Gizmodo: Jack Bauer

24's Unaired 1994 Pilot Sticks Jack Bauer with Dialup, Lycos, Dot Matrix Printers

Adam Frucci — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:40:00 EST

Our friends over at CollegeHumor heard that 24 was delayed due to the writer's strike, so they combed through the archives and found this pilot from way back in 1994. As you can see, Jack Bauer is just as intense when stuck dealing with pagers, 1-800-Collect, and AOL as he is using more modern accoutrements. Damn it! [CollegeHumor]

Jack Bauer Bearbrick Set

Jason Chen — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:00:57 EDT

This is much better than the Apple Bearbricks. It's Jack Bauer. Enough said.

P.S. Please don't make next season suck as bad as this one. – Jason Chen

Product Page [HMV]

Slate Explains How to Make Your Cell Phone Jack Bauer-Worthy

Matt Buchanan — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:13:30 EST

Coming off a story about a Wal-Mart employee intercepting conversations and text messages between Wal-Mart PR and a NYT reporter, Slate takes it upon itself to teach you how to do just that with your own dinky cell phone.

First on the list, predictably, is copying the interceptee's SIM card, sending all of their phone calls (if you're on the same tower) and texts straight to you. The second method uses a (very illegal) firmware update to turn your phone into a radio, picking up "all the texts broadcast on a given channel," though obviously you'd need to know the network and be close to the base station for it to work. While less precise, it's also cheaper than buying the equipment to clone your mark's phone.

Lastly, you could get ahold of some actual Bond-style toys used by the DHS and other three-lettered agencies, but that sounds like a ticket straight to either the front page of the NYT or the bottom of some classified prison in a country whose name we can't pronounce. Not that the first two methods are any less illegal, so get your Linda Tripp on with caution. – Matt Buchanan

How Do You Intercept a Text Message? [Slate]
Image via Kiefer Sutherland 24

Jack Bauer vs. Boston's ATHF Scare

Jason Chen — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:20:39 EST

If there's one man that can take down the threat to national security that is the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Mooninites, it's Jack Bauer. – Jason Chen

What's in Jack Bauer's Gear Closet?

Travis Hudson — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:30:38 EST

Jack Bauer is definitely a badass. No getting around that fact, but he actually uses a lot of gadgets and gear that can be purchased by any average joe. Everything from a Brunton Echo Pocket Scope Monocular, Motorola i880, military-style messenger bag and special ops watch can all be owned so you can attempt to emulate the greatness of Jack Bauer. Hit the link to get details on everything, including information where to buy it all. –Travis Hudson

Jack Bauer Gear [uncrate]

China Space Attack: Unstoppable

Louis Ramirez — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:36:17 EST

Though it sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick, Defense Tech is reporting that China has successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon. They conducted the test by demolishing an old Chinese weather satellite over 500 miles above the earth. What does this mean for us? Well, unless we can get a real-life Jack Bauer over there this means China can take out our DirecTV and Dish network satellites! Oh Noes! – Louis Ramirez

China Space Attack [Defense Tech]

What Jack Bauer Needs in a Cellphone

Jason Chen — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:23:52 EST

In honor of last night and tonight's four-hour Jack Bauer marathon, we thought it'd be a good idea to examine just how good a cellphone Jack needs on his annual "day of doom".

•Great International Roaming and Reception: Seeing as he spent the last year and a half in a Chinese prison, Jack Bauer needs a world-phone that can work anywhere. Mexico? China? A sewer where he Lost Boys the hell out of some terrorist? He needs it in all those places.

•GPS, Maps, Directions: Jack has this in his own phones, but he definitely needs it on phones he finds in cars or steals from downed terrorists. This guy only has a MOTORAZR? Better go kill some more.

•Remote Detonation: Remember when Jack Bauer detonated some bombs with a Treo 650? Yeah. He does that all the time.

•Tortureproof: If Jack can't figure out how to work a feature, he's either going to have to call Chloe (or the newly returned Milo—yay Milo!) to tell him, or torture it until the cellphone just does what he wants.

•100-megapixel Camera With 200x Optical Zoom: When he needs to identify one man he just killed from another man he just killed, there's no margin for error. Then again, CTU can always just "enhance" the image once it's uploaded.

•5G Data: 3G? 4G? None of these are fast enough to grab schematics and upload the 100-megapixel pictures he takes back to CTU.

•24+ hour talk time: Who knows how long Jack's already been using his phone when he needs to go on a United States-protecting killing spree?

So to sum it up, Jack Bauer needs a phone from the future—one that's definitely NOT the iPhone. When is he going to have time to listen to the iPod, check stocks, or use the touchscreen? Plus, who knows how well the sensors work when there's blood all over it. – Jason Chen

Jack Bauer Kill Count [Re-live every kill with full video and snapshots]

Image courtesy Flickr

WMD Case Mod: Jack Bauer Computing

Jason Chen — Mon, 22 May 2006 14:05:37 EDT

Tell me where the bomb is! The guys at bit-tech tried to create a custom-build case that looked exactly like a bomb on 24. The result? Explosive chrome goodness.

The naughty bits: water cooling, a countdown-style LED, slide out motherboard, a set of vandal-resistant switches, two power supplies, and lots and lots of man-hours.

Check the link for detailed photos of each grueling step of the process.

WMD Part II [Bit-tech]