Jimiz.net – Jim Becher on the web

I decided to jail break again. I really like the sbsettings That lets you turn things like wireless, bluetooth, and other features on and off with a simple click.

I also use mywi to tether when on the road, since I purchased the app it is very useful.

Some of the other reasons to jailbreak are to test out some fun themes.

To jailbreak I used the always up to date lifehacker post:
http://lifehacker.com/jailbreak/

Beyond the main applications I normally use I also installed the best jailbreak apps from lifehacker

I decided to upgrade iTunes and also my iOS version to 5.   The install of iTunes version 10.5 took about 20 min to download and install.  The install of iOS 5 is taking a bit of time to install – 8 hours.  Eight hours, that is one heck of a long time.

I did a quick speed test just to validate that I had a good connection speed.    I had close to 17MB download speeds and it still shows about 8 hours to download.  How many people are downloading the iOS 5 version with me as well.  It would be great to see what kind of traffic that Apple is generating today.

I love it when I come across a new thing on the iPad that I did not know.  I was reading a tip’s and tricks blog post on the ipad and I learned about how to pause an app from being installed.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/14529/the-complete-list-of-ipad-tips-tricks-and-tutorials/

You basically hit the icon of the app that is in the (waiting or loading) state and it will turn to paused.  What a great feature when you start to update all apps and then want to surf the web or get a large attachment

If you use google apps and an iPhone or iPad you have probably tried to add other calendars to your in app calendar application.  A very simple way to do this is to use iphoneselect.   Iphone select allows you to select the calendars from a webpage and then configure your iPad or iPhone app to sync with them

Google APPS: https://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/YOURDOMAINNAME/iphoneselect

Change YOURDOMAINName to the appropriate url mine is “jimiz.net”.

Gmail: https://www.google.com/calendar/iphoneselect

You will then see your available calendars to sync with, the same selection you have in the gmail web application.  This great little url can quickly configure your calendar.

I recently configured my cousins google apps account and allowed him to sync the other team members.

As I was looking at an old cell phone that my kids use a a toy, I have realized that I’ve owned a lot of mobile phones.   Here is a quick look in my phone history:

OKI 1300 series (Circa 1995) :  This was my first phone and my first cell phone.  I took my first job interview on this thing.  Back when 30 min of cell time cost you an arm and a leg.  (Thank goodness I got the low paying internship)

Motorola StarTAC (circa 1996-1997) :  First Flip phone I had.  Easy to use lived on one charge forever.  I think I even had more than 30 min of cell usage.

Nextel i1000 (circa 1999-2000):   I ended up switching to nextel to be connected to the team members I worked with.  At the time it sounded like a great concept, click to instant talk.  The issue was that the phones were huge, and the usage of 2way faded.  This was a pretty robust phone.  I dropped it a few too many times and it still continued to work.

Sony Ericsson T610 (circa 2003) : First smart phone.  If you can call a symbian os a smart phone.  This was the first phone I can remember actually really texting on and also getting email (That I was able to read) – I actually purchased my first bluetooth headset when I had this phone.  (WikiPedia t610)

Audiovox SMT5600 (circa 2004):  My first windows mobile phone, windows mobile 2003.  You could sync exchange and really read email.  it was the same small form factor and had a camera you could actually use.  I can remember that it was actually worth sending images from.  The rocker button on this phone eventually stopped working.  What  a great little phone.  Review from CNET

Cingular 2125 (Circa 2005): The audiovox broke and I replaced it with the Cingular version of the similar phone. If I remember correctly this one had better reception and the upgraded Windows OS. Not to mention the better resolution.   So you could now read 10 lines in the email instead of 8.  In the end this phone had an issue with the power button.   Review from PC mag.  My kids still use this phone as a play toy.  It even fires up still.

