modding your consoles - it's illegal, just in Case you Didn't know

Ricardo Trejo Aug 8, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Gaming, News

 

Ever mod your gaming console? Wanted to play imports, backups, or give it custom firmware? In this day in age if you own a PSP it's hard to think of not utilizing all the tools available for your system. But watch out, and hacker beware! Even if you're not making money off of your modding projects, and it's just for personal use you may be surprised to hear that you are already on the wrong side of the law.

I'm sure you've gone on Craigslist before and have seen ads here and there about people willing to mod your 360 or PSP, whether it be for custom firmware or for it to play backups via some hardware mod. Well, those guys are the ones who are 99% more likely to get a 'suit thrown at them. And there's a California college student by the name of Matthew Lloyd Crippen who now is having a few regrets over all those consoles he charged for to mod. You see, Matt is a liberal arts major at Cal state Fullerton, near Anaheim, Cali and I'm sure as a normal college student, he never thought he'd find himself being frisked away by the Immigration and Customs division of Homeland Security last Monday. And now he faces up to 10 years in prison for the two charges pitted against him. Talk about harsh, man. 

It's sad to think that a fairly innocent man will be going to prison, that scary place where they put murderers and rapists away, all because he wanted to make a few bucks off of friends who needed their systems worked on. The ESA isn't kidding around about this sorta stuff either. They want everyone to know that if you mod your consoles for any reason whatsoever, no matter what the intent, you are breaking the law and are the worst kind of individual - so bad, you need to be locked up for it. They are quoted as saying this on the siubject from the ArsTechnica article:

The technological measures that video game companies use to control or manage access to their works and to prevent unauthorized copying are essential to ensuring the viability of a vibrant video game marketplace. These technological measures protect the intellectual property rights on which video game companies depend to create and publish new games. Circumventing these protections is never 'harmless fun,' as it erodes the foundation on which video game industry depends for its success.

- Ken Doroshow, ESA General Counsel & Senior Vice President

[via ArsTechnica]

Spotify - Everything you'll ever NEED in a Music App

Ricardo Trejo Aug 6, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Music

Lifehacker has come up with a very detailed and insightful look into the application known as Spotify - aka the itunes killer. If you haven't heard of it yet then shame on you, because it's all that you'll ever need when it comes to your digital music needs. Spotify - What is it? It looks a bit like iTunes but without all the mess. It takes Pandora's idea but gives you all the options you want and need. It has Last.FM's library feature but helps you give that playlist you love so much to your friends with just a simple link - postable on Facebook and other Social Net's. If you're starting to see a trend, then you're catching on. Spotify is the instant solution to everything you've ever wanted or needed, all by taking what you love from the usual suspects and puttig it all into one simple, streamlined application meant for streaming. Oh, and did I mention it's free. That being said, the free part, there's going be an ad here or there in between songs, but you can pay them to go away if they bother you that much.

At the moment it's only available in a select number of countries in Europe: Sweden, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain to be exact, but believe you me, Spotify is working dilgently with music labels to get their app. given the A-ok in the US and other territories of the world. It's a music listener's fantasy, but don't mistake it for something other than its not. It doesn't allow direct downloads of all your songs to your computer to be synced up to an MP3 player - I don't think musicians, and more importantly, their wallets would like that. But if you have access to Wi-Fi then you can connect at anytime to the cloud, and listen to your favorite songs on the go - que the Spotify IPhone app denial.

Windows and Mac compatible, Linux on the way.

[Via LifeHacker]

Update on Aug 6, 2009 by Ricardo Trejo

Found a video on how to get an account with Spotify without being in one of the participating countries. Follow the instructions on the video and description to get it working just right. Wasn't sure if I wanted to publish the link, but the more people who want this the more we can hope Spotify makes its way over to those who are begging for it.

I'm loving it, and I'll be one of the first to get an American account on release. It's quick and slick, doesn't use much resources no crappy load times like "accessing iTunes store" on iTunes. What do you think about it? Leave a comment.

RadioShack Alters Itself, Now the Shack

Ricardo Trejo Aug 5, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us

Did anyone hear about Pizza Hut changing its name to 'the Hut'? I was caught off guard a bit when I heard about that early last month, but this news doesn't hit me quite as strong. RadioShack, yeah, they still exist, will be going through a name change in the next few days. I don't know when the last time I walked into a Radio Shack, but they seem sort of obsolete now. I know they have fuses and cables that bigger retailers don't have, but you can always order online. And if worst comes to worst just visit a Fry's, if there's one by you that is. From my description here Radi- err, I mean, the Shack, always seems to be like a last resort.

Well, if you actually care then go to their site and become a fan of 'the Shack'.

http://www.facebook.com/RadioShack

Pirate Bay's Captains are Jumping Ship

Ricardo Trejo Aug 4, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us

 

Is it really any surprise that those at the wheel of Pirate Bay are wanting to get off the ride as soon as possible? They joked and scoffed at the Swedish trial held earlier in the year, feeling their site was truly untouchable and was a step forward in the "sharing" idealism of online pirates, protests were held outside of the courts during the trial - their victory seemed inevitable. Well, after the verdict came down the pipes no one was laughing anymore. And soon thereafter Pirate Bay's administers found themselves millions dollars in debt to the IFPI, the equivalent of the RIAA but for the rest of the world, for aiding in Copyright Infringement. What I thought personally which was funny was their defense of proving that they were no more at fault than Google, providing search results for indexed torrent files. Which is true, but it just seems that they forgot that their name was PIRATE Bay and they were on trial for copyright infringement - and to the courts, they didn't need any hard proof evidence to make an example out of the 'Bay.

