JP Mangalindan
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Hype Check: 'Modern Warfare 2'
Hype Check
'Modern Warfare 2'
What it is: The latest installment in the 'Call of Duty' series, and the second to be set in contemporary times, 'Modern Warfare 2' takes place five years after the setting of 'Call of Duty 4.' Your mission is to hunt down a Russian insurgent and to repel an invasion of the East Coast. In campaign mode, you jump between five soldiers, a function that grants you multiple perspectives and plot points around the world. A new cooperative mode, 'Special Ops,' gives you and a buddy bite-sized, campaign-inspired scenarios to tackle, while the improved multiplayer allows as many as 18 players to go mano-a-mano with new features, weapons, and stages.
Why it's different: 'Modern Warfare 2' features the most ambitious, hot-button plot in a shooter, ever. Early in the game, you play a CIA agent, posing as a terrorist, who assists in the massacre of an airport terminal full of civilians. Leaked footage of the non-interactive scene caused such a stir that Infinity Ward decided to give players the option of skipping it entirely.
Facebook Groups Hacked by Protesters
Being the top social networking site also means that Facebook is a primo target for hackers, as we've seen time and time again. For the first time, though, a spate of Facebook hacks have come from hijackers claiming they did it for educational purposes. Earlier this week, a group of disgruntled Facebook users created fictional accounts and took advantage of a loophole that allows any member of a small group without an administrator to take control of it. The hackers appropriated over 280 groups in that way, renaming each of them 'Control Your Info.' According to CNN, once the band took over a group, they would post on its Wall a message that read, "Think about the safety in your social media life to the same extent you do in your real life."
The 'Control Your Info' pranksters promised to restore the groups' names and to leave them by the end of next week. But Facebook went ahead and did it for them. The site's administrators also deleted several of the hackers' accounts. "In the rare instances when we find that a group has been changed inappropriately, we will disable the group, which is the action we plan for these groups," said Facebook, as reported by MSNBC.
Think the stunt is refreshing? Tell that to the affected groups. After all, one user's prank is another's headache. [From:CNN, MSNBC, and Control Your Info]
'Street Fighter' Tattoo Takes 'Chic' Out of Geek Chic, Maybe 'Geek,' Too
For 'Street Fighter' newbies, the Shoryuken, or 'Dragon Punch,' is an easily executed trademark move used by two characters in the game. To pull it off, all you need to do is hit forward, down, down-forward, and then tap the punch button on the controller. But if you look closely, that's not exactly the directions this unfortunate fellow got on his forearm.
Call us crazy, but we predict a trip to the dermatologist in the near future. [From: Geekologie]
Texting Booming: Up 80-Percent Over Past Year
Like it or not, it's pretty routine these days for teens to text in class, for AARP members to playfully sext each other, and even for narcissistic fugitives to MMS better mugshots of themselves to the cops. Yep, texting is a wonderful, sometimes dangerous, thing -- leapfrogging at a pace that even analysts couldn't have predicted a year or two ago.According to The New York Times, texting spiked 80-percent from June 2008 to June 2009. Apparently, the reason has less to do with the number of texting-enabled phones (only a 7.3-percent increase), and more to do with those popular "bucket plans" -- monthly services that give users hundreds, thousands, or unlimited texts per month. We guess not having to worry about being charged for every text message encourages cell phone users to communicate more freely -- way more freely.
Xbox Live Blocks Kids Under 18 From Facebook and Twitter Apps
Microsoft has blocked kids under 18 from accessing the popular social networking apps, though Facebook lets kids as young as 13 open accounts, and Twitter currently has no age restriction rule. Why? "Parents aren't able to use Family Settings to customize which applications their children can access," wrote Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry Hryb on his blog. "To offer an age-appropriate environment for everyone, we decided to turn these applications off for [Xbox Live] Gold members under the age of 18."
Hryb promises a solution is on the way: a future Dashboard update with proper parental controls. When that rolls out, teens will be able to Facebook and Twitter as much as they want, just so long as their parents approve. But for now, they'll have to log in the old-fashioned way: on their computer. [From: CNET and Major Nelson]
Wanted Thief Texts Mugshot to Local Paper, Old Pic Too Ugly
Fugitives, take note. If you're disgruntled over that unflattering mugshot, follow Matthew Maynard's lead and send in one of your own.
Last Monday, the 23-year-old Welshman took cheekiness to the next level by texting The Evening Post a shot of himself, posing in front of a police van and dressed in matching neon yellow trousers. Maynard, wanted in conjunction with a burglary in Swansea, South ...Gift Guide: Tag Heuer Meridiist Automobili Phone
Tag Heuer Meridiist Automobili Phone (Style-o-Phile, Cost No Object)
Thinking of springing for the veritable super car of cell phones? Lamborghini has saved you the trouble of searching high and low by releasing a phone of its own. Housed in black titanium and hand-brushed stainless steel, the Tag Heuer Meridiist Automobili Lamborghini (price TBD) was inspired by the Murcielago LP640, from ...Gift Guide: The Vision One Computer Workstation
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There are desks, and then there's the V1 ($1,700 starting price), an uncompromising workstation aimed squarely at appeasing the ergonomic needs of the seasoned PC gamer. The standard and corner-room configurations come in 35 colors like solid blue, metallic silver, and "rainbo" -- yep, you read right -- with finishes that include racing ...Facebook Hit 'Bejeweled Blitz' Goes Mobile With iPhone App
Fans of the Facebook game 'Bejeweled Blitz' will be able to hone their gem-matching skills on the move when the free 'Bejeweled 2' iPhone add-on hits the App Store next week.
As with previous 'Bejeweled' games, the goal is to swap gems vertically and horizontally to match three or more. (A satisfying cacophony of explosions concludes the round if you've done your job.) But this streamlined ...Gift Guide: 'Batman: Arkham Asylum Collector's Edition'
'Batman: Arkham Asylum Collector's Edition' (Gamer, Under $100)
When we say 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' ($89.99 for Collector's Edition, $49 standard edition, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC) is the best superhero game of all time, we mean it. Because that's what Rocksteady Studios has achieved -- a gorgeous, adult action adventure that does the Dark Knight justice. Taking place over one evening, ...
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