Samsung BlackJack (circa 2006):  This happens to be the only phone that I have owned with a full keyboard.   At the time everyone was hooked on crack berry’s and I really enjoyed windows mobile.  It came with windows mobile 5.  At the time Windows Mobile 6 came out.  I used a non-standard rom to upgrade to winMo6.  So I guess this was the first time I hacked a phone.  I also used internet tethering with this phone over 3g, and it was great on car rides to have laptop internet usage.  It had a roller / rocker on the side that you could scroll down a page.  This was a great feature on a phone with out a touch screen  This phone came with an extended battery to make it look huge… Cnet Review

iPhone 3G (circa 2009) :  My first iPhone – (blog post).  I still have this, it’s being used as a pandora juke box.  I really liked the switch from the Black jack.  IOS was and is very easy to use.  I did a jailbreak very early.

iPhone 4 (circa 2010):   new iPhone. This is a great device. My older iphone 3G became slower with each ios release.  This is a very good phone.  It has saved my butt a few times with th eapps.

At some point I got a few other phones.  Either as backup or for the wife.

Qualcomm QCP-2760 Cellular Phone (Circa 2005):  This was a phone to just make calls.  I think I actually sold the fist one back to the cell phone company after 2 years.   This was prior to craigslist.

Nokia – I purchased this as a pay as you go phone for the wife.  I used it as a backup phone in case that one broke.  Pop out the sim card and call away.

Overall that is a lot of phones, I may have actually missed a few.  What I have realized is that over the years the cell phone has become a very important part of my communication.    It is my main line for my business and also the best way to get ahold of me personally.  Back when I ran a datacenter it was also my pager.  Today, I find that it is the most frequent way I check email.

At one time if  a person had a cell phone they were seen as powerful or rich (1996). Over time, everyone has come to have cell phones.   At this in my life, I can’t imagine not having a cell phone.

I am not one to have a belt clip for my phone.  One of the main elements of having a phone for me is to be able to fit without being seen in a pocket.   I currently have an iPhone 4 and like the size and function it has (don’t like the weight – remember I keep it in my pocket).

Since my first smart phone I have never kept a case for any of them.  I have tried many cases and covers for both my iPhone 3 and my iPhone4 but they all caused more hassle than it was worth.  Some were too bulky, others would catch on my pocket, and some would just gather pocket lint.

So for the past few years I have used a naked phone (phone with out a case).  That is until recently when I was in a meeting and scratched the crap out of the back of my iphone.  I thought it would be nice to have a simple just back to the phone to stop that from happening and cushion it.

I happened to see a google add and also a quick mention of  Gelaskins on some site.  It may have been hak5.   Gelaskins make iphone, iPad, and laptop covers or skins.  The iPhone skin was just what I was looking for.   A very thin back overlay.  It also comes with sides and front, but I don’t intent on using those.    You can also choose from many styles or create your own.  I decided to make my own.

If you are looking for a iPad or iPhone case, give these a quick try.  the iPod case is really cool, you could get custom ones made for your business.

GelaSkins are removable covers for protecting and customizing your portable devices. They feature stunning, photo-quality graphics ranging from fine art prints to contemporary urban images designed by our growing family of artists from around the globe. Stand out in the crowd with personalized protection from GelaSkins.

Give them a try, so far I am happy with the design process.  I uploaded the image and customized the rest.  I made the purchase on Sunday Night and it was shipped Monday.

The site was easy to use and the communication was great.  They use 3m adhesive and help stop scratches.  They make covers for most portable devices.

I am always interested in how secure my devices are? Is my data safe, can people get to my info, am I at risk of giving out any private information. The iPhone /iPad has proven to be pretty secure if you take precautions. Lock your screen and keep sensitive data out of the clear. The one interesting item you can hack is the backup. There is a lot of information to be gathered and searched in your simple backup.  Many people don’t think twice about the sync that happens with your computer and iTunes. I’ll go into a little discussion on what can be seen.

Before I go too far into this  information, it should be noted that this can be corrected by encrypting your backups.   The process to encrypt your backup is a simple check box in iTunes.  You can do this by connecting your iphone / ipad and selecting summary -> options -> encrypt iPhone backup.

