iOS 7 Jailbreak - The Full Story

Hey guys,

First, I would like to wish everyone happy holidays and I hope your time off will be splendid! During this time of year, people are relaxing and celebrating with family and friends, wishing for the new year to bring them happiness and easiness. Sadly, the evad3rs team is having the exact opposite feeling.

Yesterday, at around 4-6 in the morning, the evad3rs team released an iOS 7 jailbreak that would work for all devices running iOS 7 to iOS 7.1 Beta 2.  The initial reactions were joyful and the team even tweeted "Merry Christmas! The iOS 7 jailbreak has been released at evasi0n.com!" People were amazed and baffled by this news because no one expected them to come out with a jailbreak this early (some were predicting February like the last one).  After a short amount of time, people began to run into issues with the tweaks from Cydia.  iPhone 5s users couldn't even download anything because of their 64-Bit ARM architecture.  A key problem that was found was the MobileSubstrate was not updated for iOS 7 and there was huge commotion among developers not having this prepared.  Most notably, Jay Freeman (saurik), creator of Cydia, discussed his connection with this matter and what he's trying to do on Twitter.  Other developers were angry and outraged about not knowing the release date of this jailbreak, and some were threatening to leave this business for other Mobile Operating Systems (ex. Android, Windows Phone, etc).  Currently, the developers are working together to resolve this issue, but another pressing matter that has brought uproar for this jailbreak is the TaiG company.

The Evad3rs team are a lucrative group of hackers that put endless hours into their jailbreak for no true monetary gain. The donations are how they make some money, and even that goes to other important causes like EFF. Even with this being true, one must contemplate why they would rush this jailbreak.  The true answer deals with TaiG and Geohot.  TaiG approahced the evad3rs team about having their alternative app store encrypted in the jailbreak.  In doing so, a rumored (not yet confirmed) $1 million would be the given to the team for putting their store inside of the jailbreak.  This motivated them to work hard before anyone could take the credit for themselves.  In the mean time, Geohot was working on the jailbreak too and had most of the exploits in place for this jailbreak.  Evad3rs knew they had to release it quickly without anyone knowing (this is what caused developers to be frustrated with them).

The problem with TaiG is their pirated apps on their store.  People were quick to assume that Evad3rs should have known about this, but no one truly understands the situation at place, so one must continue to wait for the team to do an interview.  (They released a statement to the jailbreaking community about this here).

Understanding this sitaution is somewhat complex, but after reading and hearing about this all day yesterday, one must conclude that this does not detract the effort and time that these guys put in for the jailbreak.  The problem comes down to ethical matters, miscommunication, and politics.  I hope people will continue to applaud evad3rs for their effort and time.  The jailbreaking community might have a bleak future after yesterday, but one must be hopeful that more developers will arise from this stumble.

Thank you guys for reading this and I hope this made sense.  Tell me your thoughts in the comment section below and if I should possibly become an iOS jailbreak developer.  Happy Holidays!

Thanks,
Programmer84

UPDATE: I removed some of the concerns about TaiG since I did not have the full story.  I apologize for the misinformation and TaiG has been removed from the Jailbreak, so don't worry.

Google and Verizon: The Effects of Their Unhealthy Relationship

It's great to be back writing! So as you guys know, I've been working on that Wii hack.  Sadly, it is not working out; there have been countless bugs with my program.  I will try this program with a different approach, but if it doesn't work this time, I must forget this project.

Anyway, I want to focus on the title of this post "Google and Verizon: The Effects of Their Unhealthy Relationship" and get your guy's opinion on this matter.  Before I go into detail about this relationship, I first want to acknowledge that I immensely love both companies and they have done fabulous things for their users.  I, in no means, want to diminish my admiration for these two businesses. That being said, let me explain why I sometimes contemplate this "bond."

Google just released the Nexus 5, which is by far one of the best Android phones (if not the best) of 2013. The phone has amazing specs and its a Nexus (the pure Android experience), yet this phone will not be available on Verizon's LTE network.  The company will be working on "projects" with Google for 2014, instead. Though I have no idea what these projects could entail, I am somewhat annoyed that I cannot purchase one of the best phones I have ever seen.

The phone will be released on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.  Sprint is a CDMA carrier.  Yet, Verizon's CDMA towers will be incompatible because of the 700 MHz band that they placed on their phones. This upsets me even more because of Google still going with a CDMA network.  The Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 are two previous devices that probably caused Google to not even think about Verizon. Even the new Nexus 7 was a problem with Verizon when Verizon stated that it would be incompatible with their service, even though Google said it would.  Later, Verizon changed this claim and said "they will be working on it."  

