I have Boss Prefs, Podcaster, backgrounder, and Cycorder.

I am hesitating to run Winterboard as I am pretty happy with the default look and feel. I may get around to it.

I am not sure why I need all the Unix utils. They don't give me anything cool to do directly. I will probably get them as needed.

I guess I am mostly interested in full applications. I found out that the iPhone Sirius client (uSirius) is supposed to be available through installer, but even when I enter in the repository it doesn't show up. The guy may have pulled it temporarily.

I recommend:

-- MobileTerminal
-- Boss Prefs (allows quick access to turning off sshd, bluetooth, hide icons, etc)
-- WiFiToggle
-- HP Calc (RPN calculators)
-- Scrobble (for last.fm posting, if you use last.fm)
-- MobileFinder
-- Podcaster trial -- lets you dl podcasts over the air
-- Cycorder (probably the video recorder you got)
-- All of the US sources (the foreign sources are all localizations that we don't need)
-- BossPrefs AutoLock Toggle
-- Core Utilities (shell utilities)
-- grep
-- gzip
-- inetutils (ftp, inetd, ping, rlogin, telnet)
-- less
-- Mac UI (nice osx-based theme for winterboard. winterboard is a dependency that cydia will get for you)
--nano
-- OpenSSH
-- screen
-- shell-cmds
-- Sphere Battery (replaces the green recharging battery w/ a neat image)
-- Status Notifier (puts status icons in the menu bar at the top of the screen and on lock screen)
-- sudo
-- system-cmds (passwd, and other commands)
-- unzip

If you install OpenSSH, make sure you read up on changing the default passwords. They're well known and the same on every handset, so you want to change them.

Ok, so all jailbroke now. I installed a video recorder and backgrounder. It there anything else that I really should have?

There's no downside to doing it a bit early, except that you'll be paying for two accounts at the same time during the overlap :)

I went to the Apple store to check it out. I thought I was pretty familiar with the phone, but when I started playing with it I was amazed. OMFG, that phone is cool. Just for kicks I hit my web site with the photos and movies of the kids. Worked flawlessly and looked great. Then, I used the youtube app to see if I could get to my movies. They were all there, played right away (store LAN), and looked awesome.

Now, I just have to sit on my hands for a couple of weeks. I figure I can justify getting it a couple of weeks before the t-mobile contract ends.

Wowwwww! Congrats, man :) Ask me as many questions as you'd like -- I wanna help you get the most out of it!

Since my inclusion into the iPhone world is imminent, I am on the lookout for what I can do with it. Once month to go on the t-mobile contract!