Gizmodo: ban

Potential Fix Available For Banned Xbox 360 Users

Rosa Golijan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:52:05 EST

The millions of Xbox Live players who were banned because of their modded Xbox 360 consoles may get a second chance with some firmware workarounds. Beware though, it's a complicated process.

First you'll need to get iXtreme LT, which'll attempt to return your console to a playable state. The catch is that you need to know your CPU code and that the instructions rely on a lot of different (free) tools.

Has anyone used this or another workaround to get their Xbox playing again? [DailyTech via Crunchgear]

Now Is a Bad Time to Buy a Used Xbox 360

Jason Chen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:27:32 EST

You know those Xboxes that were banned last week because they were modified to play pirated games? They're being dumped onto eBay and Craigslist by their owners, and they won't all tell you that those consoles are banned from Live.

So our recommendation is that if you really can't spare the money to buy a new Xbox—which you should really do, since the failure rate still isn't that low—is to make sure you ask the seller whether or not it's been banned from Live. If you're buying it in person, off of Craigslist, make sure you have them plug it in and show you that it can. If you're buying it on eBay, well, you'll just have to take their word. Just be careful, because Microsoft has no pity on you for buying a used Xbox that's been banned. [PCWorld]

Official Microsoft Policy: If You a Buy a Used Xbox 360 That's Banned From Xbox Live, You're Just Screwed

matt buchanan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:50:05 EST

Major Nelson, updating us on a periodic Xbox Live purge—banhammering cheaters, pirates and other folks of ill-repute, though not 12-year-olds—reminds us of Microsoft's official policy that if you buy a used Xbox 360 that's been banned, you're screwed.

The crux of the matter is that the warranty on an Xbox 360 "is not transferable," so if you buy a used console "that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox LIVE." So if you buy a used Xbox 360, make sure it's from a less-than-shady party—and if you buy from a used games shop, make 'em connect it to Xbox Live so you know you're getting something that works. [Major Nelson]

Vizio Import Ban Overturned, Free To Ship TVs To US

Sean Fallon — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:40:00 EDT

US customs has cleared Vizio in an ongoing patent dispute with Funai, meaning that they will be allowed to freely ship their HDTVs into the US once more.

In all likelihood, Funai will appeal the ruling—but outside of a courtroom miracle, this should effectively bring the situation to a close. The reality is that patent infringement cases like this pop up from time to time, and victory seems rare. [Vizio via Electronista]

Attention Apple Store Web Freeloaders: Facebook is Now Banned

John Mahoney — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST

To all who've parked at a shiny Mac Pro and Cinema Display to lend some Apple retail magic to your 25 Things chain letter: Facebook has been banned from the Apple Store's networks worldwide. UPDATED

Myspace was first to be banished back in 2007 (so 2007!), and now Facebook has met a similar fate. Tinycomb has quoted a Genius:

"Apple Stores have become a regular Internet Cafe, so placing the most popular time-killer [Facebook] of them all on the banned-list will certainly help everyone get a chance to test out the computers."

But Apple, making sure your machines meet all of my liveblogging-my-life-via-Facebook needs is my single most important in-store test!! [Tinycomb, Photo: Giona/flickr]

Update: Fortune's Mac blogger says the ban is on a store-by-store basis; many have indeed banned, but it's not Apple's policy as a whole.

Schwarzenegger Terminates Texting While Driving in California

Sean Fallon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:20:00 EDT

California is joining seven other states and Washington DC by imposing a full-on ban of text messaging while driving. The bill signed by the Governator himself imposes a $20 fine for the first offense and $50 for repeat offenders starting next year. Kind of a slap on the wrist if you ask me—but that is more than 43 other states in this country are doing. [LA Times via CrunchGear]

Congress Takes First Steps in Banning In-Flight Calling Permanently

Jason Chen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EDT

Like a gaggle of schoolgirls, Congress traded stories about how they too were annoyed by people using their phones before and after takeoff on flights. Well, I never! One House member relayed the story of how his delicate sensibilities were stomped all over by some woman who talked about her sex life on the phone, shortly to be one-upped by another congressman saying that his wife overheard someone receiving a "Dear John" call before takeoff. Good sir! After the jab-fest portion of this sleepover was concluded, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved, via voice vote, a bill that would make the current FCC ban on in-flight calling permanent. And then one of their dads took them out for ice cream. Best night ever. [Yahoo]

Nintendo's Wii Classic Controller and GameCube GamePad Getting a Temporary Ban on Sales

