Obviously this isn’t true if you bought an iPhone recently, but if had your iPhone 4 for a while then it definitely holds true. According to this AT&T Early Termination Fee (ETF) calculator, personally I would pay $165 for my ETF (I got the iPhone 4 the day it came out). However paying penalty would allow me to get $250 more in phone subsidies, netting me $85 in savings. How does this make any sense for AT&T?

The Brooks Review suggests several strategies to get around this including threatening to switch and doing a family plan shuffle (which I will be pulling). It should be possible to cancel your current account with AT&T and simply sign up for another with the same number, but this might be a bit tricky to pull off. Certainly the least hassle would be to simply switch from AT&T to Verizon or Sprint.

And that’s why AT&T sucks (today).

A couple of months ago, I retired [after a nearly 30-year career as a professional staff member on Capitol Hill]; but I could see as early as last November that the Republican Party would use the debt limit vote, an otherwise routine legislative procedure that has been used 87 times since the end of World War II, in order to concoct an entirely artificial fiscal crisis. Then, they would use that fiscal crisis to get what they wanted, by literally holding the US and global economies as hostages.

He continues to spell out the morally and ethically corrupt legislative tactics the Republican Party has used over the past 30 or more years and how they’ve diverged from the values of former leaders such as Eisenhower.

These are things that those of us watching closely have suspected and observed for years, but it’s eye-opening to see it outlined so directly by an insider.

(Via Walnut & Carrara)

Since almost everyone I know has an iPhone, this seems like a nice solution. I’m not the only one excited: Apple Has Finally Stuck A Dagger Into SMS. I Love It.

And for those time when you actually do need to message non-iOS users, there’s free Google Voice. Dear carriers: suck it.

Update: More iOS 5 details from Engadget including some good bits on iMessage.  Gruber also quips:

I’ll cancel my SMS plan as soon as this ships.

(A well-informed little birdie tells me that Apple’s phone carrier partners around the world found out about iMessages when we did: during [the] keynote.)

The youth of America knows that gays are people with the same rights as everyone else, so know this all you intolerant fucks (of all ages): your time of is drawing to a close. We’ll be back and we’ll get all those happy gay couples married sooner or later.

Aspyr announced plans for a online digital-download store back in May 2006. The service, dubbed Gamerhood at the time, was intended to help increase Aspyr’s exposure at a time when retail presence for Mac games was shrinking from what was already small to minuscule (thanks, in part, due to the onslaught of iPod accessories at the Apple store).

Instead of only being able to sell boxed copies of their games, Aspyr would sell their entire catalog online for near instant gratification (as fast as you could download). The hook is convenience of digital delivery and the ability to have a limitless back catalog of older games for in addition to the newest hits.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because it is, online delivery wasn’t a new idea even back in 2006 as the iTunes music store and Steam, a PC gaming service which allowed for downloads of some big titles like Half-Life 2 on the PC side. Macworld has an interesting interview with Aspyr’s president Michael Rogers where he compares and contrasts the service with Steam and iTunes, and lays out grand plans for Gamerhood and stating “For us it’s about getting the experience right first.”

Ironically, more than 2 years later, Aspyr has done anything but get it right. Though Aspyr does have a GameAgent software program for Macs it seems to be only half functional; it shows the Aspyr catalog of games and can help determine if you machine is compatible with a certain game but that’s about it. A recent update added the ability to check for updates to games in the catalog but, in my limited experience, the program repeatedly recommended the same update but never correctly applied it.

Now, Aspyr has finally launched GameAgent.com as a venue to sell their games but the service itself is run through third-party e-commerce provider DigitalRiver (their logo even appears as the site’s favicon) and not integrated into their GameAgent software. Macworld detailed the arrangement earlier this year and provided some basic information on why the service has taken so long to launch which sites issues with “trademarking the service name, securing a URL and other business-related issues.” (By the way, Aspyr, next time you want to launch a product in less than 2 years, let me know and I can help you secure a domain in 10 minutes.)

