Datel has released Freeloader for the Nintendo Wii (which, incidentally, is a lot more fun when you’ve got a nice buzz going, as I found out last night). The unlicensed disc lets you play Wii games from any region on your console. So, if you’re living in beautiful Leeds and want to play, I don’t know, some U.S. game, now you can. It also functions as a cheat device à la GameShark. That’s what I used in my youth, I don’t know the kiddos use nowadays.

Wii FreeLoader Allows for Region Free Gaming [Next-Gen.biz]

ShareThis

When Apple released the 1.1.4 firmware to the iPhone and iPod Touch-owning public earlier in the week, there was much excitement over who was going to be the first to jailbreak it. Well, it turns out it was easy enough to tweak the 1.1.3 jailbreaking apps to do the job; Apple didn’t really make any new prohibitions to jailbreaking in the update.

Ziphone has released a new version of its jailbreaking app, and it works easily and quickly with iPhones running 1.1.4.

So far, 1.1.4 is a minor upgrade, but it does grant the iPhone Exchange server access as well as a more stable experience.

A version for the iPod Touch, currently nicknamed Zitouch, is being worked on, but was backburnered when 1.1.4 was unexpectedly released.

Ziphone [Download page, props to JEsTer for the tips]

ShareThis

It’s been more than a year since the proposed XM-Sirius merger was announced and we’re no closer now to a combined company than we were then. But there’s hope… maybe! Actually, XM and Sirius just extended the deadline by two months for the deal to go through (or not). Now the satellite radio companies have given the Feds till May 1 for the thumbs up or thumbs down.

So only two more months of teasing to go. Unless they extend the deadline again. All this futzing around must please the shareholders.

XM and Sirius extend merger deadline by 2 months [Reuters via Drudge Report]

ShareThis

Friends, back before 9/11, when I was dopey kid, I bought a plastic shiv at a gun show with my Dad. Why? Because back in the 1980s there was less fluoride in the water and kids generally didn’t bring guns to school. I don’t know. Apparently giving a 13-year-old a shiv back then was OK.

Anyway, this shiv was designed to get past metal detectors, just like these ridiculous looking Lexan knuckle-dusters. While the average person would say “Huh, that’s stupid,” Cleaveland reporter Douchey McUpinarms feels they are the dirty bomb of the West Market, making cole slaw of heads from here to Akron.

Kids and the criminal-minded will use anything to beat your head in. They’ll jab you with a pencil or beat you with a bottle. Just because it’s plastic and it looks like a weapon and you somehow ban it doesn’t make you any safer. Some kid will buy a plastic shiv and stick you and then you’ve got another issue to contend with… and another and another. Education not alarm, people. Education not alarm.

via BBG

ShareThis

I may or may not participate when the tour comes to NYC. I’m still without axes for my copy of GH3. But I know some of you (Shanee) rock at GH so you better brush up and get ready to rumble. Winners will get prizes that probably aren’t that cool unless it’s free iPods, but I guess iTunes gift cards are okay. If you want to participate then you need to visit the participating stores and sign up.

Mall of America (Bloomington, MN), 3/1 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
San Francisco (Stockton St.), 3/15 2 p.m – 4 p.m.
Pasadena (Colorado Blvd.), 3/15 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
International Plaza (Tampa, FL), 3/15 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Crossgates (Albany, NY), 3/15 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
North Shore (Peabody, MA), 3/15 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Memorial City (Houston, TX), 3/15 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
North Michigan Avenue (Chicago, IL), 3/22 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Third Street Promenade (Santa Monica, CA), 3/22 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Fifth Avenue (New York, NY), 3/22 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Soho (New York, NY), 4/1 or 4/2 6:30 p.m. TBD

Aspyr

ShareThis

PayPal, darling of the Internet, has warned its users to steer clear of Apple’s Safari Web browser because it doesn’t support anti-phishing technologies. (IE 7 and the upcoming Firefox 3.0 do, however.) Specifically, PayPal says Safari’s lack of support for Extended Validation Certificate, a technology that turns the address bar green when visiting a “safe” site. The Apple-created browser also doesn’t warn users when they’re visiting a potentially dangerous site (independent of the green bar trick).

Putting aside the whole “use common sense when you browse the Web” argument, Apple probably should include some form of anti-phishing in Safari; not everyone who browses the Web are as savvy we (I assume you’re all heavy users) are. Even though a joint Microsoft-Stanford study concluded that people wouldn’t notice the green address bar unless properly trained, what’s the harm in including it? Unless, I don’t know, that would open Apple up to some sort of lawsuit along the lines of, “Your anti-phishing technology failed to work properly, leading me to [something bad].”

And as long as we’re on the topic of Web browsers, I’ve started to use the nightly WebKit builds. It’s Safari, but with the latest rendering engine (WebKit) under the hood. Seems snappier than regular Safari. Give it a shot. The icon’s nicer, too.

PayPal warns: Steer clear of Apple’s Safari browser [InfoWorld]

ShareThis

It’s always weird that a business can lose money during a year but still call it a success. Such is the case with MVNO Helio, which saw $327million go down the tubes in 2007. The thing is, that was less than Helio had forecast, as it stated losses in 2007 should be $340-$360 million.

The other good news is that it beat its own estimates in revenue, expecting $140-$170 million, but actually ending up with $171 million. It’s not much, but its the kind of things that point to a healthy growth.

Couple with the recent restructuring and attractive rate plans and value-added services, Helio’s well ahead of its own roadmap for growth. 2008 is looking like it will be good for the MVNO, and 2009 is going to be the make or break point, as that’s the year Helio has likely picked as its time to make a profit.

Helio: $560 Million In The Hole [Alley Insider]

ShareThis

Now this is a little different. Clarion’s got a new dash-top GPS computer with a 30GB HD that, along with maps for everyplace you’d want to go, has a gyroscope to learn how badly you drive, when you miss turns, and other data so it can customize the routes it displays for your driving style. Very cool.

Clarion launches high-end NAX973HD dashboard GPS with 30GB hard drive [Tech Digest]

ShareThis

Vladimir, one of the coders working on Firefox 3, was having some trouble overcoming a few performance issues in the builds. He did a little investigation, resulting in the chart above and others, and found that Firefox’s display rate appeared to be being throttled by the OS for no particular reason. The problem didn’t affect Safari, and it wasn’t until he dug deep into Webkit’s coding crevasses that he found the solution: a set of special instructions and shortcuts so poorly documented that they may as well be secret. He worked some in (just a few lines) and Firefox exploded out of the gate.

Vlad doesn’t think this code was hidden maliciously, but it seems at least to be a little negligent on Apple’s part to bury these so deep. Of course, I’m not a coder and I don’t know what I’m talking about.

Finding the OSX Turbo Button

ShareThis

Beatles songs will now be on American Idol, which is now on iTunes. Clearly the natural line of progression is to proclaim that the Beatles catalogue is one step closer to iTunes, right? I’d say that’s a leap of faith I’m not willing to take just yet. If word can leak about Prince Harry being in Afghanistan, then word should be able to leak about any potential Beatles-iTunes deal.

But if y’all wanna speculate, be my guest. It’s not like you can’t find the whole Beatles discography on every BitTorrent site out there anyway.

Hints that the Beatles iTunes launch getting closer? 1 to 2 weeks? [Macenstein]

ShareThis