Gizmodo: death star

AT&T Looking for New Ways to Meld iPhone with U-Verse

Elaine Chow — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:30:00 EDT

AT&T is figuring out options for linking U-Verse to the iPhone, and plans on eventually introducing services that'll meld the two into an all encompassing home theater system. Features being developed include using the phone as a remote control, listening to voicemail on TV, downloading shows from DVRs onto iPhones and virtually hurling tomatoes at the screen. Is it weird that the last feature is the one I'm most excited about? [Reuters]

Lego Star Wars Death Star Diorama Now Available—Rebel Alliance and Free Time Beware!

Jack Loftus — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EDT

We've seen the immense Lego Star Wars Death Star diorama big reveal, the Brickworld 2008 coverage, and the massive minifig-packed set being built in beautiful time-lapse video—and now it's available for order! Just a quick recap: that's 3,803 pieces, 24 minifigs, $400. Get saving or get ordering. Your inner Grand Moff Tarkin commands you! [Lego via Brothers Brick]

Timelapse Video: Building the Lego Death Star Diorama

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:39:00 EDT

Here's a bunch of crazy Lego heads building the Lego Death Star diorama, probably the best Lego set available this side of the Millennium Falcon with 3,803 pieces, and 21 mini-figs—a stunning number for any Lego set—but definitely the most fun to play with, with 14 scenarios from the original movie.

Looking at the time it's taking me to finish the Falcon, I'm not going to try this unless I can get ~~Lindsay Joy~~ someone to help me. [Lego in Gizmodo]

iPhone OS 2.0 Unlocked

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:52:00 EDT

The new iPhone OS 2.0 software has been unlocked and jailbroken. It was released just hours ago and it has already been cracked by the iPhone Dev Team. The first one took a couple of months, but this one was actually unlocked before Apple released it to the public. And you have had the proof in front of you all morning. Updated with link to iPhone 2.0 unlock.

You can download from here and here.

If you were wondering how I was doing push email tests on iPhone OS 2.0 and Vodafone UK, this is the reason why. The code wizard commandos at the iPhone Dev Team have been working on this non-stop since the early days of beta testing. In fact, I had iPhone OS 2.0 running on my iPhone since last week. That was version 5A345, two below 5A347, but identical in functionality.

Now that the official iPhone OS 2.0 is out, the iPhone Dev Team will release their Pwnage tool for everyone to unlock and jailbreak their iPhones soon, although the specific date/time is not firm yet. It may not be as interesting as before—since most countries now have the iPhone and it will be impossible to buy without doing a contract first—but people looking to install unsigned applications and buy pay-as-you-go cards while traveling—instead of roaming—will find it very useful.

And besides, we don't get tired of seeing the Death Star exploding again and again. [iPhone Dev Team Portal]

Lego Death Star Video Requires Lots of Mental Pew-Pew

Jesus Diaz — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:30:00 EDT

Our friend Nannan Zhang from Brothers Brick is now in Chicago attending Brickworld, the annual convention for all things Lego. He was able to snap this cool video on the new $400 Death Star diorama, showing how things move, including the working trash compactor. I still think they should make one to the scale of the Millennium Falcon, but I guess that could probably alter Earth's orbit. As an alternative, they should release a Lego stormtrooper mini-cloning facility. [Brothers Brick]

3,800-Piece Death Star Diorama Is Coolest Star Wars Lego Ever

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:25:20 EDT

Move over Millennium Falcon, because there's a new Best Lego Set Ever in town: the $400 Death Star. Almost 4,000 pieces of absolute nerdgasmic technological terror now available to order, showing 14 scenes that happened in the no-moon during the original trilogy. We have all the official information and three high definition photos that show every angle of this amazing set, with 21 amazing mini-figs, including Han and Luke dressed up as Lego Imperial Stormtroopers.