However, if Aspyr wanted to ‘get the experience right first’ they would have kept this one under the rug for another few years, because GameAgent.com is a seriously flawed implementation of the original idea. The site only offers two products at launch, the headlining Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Mac and a Mac version of the edutainment title futureU. But it’s not the lack of titles that is the problem here, it’s the DRM. Here’s a direct quote from the GameAgent FAQ:

Can I switch to a new machine and still have my games?
Yes, but only if you have purchased the Extended Download Service (EDS). EDS essentially allows you to download your purchase again for up to two (2) years, in the event your computer crashes or the downloaded file becomes damaged or corrupt. It can be thought of as an insurance policy in case anything goes wrong with your computer or the downloaded product. [...]
You are also allowed to activate your game up to 3 times with a single serial number.

How will GameAgent.com handle piracy issues?
Each game that you download is, by default, locked to your computer. A game can only be played on the particular computer where it has been authorized.

I’ll summarize: You ‘buy’ a game, but you can only download it once unless you pay $5 per game for ‘insurance’ (which only lasts for 2 years). You can only play it on one computer at a time which must be authorized. You can only authorize 3 computers (or possibly the same machine after a system change) ever.

Might I add, that the price for this convenience, Call of Duty 4 sells for $55. Amazon lists Call of Duty 4 for Mac for $49 at the time of writing.

This kind of BS is just ridiculous. Even Steam, the closest/most-well-known analog to GameAgent offers better terms than these. When you buy a game from Steam, you can download it again whenever and however often you like, for as long as you like. You can play it on any machine you authorize with your account and their prices are usually in line with retail (if not cheaper). There is no download insurance, there are no time limits, there are no activation limits.

GameAgent’s terms are even worse than the recently decried DRM-issues with Spore, which was bombed with 1-star reviews on Amazon for its DRM policy which is tame by comparison. Other companies, like Good Old Games and Stardock are going so far as eliminate DRM from their products and establish a PC Gamer Bill of Rights decrying restrictions such as activations and download limits.

So why, in this time where people are pushing back against DRM so strongly are Mac gamers getting the shaft? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because they don’t think we’ll notice or know better. Maybe because they just think they can because there’s not that much gaming on the Mac. But, in my mind, policies like this only make the platform weaker. I expected better of Aspyr.

PS: It’s worth noting that there are digital download game stores for Mac, though I am not familiar with specific DRM policies I’ve had good experiences with several. They include MacGameStore.com, Virtual Programing, Ambrosia, and, Blizzard.

WTF Amazon?  NCAA garden gnomes?  On the front page of your site?  Really?

Fannie Mae bailout: Taxing America’s poorest citizens to help the richest:

In Roman times the employees of Fannie Mae would be decimated, i.e., they would draw lots and 90 percent of them would beat the unlucky 10 percent to death with clubs. What would be a modern equivalent? At the very least taxpayers should have the satisfaction of seeing the highest paid 100 Fannie Mae employees fired with two weeks of severance pay (it can’t be that hard to find replacements given that the current staff’s primary achievements have been accounting fraud and then insolvency).

It’s like Patton Oswalt’s ‘Dukes of Hazard’ bit: “Ain’t no way they gonna get away with this one! Skup-dup-dubby-doop-do” (Edit: fixed link here, it’s pretty good stuff so take a listen.)

(Via DF)

• All Profiles rental history will be added into the main account rental history
• Your additional Profile Queues will be eliminated. If you would like to keep a copy of each Profile Queue we recommend that you print them out.
• Profiles movie ratings and Profiles Friends connections will no longer be available
• You will not be able to transfer your Profiles data to a separate new account

This seems like a particularly consumer-hostile move from a company that, in the past has had a fairly positive reputation for customer service. As a subscriber and heavy-user of this feature myself, I feel particularly betrayed. The unceremonious termination of my 100+ item queue and 1000+ ratings make it seem like Netflix really doesn’t give a damn about anything but it’s bottom line. As Ars Technica points out, replicating a 4 disc at-a-time account, which costs roughly $24/month, with two 2 disc at-a-time accounts will cost $28/month, or $4/month for Netflix’s bottom line.  Adding insult to injury, Netflix reasons for the change in policy are simply “…to continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers,” with no other details provided.  This kind of bullshit PR-speak only serves to aggravate customers like myself who are left wondering how eliminating already-in-place features helps improve the site.

