Retrieve your soul

We all know the cell phone companies have our soul. Those contracts are usually tighter than [insert terrible joke], am I right? Ha! But there’s a way out…8 actually. The folks over at The Consumerist have compiled a list of ways out of that nightmare contract you signed when you wanted that sweet phone last year. Now you can get that new sweet phone this year.

Why can’t it be 1995 forever? *sniffle*

Aww, poor record executives. Those poor, lowly, people with their millions of dollars. Why does everyone have to be so mean to them and share files? You damn kids and your interweb, you’re going to ruin everything. Which is why it makes perfect sense for the record companies to continue their onslaught on technology by pressuring Creative to remove the FM recording function on their Zen Vision:M mp3 players. Why should people be able to record songs off of the radio like they have since the invention of the 8-track? They shouldn’t, dammit…and now they can’t. Nice move RIAA.

Cables? We don’t need no stinkin’ cables

HD is great. Anyone who hasn’t experienced high definition TV needs to right now. So understandably, people have been anticipating the launch of the next generation game consoles which take advantage of this technology (sorry Wii) for quite some time. But somehow, Sony disagrees. Apparently high definition isn’t that big a deal for them, even though they’re touting the Blu-Ray playing and 1080p resolution of their PS3. I say this because in both versions of the Japanese release of the PS3, there haven’t been any HDMI cables (the cable needed to carry a high definition signal from the machine to the TV) bundled in the box. Instead, Sony has included composite cables. Cables that barely take full advantage of STANDARD television. Obviously this has been done to keep the already ridiculous cost of the PS3 down and increase accessory sales, but c’mon…for around $400, throw in some cables. If you’re interested Sony, I can personally tell you it won’t cost that much. And you just might have ::gasp:: satisfied customers on your hands. Revolutionary.

Would you like some Britney with that?

Brace yourselves folks, but McDonald’s is doing something interesting. They are currently testing a system in their Woodbridge Mall location (near Chicago, IL) that allows customers to watch/listen to music videos and other entertainment.

Using the system, patrons can queue up songs and videos using text messaging or a WiFi connection, and the content then plays in a special “multimedia zone.” The Woodfield multimedia zone contains 10 flat-panel screens capable of playing back the content, and the entire service is free—for now.

-via arstechnica.com

Sales have gone up 17% since implementing the system, and McDonald’s plans on extending to a number of other stores nationwide. This is a great move for McDonald’s who, after taking a pop-culture beating in the last few years, is trying to re-establish some cool factor associated with their restaurants. It will be interesting to see if this system ends up going nationwide within the next few years.

GoogTube

Most everyone has already heard about this by now, but apparently Google is buying has bought YouTube for $1.65 Billion. Not sure if this is a great move for Google, but it is an important day in the history of the internet and the future of web-based content.