Redsn0w 0.9.6rc15 has been released to jailbreak iOS 4.3.3 untethered on any of the following compatible hardware: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 GSM, iPod touch 3rd Gen, iPod touch 4th Gen, iPad (original, not iPad 2), and Apple TV2. For those wondering, iPad 2 is still not jailbreakable.

As usual, you’ll need to download iOS 4.3.3 IPSW for your corresponding device before getting started. The iOS 4.3.3 updated focused on alleviating the tracking cache bug, and otherwise offers no feature enhancements.

Download Redsn0w 0.9.6rc15

Update: Redsn0w 0.9.6rc16 has been released, the download links have been updated to reflect this.

Mac & Windows versions are available, these are direct download links:

• Download now (Mac)
• Download Now (Windows)

If you aren’t sure what to do, follow our guide to jailbreak iOS 4.3.3 using redsn0w.

The Dev Team notes that if Windows users are having problems running redsn0w, that they should set CPU affinity to 1. Additionally, running Redsn0w in XP Compatibility mode can help alleviate some errors. Mac users don’t have to worry about any of this.

Alongside the new version of redsn0w are updated versions of PwnageTool for creating customized IPSW, and a new version of the ultrasn0w unlock. Be aware that the ultrasn0w update relies on the preservation of old baseband and is not considered a new unlock.

If you like to keep an eye on system resources and you want to branch out from the GUI Activity Monitor, check out htop for Mac OS X. htop is basically a significantly improved version of top, which lets you monitor system resources, CPU core load, memory use, load averages, and manage running processes.

If you come from the linux world, you’re probably already familiar with htop, but if you’re not here’s why it’s better than top: for starters, it just looks better and is easier to read thanks to an improved layout and use of ANSII colors, but beyond that it’s great because it functions much like a task manager, allowing you select and then renice or kill processes as needed. I find this easier than manually entering PID’s through top.

The easiest way to get htop running on Mac OS X is by installing it through MacPorts:

• Get MacPorts and install it if you don’t have it already
• After MacPorts is installed, launch a new Terminal window and type:

sudo port install htop

Installing htop may take a while because it requires quite a few dependencies (zlib, openssl, perl, etc), but MacPorts will handle installing and downloading them all for you. If you have none of this already on your Mac, it could take up to 15 minutes for all of the necessary files to download, compile, and install.

After MacPorts is complete, launch a new Terminal session and type ‘htop’ to access the app. You navigate and use htop through the arrow and function keys, which you’ll see are laid out at the bottom.

I find htop to look best at fullscreen against a white background, but if you have a slightly transparent black terminal it looks great too:
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Do you have some source code, text, or a command string that you want to securely transfer from one Mac to another? Combining the command line clipboard tools pbcopy and pbpaste with SSH we can do exactly that, and it doesn’t matter where the other Mac is located: be it LAN, WAN, or anywhere.

Here is the basic command syntax:

pbpaste | ssh username@ipaddress pbcopy

For transferring data on a LAN, you can use another Macs hostname or IP address.

This is highly useful because using this method is secure, plus it will not mangle special characters or code in the manner that many email and IM clients will.
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Want to customize the Mac OS X sidebar a bit more, perhaps by adding shortcuts to your most recent work, or a regularly used folder, directory, or drive? A great way to do this is by adding your own specific folders to the Finder sidebars. There are two simple ways to add your own files and folders into the Mac sidebar panels, they’re both fast and you can use whichever method you prefer:

Add Folders to Finder Sidebars with Drag & Drop

Simply taking any folder (or file), and then dragging and dropping it directly into an open Finder windows sidebar will add that item to the sidebar as a quick access link. This is super easy. You can even control where it goes by paying attention to where you drop it within the sidebar, a little blue line will indicate where the folder will end up, so you can place a folder precisely between two other sidebar items easily, or put it at the top or the bottom of the list, whatever you prefer.

This works the same in all versions of the Mac Finder, regardless of OS X version.

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iOS 5 may include the ability to push over-the-air updates and patches to iOS, meaning you’d be able to update your iPhone or iPad without hooking it to a computer with iTunes. More specifically, iOS 5 is reported to include the feature, but it will be future versions of iOS 5 take advantage of the OTA updating, perhaps as iOS 5.1, according to a report by 9to5mac.

iOS Over-The-Air is a Step to True “Post-PC” World
Over-the-Air, or OTA, would be an important step to turning the iPhone and iPad into true “post-PC” devices, since it would free the hardware from the tethered world of desktop updates. The next question this poses regards iOS backups that are typically synced with iTunes, but that could theoretically be handled by a cloud based wireless syncing solution which is rumored to appear sometime in the future.

OTA Updates & Bandwidth Limits on Data Plans
The major problem with Over The Air updating is the increasingly strict world of wireless bandwidth limits imposed by carriers. When you consider that most software updates weigh in at hefty sizes (iOS 4.3.3 is 670mb, for example), you have to wonder how OTA iOS updates would work. There are several ways to address this, here are three possibile solutions:

1. Allow OTA updates to only download over WiFi, in a similar fashion to how FaceTime only works on WiFi connections
2. Split the updates into smaller incremental patches, but allow them over either cellular or wireless, as 9to5mac theorizes
3. Apple reaches a deal with wireless carriers to allow OTA iOS updates to be ‘whitelisted’ from the bandwidth allowance of a users data plan, allowing users to get updates without counting against their allotted monthly limits

The report comes from 9to5mac, who cites “multiple sources” who say that Apple is working specifically with Verizon on the matter. Although they say there is no information on OTA support with other carriers, it would be unlikely for Apple to not pursue a widespread adoption of the feature across all carriers.

iOS 5 is expected to make an appearance at WWDC 2011, which begins June 6.

The upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will be distributed primarily as a download through the Mac App Store. This information comes from AppleInsider, who says the following:

The Mac App Store… will become the de facto method for obtaining the Lion upgrade, people familiar with the matter have revealed. Users will be able to upgrade instantly without the need for physical media by purchasing Lion through the Mac App Store.

Distribution of Lion through the Mac App Store for all users is not too surprising considering it’s the primary method for developers to download and install the Developer Preview releases. This is not to say that a corresponding DVD installer will not be released alongside the digital distribution. Last month, a placeholder for a Lion installation DVD showed up on German Amazon, and there continues to be a possibility that Lion will also appear on USB installer keys for MacBook Air and Mac Mini Server users.

Mac OS X Lion is expected to make a significant appearance at WWDC 2011 in early June.

iOS 4.3.3 has been released, the update is primarily aimed to address the storage of iPhone tracking cache and database files that caused a media conniption and some amusing comics earlier in the month.

You can download iOS 4.3.3 directly from iTunes and that is recommended for most users. Otherwise, you can use the direct links below:

iOS 4.3.3 Direct Download Links

These are direct download links for iOS 4.3.3 IPSW files from Apple’s Servers. Right-click and “Save As” the file, it should be a .ipsw extension and NOT a .zip:

• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4 GSM
• iPhone 4 CDMA – iOS 4.2.8
• iPad 1
• iPad 2 – WiFi model
• iPad 2,2 – AT&T GSM
• iPad 2,3 – CDMA Verizon
• iPod Touch 3rd Gen
• iPod Touch 4th Gen

If you just update iOS through iTunes, these IPSW files are not any use to you. Nonetheless, if you want to learn to use IPSW files to update iOS manually you can.

The brand new updated iMacs for 2011 include a seemingly out of place setting in the Keyboard System Preferences: Keyboard Illumination. That’s right, despite being a desktop machine that ships with the same familiar keyboards we all currently know, the new iMac includes the same keyboard illumination option that MacBook Pro’s do. Does this suggest Apple is working on an external backlit keyboard, and if so, was it originally intended to ship with the new iMacs?
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This is a neat trick I accidentally discovered: you can drag folders into any Mac OS X Finder window toolbar and it will stick allowing for easy access.

Additionally, if you drag some of your core ~/ directories into the toolbar they’ll stay in place with custom icons like you can see in the screenshot above: music note for your ~/Music, a camera for ~/Pictures, and a movie reel for ~/Movies.

If you don’t want folders in the Finder window toolbar anymore, just drag them off while holding the Command key.

Apple has released a new iPad 2 commercial titled “If You Asked” and it follows well in the footsteps of the “We Believe” TV ad that first launched with the device. The audio of the commercial says:

If you ask a parent, they might call it intuitive… if you ask a musician, they might call it inspiring… to a doctor, it’s groundbreaking… to a CEO, it’s powerful… to a teacher, it’s the future… if you ask a child, she might call it magic… and if you asked us, we’d say it’s just getting started…”

Now, if you asked me, I’d say the iPad 2 is still nearly impossible to find in stock at a store, so buy it online and wait a week or two instead for delivery.

Anyway, I like these new commercials, they feel a bit more sentimental than some of the past Apple ads and I think that’s a good thing. Apparently it started airing tonight, so keep an eye out for it if you’re watching TV.

Are you addicted to the Facebook news feed? You can turn your iPad into an automatically updating Facebook news stream thanks to a free little web app called FNews. Featuring a simple and minimalist interface with attractive typography and large text, the webapp is perfect to sit on an otherwise idle iPad (or iPhone too) and give you constant updates from the world of Facebook.

Visit FNews from your iPad and login, then bookmark the page for easy access.

The app is optimized for the iPad, but it’ll load fine from any other browser. If you’re brave enough to hang your iPad 2 from a refrigerator, then you’ll have the most exciting fridge magnet on the block.

FNews is open source and you can poke around the code if you’re into that sort of thing. Check out the developers page for more information on the webapp and how it works.

Want to help test Chrome development releases and be on the absolute cutting edge of web browser development? Try out the newly released Google Chrome Canary for Mac OS X, which Google says is aimed at the “bravest” of Chrome users.

Chrome Canary installs as a separate app to the stable Chrome builds, so you don’t need to worry about overwriting your existing app or Chrome resources. Canary is then automatically updated to the latest build and offers no testing before each release, meaning you’ll have lots of interesting features and improvements alongside a slew of bugs and crashes, Google even says “we expect it to be unstable and, at times, unusable…” so be prepared to fill out crash reports.

If this sounds like fun to you, you can download Chrome Canary from Google.com and help out.

I like Chrome a lot but I’m partial to stable browser releases, nonetheless Canary is fun to play around with to see what’s cooking over at Google. Heads up to MacGasm for the tip.