Jason Chen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EDT

As a result of Nintendo's loss in court to a Texas-based company called Anascape, the judge ruled that all sales of the Wii Classic Controller and the GameCube controller need to be temporarily halted until funds can be placed into an escrow account. What's the impact on you, Joe or Dan Consumer? Starting today, July 23, all sales of those controllers AND GameCube systems will be placed on hold, meaning that you should really try and find a place to buy these accessories now if you need them soon. On the bright side, Nintendo's Nunchuck controller isn't affected by this ruling about analog sticks, so you're safe if you just want to play Wii games. [1up via Kotaku]

Australia to Ban All Plasmas

blongo3 — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:00:08 EDT

And it looks like it just might happen, which would spell bad news for the gadget gurus down under. ABC Australia claims that If a revised Australian energy rating guide gets passed, then all current plasma televisions would be banned from sale by 2011. That's right, all plasmas and even many power-hungry LCDs would be taken off store shelves due to their high energy consumption. But listen to this, it gets worse.

Tim O'Keefe, Australia's Digital Suppliers Industry Forum coordinator, believes that due to the country's/continent's small purchasing power, the energy requirements imposed will not be met by TV manufacturers. Well, here's to hoping that the manufacturers hear the energy-conscious cry of Australia, and produce some more energy-efficient TVs.[ABC via The Raw Feed]

iPods Banned by Schools in an Attempt to Stop Exam Cheating

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:45:12 EDT

Teachers, eh? First they came to praise the iPod, then they came to bury it. A spate of incidents involving iPods in class and exam rooms has led to a ban on digital media players in some schools. A high school in Idaho has been one of the first establishments to ban MP3 players after teachers overheard some of the kids talking about downloading formulae and other crib material onto the players. "It doesn't take long to get out of the loop with teenagers," said Aaron Maybon, principal of Mountain View High School. "They come up with new and creative ways to cheat pretty fast."

Unlike the students of Duke University of North Carolina, it seems. Three years ago it handed out iPods to its undergrads in an attempt to enhance the learning process. And have they seen an increase in cheating? No, according to Tim Dodd, exec director of The Center for Academic Integrity at Duke, who claims it is beneath his students to stoop to that level, and that such incidents have dropped over the past decade. So what's the moral of the story? You can trust an undergrad, but not a high schooler, it seems. – Ad Dugdale

Some schools ban iPods to stop cheating [Fox News]

Driving While Texting May Be Illegal in Oregon, Washington

Jason Chen — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:00:56 EDT

Lawmakers in Oregon and Washington are getting set to push a bill that will make texting (sending SMS messages) while driving illegal. It's an extension of laws against talking on cellphones in the car, but this activity is possibly more deadly because your eyes are off the road.

Despite not banning things like eating in the car, fiddling with the dial in the car, or pulling the old "stop short" maneuver, banning texting could actually do something. Both as a deterrent or as a punishment, this may bring down the cases of people texting in cars. Just as long as they don't ban playing with your junk while driving, we're pretty okay with this. – Jason Chen

Legislators Aim At a New Misdeed On the Road: DWT [WSJ via News.com]

Wrist PDA Gives You the Magic Touch

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:00:21 EST

I've never been a big fan of wearable tech and the mere thought of strapping a PDA this big onto my wrist ain't helping, but fortunately this PDA comes with a twist. It creates a body area network (BAN) that lets you communicate with other peripherals by touching them. So for example, you could print documents from your PDA by touching a compatible printer or transfer files from your PDA by touching a computer. The concept is still in development, but seems promising (as long as they don't make you look like an android in the process).

Click though for some close up shots.

– Louis Ramirez
Transmit Data Through Human Body [via AVING.net]

Apple Showtime: One More Post

Brian Lam — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 22:57:14 EDT

Two things, I promised we'd revisit yesterday's best guesses at what Steve Jobs would announce today. We were right!
Kinda. The lowdown, after the jump.

Oh ya, the second thing: I'm totally over...this. No more Apple news for at least 12-hours during this ban. If I have to post anymore Mac news, I'll surely vomit into my overheating Macbook's discolored keyboard. That is all.–Brian Lam

All Apple Showtime Posts [Gizmodo]

Movie Downloads, 99% percent chance of iTunes hard-launching full-length feature films.
We win, even if this was a no-brainer.

Video Airport Express: 75% chance.
Kind of.

True Video iPod: 50%
Burned!

iPhone: 25%
Burned!

Macbook Pro with Core 2 Duo: 25% tomorrow, 80% sometime this month
Burned...but September isn't over, yet.