There are, unsurprisingly, many upset Netflix customers pouring onto the web to complain about this.  Some resources and petitions they have thrown together include:

• Get Satisfaction: Netflix to break homes by eliminating profiles
• Digg: Netflix Eliminating Profiles
• Hacking Netflix: Netflix Eliminating Account Profiles
• Protest Netflix’s Cancellation of Profiles Petition
• SaveNetflixProfiles.com
• Netflix Community Blog: Profiles feature going away

Even if you’re not a current Netflix subscriber, you should take note of how Netflix responds to this issue. If you are a current subscriber, I encourage you to visit the websites above, sign petitions, and complain to the company about this blatant disregard for the value of their customers.

Update: they came to their senses and decided to keep them after all.

A bunch of wonderful pics of people flipping-off Hummers.

(Via Deron Bauman @ Kottke.)

I wandered around SoHo and the Village, ending up at Magnolia Bakery. Of course I got a cupcake. It was indeed good, but I have to say that Portland’s Saint Cupcake has them beat, hands down on the cupcake front.

Fucking cupcake bitches, call me back when they have cup-pies.

“Meh.”

I mean, I only played Wii Sports, but I really don’t understand what the big deal is about. I see Wii like computer solitaire: a complete waste of my time. Are people that hard-up for simple games? (Answer: yes, apparently so, because the casual gaming market is in the middle midst of an explosion.)

Yes, the motion controller is kind of cool. Yes, it does bring some new dimension to the games. But no one seems to realize there is a trade-off that comes from this controller. Designing a game around the motion control means you leave the traditional schemes behind, and with that you sacrifice a lot of depth because the Wiimote is not really a precision input device like a button. Sure it makes a great pointer but so does a mouse (plus, a mouse is hundreds of times more sensitive). So you loose a lot of accuracy from the motion control and this means you have to make your game ‘looser’ to compensate.

It’s akin to the difference between playing Halo with your Xbox controller joystick or playing with the mouse a keyboard: when you play with a joystick the game takes this into account and gives you a margin of error (auto-aim). On the flip side, mice are accurate to the point that an auto-aim feature in a shooter would be considered kiddie mode or outright cheating. The difference between the Wiimote and a joystick works on the same level. The game has to make assumptions that you’re doing the right thing as long as you’re close enough even more so than a the joystick. This makes the experience feel sloppy to me and it ruins the whole illusion that “Wow, it’s like I’m really swinging the bat.”

So yeah, I’m done with the Wii at least until they get the next Super Smash Brothers out (which I’ll be playing with a GameCube controller anyway).

Disclaimer: I’m a mouse and keyboard PC gamer (I’m lumping Macs with PCs here). I was raised on the likes of SimCity, Civilization, and WarCraft. My favorite games are mostly hard RPGs (D&D) and real time or turn based strategy games. I like games where there is a lot of tactical decision making, where you have to think a lot, and where you have to work the math and numbers on your units/characters to succeed against your opponent. I’m exactly the wrong type of gamer for the Wii I think.

But honestly, if I really wanted to bowl, I would go bowl. At least then I would feel like my physical actions were having a strong impact on the outcome of the game.

Even better, check this Translation From PR-Speak to English of Selected Portions of Steve Jobs’s ‘A Greener Apple’ Article. Here’s my favorite excerpt:

Dear Greenpeace,

Fuck you.

Love,
Steve.

I couldn’t agree more.

(PR Translation from Jesper via Daring Fireball.)

With the expected success of the spring blockbuster Spider-Man 3, Marvel Comics will be bringing the masked web slinger to Broadway. The new musical will be directed by Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor (The Lion King), and will feature new songs written by Bono and Edge of U2. Although no opening date has been set, auditions and a summer reading are already in place.

Damn fuckin’ damn it! Is nothing scarred, is no story safe from The Musicalists? Keep your lame dances and mildly comedic songs off my comic book!

(Via CMJ.)

The latest report from environmental group Greenpeace again rates Apple in last place of all technology companies the organization ranks.

“Apple, having made no progress since the launch of the Guide in August 2006, continues to languish in last place, far behind all other major manufacturers,” reads a statement from Greenpeace.

Damn, Greenpeace, I’m sorry that Apple hasn’t made any progress on the arbitrary, lip-service goals you set for them. I guess they were all to busy with that iPhone thingamajig… oh, and being ‘named a “Forward Green Leader,” one of the top ten environmentally progressive companies recognized by the Sierra Club in 2006.’

What a bunch of PR-Whoring Jackasses.

(Via Macworld.)

Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.

