Q: How do I jailbreak my iPad and what are its benefits?

A: Technews does not encourage jailbreaking or unlocking any device. This article is purely for educational purposes and does not in any way recommend that you hack your device. This process may render your device unusable. Should you decide to jailbreak your device, do so at your own risk.

A: I used a software called Spirit to jailbreak my iPad. Spirit is the universal tool for jailbreaking iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. This is the easiest way to jailbreak a device, it's available for download for both Windows and Mac OS X.

With a jailbroken iPad you can now add apps that are not available in the App Store. In my case, I have added mouse support and now I am working on adding an external storage for my iPad. (Art Samaniego, MB)

IPad Apps: Tweaking the Keyboard

Typing documents on the iPad’s touch screen keyboard can be a chore. As I wrote in an article earlier this month, one solution is to pair up an Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard with the iPad.

But for on-the-go writing, there’s an iPad app that might make it easier.

Many people find the iPad keyboard too big. Keyboard Upgrade ($1 from the iTunes app store), which appears atop a blank white screen, allows you to adjust the size of the keyboard. But the main attraction is that it lets you split the keyboard into two halves, so that your hands are not locked into a single position.

There is also a feature that allows you to rotate the keyboard pieces and to move them about.

But it is far from a perfect replacement for a real keyboard, and in the app form, one must copy and paste any documents or writings to a file that accepts text.

Still, is it worth the price of a single Milky Way bar to audition? Yes, and it has no calories. (By Stephen Williams, NYT)

Charging the iPad

Q: I know it comes with its own A.C. adapter, but can I charge my iPad with the same little white charger that came with my iPhone as well? I want to leave one charger in the office and one at home.

A: According to a note on Apple’s support site, you can use the iPhone’s little white cube of a charger and its USB cable to juice up the larger iPad. But the iPad will charge more slowly than it does if you use the standard 10-watt AC adapter than came in the box with it.

Some computer USB ports have only enough power to charge the iPad when it’s in Sleep mode — and the computer itself must be awake. If you plug the iPad into the computer and see a “Not Charging” message on the top right corner, your computer doesn’t have enough power in its USB ports to charge the tablet when it’s on.

Press the iPad’s Sleep/Wake button to turn off the screen and let it quietly recharge.

You may want to periodically check on it to make sure you are getting a trickle of charge to the tablet’s battery. Some newer computers, like the latest desktop iMacs, have USB ports that can power up the iPad, even when it’s awake. (By J.D. BIERSDORFER, NYT)