A while back I made a SummerBoard theme for your hacked iPhone. I sent it over to be added to the Installer app, but they sure are taking their sweet time in getting to it.

That is why I have decided to make the theme available here, so you can put it on your phone anyway.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Download Zing

   Download the theme here, and unzip it.

2. Jailbreak

   If your iPhone is not already jailbroken, you will need to go ahead and do that. The exact route changes every time Apple comes out with a new version of the iPhone firmware, but here is a link to the method that I have used several times. It works.

3. Install OpenSSH

   If OpenSSH is not automatically installed during the time of jailbreak (some methods install it, some don’t), you will need to install it. It can be found in the Installer app. This application is what makes it possible to connect to your phone and transfer files to and from it.

4. Install SummerBoard

   In the Installer app, search for an application called SummerBoard, and install it. This application is essentially a theme organizer, allowing you to switch between several different themes.

5. Install Term-vt100

   You will need a terminal application for your phone so that you can determine what your IP address is. I use Term-vt100.

   Once it’s installed (via Installer app), you will need to open the application. If it prompts you for a username and password, use the following information.

   Username: root
   Password: alpine

   (These are the default settings, if you are familiar with the command line you can go ahead and change it if you want.)

   Next, you’ll want to type the following into the terminal (and then hit return):

   ifconfig

   An IP address should appear, you’ll want to remember that one. For the time being, this is how you can connect to your phone.

   If you don’t want to remember an unfriendly IP address, you can alternately just type the following into the terminal (and then hit return)

   hostname

   Your hostname, Your-Phone-Name.local, will appear. In the next step, you can choose to connect to this instead of your IP. Same thing, yo!

   I should note, none of this will work if you’re not connected to a WiFi network.

6. Transfer Zing

   The easiest way to transfer the theme (or anything, for that matter) is to connect via SFTP. I use Cyberduck because it’s free.

   You’ll want to connect to that same IP address (or local name) that you got out of the ifconfig (or hostname), using the root/alpine password combination (unless you changed it).

   Once you’re connected to the phone, browse to the following directory, and transfer the entire Zing folder.

   /Mobile’s Home Directory/Library/SummerBoard/Themes/

7. Choose Zing

   Once Zing has been transfered into the Themes folder, open up the SummerBoard application and choose Zing from the list of themes shown.

I’ll post any updates to the theme here

The Dock

I like my dock small. But not too small. In the pre-Leopard days, I would make the dock as small as possible, but now with the new 3D dock background that just looks silly. I don’t like hiding the dock. Magnification is a must (mostly because it looks cool), and I always set it to just under 50%.

As far as non-app dock items go, I always keep it in the following order: Applications Folder, Home Folder, Downloads Folder, (and Trash). I also drag frequently used servers to the dock, just to the right of my Home Folder, for easy access.

Stacks

Display Type

I like to set the Applications and Home Folders to display as a Folder (instead of a Stack). If you don’t do this, the Home Folder will not show the little house icon. Instead, it will inherit the icon of the first item inside of it. That’s stupid, nobody wants that. I do like my Downloads Folder to be displayed as a Stack, though, because its contents are all temporary and that way I know when something is in there or not.

View Content As

For the Applications Folder, it’s view content as a List or bust. That way, you can browse your (billions) of applications in a list, as opposed to a confusing grid. Also, I call shenanigans on Fan mode. I want to like it, I swear, but it has a major flaw. Fan mode orders its items in alphabetical order, but descending (with “A” on the bottom). I can’t handle that, so I use Grid mode (which is just as pretty).

The Desktop

I like big icons. Right now, my desktop icons are set to 84×84. I also like to ‘Show item info’ with a 10pt font, and snap to grid.

Quick Look

I’m addicted to Quick Look. That is all.

Menu Bar

Must have menu bar widgets: Google Notifier, Spaces, battery (if laptop) with percentage showing, .Mac Sync, displays, Airport, volume, and clock (showing seconds) with flashing time separators.

Hot Corners

Top-right corner (which I don’t use as much anymore, since the Mighty Mouse has a lovely squeeze trigger), I like to Exposé – All Windows. Bottom-right corner, disable screen saver. Bottom-left corner, start screen saver.

Function Keys

I like the defaults. I’m addicted to F11 (Show Desktop). It’s just so useful. F8 (Spaces) and CTRL+Arrow (change Space) are pretty useful as well. F9 (Exposé – All Windows) and F12 (Dashboard), I use only when I don’t have my trusty Mighty Mouse.

If on a laptop (like my new MacBook), you better believe I check the “Use F1, F2 etc. keys as standard function keys” option. I can’t be bothered to push the function key (in addition to F11) every time i want to see my desktop.

Applications

I’m not going to bother going through all the different apps I use. Maybe some other time. For the most part, though, everything you need is free (well, free + $2000).

So there you have it. That’s how I like my Mac. I’m probably forgetting something, but I think you get the idea.