#10188 Death Star™
Ages 12+. 3,803 pieces.
$399.99

Recreate the action and adventure of the Star Wars™ movies with the ultimate Death Star™ playset! This detailed battle station features an incredible array of minifigure-scale scenes and accessories from Episodes IV and VI. Its different decks include the Death Star control room, moving turbolaser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperor’s throne room, detention block, Imperial conference room, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser, plus much more! Swing across the chasm with Luke and Leia, face danger in the crushing trash compactor, and duel with Darth Vader for the fate of the galaxy. With over 3,800 pieces, the Death Star measures 16” tall and 16½” wide when completed. Includes 25 Star Wars minifigures and droids!

Death Star is a LEGO Exclusive available for pre-order on www.LEGOshop.com starting July 1, 2008 and can be found in LEGO Brand Retail Stores starting September 1, 2008!

Includes the following 7 new and exclusive Star Wars minifigures and droids only found in this set!
Luke Skywalker™ (Stormtrooper outfit)
Han Solo™ (Stormtrooper outfit)
Death Star Trooper (x2)
Phlutdroid™
Interrogation Droid
Death Star Droid

Other minifigures and droids include:
Obi-Wan Kenobi™
R2-Q5™
Emperor Palpatine™
Darth Vader™
Grand Moff Tarken™
Emperor’s Royal Guard™ (x2)
Stormtrooper™ (x2)
R2-D2™
C-3PO™
Princess Leia™
Chewbacca™
Luke Skywalker™ (Jedi Knight)
Mouse Droid
Dianoga (Trash Monster)
Luke Skywalker™
Han Solo™

Product Features:
Death Star Control Room
Death Star Turbolasers
Hangar Bay Control Room
Superlaser Control Room
Death Star Superlaser & Weapons Bay
Manned Turbolaser
Emperor’s Throne Room
Hangar Bay
Detention Block
Tractor Beam Control
Trash Compactor Scene
Swing over the Gap
Meeting room
Droid maintenance

The Coolest Internet Network Operation Centers

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:15:00 EDT

This is a shot of the interior of AT&T's Death Star, their stunning global network center in Bedminster, New Jersey—where they work to suppress good wireless reception and run their Random Billing Generator. It looks more amazing than NASA's, but it's not the only cool network operation center running the intarwebs, as you will see in the gallery. Updated: with specs on the Death Star in New Jersey after the jump.

Here you can see the network operation centers of Reliance Communications in India, Conexim in Australia, Lucent's Network Reliability Center in Aurora, Colorado, and Akamai's NOC in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

AT&T's center uses 141 giant wallboards to show the status of:

• 83,000 miles of fiber routes
• 538,000 miles of "backbone" fiber
• 47,000 cell sites serving 236 million people

This represents 14.5 petabytes of traffic every business day.

[Royal Pingdon]

AT&T Says Free Wi-Fi for iPhones Will Come... Someday

Elaine Chow — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:45:00 EDT

All AT&T's flip-flopping between offering free wireless at Starbucks and then taking it away—turns out it was some peon screwing up after all. An spokesperson for the company told the New York Times that the confusion was due to a "human error." But the day when iPhone users can definitively access the internet while sipping on frappuccinos will come, the PR flack assures, AT&T is just refusing to say when. Oh, come off it, AT&T. The cat's out of the bag already, you might as well roll out the service now. I'm sure there will be plenty of secrets you can accidentally release before deadline in the future. [New York Times]

Death Star Wedding Cake Wins Fanboy of the Year Award, Sets Grounds for Divorce

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT

I got this picture from our Tips mailbox just after reading Wired's article on Fanboys, Ernie Cline's odyssey of a group of diehard Star Wars fans who break into Skywalker Ranch to steal a copy of Episode I before opening day. Reader Rye Clifton explained what it is, much to Addy's disbelief:

I just got back from a wedding where the groom had a Death Star groom's Cake.

Yes. A Death Star wedding cake.

