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So I took a leap of faith a few days ago...thanks to George, who hacked two-to-three (at least) iPhones for use in Switzerland by him and his friends.  The software is iLiberty+ and is offered for Mac and the rest <wink> of you.  Now when he did it, he just bought phones and never registered with AT&T, using the "jailbreak" software in order to use the SIM of his choice.  This was especially important for the Swiss folk as its not even offered there, yet.

Now, Sybille and I already have iPhones and a family plan with AT&T, so hacking it wasn't really all that important to me -- until I looked at the software when chatting it up with the unofficial iPhone importer.  He kept talking about all these apps he had installed.

So I took a look.  Sure enough, there are basically three "cracks".  The second and third ones allow you to bypass iTunes and AT&T.  But it is the first one that unlocks the phone so that you can install 3rd party apps.  That was the one that concerned me.  And if you do it, I highly recommend using the 3 sets of recommended applications that are included in the install program.  As you can see in the photo below, I have many new offerings - and this is just the stuff on page two.  Plus new offerings are out on a fairly regular basis from what I can tell.  That said, I would like to bring your attention to the bottom-right app: Chat.  Its what the iPhone should have had from the beginning instead of SMS.  SMS costs as it is the way carriers rake you over the coals for something that doesn't cost them a dime to actually do.  Why on Earth am I on an unlimited data plan and paying for SMS texts?  Well, not anymore.  And it works like a charm.

Now, some might be concerned about the "brick" theory.  Forget it - especially if you have a iPhone that is legitimately registered with AT&T.  The next software update (most likely to be in June) will simply require that you reset your phone via iTunes.  This is not a big deal.  Sure, you'll erase all the sexy applications that iLiberty+ has provided -- but, "Hey!  You can just run the installer again.  It only takes about 45 seconds."  Duh!  Think about it.

Humm, while considering the "non-bricking" I played: Get Back from the album "1" by The Beatles.  Thanks for blazing the trail, George.

The other day I had a dream where nail clippings kept popping up -- as a distraction to what I was doing (sexual acts in the bathroom with my lover).  In the dream, I stepped on one and was grossed out by the fact that it must belong to the toe of the owner of the bathroom (something my dreaming brain told me upon discovery).  I didn't know we were in someone else's bathroom until then. As my wife and lover was on the sink, I didn't have to concern myself about her stepping on it -- or another potential one -- but I made sure not to let her feet touch the floor.

You know you're going places, hooked up and linked in when your Sister and Brother-in-Law can be found on YouTube and it doesn't have anything to do with a video of their cats playing with a frisbee or someone smashing beer cans against their head.  Check out the digital "rotoscoping", animated dance video made by Irene and featuring the family dancers: "Body".

Although what I'm going to say is a little non-pc, that's typical for me:  They say the camera adds 10lbs.  Well it looks as if digital rotoscoping adds 20lbs and makes you a bit shorter too.  Mandi and Evan have to be the most svelte people I know, Mandi weighing in at 158lbs while carrying Evan on her back.  <wink>  PS:  There is no reference to the dancers and Irving's book.  I just needed a weight class and remembered the book.

Anyway, as someone already struggling with added camera-sized weight, I think I refrain from the rotoscope for a little while.

This is a test of Writely.com's ability to post to my weblog. According to the ABC News Story: REVIEW: Writely Mostly Hits the Mark, By JESSICA MINTZ AP Business Writer:

From: REVIEW: Google's Writely Mostly Hits the Mark, but It's No Word Killer: By JESSICA MINTZ, Oct 5, 2006 (AP)

With Google's backing, Writely has a jump on its competitors, which include AdventNet Inc.'s Zoho Writer and ThinkFree Corp.'s ThinkFree Write. (There are even rumors Microsoft will jump into the online word processor space.)

But as several substantial open-source alternatives have shown, it's tough to take market share from Microsoft Word. Even with the search leader's name attached, there's little danger Writely will crush Microsoft or its pricey boxed programs any time soon.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

So,...lets test if it hits my weblog. OK. It did. But I had to go back to my usual editor: Ecto and make some adjustments to things like "category", even though Writely said I could assign them and to the Title of the post - which I did adjust in Writely, but it didn't take - and I had to clean up the line breaks a bit as well as the "quoted" text. But, all-in-all, I would say that in a pinch, or when using another computer with internet access, it works.