T-Mobile introduces dual-mode cell/WiFi phone; unlimited calls when on WiFi
Very interesting use of technology and pricing. I tried to summarise it here, but I ended up trying to fit in so many caveats that I scrapped it all. Still, I think this shows promise. (via DF)
Author of PSP Open Edition firmware ceases development
That’s no good. I hope someone picks up where he left off, or else I might be stuck at 3.40 OE-A. I think it might be possible to go back to an official Sony firmware, but I’m not going to do that and lose the ability to run non-Sony software.
If newer games start requiring 3.51+, then I’m in trouble (and so are lots of other people)… especially if Wipeout Pulse does so (which is likely). I knew the risks when I first installed OE, but it still sucks.
(Rumour) Katamari Damacy for Wii
Rolling a katamari simply by tilting the Wiimote? Oh yes.
7-11 store dressed up to look like a Kwik-E-Mart for promoting the Simpsons movie. With ‘actual’ Simpsons-world products. (via DF)
Also: Kwik-E-Mart store locator.
From the promotional demo of Wipeout Pulse (which supports saving screenshots after the race, oddly enough) - couldn’t quite get the shot I wanted, but it’s a beautiful game. Plays great too. Can’t wait to race online.
Caller ID spoofing to be outlawed
Particularly interesting to me, since I subscribe to SkypeOut - all of my calls from the service appear to be from the number ‘0000123456’. This is annoying because I also subscribe to SkypeIn, meaning I actually do have a dialable local phone number associated with my account - why can’t Skype send that as my caller ID? I’m told that this is precisely what competitor Yahoo Voice does.
Update : apparently Skype now offers sending correct Caller ID information as an option for many countries… but not the United States. They say they’re working on it.
All Logitech Mac drivers silently install Unsanity hacks
I stumbled upon this today when I was trying to figure out why my new Logitech mouse’s tilt-scrolling functionality wasn’t working, and nearly had an aneurism.
Unsanity’s Application Enhancer is a hack (by their own admission) that ties into the OS and makes all kinds of strange changes to it that can cause complicated problems. Apple automatically disregards any bug reports sent to them from systems with Application Enhancer installed.
There’s a debate among developers and users about whether these hacks are ‘worth it’. I myself tend to lean more towards the ‘no, a few cheap tricks aren’t worth compromising the system’s stability and integrity’ side. Needless to say, I had no idea that I was already running it.
That Logitech for some reason feels it’s necessary to install this mess just for basic functionality of its products speaks volumes to the quality (or lack thereof) of their software. I will never buy from them again.
Even worse, running the Logitech uninstaller doesn’t get rid of the Unsanity junk that it put there in the first place. I had to download Unsanity’s installer (which cheerfully confirmed that I was already running version 2.0.2) in order to uninstall Application Enhancer.
Although most of the mouse’s functionality works fine on Mac OS X without any drivers at all (all three buttons, and vertical scrolling), the horizontal tilt-scrolling does not. Alternatives suggested in the linked thread are USB Overdrive and SteerMouse; neither of which, unfortunately, are free.
Last.fm thinks the Day of Silence is a bad idea
I’m sure it’s not because new parent company CBS has a vested interest in squeezing out the little guys, and has deep enough pockets that their own survival isn’t at stake.
SomaFM participating in the Internet Radio Day of Silence
I just tuned into Groove Salad to find that there were significantly fewer beats and textures than usual, heh.
SomaFM and others are broadcasting silence, static or ambient noise all day long in protest of new royalty fees that would effectively kill most internet radio stations.