The increases, which are retroactive to the first day of the year, are expected to generate nearly $2.2 billion over 10 years…

I realized a long time ago that politicians are making the youth pay for their pork and tax cuts. This is just one of many examples of that kind of irresponsible lawmaking. What’s particularly interesting is that back in 1999, Bush pledged to veto any bill that raised taxes. I guess he wasn’t making that pledge to anyone under 11 or so…

So I really have to thank you Mr. President, you lying fuck, for continuing to line the pockets of your rich cronies with money from the less fortunate. Lucky for you, you picked the best group: kids who can’t vote. It’s not so bad though, since those kids probably don’t need that money for anything important like college tuition. That money is in much better hands with the nation’s rich so they can do more whatever the fuck they spend all that money on (whatever it is though, it’s not working to help the economy).

First item, for “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” is the song “In the Deep” by Bird York (?iTMS, IMDB), which was used for a montage at the end of Crash. Too bad the song actually was released in 2003, which makes it decidedly not written for a motion picture. I mean, I’ve been a fan of Bird York since her first album and I’m glad she’s getting some recognition, but seriously, it’s not one of her better songs in my opinion. Furthermore, what’s with the Academy nominating shit in the wrong category (see Memento)?

Second thing, no Star Wars in the “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” category? Umm, I’m sure the nominees (Narnia, King Kong, & War of the Worlds) are good, but Visual Effects are like 90% of (the new) Star Wars, and they’re the best they’ve ever been in Episode 3. So what’s the deal, eh?

Finally, Crash was a decent rift on Magnolia, but not nearly as good. So why is everyone creaming their pants over Crash now (it got 6 nominations)? Is it just because of the racism? Will someone explain this bullshit to me?

Seriously people, some of this might be my opinion but I’d like to debate this with someone who disagrees…

1. Talking: While quiet conversation is okay between songs, it is not acceptable to talk to you friends during a song because A) you don’t know or don’t like the song, B) you really like the song and need to tell your friend this, C) you need to decide who to call on your cellphone (see below), D) any other fucking reason. If you need to talk about something urgently then step out to the lobby.
2. Cellphones: People had lots of fun at concerts before cellphones were around. They aren’t necessary at all for concert enjoyment. I can’t understand why people need to constantly use them, they take crappy pictures (use a real camera if you want pictures) and the sound quality is very poor if you’re trying to do any recording on them (use a real recorder). If you need to call your friend, you’re annoying. Do you need to make them more jealous that you’re at the concert and they are not or do you just have something to prove? Finally (as a little throwback) you don’t need to repeatedly flip your phone open to show off how bright the backlight is during a concert. Waste your battery when it’s not distracting to others.
3. Cheering: There are two times when it is appropriate to cheer. Either after a song is done or after a solo or similar demonstration of talent. Cheering any other time is irritating for others trying to actually listen to the music.
4. Opener Acts: Even if you don’t particularly like them, at least follow the rules I have laid out above. They’re doing they’re best and deserve a little respect. Besides, the main act will be on stage for you soon enough.
5. Cutting: You learned in grade school not to cut in lines, don’t forget this at concerts just because there are lots of people. The same goes for cutting to the front: the people there suffered to get to that spot before the concert started. You don’t have any right to push up there, especially during a set when your pushing is interrupt people enjoying the music and standing in front of people will obstruct the established line-of-sight of people behind you.
6. Singing Along: This can be a fun way to build the excitement and encourage crowd participation for some songs of certain styles. However please do not singing along means just that: singing. It doesn’t mean yelling at the top of your lungs out of key. Trust me, if everyone is singing along it will be plenty loud without the shouting match between you and your friends.
7. Requests: Do you see those pieces of paper taped down in front of each of the band members? That’s called a set list, they do it so everyone stays on the same page with what is played when. Also, note the headphones that look like hearing aids that the band members wear. That’s called a monitor, it is used so the musician can hear what is being played instead of the crowd. So please don’t yell out requests, you won’t be heard and even if you are it won’t change what’s going to be played. I promise they will get to your favorite song soon enough; band’s don’t make money by not playing fan favorites. One more thing, yelling requests during a song is just fucking rude for reasons elaborated upon above.
8. In & Out: If you need to leave the crowd area for any reason during the concert, please wait until between sets to come back or watch from another less-crowded area for the rest of the show. I don’t care if you need to get your jacket to beat the rush or need to use the bathroom or if you’re a mom checking in on your little pre-teen. It’s distracting just like cutting.
9. Long Hair: If you have long hair please take steps to contain it. You will likely be in close proximity with others at a concert, especially if you are close to the stage. So don’t put it a ponytail that sticks out behind you or go whipping it back when it’s not in the right position on your head. No one behind you wants to eat your hair or have their nose tickled. Same thing with hats: no big hats that hit others or block people’s view.
10. Marijuana: Is it necessary to make everyone else smell your illicit substance?. Smoking tobacco is illegal indoors, just because marijuana is already illegal doesn’t mean you can toke at a concert. Please consume your weed before the show. This is more of a minor annoyance to me than a real problem, but I still feel it bears mentioning and it rounds out my list to an even 10.

