campaigns being the icing on the cake.  In Andrew Kevins‘ blog today on the Libertarian Party’s website, he states that the reason Bob Barr could not take part or stand on stage is due to the Libertarian Party having principle.  I would like to know where Bob Barr’s principle’s lied throughout his career as a member of the GOP.  I also would like to know where the LP’s principles were when they decided to cast Bob Barr as the figurehead for the entire party.  Not only that, but where are the LP’s principles when they seem to actively try to silence and belittle anyone that feels there are unanswered questions about 9/11?  I’ve had that direct experience with someone employed by the Wisconsin branch of the LP.  Thankfully many members don’t seem concerned about losing that group of voters.

There are more important things to worry about right now than party unity, number of votes, or even that magical 5% in the national election in order to get national funding.  A long term and unified front needs to be built now to fight over the next four years to get the message out.  What good is funding if the debate structure hasn’t changed?  What good is funding when how the votes are cast and counted hasn’t been fixed?  What good is funding when its still nearly impossible to get on every ballot?  Even if all of those obstacles are surmounted, I have one more question.  What good is winning the election if the new president is still unwilling to truly hold the establishment’s feet to the fire and harbor some real change in our foundations and dialog about our nation and those who rule it – elected or otherwise?

I hope the rest of you join me on November 4th in voting for a third party.  Beyond that, I hope you join me in doing all you can to spread the word and take action to help solve the foundational problems that our nation is facing.  There’s a fork ahead, which path are you going to take?

Watch CSPAN’s Coverage of the Press Conference (09/10/2008)

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

If you liked what Gov. Jesse Ventura had to say in his speech, check out his new book:

Last week I attended the “computer security” conference HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth), held every two years in NYC. The title of this year’s event was “The Last Hope”, but it may not be the last. Unfortunately I had to work Friday and was not able to get to the convention until about 4pm, luckily it was being held only 2 avenues away from my workplace. I had never attended HOPE in the past, although I have gone to Las Vegas for DEFCON several times in the past 10 years. HOPE is organized by the crew over at 2600: The Hacker Quarterly.

All told, the event was interesting, and I was glad to attend. However, maybe I’m just getting old but “the scene” just doesn’t hold my attention as it once did. Oh well. The convention took place at the Hotel Pennsylvania, which was scheduled for demolition soon, hence “The Last HOPE”. However by the end of the convention it was announced that plans to demolish the hotel have been put on hold due to the bad economy, so HOPE will take place again at it’s usual spot in 2010.

Some of the sessions I attended were great, others not so great. Amongst the good ones were:

• Bagcam – How Did TSA and/or the Airlines Manage to Do That to Your Luggage? By: algormor
• A Hacker’s View of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) By: Phil Lapsley
• Hacking the Price of Food: An Urban Farming Renaissance By: Bicyclemark
• Methods of Copying High Security Keys By: Barry Wels and Han Fey
• One Last Time: The Hack/Phreak History Primer By: Jason Scott

Looking back at the list of talks, I wish I’d attended more/different ones. Guess I am just getting old. Oh well, there’s always 2010. I spent a good amount of time in the Lockpick Village playing around and picking a couple locks, its always fun to open locks you’ve never touched before. I picked up a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein‘s new book: The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey, this huge tome was well worth the money. It’s jam packed with stories from the past 24 years of 2600 history. I should have gotten it autographed when I saw Emmanuel at the conference, but he was busy. Again, oh well.

Even though I am kind of burned out after being in the scene for the past 15 years or so, I will probably end up attending again in 2010. It’s much easier that traveling to Las Vegas for DEFCON since I now reside in NYC.

Check out Photos from TheLastHOPE over at flickr. Search twitter for #thelasthope for people liveblogging the event. Finally, check out the video below. It was created by the folks at MAKE Magazine, who were in attendance at the conference as vendors. Overall I think the video captured the spirit of the event, good work MAKE folks!

Until 2010, peace.

I think most people would be amazed if they found out that banks create money out of “thin air”, most would even disbelieve the concept. Banks create money out of debt. When you go to take a loan from a bank, you are not borrowing on someone else’s savings, the bank is basically printing the money on demand. Our economy survives because people are in debt. If all debt were to be repaid, there would be virtually no money left. It boggles the mind.

The following video “Money As Debt” breaks down how our money system works in simple terms, that is easy for anyone to understand. I believe everyone should watch this video at least once to gain a basic understanding on how the monetary system works, and what it means for you and your family. This video simply lays out “how it is”. Enjoy.

Starbucks Coffee is launching their free WIFI access through AT&T tomorrow, June 3, 2008. Unfortunately, it is not unlimited WIFI access. Through the deal between AT&T and Starbucks, customer who have a registered Starbucks Card will be able to access the internet for 2 continuous hours per day. The only other catch is that you must make a purchase once per month with your Starbucks Card to keep the account active.

All in all this is not a horrible deal. Starbucks could have done better by just giving customers free access for the day with purchase, but I can see the logic to limiting to 2 hours per day. I guess some people could just get 2 or more Starbucks Cards and mooch free WIFI all day (if the service does not limit based upon MAC address of your wireless device). The only down side to this whole scheme will be that it will be even harder to find a seat or an outlet at a Starbucks going forward. I’ll give the free WIFI a spin sometime tomorrow and see how it performs.

