The President got all en garderino with his lightsaber toy while presenting Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. Too bad he couldn't use his Jedi mind powers with the anti-healthcare reform bigots. You know: "This is not the healthcare reform you want to fuck up. Now TFSU." Yes, the country could have been a much better place if he actually were the real Mace Windu. [Huffington Post and Gawker--Thanks Debby]

The short story is that Cydia—the other non-official iPhone app installer—won the battle against Installer. Installer was the first pretty application installer to appear for the iPhone, but Cydia became more popular over the last few months. Ripdev—which was involved in the project since version 3—says that the Installer repositories will be available until July 1st, 2009.

But fear not, my young apprentices, because we still have Cydia and Icy, which is an iPhone app installer that plugs into Cydia directories—made by Ripdev. [Ripdev—Thanks John Gregorio]

Fanboys will open in the following cities:

• Austin TX
• Houston, TX
• Chicago, IL
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Philadelphia, PA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA

Set in 1998, the story tells of a group of friends who, anxious for the premiere of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - and because one of them is suffering from cancer and wishes to see the film before his death - decide to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal an early print of the film. A road trip begins as the friends encounter William Shatner, obsessed Trekkies, and bikers who make them undress for water.

[Official site via Official Star Wars Blog and Wikipedia]

10 news pop
20 Adam checks flying_squirrels=A$
30 if A$=yes then gosub 120
40 John checks martians=B$
50 if B$=yes then gosub 140
60 Jesus checks lego_bricks=C$
70 if C$=yes then gosub 160
80 Matt checks motorola_death=D$
90 if D$=yes then gosub 190
100 brian prints "It's the Internet, FIND MORE THINGS! DO FEATURES! WRITE! WORK! JUMP!"
110 goto 10
120 Adam writes furry remarks
130 end
140 John writes scientific blurb
150 end
160 Jesus writes about cocktails
170 Jesus stomps around in Gundam slippers
180 end
190 Matt rejoices
200 end

And that's basically the New York-based Gizmodo slavery blogging program works, thank you very much.

[I know my basic is bad, TFSU]

Anand Chandrasekher issued a correction on comments made by members of his team yesterday at Intel's Developer Forum in Taiwan. As general manager of the Group responsible for Intel's ultra-mobility products, he acknowledged that Intel's low-power Atom processor does not yet match the battery life characteristics of the ARM processor in a phone form factor; and, that while Intel does have plans on the books to get us to be competitive in the ultra low power domain - we are not there as yet. Secondly, Apple's iPhone offering is an extremely innovative product that enables new and exciting market opportunities. The statements made in Taiwan were inappropriate, and Intel representatives should not have been commenting on specific customer designs.

Of course, what Anand really wanted to say is:

because he really doesn't want to piss off one of Intel's biggest clients and hopes to win that battle one day. [Intel Chip Shots via Cnet]

"Because this nation has not been serious about vigorously attacking pornography, some believe it is appropriate to view in public. Not only will the flight attendants be placed in a situation that could be considered sexual harassment, passengers who openly view porn where children can see it may be violating federal harmful-to-minor laws."

First, you don't need the internet to watch porn in your portable device. Then, fortunately, most of this nation is not stupid. In "this nation," and any other nation, individuals know how to behave in public and, if they don't, they would get their ass kicked by the crew or other passengers. Just like I can watch porn on my iPhone or laptop in any public place across the country but I don't because it's just wrong, the same will apply here, Mr. David Weiss.

American Airlines says they will not change their policy of unfiltered internet access, because that will jeopardize the access to legitimate web sites, leaving it to flight attendants to handle any possible problem, as it should be. And that's good. I'll keep flying them, but not for the porn.

OK, for the porn too. [Sky Talk]

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]

Update: Due to legalities the Pwnage tool has been delayed. We'll keep you updated with any release information as we get it. [iPhone Dev Team]

[Hackint0sh]

Whats new? Visible changes are:

• Exchange Support
• Appstore
• Parental Controls
• SDK Support
• Calculator is more advanced
• CISCO VPN support
• Mail mass deletion

Features not included:

• There is no spotlight icon

[Gizmodo's iPhone Hacking Coverage and Hacint0sh]

pwned firmware means it's custom [firmware], you can have it install anything you would ever want :-) Pwned works with some magic, it will be hard to close but nothing is impossible (from Apple) with a mindtwist. But first, we will enjoy :)

They told us that this is all part of their previous Pwnage project, which instead of trying to hack into the iPhone, directly patches the firmware itself to both unlock it, so you can use the iPhone with any carrier you want, and allow you to install any applications you want. You can see how it works here:

According to the Dev Team, the custom 2.0 firmware (technically, 1.2.0,) is now up and running without problems in many of their iPhones, running unsigned applications without a single problem. However, current Installer.app applications need to be changed: "they changed lots of the API, a lot. We will see how much has to be changed to the Toolchain [the previous development tool for iPhone independent developers] to still work after 2.0."

