Geeks of the World Reclaim Star Wars, 15 Seconds at a Time

The brainchild of Casey Pugh, Star Wars Uncut took the original 1977 Star Wars film, chopped it up into 15 second segments, and let fans claim them and recreate them as they saw fit.

The result is, simultaneously, ridiculous, witty, silly, endearing, creative, charming, puzzling, cheap…and awesome.

Honestly, this is just plain astounding.  The fact that the film is cut up into 15 second intervals, and that each segment was independently created by whatever means necessary, means that there is more creativity on display than in probably any major motion picture this year.  You’ll see hand drawn animation, paper hats, flash video, kids in garages, office hallways, legos on sticks, and dogs wrapped in tinfoil.  And I haven’t even watched the whole thing yet.

This should be screened alongside Lucas’ 3-D redo of The Phantom Menace and then the crowds polled to see which one had the better experience.

How I Got my iPhone 3GS Running on T-Mobile

A friend of mine sold me her iPhone 3GS for a scant $30.  While I didn’t necessarily want it as a phone, I started to look in to how to jailbreak and unlock it for use on my T-Mobile service.  Her phone was sold by AT&T and was locked to that carrier, but both AT&T and T-Mobile use compatible GSM technology so it’s just a matter of unlocking it to use on other carriers.

I realize I’m already talking jibberish to some folks, and I had a pretty steep learning curve as well so don’t feel bad.  Jailbreaking is using a software hack to modify your iPhone to be able to install software from sources other than Apple. Unlocking involves hacking the phone again to remove the hardware lock to a particular cellular signal or carrier.

For this particular phone though, that wasn’t as simple as it sounded.  This phone runs iOS 5.0.1 and when the operating system was updated, it also updated the modem firmware (which gets the cellular signal) to 05.16.05 which rendered past unlocks unusable.  Plus there were some 3GS phones that aren’t jailbreakable at all.  I did a lot of internet research and the best information and tutorial I found was on everythingapplepro.net:

My phone was able to be hacked thankfully (I had to check the serial number – make sure you do as well when requested).  The issue that arose was that while jailbreaking would be relatively simple, unlocking would be trickier.  It’s impossible to unlock the iPhone with that particular firmware for the modem (5.16.05).  I tried at first and it just crashed and I had to restore my phone.  It turns out that to unlock the phone I would need to get a different firmware for the modem (6.11.00), which in many cases interferes with the GPS functioning of the phone.

I weighed the pros and cons of losing the GPS and decided to take the leap and try and unlock the thing.  Plus my wife needed a replacement phone and I could give her my old one.

I used a program called Redsn0w (that “o” is a zero btw) to jailbreak the phone and followed the instructions on the video.  It took some practice getting the phone into DFU mode (sort of like safe mode in Windows).  Definitely make sure to follow the instructions down to the exact detail, and make sure to back up your phone to iTunes before going too far.

When running Redsn0w I had to check off to install Cydia and downgrade the modem baseband to 06.15.00, which is actually for the iPad.  You can’t go back if you do this though, so just bear that in mind.

It took a little while to get the hang of getting the phone into DFU mode as well as getting redsn0w to recognize it, but once it worked it pretty much does itself.

After jailbreaking and installing Cydia (an “app store” for non-Apple iPhone programs) on the phone I downloaded another program called ultrasn0w (again that’s a zero) to unlock it.  I put my T-Mobile SIM card in, rebooted, and…

…nothing at first.  I got a “no carrier” message, and I thought I’d just wasted my time (and GPS) for nothing.  Lots of people had this problem, but I had trouble finding a clear answer to it.  I started tinkering with the settings a little and figured out what the problem was.  I went in to Settings>General>Network and turned off “Enable 3G”.  I also switched it on to airplane mode once or twice.  Then the phone caught the T-Mobile signal and I did the happy dance.

I get great reception, but the phone is limited.  The GPS is not funtional – at least when the cell network is on – and data only works on T-Mobile’s EDGE network, which is slower than what the phone is capable of.  However I am fine with surfing and doing other stuff when connected by WiFi and limiting my other data use when on the network.

The files required that I mentioned are all available at the link above on everythingapplepro and if you’re thinking of unlocking your phone for T-Mobile this was the most informative guide for me.  There’s lots of help out there so keep looking but be careful and do your homework before trying anything.

Good luck!!

N’@ Busters! More Security is Better, Right?

Here’s a typical scenario.  You have an antivirus program like McAfee running on your desktop.  While searching the web you get an important looking popup that says something like “you may have a virus!  download this software now!!” – only the message isn’t from McAfee.  Fearing the worst, you download and install the software and think all’s well.  Next thing you know you’re computer’s slowed to a crawl. This happens a lot actually.  A client of mine installed a “free trial” of a program that told her she had a virus and it ended up being a virus.

It’s easy to think that you don’t have enough security.  The fear is that “the big one” will somehow slip through and steal your info or trash your system.  So is it better to have two or three antivirus programs running simultaneously?

The truth is, having multiple antivirus programs – even legitimate ones from major manufacturers – can cause your PC to slow to a crawl or even become unusable, as even just one antivirus program usually uses a lot of resources. Some aren’t even compatible with each other and will either crash your system or else just not install.

The truth is that you really only need one antivirus program, one software firewall, and one antispyware program – or better yet, a software suite that covers all three bases at once.

Some folks like to get security suites like Norton 360, as they include a slew of security features all in one package that are designed to go together.  Most major security software manufacturers have suites as well as stand-alone versions of their antivirus programs.  These suites can be costly though, and can include features that you may not use.  Plus, some manufacturers make great antivirus programs, but only mediocre antispyware programs.  If you buy the suite you get them both like it or not.

Another option is to look through reviews and find the best pieces you can find and put together your own suite.  This can not only provide optimal protection but also save a lot of money, as there are some really great security programs out there that are free.  I went from Bitdefender’s security suite to a mix of Comodo Antivirus, Malwarebytes Antispyware, and Windows 7′s own firewall – all were free (or included with Windows 7) and I haven’t had a problem.  Both Comodo and Malwarebytes have caught their share of viruses and other garbage before they messed up my PC.

Finally, be way of anything that tells you that you might have a virus that isn’t coming from your security software.  Sometimes these popups even look like they’re coming directly from Windows, so be cautious.  If something does pop up that looks suspicious, close your browser and any open windows and run your security software to make sure you don’t have spyware or a virus.