an empty screen on my iPad … no icons. no way to do anything
thankfully, i had installed: sbsettings and assigned an app to double-click top bar. after running an app i could click get the home button and get to search bar (sometimes had to change orientation)

restarting the iPad or respringing didn’t work. still no icons

how i fixed it? now so sure, but:
- waited for an update for cydia to come out – updated
- messed around with weather setting on LockInfo and made the winterboard to crash & go to safe mode

once, restarted … the icons came back!

ipad is really great … for reading. and although big media co.s & magazines are killing themselves to come up with fancy apps … for reading their content (which is already available for free on the web) … there’s nothing like being able to see  – a full page magazine like national geographic, sports illustrated, playboy, car and driver or rolling stone. in all of their glory, with full page pictures and text on all of that 10 inch display in your hand. ipad seems to have been designed exactly for that purpose.

so, how to download most popular magazines / books for free and transfer them onto your ipad … even when on the go, not connected to your computer?

[shocker ... for this "how to" you won't even need to jailbreak your ipad! but if want to have "properly" cracked books on your iBooks app, with covers & re-sizable text & notes ... jailbreaking is required]

what you need is a good pdf viewer. we recommend one of the best iPad apps:

- goodReader – $1 (yes, you can find it for free, but don’t) – this app will allow you to: view pdf magazines & books, transfer them from your computer wirelessly or download them on the go, and open in another pdf reader, like iBooks.

* so, now – where do i find free popular magazines / books? *

1) you can SEARCH for them on  filesTubes or torrent sites under “e-books”:
just use the name of the magazine + “pdf”. e.g. “car and driver pdf” ->

name of a book + “epub” or “pdf”. e.g. “DaVinci Code pdf” [see below, for more on free eBooks]

2) here’s list of few, good WEBSITES that list popular magazines and ebooks as they get released:

thepiratebay.org (torrent / e-books) | magazinesDownload.com | storeMags.com (nice layout, NSFW (most porn) – if you can’t download a link, just copy the name of the file & search via fileTubes) |

* how to download pdf mags or books … while on the go? *

another great asset of GoodReader is the ability of download books & magazines on the go:  … [instructions coming soon]

* how to get paid, popular books for iBook app … for free *

yes, you can actually download popular paid books … for free. but, they are not easy to find (lots of them have been removed from rapidshare)

1) you will need to jailbreak & install AppSync for this one
2) SEARCH fileTubes or bittorrent sites – name of the book + “epub” (e.g. “the lost symbol epub” – [unfortunately they are difficult to find, so looking for a book name + "pdf" is much easier]
3) WEBSITES:
- gxiso.com – amazing collection of 100+ books [stephen king, Rich Dad Poor Dad, etc]

but … all of those books have been removed from rapidshare … we were able to find them but, PLEASE DONATE IF YOU LIKE THIS POST! a lot of time goes into finding those …. here’s part 1 as a sample (all books in  6-3-10.rar from gxiso webiste) – once donations will flow in, we will post all of those books here … as one file. thx

- thePirateBay.org (books) / most downloaded (mags & tech books mostly)
- (legit books) epubbud.com | epubbooks.com | project gutenberg
- other interesting links: Amazon.com: 50 Books You MUST Read Before You Die

4) finally, you can convert pdf books into epub format, but it’s a pain

** ohh, once you have the epub file … just drag int to iTunes & sync **

.

..

…

[ note to big corporations, media outlets & publishers ]

- stop trying to fingure out how to protect your precious content
- stop wasting time & resources trying to develop apps which display the content of your magazines in a fancy way (like wired magazine)
1) in today’s information overload, your content becomes outdated in a week if not days. especially that is available for FREE on the web
2) we consumers / readers don’t really care about fancy videos & animations in digital magazines … we want to READ them & see pictures. and with wired’s magazine rediculous size of 500mb … equal to 1.5h decent quality movie, no one will be able to fit more then 2-3 of those mag “apps” on their digital devices (yes, ipad tablet alternatives will start poping out soon like mashroooms … all “requiring” another version of your fancy app)

solution?

scan them as pdfs & sell them for 1/2 price of the newsstand edition!

- don’t bother protecting them via DRM, passwords, etc (just take a look how badly RIAA & MPAA lost that battle).

