There is a little thread elsewhere on the forums dedicated to iPhone and iPod Touch hacking and modding coined "Jail Breaking" I am here to share what little experience I have with it and to take questions if any have some.
A few definitions taken from other sources are:
"Jailbreaking"- To break the DRM (Digital Rights Management) Restrictions imposed by Apple and AT&T to limit what you can install or DO with the device.
Blackra1n - A jail breaking program written by George Hotz for the iPhone/iPod Touch firmware 3.1.2 and below.
redsn0w - A jail breaking program written by the iPhone Dev Team that jailbreaks stock iPhone/iPod Firmware
Ultrasn0w - An unlocking program for iPhones that unlocks the baseband of the phone to allow it to be used with other carriers
Pwnagetool - Another jail breaking program made by the iPhone Dev Team that is capable of jail breaking the latest firmware.
Ok we have the basic terms out of the way so hopefully I don't lose anyone.
Now a good place to download stock (not jail broken) firmwares for all apple mobile devices including the iPad is:
http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/
If anyone has any questions I will be more than glad to answer them.
Tutorials coming are:
Jail breaking your Apple Device
Rolling back Firmwares
Recommended apps for your jail broken device
Recommended links:
iPhone Dev Team Blog: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/
Blackra1n Download page: http://blackra1n.com
George Hotz's Blog page is currently invite only
Thats all for now, hope this is a good read.
>$Grey