If you’ve been waiting for a nice, easy jailbreak solution for iOS 4.3.1, then today’s your lucky day: Dev-Team’s just released redsn0w 0.9.6rc9 for both Windows and OS X, allowing us mere mortals to free our supported devices — iPhone 3GS, 4 (GSM); iPod touch 3G, 4G; iPad 1; and Apple TV 2G — with a few simple clicks. Alas, there are a couple of caveats: the iPad 2 isn’t supported here, as Cupertino has somehow managed to tighten up its security to fend off hackers (for now); and ultrasn0w users have also been told to hang tight until there’s a compatibility fix — Dev-Team will announce on Twitter when this becomes available. As for those who are eligible for this new jailbreak, head over to Dev-Team’s website for the download links, and make sure you have the corresponding IPSW files handy as well — you can find them over at iClarified or on your favorite search engine.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

redsn0w untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.1 released for Windows and OS X, lacks iPad 2 support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 01:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.

This week Inhabitat saw renewable energy projects blast off around the world as Kenya announced the construction of the largest wind farm in Africa and a team of Georgia Tech researchers developed a heart-powered nanobattery that can charge your gadgets on the go. We also learned that the mixture of saltwater and fresh water in estuaries could provide for 13% of the world’s power needs, and we took an in-depth look at a cryogenic energy system that produces electricity from liquified air. Finally, we showcased photographer Mitch Epstein’s haunting photos of “American Power” which recently won the Prix Pictet prize.

It was also an epic week for architecture as the Pritzker Prize – the world’s highest architecture honor – was awarded to Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura. We also saw a high-tech solar skyscraper with a mind-bending wavy facade rise in Seoul, and we shared 15 visions for skyscrapers of the future — from vertical farms to shipping container towers and oil rig cities.

Finally, this week we saw a bright future dawn for green transportation as a team of students unveiled a hyper-modified electric Audi TT that is powered by solar energy. We also learned that the European Union is considering banning gas cars by 2050, and we took a look at Microsoft’s new database that tells you the cheapest place to charge your EV. Last but not least, we brought you a 10-seater pedal-powered party bike, and we showcased a stylish LED-lit jacket designed to keep cyclists safe at night.

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Renewable art touches the sky, an electric Audi TT, and cryogenic energy originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know that pseudo-tactile feeling you get when you fondle your mouse’s clicky scroll wheel, the one that satisfies your obsessive need to touch everything? Logitech wants to give you more clicks, and smoother scrolling to boot. This M325 wireless mouse’s new “micro-precise” scroll wheel features 72 tiny ratchets, making our self-counted 22-ratchet mouse wheel seem downright barbaric by comparison — not that we ever really considered the number of teeth our mice had before now. The rodent’s 18-month battery life won’t quite live up to your 2-year Couch Mouse, but at least they can share a Logitech Unifying Receiver. Your scroll wheel of tomorrow can be had for $40 later this month, or £30 right now for lucky folks in the UK.

Logitech ratchets up the competition with M325 wireless mouse originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve never seen the rise and fall of humanity as told by a series of pulleys, levers, and CO2 rockets, now’s your chance — a team of Purdue engineers have built a contraption that not only tells the history of the world through the end of days, but is also a contender for the world’s largest Rube Goldberg machine. The Purdue team’s “Time Machine” catalogs a history of dinosaurs, war, and rock ‘n roll before finally culminating in a cataclysmic inferno and efflorescent renewal in 232 steps — narrowly beating out the previous record of 230 set by Ferris State University in 2010. Impressive, but not officially the “world’s largest” just yet– the team is submitting a video of a flawless run to Guinness World Records to certify the historic thingamajig, hopefully eking out a victory with its two step lead.

Rube Goldberg Machine to set new world record, bring forth apocalypse originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Apr 2011 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows only: Only a month after its last update, one of our favorite Windows utilities, CCleaner, has released a new update that now adds full support for Firefox 4 and IE 9 (both released last month) as well as several other improvements. More

We usually think of fossil fuels as an energy source, but petroleum is also the raw materials used in all the world’s plastics. Now leftover chicken feathers could allow us to keep using plastics in a world after oil. More

Your desktop is your virtual home, and much like you’re real home, customizing it to fit your needs and style can make the difference between between a drab and depressing workspace and one you’re excited to work on. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite desktop customization tools, and now we’re back with the five most popular tools for the job on Windows, Mac, and Linux. More

Many of us use public DNS servers like Google Public DNS and Open DNS for faster web browsing and other benefits. But in some cases your ISP’s DNS server is much faster. Weblog Digital Inspiration illustrates why and when this might be. More

Want to see Mickey Rourke slit someone’s throat while wearing a metal bunny helmet? Director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) showed some stunning, crazy, violence-packed footage from his Greek god melodrama The Immortals at WonderCon. More

China’s quality inspection agency has ordered nearly half the nation’s dairy firms to halt production as part of a campaign to clean up an industry that has been blighted by toxic scandals.

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China shuts down nearly half of dairy producers