Now that you have secured any future information let’s look at the wealth of informaiton that is now residing on your computer from your previous backups.  To find your backups on a windows machine navigate to :

(Windows 7 or vista) - C:\Users\{your username}\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

(Windows XP) - C:\Documents and Settings\{your username}\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

Once in the directory you will see your backup sets.  Select one to look at.    First we will start with the info.plist file.  You can open this file with any text editor (xml formated file).  This file contains the overall information regarding the ios device:

• Device Phone number
• Device name
• Device GUID
• ICC-ID: Integrated Circuit Card ID serial number of the SIM card
• Serial number of the device
• and Much more

You can see in the screen capture above that this device name is “jimizphone”.

I know at this point you are thinking why is this stuff important.  Well after some research and some reading I was able to find out what some of those files contained.  Thanks to team over at hrgeeks in their great post here is some definitions of the files.  These files are all .mddata files that can be viewed using a SQLite browser.:

• Call Log: ff1324e6b949111b2fb449ecddb50c89c3699a78
• SMS (TEXT) Log: 3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28
• Notes Application : 740b7eaf93d6ea5d305e88bb349c8e9643f48c3b
• Contact List: 31bb7ba8914766d4ba40d6dfb6113c8b614be442
• Voice Mail List: 992df473bbb9e132f4b3b6e4d33f72171e97bc7a
• Calendar: 2041457d5fe04d39d0ab481178355df6781e6858

Let’s review one of the files.  I choose to look at the SMS log.  This would be the most damaging file if someone could review what I have said.   It could also be the target file for people looking for information (ex-wife, girlfriend, or business competitor).  Using SQLite browser I did a select statement on the file “select * from messages”  it returns records of text messages from the phone.

You can see from the image, that a record of all text messages was saved.  I have not verified if the deleted items are saved but the information is clear enough.  Your iPhone  backup file contains in clear text your SMS text messages.  It has the date, phone, message, and time stamp that can be searched.

Opening the contact list quickly allowed me to look at names and numbers that were stored on the phone.  This could be dangerous for people who don’t want that information shared.   A person would not need physical access to their phone, only access to their computer.

Armed with file name information you can also get other non-phone related information that may be stored by applications.

Facebook friend list – 6639cb6a02f32e0203851f25465ffb89ca8ae3fa

I did a quick check, and I was able to see all my facebook friends information (cell phone, email are hashed) but names and contact are available.  This is interesting in that you can gather information outside of the phone that could be used against you.

So with a little information and a simple tool you can get a lot of information from an iPhone / iPad backup.

To view the email accounts accessed or setup on the phone you can view this file in a text view application:

• Email Account: 5fd03a33c2a31106503589573045150c740721dd
• Safari History: 1d6740792a2b845f4c1e6220c43906d7f0afe8ab
• Safari Searches: bd38afa30b5a43c146db02a46ee11d82cdc817fe

I love technology. I love how the process of doing tedious tasks can be simplified. I can remember when creating an favicon was a true task. You had to download some type of app that would transform your image to a PNG then do some maniuplation to make it the right size.

Today there are some great sites that take your image (almost any size) and generate a favicon.

• http://www.favicon.cc/
• http://www.html-kit.com/favicon/
• http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/

If you are creating an iphone or ipad app you can also create an image online. Here is a pretty good site for doing so. http://www.midnightmobility.com/iphone-icon/

I thank those who run the above sites and how they have made my life easier. Happy icon generating.

So today I updated my iPhone to 4.3.2 and Jailbroke it again.   I always get asked why I jailbreak.  The simple answer is because I like to hack devices.  The more to the point reasons are the cool customizations.  The business reason is simple, MyWi it allows me to make the device a wifi hotspot and always have internet where ever I go.

I used the redSn0w process to jail break.  You can follow this process it is for 4.3.1 but  but can work with 4.3.2 if you download the proper IPSW version.   Lifehacker always has hst up to date version of the files.