As you can infer from the list, I didn’t have the greatest time at the concert, though this is no fault of Guster. Every item on this list was broken on multiple occasions during the show. This is simply unacceptable. The point of going to a concert is to listen and enjoy the music. If you’re not doing that, or you’re doing something that prevents others from doing that, then you really shouldn’t be at the concert. It could be the the kids (though they weren’t the only poorly behaved group there and some were fine) or New York Guster fans (though I doubt this) or a general New York thing (though other concerts I’ve been to have had no such problems), so I’m unsure if it was just a fluke that I had such a bad experience. In any case, I’m pissed that I spent $50 for a show I couldn’t enjoy because of the absolutely poor and selfish behavior of others.

Is it really time for that already? Damn. I think I’m going to go listen to some Nine Inch Nails to make me feel better. Holiday music is such an abomination.

• 1 GB of storage: Finally! This is very overdue considering others like Spymac, Google’s Gmail, and Yahoo! Mail have been offering at least this much storage for email for over a year. They don’t offer backup and hosting like .Mac does, but the have the big advantage of being free. Apple really should have just skipped the move from 100 MB accounts 250 MB (which happened earlier this year) and gone straight to 1 GB. Perhaps .Mac might actually sell now, because honestly the most common reason people seemed to turn it down was that they already had a free email account with more storage. I’m being optimistic here, however I think the 1 GB does sound hugely better, marketing wise, than 250 MB. Now days, storage is measured in GB and now .Mac can join the party.
• Backup 3: I’ve been able to try a Beta for Backup 3 for the past few months and it is a very nice program. Backup 2 could handle only the most basic backup solutions and was totally entry level, but thankfully the new version is very full featured. The one thing I’m still missing is the ability to clone an entire drive. Until, Backup includes this I really won’t be using it very much since cloning is, in my opinion, the only truly safe way to backup all your data. Secondary backups should work great with Backup 3 though, and I’m excited about the plugin architecture that lets third party developers add their application data to the “Quick Picks” feature of Backup 3. Read more about it here.
• Groups: I haven’t had a chance to use it yet (nor do I think I will have much use for it now that I host my own site), however I could see this selling well to family’s with soccer mom’s. Actually, it should play well with anyone who wants to organize something but is not very technical or web-savvy.

All this is good news to .Mac members and (perhaps even more so) Apple Specialists (not that I think it will get attach rates up to 40%). However, I still see two major holes in .Mac.

First, blogs: Apple you might have heard of them (though you seem content to ignore them for the most part). .Mac is a great place to host a blog, and blogging is very popular amog the kiddies LiveJournal, Blogger, and *ugg* MySpace (I’m not really exempt from that critique, but may I point out that MySpace is still a hellhole). Anyway, my point is that Apple could easily leverage .Mac as a complete blog solution, however, currently, you really need a third-party application to create a .Mac blog. No one wants to spend more money after already paying $99 for .Mac. It seems that the new Groups feature of is awfully close to a blog, why not go all the way? Honestly, I could see it as one of the biggest .Mac selling points.

Second, tech support: I’ve heard horror stories from Apple store customers about problems trying to get help with their .Mac account. Currently (unless this has changed in the month), Apple only offers help for .Mac though email. Try to ask an AppleCare rep about .Mac and you get shut down, and there’s only so much that can be done at the Apple Store without access to account management features. This is perverse for a product that costs $99 a year and needs to be fixed ASAP. It’s a good thing there aren’t many .Mac problems, but those that exist really need something better than the “email and wait” solution.