Remember, you can also get free drip coffee refills from Starbucks with your registered card. So figure $2 for a cup of coffee, free WIFI for 2 hours, and free refills the rest of the day… thats a decent deal.

On Sunday December 16th the champions of freedom and liberty (you, the people) will hold another mass donation day for Ron Paul. December 16th is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. From the Tea Party 07 website:

On December 16th, 1773, American colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor to protest an
oppressive tax. This December 16th, American citizens will dump millions of dollars into the
Ron Paul presidential campaign to protest the oppressive and unconstitutional inflation tax -
which has enabled a flawed foreign policy, a costly war and the sacrificing
of our liberties here at home.

Please join us this December 16th 2007 for the largest one-day political donation event in
history. Our goal is to bring together 100,000 people to donate $100 each,
creating a one day donation total of $10,000,000.

Please pledge via feedburner below to confirm your commitment to donate.
Each day you’ll receive an email with our total number of subscribers.
In this way we will know exactly where we stand in our efforts.
Our goal is 100,000 subscribers.

Please pledge now. Please spread the word. Thank you.

As I write this Ron Paul’s Q4 donation totals are up to about 11,350,000. The total Q4 goal was set at $12,000,000 and I am hoping it will pass that before the money bomb starts on the 16th (but doubtful). Please spread the word to friends and family about Ron Paul before the 16th. Instead of an xmas gift, ask for a donation to Dr. Paul’s campaign in your name. This holiday season be sure to print up some literature to distribute to your family.

For those who don’t know about Dr. Paul please do some Google searches and find out about what he stands for. The media has been censoring his campaign and it is no surprise if you don’t know about him.

Ron Paul needs your vote in your state’s primary.

I was expecting flashy booths and displays from some of the top electronics companies, however this was not the case. The few major companies with exhibits were showcasing the same stale old technology they’ve been schlepping for a while. Major companies you would expect to be at a show of this type were completely absent or under-represented. As far as “technology” offerings goes, many of the companies represented were “B-Level” companies. The gaming side of the convention was horrible with the notable exception of the Namco and Guitar Hero 3 booths. Virtually no other game producers were on hand to showcase their latest offerings. Entertainment wise, what entertainment? There was an exhibit at the Toshiba booth about HD-DVD and that is about it.

Gateway unveiled its “ONE” product line, an all-in-one computer reminiscent of Apple’s newer iMacs, except black. Gateway tried to hype up this product as revolutionary, as if they just figured out that style is important for consumer products, Hello 1998. Palm introduced the Centro line of phones, a product aimed at the low end cell user. Instead of being revolutionary the products showcased at the event were completely lack luster and the same old fare, very stale.

Companies I would have expected to show up include: Apple, Sony, Google, IBM, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, NBC, FOX, Rockstar Games and Bungie, to name a few. To top off the disappointment, all the swag sucked. I’m done, I’m running out of adjectives to describe the steaming pile of poo that was DigitalLife. Maybe next year will be different, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

A big part of the reason for my attending DigitalLife is to cover some of the new technologies at the show. You may know from reading my blog that I love gadgets, so I will try and cover any of the revolutionary new items hitting the market soon. DigitalLife also has extensive gaming events and tons of exhibitors.

If there is anything you would like me to try and find out for you, just leave a comment below! I will do my best to find some information and report back in an article or comment! I’m looking forward to hearing some of your suggestions, questions, and comments. And as always, I’m in it for the Swag, and if I get anything really good I will try and find some way to give back to the readers! So lets hear your questions and I may pick you at random for some free stuff!

Any companies that would like to give me some Swag to share with readers, please contact me via the contact page so we can meet up! See you at the show!

Tickets to the event are only $12/person for a 4 day pass, which to be honest is quite a good deal for a tradeshow/convention.

I’m also looking forward to the release of Halo3, Guitar Hero3, and other games that will be premiering at the event. Should be good times for gamers as well as technology geeks. Hope to see you all there. Stay tuned for updates!

Meebo has also done a great job updating its interface over the last few weeks. I had been waiting a long time for a ‘black’ colored theme, and now they have one. Good work team Meebo!

Six Apart is encouraging people to switch to Vox, but I’m not a big fan. For starters the RSS output of Vox does not include a thumbnail of the photo I am posting. Which basically makes it useless for my purposes. Also, Vox tries to be too much and include too many features. It doesn’t really do any of them well. I already have blogs and social networks… I don’t need a new one. I just want a service that just does Photo blogging from my Treo 700w. I want to be able to include a title and a short description. All from my phone. None of the alternatives to Splashblog offer this ease of use and functional simplicity.

Another alternative to Splashblog that I’ve found is called Sharpcast. It handles the RSS feeds ok, but doesn’t offer the ability to add captions and titles to the photos from the mobile client. I’m not sure which I’m going to end up using.

If anybody knows of any other photo blogging software w/ a client for the Treo 700w let me know.