My intial attempt failed.   This is because I did not follow the steps for x64 and modify the affinity for redsnow.exe and set to cpu1

I also did not run redsn0w.exe as administrator.  To do that you just need to right click on the exe and select (run as administrator)

These steps are all in the instructions. Have fun and enjoy if you do decide to jail break.  Drop me a note with your experiences.   I

I have not jailbroken my iPad yet.  I do know this version will not do the iPad2

Update:  I got a note from someone asking if I backed up my iPhone prior to jailbreaking.  Yes, I used AptBackup for the jailbroken apps and did a lot of system file copy with ssh.

I love the press and the new release that Apple is getting with the iPad2. I recently read an article regarding the Xoom vs the iPad http://blogs.computerworld.com/17907/motorola_xoom_versus_the_ipad_2_the_xoom_is_a_clear_winner

The base argument is around the horsepower and processor in the device, the multi tasking features, flash support (soon), gyroscope, and tabs on the browser. As I look at how the iPad is used at our house and how I use it. I don’t think I need any of those things. They are nice, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not what I use.

An interesting counter argument is brought up by Robert Scoble (http://scobleizer.com/2011/03/02/no-apps-no-sale-ipad-2-vs-motorola-xoom-vs-rim-playbook-vs-hp-touchpad/) I agree with his view.

1. Apple iPad 2. Has apps. 65,000 of them.
2. Motorola Xoom. Has no apps. Oh, sorry. 16. At least no apps designed for the large format. Designing an app that works on a smart phone isn’t the same as designing one that works on a large screen. Most of the apps I’ve “stretched” really suck compared to their iPad equivalents.
3. HP TouchPad. Has no apps. Heck, it isn’t even shipping yet.
4. RIM PlayBook. Has no apps. Heck, it isn’t even shipping yet.

Overall the new tablets that are coming out may have better hardware than the Original iPad but are very close with the iPad. If you are a hardware junkie then you may care. If you surf the web, remote into computers, use an ssh terminal, play games, watch movies, or check email. You probably don’t care. You just want an easy to use robust device, like the iPad. The item I am amazed that people forget it the battery life… I think Apple wins on that item.

You also want apps. What a simple word “app”. Apple has them, the others don’t. Yes, the apple store may be the only place, and it’s not open to everything, but it is solid. I’m a linux user at home and a passionate opensource advocate, but the iPad is such a solid device.

What are your thoughts?

If you are like I am and continue to use your iPhone / iPad for more then they are used for. Jailbreaking or just tinkering, you will love this great little app called iphone explorer

It is installed on either a PC or Mac and allows you to browse files on the ios device.
http://www.macroplant.com/iphoneexplorer/ I recently used it to update my customized iphone lock screen.

It allows you to both see files in the root directory and also the applications you have installed.

What a great simple tool to copy files to and from your iPhone and iPad.

I have a lot of apps loaded on the iPad. Many of these apps are games, productivity, social media, and just entertainment. However, there are a few that are really tech and work related. Since I am in the IT field I found a few apps that I would recommend.

Remote Desktop
1. winadmin – $8.99 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/winadmin-ipad-edition/id364898965?mt=8
This is the most simple tool to use for remote desktop, it is easy to use and just works. It is a great tool for the price
2. desktop connect – $14.99 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/desktop-connect/id364907570?mt=8
This app does both VNC and RDP. It has a lot of potential.
3. iTeleport – $24.99 install soft on the PC – http://www.iteleportmobile.com/
4. iTap – $11.99 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itap-rdp-remote-desktop-for/id317062064?mt=8
LogMeIn #29.99 – https://secure.logmein.com/products/ignition/iphone/
Well done app. This app allows you to remotely use LogMeIn and access to PC. This cost is worth it if you use LogMeIn.
jump – $19.99 – www.jumpdesktop.com
This app does both VNC and RDP.

Remote control – VNC
VNC is a great remote control software. It is free and open source, supports windows, linux and Mac.

screens – $19.99 http://edovia.com/screens
Screens is probably the best VNC iPad app. The cost is not cheap but it always works. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/screens/id400012962?mt=8

realvnc – $9.99 – ok http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vnc-viewer/id352019548?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D6
Is the 2nd best I can recommend. The cost is attractive.
Mocha VNC Lite – free – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mocha-vnc-lite/id284984448?mt=8 just that unattractive / good for ocasional users. I used this prior to getting screen.

