Types of Methods to Jailbreak

For most people out there they'll just google how to jailbreak however there are pros and cons to each method some, most perhaps, are just minor but can make a difference in what you are looking for.

Redsnow:

This is perhaps one of the most known methods to jailbreak an iPod, or iPhone. For those that might need to jailbreak while on the go, and no access to internet this is probably not the best method, as in order to get to the steps where the jailbreak gets installed, your pc/mac needs to download some info first. What is nice about this jailbreak, from the firmwares that I've jailbroken is it allows for direct access to the file system as soon as the device is jailbroken, allowing you to setup the cydia auto install folders and whatever else you may want to do. Other firmwares require you to first install through cydia, afc2add, which allows a pc/mac to access the filesystem. This may be a benifit to some, it may not, for me it was as I lived in an area where I didn't have access to wireless, thus I had to download through Cyder, a program for pc that allows download from cydia repos, all my apps and install through auto install. This method of installing isn't for the not to tech savy as it requires some knowledge of dependencies and other things. In my opinion I find redsnow to be a great jailbreak method.

Spirit:

Spirit on the other hand is great for those that do on the go jailbreaking for friends and what not, it currently only jailbreaks 3.x firmware for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. It is very simple to use, probably one of the easiest methods to use. Theres not much explaining need here it will get you to the same point as redsnow, more or less.

PwnageTool:

I haven't had much experience with this method, however for more info on the new release go to this link.

Seemingly Trustable Jailbreak Sites:

Heres a list of sites that are providing semi decent to decent jailbreak tutorials:

iPod Touch:
Business Insider

iPhone:
Cult of Mac

iPad:
Read Write Web
Redmond Pie

Heres a site that is a perfect place for jailbreaking all three, as well as a list for decent setup:
Gizmodo

Firmware Downloads

Those out there that don't know where to download firmwares or don't like speeds of some Apple servers, the following site is one of the best that I've used to download all the firmwares that I've used:

Felix Bruns

Give it a go it's really easy to navigate and use.

iOS 4.1 Good? or Bad?

Following information from here:

About iOS 4.1 Software Update

This update contains improvements, including the following:

• Game Center

  - Send and receive friend requests

  - Invite friends to multi-player games over the Internet

  - Play multi-player games by auto-matching with other 

     players

  - View Leaderboards and Achievements

  - Discover new games from friends

• High dynamic range (HDR) photos on iPhone 4

• Support for TV show rentals on iTunes

• Ability to upload HD videos to YouTube and MobileMe

   over Wi-Fi on iPhone 4

• Additional support for AVRCP-supported accessories,

   including next & previous track control

• FaceTime calling directly from Favorites

• Bug fixes, including:

  - iPhone 4 proximity sensor performance

  - iPhone 3G performance

  - Nike+iPod fixes

  - Bluetooth improvements

Products compatible with this software update:

• iPhone 4

• iPhone 3GS

• iPhone 3G

• iPod touch 2nd generation, or later

So, Apple says everything improves, but how far can we go to trust this update. Those of us that are iPod touch users have felt the hard end of the stick so to speak with the first iOS 4.0 most of us lost the thing that is most needed for the iPod and that is battery life, so my question is will Apple fix the battery life? On the other hand the features of the update are awesome and those that know how to jailbreak have enabled the multi-tasking features and picture background, but to tell you the truth, we got that on 2.x already, so Apple is a bit slow. 

Another thing about this battery issue, Apple on the support forums that I've seen haven't really addressed this problem. So that being said, this seems like to me just a big ploy to get those of us using the old hardware to go for the new "usable" hardware. I say it's a good ploy, but how many of us have the money to buy new hardware? For now I say that we wait, beings the new iPhone 4 came out, there's bound to be something newer, that's going to be more awesome than the iPod Touch.