Korean Air Bans Dell and Apple Laptops

Jason Chen — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:00:35 EDT

Joining Qantas, Korean Air is banning both Apple and Dell laptops on all its flights. The ban affects all Dells, but only iBooks and Powerbooks, not MacBooks and MacBook Pros. The good news is, if passengers take out the battery and place them into checked luggage, Korean Air says everything's hunky dory.

The other Korean carrier, Asiana Airlines, says both laptop brands are still alright on their flights. So keep an eye out if you're flying Korean Air sometime in the next few weeks. – Jason Chen

Korean Air Bans Apple, Dell Computers on Board [The Korea Times via Apple Insider]

Cambodia Bans 3G Phones, Blames Porn

Travis Hudson — Fri, 26 May 2006 13:22:20 EDT

What do you do when you're the Prime Minister of an entire country and your wife looks at porn? Make the entire country pay for it! Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife and friends "unexpectedly" received pornography on their 3G mobile phones. Sen got word of this and contacted the Minister of Telecommunication to halt the use of 3G mobile phones entirely.

There are a couple of problems with this. In Cambodia, very few people can afford 3G phones and service to begin with. And secondly, when was porn ever a bad thing? – Travis Hudson

3G phones banned in anti-porn drive [Reuters]

Samsung Bans SCH-B570 From Internal Use

Jason Chen — Thu, 25 May 2006 16:30:56 EDT

Even though Samsung made the 8GB phone, they're not allowing them inside their premises. Reason: data theft.

"Even though we made it, SCH -B570 with 8GB HDD is not allowed within the company," said Ki-Tae Lee, Samsung Electronics' Telecommunications Network CEO. During the Wireless Broadband Forum in Seoul, President Lee explained the strict prohibition by saying, "8GB storage capacity is more than enough to steal all confidential data about our company."

Many companies are disallowing MP3 players, cellphones and other personal devices in their buildings for the same reason. It's terribly easy to plug in a device and siphon off all the IP (intellectual property) owned by the company.

We're a little more relaxed here at Giz HQ, though. Even a 60GB iPod wouldn't be enough to suck out all the moldy old pictures of us in a hot tub. – Jason Chen

Samsung Bans its 8GB Phone in the Company, says CEO [Telecoms Korea] Thanks, Randy!

UK Reconsiders iTrip Ban

Travis Hudson — Wed, 24 May 2006 14:55:08 EDT

Well slap me around and call me Jenkins. It seems the great United Kingdom is reconsidering the ban that is placed upon the iTrip. For those unfamiliar, the iTrip is a low power FM transmitting iPod accessory made by Griffin. Get the full scoop after the jump.

The iTrip was banned because it violated the Wireless Telegraphy Act from 1949. Yes, the greatness of the iTrip is hindered by a 57 year old act. The act forbids the installation or use of radio equipment in the UK unless the Secretary of State granted a license. Granted permission for the iTrip was denied.

While there are still means to get an iTrip into the UK—unlike Iceland and Austria who have stopped shipments at the bonder entirely—there is still that pesky law that could cause problems if one were found to be using the iTrip.

Ofcom has said that they will be reconsidering the ban on the iTrip. Clayton Hirst, Ofcom rep, said that the organization is "working with other European administrations to develop a common set of standards to allow some low-power devices to be sold and used in the UK." But the devices are going to be forced to meet strict technical standard to minimize interference to other radio users.

Like any legal matter, this reconsideration will likely take a while, but that is okay. This is just a baby step to opening up the airwaves for more modern technology.

iTrip Ban Reconsidered [Trusted Reviews]

More Profs Ban Laptops in Class

Travis Hudson — Wed, 03 May 2006 16:48:24 EDT

Intern Travis here. As an avid classroom laptop user at my humble university I am intrigued by the latest news of professors banning laptops in the classroom. Some professors supporting the ban include June Entman at the University of Memphis and Charles Mooney at the University of Pennsylvania—Mooney has had a ban on laptops going on two years.

What's to blame? Poker, of course. Well, poker along with other sorts of attention-distracting activities such as surfing, IM'ing or even—ahem—blogging. Entman said that laptops in the classroom were turning students into stenographers and inhibiting classroom discussion. Her students filed a complaint that was quickly dismissed.

I kind of agree with Entman. With universities across the nation getting wireless access everywhere, these distractions could definitely be a problem in some of the more boring...sorry, gotta jet—my geology professor is yelling at me.

More Professors Ban Laptops in Class [Yahoo! News]