The best news, however, is this: "the hacked 1.2 firmware works with anything. AT&T and others, it's pwned. And Apple will not really be able to patch it this time... somehow :-)"

I'm flabbergasted. As Han Solo would say, "that's one in a million, kid!" Once again.

The cool thing here is that Dev Team told us that this is 1) a true unlock and 2) Apple will have a very difficult time closing this hole. That's the news, not just jailbreak—in fact, it's not even jailbreak in the classic sense. It's built-in the hacked firmware, which allows for installation of any application, unsigned or "Apple Approved"

In other words, true carrier and applications independence. And for a long time.

Note: as you can see, the Dev Team is still working hard in making the iPhone a completely open, carrier-independent platform. If you want to help them, please send a Paypal donation to iphone.devteam@gmail.com or join them at hackint0sh.org.

It's Toy Fair 2008 and Rob Foster is looking for what figures and models to get next. Every year, companies like Hasbro, LEGO or Gentle Giant release new products related to Rob's favorite toy franchise ever: Star Wars.

Jesús Díaz: Hello Rob, stunning collection. The sheer scale, all those figures forming on the shelves, the models hanging everywhere, even all that LEGO stuff... it's just amazing. As I was going through each image, my only thought was: "omfg, it can't be real." So first of all: how many figures does your collection have?

Rob Foster: In terms of 3 3/4" figures, I'd say that there are a little under 2,000 open figures, and 800 or so that are still in the packaging.

JD: When it all started?
RF: I started collecting in 1995 when Hasbro brought the line back. I was 15 at the time.

JD: Long time. How much do you calculate it is all worth now? Something along the lines of the Transformers $1,000,000 collection?
RF: To be honest, I have no idea. The vintage and Gentle Giant products do well when you're trying to sell them, but the modern stuff is over-produced compared to the 1970's and '80s. It's not about making money, so I don't worry about that.

JD: You mention overproduction and I see that you really enjoy getting massive numbers of troopers as well as different models... inside all this plastic horde, are there any favorites?
RB: Probably my favorite is actually the custom vintage Gargan. She was the fat dancer in Jabba's palace and was set to be made into the vintage line before it fell apart in the mid '80s. She was sculpted by Ryan Shaw to match the vintage style, and to my knowledge only about 25 of them were made.

JD: What's the oldest one?
RF: The oldest ones are the first series of vintage toys that came out with the movie in 1977.

JD: And your latest acquisition?
RF: I've slowed down a bit recently, but the latest items I picked up were Hasbro's new wave of figures, the 2008 models, wave 1.

JD: What's the one that took longer to collect? You know, the one(s) you really went the extra mile to grab.
RF: I've been very picky about the loose vintage set. I've been working on it off and on for about six or seven years now. It's taken a long time because they have to be perfect when it comes to paint chips and discoloration. Also, the accessories have to be original vintage too, no reproductions. I hope to get into that later this year.

JD: So no reproductions whatsoever, all originals... what about custom pieces from independent model makers?
RF: Apart from Gargan, I've stayed away from customs for the most part.

JD: How often do you get there figures? Or in other words, are you done yet?
RF: I'm certainly not done yet. I've been slowing down because I'm running out of room (everything has to be contained in that one room), but I want to get more into collecting vintage, and as long as Hasbro keeps making a solid product, I'll stick with the new figures too.

JD: Do you think this is the most complete Star Wars figure collection in the world... or about to get that title, this side of Skywalker Ranch?
RF: No, not at all. A lot of people tell me that it's way up there, but I've seen some pretty incredible collections over the years, lots of them with much more money sunk into them.

JD: I also see you have the LEGO stuff; do you have them all?
RF: I don't have everything Lego has put out, I've just picked up those here and there. The Ultimate Collector Series on the other hand, I actively collect. I just need to get around to buying the Death Star and Naboo Fighter to have them all.

Once you are inside the gallery, check the other pages to access the 134 images. The interview continues below, after the gallery

JD: I see the Ultimate Collectors... and the Falcon. How long did it take you to build it?
RF: I'm guessing it took about 25-30 hours. I worked on it for a weekend and then in evenings after work for a few days.

JD: I see you have many of the figures in their package yet. Does every figure (or almost every one of them) have the equivalent still inside the original packaging?
RF: If a figure came on a regular card, I have it open and in the package. If it came in a big box like with a vehicle or a 5-pack, I only have them opened.

JD: I think the only question left is how the heck do you support this amazingly dedicated hobby—what's your job?
RF: I work in the Art Department at a visual effects / animation studio called Reel FX Creative Studios although my department is now being called "Radium Dallas") doing Motion Graphics work. We do a lot of commercials, but the most recent thing that I worked on that had anything to do with movies, was the opening credits for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I animated about half of it.

JD: And what does your other half thing about this?
RB: She's great about it. When my girlfriend and I started shopping for a home, the only thing I asked for was an extra room to put the toys in. She fell in love with this place we live in now, which only has one bedroom and one large main room. I told her the toys were going in the bedroom, and she said that was just fine. So that's our shared bedroom and has been for the last five years. She's a champ!

