She'd make a great pitcher.

We've all had frustrating moments in gaming when we've wanted to throw something. Sometimes it's a handheld, and sometimes we really regret it if we have to buy a new one to replace it (and have to attend anger management therapy). But what if we had super human strength and could literally blast it through a wall?

The incredibly fashionable French gaming lifestyle magazine Amusement has a photo feature called "Overheating" that depicts what it would look like if we could throw our portable gaming devices through walls.

Photos courtesy of GameSetWatch.

It's back, people!

Have you dreamed of owning the perfect chair? You know, the kind of chair that you don't necessarily sit in because the furniture more accepts you into its loving embrace? And comfort aside, it also holds your beer and takes you out on the open road with the help of a lawnmower engine? Well, here's your chance.

Police in Minnesota are selling a modified recliner after the owner was convicted of DUI. The chair was previously listed on eBay as motorized La-Z-Boy. However, the Proctor police department was forced to repost the item on the online auctioneering site because it wasn't actually a La-Z-Boy-brand chair. Now labeled "the DWI Chair" the modified recliner is back up on eBay and bids are hitting $7,700.

Proceeds will be split between the state of Minnesota, the local victims' advocacy fund, the prosecuting attorney's office and the police department. However, all involved (apart from the buyer, I guess) are probably pretty annoyed that the item had to be pulled and reposted. The bidding on the first posting was well over $40,000.

Click here to see more pictures and be sure to let us know if you bid!

FBI isn't going forward with face verification.

We've seen time and time again in movies of advanced security systems that utilize facial recognition systems to verify the identity of people. But it seems that kind of technology is still out of reach and now deemed unfeasible by the FBI.

According to the Register, James A. Loudermilk II, a senior level technologist at the FBI, said that other forms of prints, such as palmprints and footprints, could be the next level of identification after fingerprints.

While facial recognition is still something the FBI would like to include in its fight against crime, it said that the software doesn't yet exist that can provide highly reliable verification.

Loudermilk said that the FBI has been looking into facial recognition since 1963, but it didn't invest heavily into the technology then, and it won't be investing now.

An alleged prostitute was pictured naked while under arrest and grabbed by her hair by police, sparking an excessive force outcry.

Apparently, the Internet is in an uproar, although honestly, we didn't know anything about it until we came across this AP report. It seems that an image has surfaced online depicting a plainclothes policeman pulling a naked woman by her hair during a prostitution bust in central China. The problem here, obviously, is an excessive use of force, justifying the outrage.

According to China Daily, the image is one of many taken by local media covering the prostitution bust. The story originally ran last Thursday night on a news website run by the China New Service, however the report didn't receive web-wide exposure until mid-day Monday. By Wednesday afternoon EST, the story had reached a worldwide platform, almost taking a "viral" route.

Is it any surprise? News travels extremely fast on the Internet, especially when it involves illegal activity concerning law enforcement. The whole "don't tase me bro" situation is a great example, showing how the mistreatment of one student--one trying to debate with Senator Kerry in a public, open forum--led to a taser shocking his body. There's also the story about an officer using a police department computer to harass a woman for sex.

But what is necessary and what is excessive in regards to reporting and the Internet? As for the recently circulated photo of the officer and the alleged prostitute, the fight could lean either way: how can the police treat a "suspected prostitute" in such a harsh manner? Then again, how can an image containing the naked prostitute be taken and transferred to the Internet?

Ultimately, the Internet is like the old, wild west: untamed with lots of frontier to explore.

Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Currently, internet service providers (ISPs) aren't held accountable for the actions of their subscribers. If users choose to use their internet access for downloading music and movies, there is little blame that the movie and music industry can place on the ISP itself (though there have been cooperation between ISPs and big media).

That could all change, however, as countries including the U.S., Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia as well as the European Union have been negotiating an anticounterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA), reported PC World.

A proposal for the ACTA is for ISPs to be held liable for the illegal actions of its users. This would mean that recording and film industries would be able to sue telco and cable companies for the usage of its internet services.

Two of the largest nations known for piracy and counterfeiting activities, China and Russia, are not part of the ACTA, leading some experts to question the real effectiveness of such a trade agreement.

With the Halloween out of the way and the real, money spendin' Holidays drawing closer, stores are readying its Black Friday sales and November offers. However, it seems someone at Walmart let the cat out of the bag a little early this year.

The flyer below details Walmart's plans to sell the $199 Arcade version of the Xbox 360 bundled with a hundred dollar gift card. It's a pretty sweet deal especially if you spend that $100 gift card on a HDD for the console. As Engadget points out, all told it works out at $234 Xbox 360 with a 120 GB HDD for first-time buyers.

