War Games for 99 Cents - This Week Only

Attention Geek Forcers! If you use iTunes at all, even a little bit, then click this link and enjoy the Matthew Broderick masterpiece War Games for only ninety-nine cents! It’s this week’s iTunes 99 Cent Rental of the Week, and I’m sure it’s been years since you’ve watched it, so c’mon and snap to it.

Thanks to Apple TV Junkie for pointing the way.

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Worth Your Consideration 008 - A GF5 Linkdump

• We’re just about ten days away from the official launch of the iPhone 3G and Apple has thrown the hype machine into full gear. This morning, they brought back Bob the iPhone guy for another boner-inducing guided tour. Thanks to TUAW for the initial tip.
• Not to be outdone, AT&T has rolled out their own series of iReady video clips, including this one, for new customers like me. Seriously, I don’t know how I could possibly be ready to buy a cellphone without watching all of these preparatory videos.
• Mac Rumors was the first of the Apple-specific Websites to deliver the news to me that AT&T had announced their rate plans for iPhone, so they get the shoutout. It wasn’t immediately clear to me what an AT&T family plan with only one iPhone would cost (the price for a two-iPhone family plan starts at $129 a month), but this AT&T page made it clearer.  As had long been rumored, people like me can “[a]dd a Consumer Data Plan for iPhone 3G to a qualified voice plan for $30 per month.”
• I also learned today that, when I buy my iPhone 3G, it will come packaged in a potato. Or, well, it will come packaged in potato-based material, that is. There is a joke waiting to be made about whether or not I would like fries with my phone, but I’m too lazy to make it.
• And, lastly, after reading this article on Colin Devroe’s site, I will make damn sure that I don’t spill anything on my new iPhone, when I finally get it. It turns out that even a small amount of moisture (from, say, sweat) may have been the cause of the iPhone deadspots problem that Colin was having.

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Worth Your Consideration 007 - A GF5 Linkdump

• News Askew is reporting that NBC will re-air Saturday Night Live’s inaugural episode this Saturday night, an episode which was hosted by the recently departed George Carlin. The classic episode will apparently be aired in its entirety, which, according to News Askew, doesn’t happen all that often on NBC.
• I’m embedding George Carlin’s take on the Ten Commandments above because it’s criminal that I didn’t embed something of his when I posted my initial thoughts on his passing.
• On a much lighter note, Gary Vaynerchuk has posted the episode of Wine Library TV that was filmed in Boston recently, an episode that I made it into the city to see last week. I think it’s a perfect “entrance” episode for anyone who is mildly interested in wine and in seeing what Gary does. There’s a great blend of humor, education, and flat-out thunder here.
• Apple will apparently be releasing a free remote control application for iPhone and iPod Touch users which will allow them to control iTunes from anywhere in their house. This is something I’ve seen quite a few people clamoring for on the Apple boards across the Web. The real key, for me, and for a lot of others, will be if this works with the Apple TV. I loves me my simple two-button Apple TV remote, but it would be nice to have something a little more robust when I needed it.
• Lastly, for the comic book fans out there, be sure to check out Newsarama’s poll of what titles the pros think we consumers are missing. The Walking Dead, which Brandice recommended to me recently is one book that gets mentioned as a must-read.

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iPhone Porn in 3G

Time magazine’s Jeremy Caplan is reporting that the iPhone’s next frontier will be pornography.

To date, mobile porn has consisted largely of still images, racy text services and “moan tones,"… But now, thanks in large part to the iPhone’s video dexterity, short clips are becoming a staple of the mobile porn business. The speed promised by the iPhone 2.0 is much anticipated… “It’s by far the porn-friendliest phone,” says Devan Cypher, representative for San Francisco–based Sin City Entertainment.

Apple restricts adult content in the podcast section of their iTunes Music Store, and they will apparently do the same for the upcoming iPhone/iPod Touch Application Store. But they can’t stop adult entertainment providers from supplying Websites tailored for their devices. Their main challenge in all of this is to ensure that parental controls are easy to use and very secure. As the Time article wisely points out, the last thing Apple or AT&T need here is to have a Janet Jackson Boobgate-type controversy on their hands. I’m sure the FCC will be watching very, very closely.

[Source: MacNN ]

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Worth Your Consideration 004 - A GF5 Linkdump

• Viddler Technology Evangelist Colin Devroe started using Spaces in Mac OS X Leopard shortly after the release of the 10.5.3 update, and he’s reporting today on how it’s been going. He certainly seems to be making better use of the program/feature than I am, and I can’t wait to get home and give some of his suggestions a try.
• AppleInsider is offering a ray of hope for those iPhone enthusiasts who are hoping to get in and out of the Apple/AT&T store of their choice in a timely fashion on release day. They report that iPhone 3G buyers may be able to complete activation at home, after all.

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