Indeed, she is. In fact, I can guarantee Rob—whose favorite Star Wars movie is Empire Strikes Back and recently bought a Blu-ray player, just in time—that if she is going through all this, they will go through everything together. Or at least, that's what I tell myself every time I look at all that LEGO. [Jedi Defender]

Answering questions about the causes of this assault and Santa Claus' detention, Mr. Kwazansky pointed out that Imperial Intelligence had undeniable proof of Santa's production of WMDs at his factory located near the North Pole. "He is also a perv, you know," he added, "a guy who goes around his house clad in red velvet and has underaged boys assisting him all day long. Illegal sex? Forced labor? You gotta be kidding. We have the patent on forced labor too. Ask the wookies."

Later in the press conference, Mr. Kwazansky, 48 years old and still living with his parents, revealed that Santa may have been stealing industrial secrets from Imperial-exclusive defense contractor Sienar Fleet Systems. "And what's with the bloody flying reindeers anyway?" he said, "how the Force do they fly? I bet they have Twin Ion Engines up their butts. That's classified technology, people. Fatso is finishing his days in the Great Pit of Carkoon, I tell you." The spokesperson left the stage laughing maniacally, muttering something about how Santa was going to suffer for all those years of coal back at the Imperial Orphanage.

Commenting on the strike, UN's North Pole representative Kalle Jugercømmandersson said that "we don't understand this act of unprovoked agression. The North Pole has been weapons-free since 1959, when Timmy the Polar Bear was killed by a drunk seal using a 38." Then, he started sobbing, crying "and we are not little boys! We are little grown men!" out loud.

Lord Darth Vader was unavailable to comment at the time of this report.

(Photo of Santa being taken to an Imperial Shuttle—or something like that—courtesy of Michael Sibbernsen)

If you wanted to install third-party native software in your iPhone but you didn't had the necessary technical knowledge or courage, the newly updated iPhone Installer.app will make it so easy that it will be very hard to resist. We have tried it in Mac OS X and, as you will see in the tutorial after the jump, it works perfectly -including the installation of applications over Wi-Fi and EDGE. [Updated 4:45PM EST]

Once you download the application from the link below, you only have to connect your iPhone to your Mac (PowerPC and Intel will work, we have tried both) and run the script from the Mac OS X Terminal. Doing this is quite simple:

Preparation

• Download the installation file to your desktop.
• Connect your iPhone to your computer using the provided cable.
• Deactivate the iPhone automatic synchronization in iTunes before proceeding and close iTunes.

Steps
• Go to Utilities in your Applications folder and find Terminal.
• Double-click on Terminal.
• In the Terminal, go to the folder that contains the application installation script. You can easily do this by typing cd in the command line, then space, then dragging the iPhoneInstaller folder into the Terminal Window. This will automatically paste the path in the Terminal. If you saved the iPhoneInstaller folder to your desktop like we told you, it will look something like this:

cd /Users/your_user_name/Desktop/iPhoneInstaller/

Hit the return key to change to that folder.
• Now run the script, which is called get_installer.sh, by typing the following:

./get_installer.sh

• The script will now run, asking you what version of firmware do you have. If you updated your iPhone, you will have 1.0.1. If not, select 1.0 by typing the option.
• The script will automatically download the necessary restore file from the Apple servers.
• When it's done, it will prompt you to hold the home button (with the square) and the power button (on the top) at the same time (hold first the home, then hold the power).
• When the message "Connect to iTunes" appear in your iPhone, release the buttons and let the thing do its magic.

The iPhone will restart and you will find a new icon in your home screen:

You can disconnect the iPhone now. If you want, enable automatic sync in iTunes before disconnecting.

Now you will be able to install applications from the Installer. This is extremely simple. Just open the Installer application and select the software you want to install.

One more thing: before installing any new applications, you may want to update the Installer itself by clicking on the "Update" tab.

Installing applications

When you start Installer you will see only a handfull of applications. They are Nullriver's apps, which include a BSD Subsystem and MobileTerminal. To access all third-party software available, do the following:

• Launch Installer on your iPhone. It will connect to the Internet and register the available packages.
• Click on Community Resources package inside the Install tab.
• You will see the detail. Click on the Install button.
• After installing, you will see all the third-party applications currently available for iPhone.
• Click on any of them, hit the Install button and enjoy.

Extremely smooth and easy. Our congratulations to the Nullriver people for a truly great piece of software.

UPDATE: As someone points out in the Digg comments, the other thing you should do after updating the Installer and before start installing applications is to install the Launcher application. The reason: the iPhone springboard (the home screen) won't scroll, so if you install many applications, you won't be able to access some of them. The Launcher gives you a way to access all non-Apple apps from a scrollable list.

What's next? More iPhone applications coming soon, with or without Apple's blessing. [Nullriver]

Related: Gizmodo's Essential Iphone Apps