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I hate SMS, so one of the great announcements of today WWDC Keynote was that Apple would be rolling their own messaging solution, called iMessage, into iOS 5.

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.)

Will Wilkinson writes about how everyone seems to be missing the point of WikiLeaks:

With or without WikiLeaks, the technology exists to allow whistleblowers to leak data and documents while maintaining anonymity. With or without WikiLeaks, the personnel, technical know-how, and ideological will exists to enable anonymous leaking and to make this information available to the public.

This is exactly what I’ve been telling people a while before the latest big WikiLeak dump. As someone who knows how to make a website, I could set up, say, ZikiLeaks, on servers anywhere in the developed world tomorrow for an inconsequential sum of money. I can also download and/or upload any of these documents via BitTorrent (which has already been done) and avoid having to rely on servers that governments can take down. Shutting down WikiLeaks or arresting people does nothing to change this.

The best thing those with sensitive information can do to combat leaks today is to increase security around these sensitive files (which the Pentagon is already doing). Second, reduce leaks by keeping information open and honest as much as possible. Finally, keep employes with access to sensitive data happy.

(Link via DF.)

Now that the new MacBook Air comes with a USB software restore drive instead of optical media, I wonder if we have any chance of seeing non-optical disc based Mac OS X 10.7 Lion upgrades sold by Apple.

Certainly the remote disc option that Apple cooked up for the original MacBook Air should still work just fine for the new Airs, but this solution is kind of clunky and requires a secondary computer with an optical drive as well as a properly configured network.  USB optical drives are similarly regressive.  Instead, think that Apple could (and should) sell a USB restore drive or downloadable upgrade package for Lion.

The first option would would certainly be the preferable way to upgrade a MacBook Air, but it would probably sell well even to users who still had optical drives on their Mac.  A USB thumb drive seems more reliable and rugged than a disc, it should work fine with any Intel based Mac, and would look cool on a key chain.   Apple would still sell Lion DVDs of course, but they could offer the USB drive for a small premium.

The second option for a download would be very convenient, especially to international users where shipping can be slow and expensive. Obviously, this would only work if Apple allowed purchasers to download the software multiple times and run it without requiring burning a bootable DVD, though that should be an option too.

We could see some interesting new Lion upgrade options Apple next summer!

Hollywood certainly hasn’t given us much evidence that video games can be properly adapted to film. However, this they have given us two great movies that are heavily inspired by games. The first, Inception, is dissected by Kotaku, and the second is, of course, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, which Ars discusses.

Underneath the surface of the love interest story, ‘Scott Pilgrim’ is really a movie about two intertwined things. One, as Ars mentions, is the story about a boy who’s lost his filter separating reality from the reality of video games. Second, the film, and of course the comic before it, are an investigation of that twist: what if your life was a video game? What would be your challenges, goals, achievements, points, levels?

The film also weaves together a fanatic music pallet designed by Nigel Godrich. I was extremely impressed by the degree to which the filmmakers used music, which is a large part of the story since Scott is in a band (wonderfully named ‘The Sex Bomb-ombs‘), as an expository device and integral part of the film. They could have taken the easy way out and simply alluded to most of the music but instead they harnessed the opportunity to really expand on the comic in the audio space.

It’s often said that adapted works aren’t as good as the original book/comic/video game/whatever. I haven’t read the original Scott Pilgrim comic, but if more movies were adapted with this kind of creative yet reverent approach, that would be a thing of the past.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – 5 out of 5

The official adaptation of the designer board game Carcassonne has landed on the iTunes App store. The TUAW Review does a nice job of summing up what’s so wonderful about this game itself as well as the strengths & weaknesses of the iOS adaptation.

I think the developers, TheCodingMonkeys, have really knocked the Carcassonne App out of the park. It’s one of the best examples of gaming on iOS yet. I especially appreciate the ability to play several multiplayer games at once and have the app notify me when it’s my turn to play on any one of them. This enables real pick-up/put-down gameplay that’s perfect for the iPhone on the go. But even if you don’t play with people, the CPU players are pretty good and can present quite a challenge (if you want them to).  Furthermore, despite the fact that it’s only optimized for the iPhone right now, I’ve found the game to be very playable when pixel doubled on the iPad.

The game is on sale for just $4.99 which is a steal for something with this kind of functionality and replayability. That price goes up to $9.99 when the iPad upgrade, which will be free to existing owners, goes live later this year. If you do pick it up, be sure to send me a friend request so we can play some games and remember, “Sharing is Caring.”