PS3 Fat running Ver 3.41 JailBreak help?

[godlykilla]

I was intently following the scene when the PS3 first became "jailbreakable" with all of the $100+ usbs, flashing roms onto your iPhone/androids etc. Then I stopped following the scene completely and haven't had time to touch my PS3 ever since. Basically, can someone tell me where the scene is at right now? I'm completely confused by all the new terms and different options there are now such as CFW.

I have a PS3 Fat running Ver 3.41. Before I stopped following the scene, it was impossible to play online w/o being forced to update or the risk of getting your system locked. I know there's always a risk of having your system locked, but is there a method to play online now? Can I update my system and still be able to jailbreak it, or do I need to jailbreak it at my current firmware, then jailbreak it? If so, what should I be googling for or steps I need to take in order to have my PS3 jailbroken and play downloaded games?

I know this was very dense in questions, but I finally have time to mess with my PS3 and I have no idea where to start. I tried to search but all the comes up is the old flashing roms onto your iDevice or phone to jailbreak it. I heard people tell me that you don't need your phone to jailbreak it anymore. Thank you any assistance!

[PS3 News]

These days as long as you are on 3.55 or below you can install PS3 Custom Firmware (CFW) such as:

• ErmaC (4.xx CFW)
• Kmeaw (3.55 CFW)
• Rebug (4.xx CFW)
• Rogero (4.xx CFW)

There are others, but those are the most popular at the moment. Be sure to follow the guides on how to backup your flash and dehash as a precaution before doing so if you go with the 4.xx CFW's above.

As for going online, you can but it's a giant risk so even with apps such as Stealth multiMAN in the end only Sony knows what they are looking for (which they can change at any time) to Ban PS3 Consoles meaning you would have to take yet another risk attempting to UnBan Your PS3 Console which is not an easy task either.

Long story short, if you game online have a second PlayStation 3 for offline/backup/homebrew use to be 100% safe.