- each magazine will be about 50mb in size and will be readable by ALL digital devices available in the world today …

- & for $3-5 per magazines more consumers will opt to buy instead of downloading them illegally … i would

When you jailbreak, the filesystem’s password is set to the common password “alpine” As people usually don’t bother changing this password after performing a jailbreak, it’s really easy for hackers to get access to any jailbroken iPad on a public network. Changing the password is quick and easy — after the jump is a tutorial showing how to change the SSH password.

instructions:

• install OpenSSH on Cydia, on your jailbroken iPad / reboot
• find out what’s your iPad’s ip address (sbsettings displays it or settings / general / about)
• on you mac go to terminal application, type the following:
• ssh root@ip address of iPad (eg. “ssh root@10.0.1.8″)
  [you might see an message warning you it's dangerous to get root access, etc, just type "yes" and press enter]
• “passwd” – type in your new password twice / remember new pass!
  

vu a la – you’re done and your iPad is no longer exposed to viruses & hacks

1. yes, you’ll need to jailbreak your iPad via spirit [detailed instructions] [don't forget to change your default password on your iPad]
   once you’re done, you should see “cydia” app on your iPad (don’t worry if your iPad becomes an iPhone for a min – all you have to do is respring)
   
   
2. in cydia app, search for “AppSync for OS3.2” (paid app … so, if you don’t mind stealing those apps, from those developers:
   Goto: Cydia > Manage > Sources > Edit > Add > sinfuliphonerepo.com

   It will add a sinful repository – once done, in the search result on cydia – you will now see apps  with sinful logo listed as well – their versions of apps are cracked & free)
   [some pipl suggest you download a free app from iTunes on your computer & iPad ... ]

3. so where do you download cracked iPad games & apps from?
   surprisingly not much on torrent sites yet. for a list of basic paid apps that are cracked and free, check out MCP Exclusive. there, you’ll find free version of pages, numbers (iWorks for iPad), angry birds HD, command & conquer, flight control HD, NFS Shift, Tetris HD, Weather HD, etc, etc
   if you can’t find what you looking for on MCP, check out filestube.com (nice rapidshare search engine)
   - when you search add “ipa” to the search (e.g. “goodreader ipa“)
4. once you download the ipa file, all you need to do is drag it to iTunes & sync your iPad – vu a la, enjoy your hacked iPad app / game for FREE!
   

[if you're getting "the item you've requested is not currently available in the us store" error in iTunes after you install an app or a game on your jailbroken iPad / iPhone. it means you have downloaded an international version of a cracked ipa app or game. once you sync & app / game is on your iPad. delete that ipa file from your iTunes / restart iTunes & it will fix this problem]

[if you're getting  0xE8008001 Error When Trying to Sync ...
means you haven't followed above instructions & made a mistake of moving MobileInstallation manually to your iPad / iPhone via SSH ... OLD way of doing things. it worked for os 2.0, won't work on 3.0 +]

1. you’ll need to jailbreak your iPad via [go to redmontpie.com for detailed instructions] [don't forget to change your default password on your iPad]
   once you’re done, you should see “cydia” app on your iPad (don’t worry if your iPad becomes an iPhone for a min – all you have to do is respring)
   
2. install iMobileCinema, but since its’ development has been paused, use this repository instead of d.mobilecinema.com (which is dead. if you have added this repo & have issues w/ cydia click here):
   - cydia / add sources – http://cydia.imodzone.net
   [not a verified cydia repo - make sure you change your default password via SSH]
   - now in cydia you can search for “imobilecinema” / install
   
3. restart your iPad & here you go. certain websites like dailyCarVideos.com will now have flash videos enabled (once the page loads, it takes another 10-15 sec for the video links to show up)
   

[disclaimer: this method will only enable some .flv videos in Safari on your iPad. won't work with .swf, so sites like hulu, lala, hype machine, etc will not work with this hack]

[update: here's one of ways to watch hulu on your iPad, by downloading it first on your computer - then using Air Wave]

week 2, top 10 apps for an iPad:

1. air Video Free – awesome video streaming app to watch any video of your computer on an iPad. check the full review here.
2. offline pages – much better alternative to off line problem in safari. great application for iPad traveler to catch up on daily news / websites / blogs, while on the road!
3. pro keys – free piano app for ipad
   
4. radio.com – streaming radio app – by  CBS Radio and it’s streaming partners, including Yahoo! Music, among others. 550 professionally programmed music stations as well as News, Talk and Sports stations across the nation.
   
5. zinio – great preview to print magazines reader. it has bunch of free magazines to read,  rest you have to buy (health magazine app sucks btw).
   