Now, I know there are fanboys everywhere, but come on people. Heck, yes, I admit it. I'm guilty as charged, your honor. But although I was willing to pilot the X-Wing rocket (on retrospective, I'm glad that didn't happen), and I know the first trilogy backwards, forwards and inside-out, I've never dressed up or played lightsabers, re-enacted scenes or been to conventions. At most, I played Larry Holland's X-Wing and TIE Fighter simulators when I was in college. And, of course, built Star Wars LEGO stuff. And while I may have suggested to Addy that we should go and live in an Ewok village, I would have never, ever have subjected her to a Death Star wedding cake. Seriously.

Mainly because I didn't want to end up like Greedo, that is, or frozen in carbonite. [Thanks Rye]

Death Star Hotel in Azerbaijan Is No Moon

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:20:32 EST

This 521-foot-high hotel is coming to Baku, Azerbaijan, either to host a bunch of Imperial forces or obliterate the local population with a giant death ray. They call it "Full Moon" but they are not fooling us: this is a fully armed, fully operational battle station. And it shall be destroyed before it's too late, with a bunch of small fighters that can escape its turbolasers and drop proton torpedoes down an exhaust port. Or maybe not, if you look at it from its side.

Yes, I know, even with 104,182 square metres, with 382 rooms over 35 floors, it's a complete letdown. Jeff Vader won't be happy with this pancaked Death Star at all. [Skyscraper News via Star Wars Blog]

Revolution Synthesizer R2 Looks Like Death Star Control Panel, Not R2

Haroon Malik — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:38:00 EST

Future Retro's Revolution Synthesizer R2 looks amazing; we completely have no use for a synthesizer, but we totally want one. With a complete aluminum construction, perfectly contrasting gun gray and white colors, as well as a smattering of blue LEDs all over, this synthesizer makes us moist in the most clichéd way possible. If that was not enough to get you interested, perhaps the circular sequencer interface, which allows single handed control; the ability to play patterns forwards, backwards, upside down and sideways, as well as remote pattern selection using MIDI program change messages will have you reaching for your anorexic wallet?

A built-in remix feature allows 265 variations for each pattern and song, which gives more than 65,000 possible overall patterns. Further, the sound engine uses true analog synthesis throughout and the PC board has a new RAM chip, which extends the battery life from 1.5 years to a complete decade. Impressive. Unfortunately, $750 is a little too much for us to pay for a novelty Death Star control panel, but the way synthesizers go, it's not bad at all. [Bornrich]

HERCULES Laser is Most Intense Laser in the Universe, Almost as Powerful as the Death Star

Haroon Malik — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST

"If you could hold a giant magnifying glass in space and focus all the sunlight shining toward Earth onto one grain of sand, that concentrated ray would approach the intensity of a new laser beam made in a University of Michigan laboratory." - Physorg

If that doesn't amaze you, you need a slap. The HERCULES laser can produce that intensity instantaneously, and it is said to be the most intense known light in the universe.

The beam is sustained for 30 femtoseconds, with one femtosecond being equivalent to a million billionth of a second. So, it lasts longer than you do in bed, and it also performs a little better, too. However, this isn't Dr Robotnik having a wacky time for no use, it is hoped that the research will give rise to powerful cancer treatments, and when we say powerful, we do mean 300 terawatts of power, with an inconceivable, 20 billion trillion watts per square centimeter. What is that equivalent to? An astonishing, 300 times the capacity of the U.S. electricity grid. All of that energy is concentrated into a 1.3-micron point, which is roughly 100th the diameter of a human hair.

Victor Yanovsky, who spearheaded the laser's development, says the HERCULES is around two orders more powerful than its nearest competing laser. A beam can be generated once every 10 seconds, and the entire contraption accommodates several rooms, is constructed from titanium-sapphire and the light that enters at one end is processed by mirrors and other optical elements. This results in an increase in the energized quality of focused light.