Both corporations have millions of users, yet they cannot come up with a proper set up for the masses. Sometimes I believe Verizon doesn't really want Android devices on their network, but then I see all their Droid phones and think otherwise (I'm happy that Motorola's Phone department is under Google's supervision now).  Sometimes I believe Google just doesn't want to get involved with the specific coding and hardware for Verizon.  Whatever the case may be, it is damaging both companies' images and revenue. Some people might even want to switch to AT&T because of the vast selection of Android phones, the GSM towers being international, and the somewhat fast updates to their phone (opposed to Verizon's).

Tell me what you guys think about this matter in the comments section.  Would you be willing to leave Verizon or would you choose a new mobile OS to use?

Thank you guys for reading!

Programmer84

Possible Wii Hack with TI 84 Plus SE

Hey guys,

So this blog title is true, I may be on my way on hacking the Wii (and installing Homebrew) with the TI 84 Plus Silver Edition!  Currently, I am coding the app for the TI 84, and eventually will be testing out the hack with my calculator.  Further updates will come in the next couple of months!  If this hack doesn't work out, I will modify it so that the Wiii can be hacked with the use of a jailbroken iPhone! I'll inform you guys about this great development in the upcoming months.  Thank you guys for reading and please leave a comment below regarding this hack and if you would like to see this or not.  I will see you guys next time.

Thanks,
Programmer84

TI 89 Coming Soon!

Hey guys,

So the title of this post is telling the truth, I will get the TI-89 Titanium soon and will do some amazing calculator hacks in the near future!  Now, I have used the TI-89 before, but never purchased it since it was expensive (if you're wondering if I bought the TI Nspire or Casio Prizm, I never bought either one cause I wanted to get a free one by testing it and developing for it, but that never happened).  I should get this calculator in August or September and I promise to port new games into my TI Calculator, and hopefully, re-create Brandon Wilson's amazing PS3 hack with his TI 84, but this time with a TI 89!  Anyway, tell me what you guys would like to see with this new calculator.  Leave a comment below and I will take a look at it.  Thank you guys for reading and I will see you next time!

Thanks,
Programmer84

HTC One: Will I get it on Verizon?

Hey guys,

The HTC One started the year off right in the smartphone industry, but wasn't able to maintain that status for long.  The phone is great, but as other manufacturers continue to produce top of the line phones, HTC started to fade away.  Multiple news articles stated that the HTC One for Verizon will come out in August. As much as I love this phone, I kind of feel that its lost its popularity and I rather wait for the Ubuntu Edge or next Samsung Galaxy Note.  Verizon needs to stop delaying popular phones from coming to their network. I understand that making a phone from GSM to CDMA takes some time, but this is an atrocity to the mobile industry.  I'm not sure what device I will get on Verizon, or even if I will stay on this network once my contract expires, but I do know that a change needs to come. Tell me what you guys think in the comments below.  Thank you guys for reading and I will see you next time.

Thanks,
Programmer84

Kindle Fire HD or Nook HD

Hey guys,

I want to apologize in advance for my lack of posts during the summer, but I had an internship that was taking up most of my busy schedule.  This is going to be a quick post and I want to know your guys take on these great e-readers.  So,  I plan to purchase a Kindle Fire HD or Nook HD to both root and read in my spare time.  As some of you may know, rooting is one of the best parts about Android, but these devices will primarily serve as my new library for books, news articles, and testing different ROMs/rooted features for Android. Price is not a big factor, but the Nook HD and HD+ are cheaper than its Kindle counterparts.  So what do you guys think is the best for a rooting reader, a Kindle or a Nook?  Please leave your comments at the bottom of this post and I promise to inform you on which one I choose in the near future.  Thank you guys for reading and I will see you next time.

Thanks,

Programmer84

Possible Book about Programming?

Hey guys,

So I thought about posting this because I wanted to know the general audience's perspective on this idea.  I have always enjoyed programming, whether it's on the TI 84 or C#.  I believe the reason as to why I became successful was due to my early and easy upbringing in the programming world.  Starting off with TI BASIC made programming easier to understand than someone who started with Java or C++.  Anyway, I was thinking about creating a book that talks about how to be a successful programmer.  I will start with what makes a programmer a programmer, and how to enter this field.  I will also give suggestions and quizzes to see if you are ready for this field.  The book won't go into detail about actual programming, but it will talk about the "gradual ladder" in the programming world.  Before I actually start writing, I wanted to know if anyone would be interested in reading this book.  If so, please leave a comment saying you would or not and what you would like included.  Thank you guys for reading and I will see you next time!  If you guys ever have a question about technology, just leave a comment and I will try to answer it as soon as possible!

Thanks,
Programmer84