With their future now in shambles, it appeared that something had to be done if they were ever to be seen as anything else besides martyrs of the pirating wars of the past decade - the first casualty and "traitor" being Napster. Pirate bay then announced a little over a month ago that it was going to be bought by Global Gaming Factory X AB for approximately 7.8 American million dollars. It seemed odd: Pirate bay, one of the top 100 websites in the entire world selling for less than hundreds of millions. It was apparent that those running Pirate Bay were trying to get it off their hands so they could move ahead with their own lives instead of being stuck with this huge debt and still having to eventually shut down the site. Pirate bay Co-founder, Peter Sunde, has decided to leave the company and cut his losses. Just over a week after Wayne Rosso, also a Co-founder, said he was going to help pilot the new and improved, yet legal, Pirate Bay, and then retracting that statement by pulling out of the deal altogether, leaving Pirate Bay's future up in the air, Sunde has decided to move on and try something else. I would think he's done with all the drama. With his track record it's easy to assume he'll find himself quite a good job some where, and maybe not be involved in something so controversial - to the dismay of pirates everywhere.

Global Gaming Factory X AB is still trying hard to prove they can pay up, and another date has been set for the deal to go through later on this month. If it goes down then kiss goodbye to torrenting the way you see it today. And if that isn't enough, Hollywood Studios have sent letters to the 'Bay this past week asking for its immediate closure. In other words, Pirate Bay's future looks bleak, and I don't see it surviving a few more months in the way it's seen today. Bit Torrent sites will be a much more private affair once 'Bay is gone, as the RIAA starts to work with ISP's to cut off users from even getting on the net to download and share illegally.

So in other words, download everything you've ever wanted now... while you still can. Not that I'm telling you to go do it or anything. ;)

Sources: CNET - Rosso Pulls Out of PB Deal, Sunde's Blog - Peter Leaving PB

AT&T Has Their Hands Up Saying, "we didn't do nothin'!"

Ricardo Trejo Aug 3, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us

It's certainly been quite a week for At&t, Google, and Apple. Each day a new development bubbles up in the Google Voice rumble between Google and AT&T. Well, for some reason the FCC has decided it's a school yard fight they want to get in on.

If you're not familiar with what's going on then here's a quick rundown:

Google launched their largely anticipated service, Google Voice, two weeks ago; What voice does is give you the chance to snatch up your own personal phone number of choice (I.e. 123-4567), and then have all your phones (Cell, work, home) linked up to that number. What this does is aid you from ever missing a call ever again. You give people your Google Number and they can reach you no matter where you are, and all with one convenient number.

An app was designed and released on handsets like the Blackberry and, of course, the Google Android. So it was a no brainer when Google decided to make it for the iPhone as well. However, the issue wasn't what Google wanted, because for unknown reasons Apple slapped a DENY on their app request. You could say it was the stamp heard around the world because every major tech site was talking about that same day. Critics were trying to decide who to blame, and figured it was AT&T's involvement - I mean they're a phone company first, and they might feel endangered by Google's new venture into the phone business- that's what you'd think would be the problem, right? But the thing is the Blackberry, which also can be used with the AT&T network was "allowed" to receive the 'Voice' app. So realistically, AT&T seems to not be at fault.  Apple, also, did come out with a statement saying they were the ones who felt the app was already stepping on some of the iPhone's toes, with similar features, so any suspicion of a tag team play between the two, against the app, should be left at the door. 

Iphone users felt jipped by their provider and phone manufacturer, saying that Apple was stifling future tech's just because of minor issues with "similar features," which I myself have yet to see on my own iPhone. The FCC, noticing the media attention, felt it was their duty to see what was going on because of all the outcry. The FCC is not bullying either company to make them release the app, but wants to do an investigation on the ties and policies that phone companies have with their phone's manufacturers. I think this is a pretty good move on their part: they're trying to make sure th9is sort of practices don't become a new standard, although this could honestly just be Apple refusing to cooperate because their almighty iPhone is too good for Google.

Social Media and Sports - a Match Made in Heaven

Ricardo Trejo Aug 3, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us

I've never thought about this idea, but the more I read about it the more it intrigues me. Media centered apps and sites like twitter are perfect when it comes to sporting events. Being in the crowd and tweeting along with fellow fans in the stands, and fans at home, by communicating with hashtags about the game happening before you on the field - it's a match made in heaven.

TechCrunch has a nice article about this new concept. They talk about FanChatter.com's recent launch, and how the site is centered on helping major sports teams get involved with their fans before, during, and after the game with social media; i.e. trying to implement the ability for fans to send pictures they've just taken while at the game, and have it be displayed up on the jumbo-tron for everyone to see. For the tech savvy fan it's something to look out for, because it just might make the next big game a bit more memorable.

The full story can be read here.

Kevin Rose Interviews Marissa Mayer, Google VP of Search and User Experience

Ricardo Trejo Aug 2, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Videos

Ever wonder what Google is upto these days? With Google Wave on the horizon, ready to change the way you think about email, and Bing, cocking its fists, what's on Google's mind right about now? And what is their next move? Marissa Mayer, whose long title translates to: "someone who makes sure Google stays on top," does a good job answering user submitted questions from Digg.com. She gives us a glimpse into the near future, and also helps us realize that we are only in the 1500's in terms of technology in the search engine game.

The interview runs at 23 mins, but it's a good time investment.