The high intensity light, beyond medical uses, could also be implemented in crazy physics based procedures called "boiling the vacuum," which will apparently result in spontaneous matter generation. Crazy. Let's hope no one hell-bent on world domination starts attempting to put together a real Death Star, or we'll all be screwed. May the Force be with you. (Note to self: End more articles with that line.) [University of Michigan via Physorg]

Death Star Gets Pie Chart Treatment

Haroon Malik — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 10:30:00 EST

The guys over at Shirt.Woot have had some crazy designs submitted for possible T-shirts to adorn your puny little chest. We have to say that the design above has caught our attention, as we have always wondered what the distribution of deaths was aboard the Death Star. Granted, the pie chart in the shape of the Death Star may present statistics of questionable reliability, but it makes for one awesome shirt. If you like it, get voting so it gets put into production. Just imagine wearing it! Oh, sweet, sweet day. As we are getting overly mathematical on you, why not jump for the oldie but goodie Pac-Man-related pie chart?

That's your pie chart quota for the day, we promise we shall not make your brains implode by posting any more for 24 hours. [Shirt.Woot, Flickr]

Video: The AT&T Wiretapping Dealio Explained in Two Minutes

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 04:00:31 EST

This clip, featuring AT&T whisteblower Mark Klein, was thrown together by Senator Chris Dodd's staff and neatly wraps up the basics of the snooping allegations the EFF's pursuing against AT&T. He's apparently rubbing elbows in DC this week to explain the issue to Congressional types. If his spiel gets at all technical, God help him. [EFF via BoingBoing]

Family Guy Explains The Death Star Flaw

Mark Wilson — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:30:39 EDT

From the season opener we talked about last week. We've long wondered why Darth Vader would allow such a gaping hole in the Death Star's defenses. And after years of tireless debate and study, now we know.

Death Star Home Theater

Brian Lam — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:45:43 EDT

Electronic House has this rad story of a home theater designed to resemble the control deck of the Death Star. The entire thing was designed by Doug Chiang, the lead designer on Episodes I and II. DVDs are tucked behind a hidden door replica of Han Solo in Carbonite, and the entire starfield is lit by fiber optics. One wonders what kind of person gets into a project like this.

Apparently, a triple-threat geek couple, Vic Wertz and Lisa Stevens. They used to run the Official Star Wars Fan Club, met while Lisa worked at Wizards of the Coast, and they paid for the whole thing by selling D&D guidebooks and 20-sided dice at their company, Paiso Publishing. Lisa and Vic, I need to know more about this system, so drop me a line if you read this. And Definite Audio out of Bellevue Washington did the AV setup. Here's an esoteric equipment list and another photo, but the full gallery can be had at Electronic House.

EQUIPMENT LIST
* CinemaTech Valentino Chairs (10)
* Crestron Theater Remote
* DirecTv HR10-250 HD TiVo
* Extron RGB468XT Gaming Interface
* Extron SW4 RGBHV RGB Switcher
* JVC SR-S365U S-VHS VCR
* Lexicon RT-10 Universal DVD Player
* Meridian Audio & Video Cables
* Meridian 800 Reference DVD Player
* Meridian 861 Reference Preamp
* Meridian DSP5500 HC Center Speaker
* Meridian DSP6000 Side & Rear Speakers
* Meridian DSP8000 Front Speakers
* Mid Atlantic AXS Pull-Out Custom Rack
* Pioneer CLD-D704 Laserdisc Player
* Runco VX5 Outboard Processor
* Runco VX5C 3-Chip DLP Projector
* Runco VX5C LT Anamorphic Lens
* Sony SAT-T60 TiVo
* Spaun SMS5802NF HD Multiswitch
* Stewart VeLux DeLux ST130 Screen

[Electronic House]

Darth Vader Brings The Force to the World of Transformers

Adrian Covert — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:57:23 EDT

Every Transformer should be ashamed right now. Darth Vader has rolled onto their turf and made them all look weak in comparison. Optimus Prime certainly can't turn himself into a man made planet, and the only thing Unicron can do is eat his way through the universe at 4 mph. We never believed the Millenium Falcon/Chewbacca Transformer could ever reign supreme. But Darth Vader, oh man. Not only does he still have his light saber, but when he transforms, he turns into the goddamn Death Star. I'd love to see Unicron's fat ass try and eat the Death Star. Not likely. [UberReview]