Here is another link discussing VNC

http://lifehacker.com/5713455/the-best-vnc-apps-for-your-ipad

SSH
iSSH – $9.99 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/issh-ssh-vnc-console/id287765826?mt=8
I love iSSH. It is simple and always seems to amaze me. From the quick control key send to the Xviewer that has a keyboard overlay.
SSH Terminal – $.99 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ssh-terminal/id369875227?mt=8
A basic SSH client. Not many features, but it works.

Network tools
IT Tools – $4.99 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/it-tools/id324054954?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
What a great tool. This allows you to ping, traceroute, DNS and arp tables.

iNetwork-utility -$2.99 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inetwork-utility/id378676317?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
The price of this app is fantastic. Ping, portscan, dns, whois, and Alexia info

zScan – $2.99 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zscan/id381019397?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
A great network scanner. It will scan ports, udp, tcp, look for sql, banners. Overall a great tool to have.

Prior to having an iPhone I had a windows mobile device. That was a long time ago, and I don’t miss it at all. There is one aspect that I do miss. That is the ability to customize the home page / lock page.

Over the weekend I set out to customize my iPhone / iPad lock screen. If you have a jailbroke device you have the ability to do this. Here is my first run at customization.

Customized iPhone Lock Screen

There are many options if your device is jailbroken.

APPS:
Multibarlockscreen: http://www.hackthatphone.com/2x/themes_with_winterboard_section26.html
Homescreen 2.0: http://www.jailbreakitouch.com/index.php/articles/23-articles/144-homescreen-20-weather-widget-for-iphoneipod-touch.html
Intelliscreen: ($9.99)http://intelliborn.com/intelliscreen.html
LockInfo: http://lockinfo.ashman.com/

Each item has it’s advantage. Intelliscreen is the leader of the pack. I ended up going with Winterboard and a customized theme. I followed this tutorial.
http://lifehacker.com/#!5763876/how-to-customize-your-jailbroken-ios-lockscreen

Here is a great application to help quickly convert any video to another format ipad / iphone.

http://videoconverter.hamstersoft.com/

This simple application makes converting video easy enough my mother could do it. You drag a video into the main window and then start the video transformation process.

I love that you visually select the type of destination for you video.

So head on over and start the download.

I have had an AOL AIM instant message account for a long time (jimiz12 – IM me if you like). Just recently in the last 4 days, I started to get text messages on my Cell Phone from AIM. I thought that was interesting because I don’t remember every giving AOL / AIM my cell phone number. If I remember properly I did not even have this cellphone number when I created my AIM account.

I wonder what changed on the AIM side. I also wonder how they got my cellphone. Here is a picture of one of the messages. It is interesting that they allow you to block the message by responding. I decided I did not want to reply at all to let them know what I was even on the other end (at first I thought this was spam – not from AOL / AIM).

AOL Spam

So I decided to actually log into AIM and see what setting were available. I typically use Diggsby for my IM client (that does not contain my phone number either). To check AIM settings I used the web version of AIM. It had a thing called Lifestream, I’m starting to think that lifestream is the cause of this new text spam. I finally stumbled upon a AIM mobile setting that allows you to turn off text messages from that system. Interestingly enough, I don’t remember ever telling them I wanted or would like to get text messages. Since I have not logged into AIM in a long time (few years) I can’t imagine that I just recently said yes to anything.

Here is the process to go into AIM and turn off the text messages. Again, interesting. They ask me for my cellphone number and they will send me a code to disable messages. Good thing I have a texting plan, or this would have cost me money.

Here is the message with the confirmation code. In step 4 you get to disable the text messages, I can’t imagine why I would have enabled them in the beginning.

After this process I am starting to wonder how much more text spam I will be getting in the future. I think with any service, I will start using my google voice number to allow for text spam to be handled in my browser instead of my phone.