I found him on Kotaku as part of what appears to be a promo shot for some Call of Duty title on the Wii. And I had to check the photo a few times through the morning, just to assure some nagging part of my brain that even though I've written for Kotaku and been behind the scenes with Activision, no, I've never posed for an Activision photo shoot.

Even now I'm just beginning to be convinced, and only due to my diligent study.

He has my hair (both the curly mop on my head and the Ben Affleck from Chasing Amy wannabe thing on my face), but there's something almost imperceptibly off. He has a stronger jaw that drives his visage to appear confident, fierce even. While you can see me on the right, tentatively trying Wii Music for the first time, you see other world me, confident me, attacking COD like I'm going to kill the TV.

Would this oddworld me win in a bar fight, a round of Wii Sports, or an IQ test? Would my wife find him attractive? None of these possibilities are all that fun to contemplate.

In the digital realm, you become accustomed to copies. Be it Bittorented MP3s or your Mona Lisa desktop wallpaper, a copy of almost anything is accessible in moments that's indistinguishable from the real thing. Seeing a copy of yourself doesn't feel nearly as convenient. It's startling, and it calls to question, just how original am I after all? Just how "me" is my me?

I also don't own red shoes, though after seeing this photo, that's a situation that I clearly must remedy.

As you saw in the demo video, Pastebud works via two Javascript bookmarklets that you save to your Safari browser (and edit slightly). The COPY bookmark translates whatever page you're currently looking at into a text-only version, where you can highlight your desired text. This can then be moved directly to an email, or saved to your virtual clipboard (stored on Pastebud's servers, but anonymously and only for five minutes, they claim).

Pasting text back into another web form via the PASTE bookmarklet is easy—after tapping it, a green box labeled PASTE HERE is overlaid onto any open form field. Tapping that drops in your clipboard's contents, preserving any HTML that was there if the form supports it.

But, of course, there are some drawbacks. While pasting to and from different Safari windows and emails covers a lot of one's copying and pasting needs, it's not anywhere close to the convenience a system-wide solution would bring. You still can't paste the URL to the cute kitten photo you're looking at onto your Wall via the Facebook app, for instance. For things like this, being able to access Safari's URL bar would be nice, since natively, you can only export your current URL via Mail.

Also, the free version inserts a small one-line ad for Pastebud; $5 turns this off, and also eliminates the popup that appears whenever you paste. $5 isn't too bad though, for something that's ultimately pretty convenient. If you're betting on Apple's year-plus delay on coming up with a copy and paste solution carrying on, it's not a bad investment. Check out Lifehacker as well for more impressions: [Pastebud, Lifehacker]

Unlike other approaches, it works with the two apps that matter most, Mail and Safari, and gets around Apple's onerous App Store terms through a clever combination of javascript bookmarks and web services.

In fact, it doesn't require anything to be installed, so it avoids the App Store altogether. As you can see in the video, Pastebud—as the service is called—works using two bookmarks in Safari. One prepares and loads the page you are viewing, ready to select text at the touch of a finger. From there, you can copy any text you want and create a new mail message with that text in it. In addition to that, you will be able to copy and paste in the text field of a different web page.

While this is not full copy and paste capabilities, I, for one, welcome the ability do exactly this, which is basically what I want to do 95% of the time. According to Jed Schmidt, creator of Pastebud, they have been testing it for about a week and they are now "putting the finishing touches on the web site before launch".

Called the Barbie P520, this clamshell phone is in no way sponsored by Mattel. Undaunted by its lack of authenticity though, the box advertises with the doll's silhouette, the logo, and even a tag line declaring it the “Barbie Music Phone.” It's not too bad for a fake phone spec-wise, packing a 1.3MP camera, up to 2GB of expandable memory, two sim cards, MP3 and MP4 support and Bluetooth into a 60 x 63 x 21mm frame.

AND it's got a touchscreen. The fake Barbie Music Phone, at $113, costs about $30 more than Mattel's MP3 player but, considering what it comes with, it's a much better deal for your hipless-big-boobied-doll-loving nieces. [Shanzhaiji]

By the looks of it, it works fairly well, using the magnifying glass tool to drag out a selection, although it looks like it's difficult to place the cursor correctly since you're unable to drag through a line of text without making a selection.

