After Effects at 6:15 PM

Hey everyone, we here at TeenMontreal finally got our hands on some good editing software. The one I'll be showing off today is After Effects. This entire video was created using the software alone. After Effects gives the user access to thousands of different effects and tweaks that will make an average video into a spectacular one. We'd like to send a shout out to Andrew Kramer of video copilot who's tutorials and guides have (and will continue to) teach us how to properly utilize this magnificent program.


Anthony TJ

Native Instruments at 9:33 PM

Hey everyone (meaning the one person who actually reads these), I have recently come across some new software that I thought I'd share with you. Native Instruments has created a bunch of DJ/Producer software for PC and MAC and upon investigation, I am rather impressed. I've been using Traktor (mixing) and Massive (synth) the most, but there's a plethora of other goodies out there awaiting exploration. The ease of use and the competitive price point makes this software highly recommended on my end. I hope some of you (that's right, I'm talking to you one guy who reads this) will check them out.


Anthony TJ

iPod Touch / iPhone Jailbreak at 3:49 AM

Well as promised, I am going to write a complete guide to jailbreaking the iPod touch/iPhone. There are many guides floating around there but I find that many people find them confusing and are still hesitant about the jailbreak process; I'll do my best to make this guide as beginner friendly as possible.

The first thing about jailbreak that people think is "what exactly does it do?". Jailbreaking will allow for custom, non apple approved apps to be installed onto your device. This lets you gain access to themes and modifications that would never be possible without jailbreak.

WARNING: Jailbreaking might reset your device (force you to use iTunes restore) if done improperly, follow the steps carefully and you will be fine.

This guide will assume that you are using firmware 3.0, if you are not, the jailbreak will still work but the apps that I mention along the way might not, these apps will be marked with an a *.

Now that all of the introductions are taken care of, let's get started:

1) Grab the tools required to jailbreak:

http://thepiratebay.org/user/iphonedev/ >> grab the redsn0w 0.8 that matches your operating system), you will need a torrent client such as vuze or utorrent to download this. Once it's done, drag it to your desktop
http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/ >> grab the firmware associated to your device (I have an iPod touch first gen running OS 3.0, so I would take "iPod touch 1G (3.0/7A341)"). Save to Desktop.

2) Plug in your device and shut down iTunes.

3) Navigate to your Desktop, extract the redsn0w zip, and start up redsn0w.exe

4) Click on the browse button (highlighted in red) and navigate to your Desktop


5) Select the firmware that you just downloaded for your device, wait for it to say "IPSW successfully identified" and press next

6) Select "Install Cydia" and press next

7) Assure that your device is plugged in, then power it off (hold the lock button for 5 seconds until a slider appears at the top saying "slide to power off"). Be sure the device is plugged in and is off before proceeding

8) Before pressing next be ready to follow a sequence of instructions that will appear right away. The first step will be to hold the power button (the lock button). Once you are prepared to follow the sequence of button pressing and holding, press next

note: if you mess up, try again (go back to step 3)

9) Once the sequence is completed the screen on your device will flash and then the jailbreak process will begin on the device. Let it run all the way through without touching it, your device will restart to your lock screen when everything is done.

note: If you interrupt this process and your device wont start follow these steps: you will have to go into iTunes and restore your device. To do this you will have to place the device in DFU mode. To do this, unplug your device, assure that it is shut off, hold down the home button, and plug it back into your computer (without releasing the home button). Hold the home button until you see the logo shown below. Now you can open up iTunes and select restore.


10) Assuming everything finnished correctly and your device restarted properly, you should be done. To double check, go through the apps on your device and look for "Cydia", if it is there, you're golden.

Now that you have a jailbroken device, I'll show you a few apps that I'm sure you'll enjoy. First thing to do is add some sources to Cydia so that you can have access to all the best apps out there. To do this, open up Cydia and go to the manage tab, select sources, click on edit in the top right hand corner, then select add. You'll need to add the following sources:

http://xsellize.com/cydia/
http://apt.ripdev.com/
http://cydia.hackulo.us/ >> ignore the warning that pops up and select add anyways
http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com/ >> the "0" in ultrasn0w is actually a zero

once these sources are installed, you're ready to start installing some apps. go into the search tab and search for the apps that I mention (remember apps with a * might not work for non 3.0 firmwares, I have not tested them)

Installd*
CyDelete
OpenSSH
Appsync For OS 3.0*

The next list of apps are all optional and I will include a description of them

Winterboard - Customize the look of your device with themes and more
SBsettings - A quick useful menu that appears when you slide your finger across the top of your device
Installous - An app that will allow you to install applications that are normally paid for in the app store for free (you must first install at least one application from the app store, even a free one)
Five Icon Dock - Will allow you to place 5 icons on your dock like you will see in my screen cap at the end of the post
MxTube - Allows you to download and save YouTube videos straight from your device

That is all I've got to tell you for now, I will give you updates as I find more useful tips and tricks for your device. Good luck and I hope that this was helpful to at least one person out there. Because if it wasn't I just wrote a crazy long post for nothing and I'll have to kill Dahlberg for giving me the idea.


Anthony TJ

First Update at 5:35 AM

This is the first post about a real topic. This will be about iPhone/iPod touch apps for blogging. The best one I have found so far is iBlogger. It's neat simple and efficient, but costs a whopping $9.99, but who pays for apps anyways (I will teach you how to do this). If you've got the cash or know how to grab it for free, then this app is reccomended.

Anthony TJ

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

My Part at 4:35 AM

Hey, it's TJ here. Time to tell you what this is all about. Basically anything that I find interesting that has anything to do with tech, I'll post here. I'll also give tutorials for some of the hacks and mods that I do to my gadgets. Finally, I will try to review whatever technology I can get my hands on, from the new iPhone 3Gs to my oven (it sucks, don't get it... ever...).

Anthony TJ