The deal comes into effect this coming Saturday, November 7. Bear in mind that this is a one day only offer so if you want to nab one, be sure to get down to your local Walmart early in the morning.

Screengrabs below via Kotaku and official flier from Walmart.

A game addiction clinic has opened in Britain.

Are video games addicting? To some degree, yes. There's nothing better--save for an adventurous night WooHoo-ing--than a game that keeps you hooked, keeps you on your toes, and leaves you hanging, wanting more. It's like a good movie, or a good book. But are those addictions worthy of long-time therapy and rehabilitation clinics? That's a debate best left on the forums.

Apparently, there seems to be some need for videogame rehabilitation, as a clinic has recently opened in Britain's Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. The Telegraph reports that MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Age of Conan have triggered the need for rehabilitation clinics, igniting a heated wave of addiction in both children and adults.

The clinic already treats around 400 addicts a year, addressing gambling, drugs, alcohol, and other addictive situations. The facility adapted its current program to work with gaming addicts, and recently treated one 23-year-old after his parents brought him to the clinic. ''We developed a treatment for him which followed the 12-step (abstinence) approach, but you can't tell someone never to use the internet again," said Brian Dudley, the center's chief executive.

Peter Smith, a councilor at the clinic, said that it's not unusual for people to get obsessed with online gaming. However, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association denies that online games are addicting, or could lead to addiction. Gaming has become "mainstream" and has positive impact, it said.

Here's one for Beatles fans.

EMI this week announced plans to release the entire Beatles catalog on a limited edition 16GB USB stick. Included on the stick are the re-mastered audio recordings for The Beatles’ 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs’ visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes.

The news was met with both joy and disappointment from diehard Beatles fans. On the one hand, it's a very cool piece of Beatles merchandise, it's limited edition and it's the entire catalog, which kind of makes it a must have. On the other hand, it costs £200 in the UK and $279 in the US, which is pretty pricey.

Pre-orders are available from the official Beatles' store and the USB is set to ship on December

You may have found Verizon's "There's a map for that" commercial mildly amusing. Indeed, the jibe at Apple and AT&T's "There's an app for that" TV spot didn't go unnoticed by most consumers. However, it appears AT&T is annoyed enough to take legal action.

AT&T this week filed a complaint claiming that Verizon is misleading customers to believe that AT&T doesn't offer any wireless service in the vast majority of the country. The complaint highlights the fact that Verizon only shows AT&T's 3G network in the commercial, omitting the company's 2G coverage completely, while comparing the 3G coverage to its own 3G coverage (which happens to be the only kind of coverage Verizon offers).

Endgadget reports that Verizon has already changed the ads once for AT&T -- changing small print to say "Voice and data services available outside of 3G areas" and removing the phrase "out of touch."

Who do you think is right? Let us know in the comments below!

A clever hacker seized jailbroken iPhones and requested money via PayPal.

A hacker in the Netherlands supposedly took control of several jailbroken iPhones on T-Mobile Netherlands and asked for ransom, according to a post in a Dutch forum. Users were unaware of the wireless siege until the hacker sent fake SMS text massages, claiming that the devices were unsecure. To solve the problem, the iPhone users were directed to a website and told to pay a fee via PayPal to restore security.

"Right now, I can access all your files," the warning read. "This message won't disappear until your iPhone's secure." According to a translation by Ars Technica, the hacker used port scanning to identify the jailbroken iPhones with SSH running. Apparently enabling SSH is a common practice with jailbroken iPhones, enabling users to log in via Terminal and execute UNIX commands. However, iPhones have a default root password that many jailbreakers forget to change.

Once the hacker gained access, he replaced the wallpaper with a fake SMS message. Upon visiting the website, frightened users are required to shell out €5 to a PayPal account and receive instructions on how to secure the device. Evidently, the instructions weren't exactly technical: it only required the end-user to restore the device to its original factory settings.

Currently the URL provided in the message leads to a page indicating that the site was reported for spam or phishing abuse, and has been deactivated. However, the original website offered a "scare tactic," saying it was fine if the end-user didn't pay, however thousands of other hackers would do the same thing.

Linden Labs announced an Enterprise, "behind-the-firewall" version of Second Life.

Linden Labs officially announced its Enterprise version of Second Life earlier today, built for maintaining a virtual environment for corporations behind a firewall. Apparently there's a need for such an application, as the company stated that an Enterprise edition has been the number one request for many years. The virtual environment isn't exactly free however, starting at a hefty $5,000 USD.