6. frame HD (free for limited time) – great picture stand app, that displays flickr feed and shows time
7. pad info (free for limited time) – task manager / activity monitor for an iPad. battery meter will estimate time left on the current charge.
8. blackboard mobile – looks like a very promising app for students and teachers, but you’ll need for your university to support this. demo

iPhone apps, worth mentioning:

• opera mini – breakthrough? yes & no. iPhone app, it is faster then safari, miracle that it got approved by apple, but … it is not safari: zoom is funnny, rendering of the pages is not clear, etc [tip: install opera on your desktop to sync your  bookmarks]
• 5-0 radio [$.99]- police radio scanner

week 2, top games for iPad:

1. air hockey gold – great game, 1 & 2 players
   
2. minesweeper boom! – classic windows brain teaser now on iPad
3. 10 pin shuffle HD lite – sort of a bowling game mixed with poker … but still lots of fun
4. jirbo Says – classic colors memory game (great for kids)
   
5. classic solitaire – now on an iPad
6. dubble – bubble shooter
   
7. hitTennis 2 – found it a bit difficult to play, but maybe that’s the challenge. 1 or 2 players
8. touch tanks online
9. table checkers – 2 players only
10. battle of the block – weird game, that’s difficult to interface with. but … it’s free – seems to be 2 players only

top free educational ipad apps books for kids:

• alice for the ipad – free chapter 1 demo
• craft finder – db of interesting do it yourself projects for you & your kids
• trucks – simple book for kids
  
• abc dinos – simple book for kids
• a story b4 bed – more of a demo, read along book for kids
• bubble snap – pop those bubble wraps
  

- this brilliant Air Video app for iPad  does the conversion, on the fly, for you.

all you need is to download and install application for your computer / mac & ipad of course. by far the best app of this kind i’ve used (if you’ve streamed via wifi network, you’ll know there’s always a problem. not with this app).

the free version is limited to 4 files, but it displays files randomly. just go in & out of a directory to see one you want. $2.99 to remove this annoyance. it even works of a CD / DVD!

How about watching online video on an iPad? Here’s a list of popular websites that support iPad video:

• YouTube
  You can use YouTube app to watch HTML5 videos from youtube. And you can use HTML5 version of YouTube.
• CNN
  When you’re browsing CNN.com on iPad, the site automatically displays an HTML5 video player, providing you with the best possible viewing experience.
• BBC News
  You can use BBC News app to watch news videos from BBC
• Reuters
  An HTML5 video player on Reuters.com lets you view most of the site’s video content on iPad.
• New York Times
  The HTML5 video player on the NYTimes.com home page displays video in a format viewable on iPad.
• Vimeo
  The popular video-sharing site Vimeo.com features an HTML5 player that displays most videos on iPad.
• Time
  The 24/7 news site features an HTML5 video player for viewing recently published video.
• ESPN
  ESPN uses HTML5 to play audio and video for fans browsing ESPN.com on iPad. Site navigation and live scoring have also been optimized for the iPad Multi-Touch display.
• Major League Baseball
  MLB.com features a browsing experience optimized for iPad, providing fans with live baseball action at their fingertips.
• Netflix
  The iPad-optimized version of netflix.com makes it easy to browse movies and add them to your queue. Video plays via the free Netflix app, available on the App Store.
• NPR
  NPR’s website, NPR.org, incorporates an HTML5 audio player and embedded HTML5 video for iPad.
• National Hockey League
  NHL.com detects when you’re browsing the site on iPad and displays optimized content, including recently published video.
• The White House
  WhiteHouse.gov is a largely standards-based site that displays video using the HTML5 video tag.
• Sports Illustrated
  Recent video features on SI.com are displayed via an HTML5 player compatible with iPad.
• Flickr
  Flickr now displays video via an iPad-compatible HTML5 player.
• People Magazine
  An HTML5 video player on PEOPLE.com displays video in iPad-viewable format.
• TED
  TED.com is completely optimized for iPad, displaying video, comments, ratings, and more.
• CBS
  Watch clips from your favorite shows as well as recent full TV episodes of “Survivor” on the HTML5-enabled, iPad-friendly CBS.com.
• Spin
  SPIN.com features a browsing experience optimized for iPad, providing music fans with the latest live performances and backstage coverage of their favorite bands.
• National Geographic
  Watch National Geographic videos on your iPad using the new HTML5 player at nationalgeographic.com.
• ABC
  Play ABC videos with via the ABC Player app, available on the App Store.

- eBuddy (iPhone app) with notifications for up to 1/2h
- fring … i’ve used this app on iPhone & the newest version does not log you out automatically, but the interface … confusing
- TwittDeck – you can actually plug in your FB on it ? – nope, only on iPhone version
- FB iPhone app has chat on it

weather – plenty of choice here:

1. AccuWeather – closest to resembling iPhone’s simple weather app
2. WeatherBug – great rain radar, other info bit too small to see
3. The Weather Channel - nice features, but you have to click an icon before you see actual weather

Clock

• newton free is a basic clock app with annoying ticking. No alarm clock, timer, etc.
• Alarm clock picture frame – seems to be a better, $0.99 app that has few nice features.

As for stocks, voice memo and compass – check out this link

ps: another voice memo alternative is iTalk (iPhone app)