So what's different about this localized version? "The extra layers of security and administrative control in a stand-alone product would allow organizations to explore virtual work as a powerful and effective collaboration and communication tool," the company said.

The idea is to bring distributed colleagues together into a "persistent, branded immersive space." Employees can collaborate, prototype new offerings, and hold a business meeting while cutting down travel costs. Currently a few big name corporations are using the Enterprise version--now in beta--including IBM, Intel, Northrop Grumman, the US Navy (Naval Undersea Warfare Center), and many more.

Linden Labs said that the software runs eight regions simultaneously while storing an additional twenty-five regions "that you can take up and down in a flash." When using eight regions, the software can support up to eight hundred avatars. The company added that the Enterprise "behind-the-firewall" version feels exactly like the online Second Life, however this stand-alone software allows real names.

Verizon might be facing legal action from AT&T over its "There's a Map for That" commercial," but today saw the company launch another commercial, this one for the Motorola DROID, due to launch later this this week.

Verizon's first commercial for the DROID was well liked by most and, while this one reveals less about what the phone can do compared to the last TV spot, it's still a pretty neat advertisement.

 Launching this coming Friday, November 6, the DROID features a 3.7", 854x480 touchscreen; a 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash and video capabilities; GPS; WiFi; a full, slide out, QWERTY keyboard; HTML5 support and all the usual Googley bells and whistles like Gmail, Maps and YouTube.

Check out the new ad (and the old) below.

Verizon is spiking its early termination fee just in time for DROID's invasion.

Like the whole Macpadd.com ordeal, we like to keep our readers informed when something smells foul. Indeed, Verizon is beginning to cross into that foul territory by spiking its early termination fee. The move doesn't even seem coincidental, with new users flocking to the wireless carrier thanks to Motorola's swanky new DROID smartphone.

Starting November 15, customers who cancel their contracts early will be faced with an early termination fee of up to $350 USD per line. However, this only applies to devices the company deems as "Advanced Devices;" Verizon did not define the terminology although its assumed that it applies to smartphones and netbooks.

According to an obtained document announcing this new ETF change, the policy applies to both one and two year contracts; the fee kicks in if the service is disconnected prior to completing the minimum term. "The $350 ETF will decrease by $10 for each month of service completed," the company said.

ETF charges have been a hot topic with wireless carriers, consumers, and the government. Last year Verizon reached a $21 million settlement with a group of customers who sued the company over the outlandish fees (source). In California, a superior Court judge ruled that the practice of charging consumers a fee for ending their contracts early is illegal and violates California law (source).

While Modern Warfare 2 sits poised and ready for its November 10 release, some retailers have already acquired and sold copies of the Xbox and PC versions thanks to a sneaky leak. Now pirates have seized the game and have distributed the contents accordingly, offering disk images online to those with bandwidth to spare. Is this surprising? Absolutely not after the whole Halo 3: ODST ordeal.

After news of the leak reached Microsoft and Activision's ears, the former company made an official threat to those who plan on playing a pirated version, especially Xbox 360 gamers playing the game on Xbox Live. In essence, the company will ban Xbox Live gamers who modify their consoles; modifications also void the hardware warranty.

"We take vigorous action against illegal activity related to our products and services, but we do not comment on those details," Microsoft told CVG. "Consumers should be aware that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 to play pirated games will void their warranty."

Softpedia adds to the report, indicating that both Microsoft and Activision could also bring in the big guns and take legal action against gamers who play the pirated versions. The news follows recent reports that leak footage hit the internet revealing options to shoot civilians in an airport. It's speculated that the footage stemmed from leaked versions of the game.

Was it too little, too late for the iPhone in China?

The iPhone has officially launched in China, but customers don't seem to be as excited for the Apple device as their western counterparts have been in the past. According to the AP, mobile carrier Unicom managed to sell only 5,000 iPhones on the first day.

There are a couple of possible explanations of why sales are relatively low. First of all, the first batch of these phones are crippled as they come without any Wi-Fi capability. The proposed iPhone hardware with Wi-Fi was temporarily banned by Beijing (who was in favor of a rival Chinese system), but the ban was relaxed in May. By that time, however, manufacturing had already begun for the China-bound iPhones.

Unicom is now working with Apple to bring back Wi-Fi in future shipments and hopes to have things solved by the end of this year.

Secondly, those who are interested in the iPhone have been able to purchase them from grey market importer stores for around the same price as offered through the carrier. What's more, those imported phones come with Wi-Fi intact.

What will be a better gauge of consumer interest, should it ever happen, is when the China will be able to launch a future iPhone model alongside most other major markets. Maybe for the 4G, eh?