Proximi is planning on releasing its own proof-of-concept videos which further illustrate how their method could be used system-wide (how they will do that under the developer NDA is unkown). But first, the truly interesting question is whether MagicPad will get the stamp of approval from Apple and make it out to the App Store. They've said they don't care, but whether they let a 3rd party app tease what's in such high demand will be the true test. It looks like it's using an unorthodox email system (CAPTCHA??) to email notes as well, which probably lessens its chances. [Apple iPhone Apps]

Yves Behar, designer of OLPC and Jawbone, and founder of fuseproject design studio in SF
"When a company comes out with an innovative, landmark gadget, many companies incorporate those design features into their own gadgets over time. But at what point does inspiration turn into bootlegging or IP theft?

The last few months, I've experienced a few straight rip-offs of the Jawbone earpiece. Not just copying the design, but copying the language, the packaging, the way we present ourselves. I really don't see it as a form of flattery, I see it as a complete lack of originality. When the #1 in the industry is copying #10, that means something is really lacking in #1. It's unable to establish its own vision and direction. People forget there are 1,000 different ways to deliver, 1,000 different ways to create great design. I'm not sure what there is to be done besides continuing to move forward."

Karen Marie Kitterman, intellectual property lawyer with Fenwick & West LLP, Based in China
"Bootlegging is not a legal term, but there are several legal theories under which innovative companies can stop copycats.

Design patents protect the ornamental design of an object [and] are granted only if the design is novel and not obvious. The patent owner can stop the copycats only if the similarities and differences between the two products create an overall similarity that would deceive the ordinary observer. Often if a copycat copies only enough to call the original to mind, but not enough to confuse consumers that the new product is the real McCoy, then the copycat may pass under the legal nets of design patent and trade dress infringement (assuming the innovative company has design patent and trade dress rights). Copyright protection usually does not cover the design features of products because they usually are not separable from the product itself. If the copycat, however, uses the actual name or logos of the original company, then it can likely be stopped for trademark infringement.

Please note also that the volume of counterfeits, especially out of China, is so large that, even when innovative companies have the legal rights to stop counterfeits, they cannot always stop all of them."

Ravi Chhatpar, Strategy Director for Frog Design, based in Shanghai
"We heard stories of teenagers in third-tier cities in China "adapting" the Nike ID customized shoe concept by acquiring fake Nike shoes, customizing them in Nike ID style with locally created design elements with local fabrics, color patterns from local schools, and selling them. Contrast this to the fake markets in Shanghai and other first-tier cities that sell pure rip-offs of Nike ID shoes. Many at our forum agreed that the former, while in the end involving infringement of Nike's IP and illegal sales of bootleg Nike shoes, could be condoned as it was highly imaginative and locally improvisational in a market that is so unsophisticated. It's reflective of newfound creativity. Meanwhile the latter is clearly an example of ripping off for profit.

Similarly, many innovative consumer electronics are copied (some poorly and/or hilariously) in China (e.g., iPhone knock-offs). It's easy for Westerners to point at these copies as examples of blatant IP infringement, which they are. But some will argue that these cheap knockoffs are bringing high quality design (or more accurately, an attempt at design) to a population that could never afford a real iPhone, thereby building interest in designed products to a market that is currently unsophisticated about it. People in first-tier cities can afford to buy real iPhones and do so. But those in second-tier cities can't, but are intrigued by the iPhone's buzz and buy knock-offs. This is clear bootlegging, but does it serve a larger "good"?

In the end, the main theme that emerged relates to the importance of context. Does the need to build design sensitivity and sophistication in a market that does not yet appreciate it permit what wouldn't be tolerated in more developed markets?"

*Special thanks to Sara Munday from Frog for the story idea.

"A CLONE THAT IS TRULY WORTHY TO BE CALLED AN EXACT REPLICA! SAME DIMENSION, MARKINGS, FEEL .... OVER ALL CLOSEST TO THE REAL N95 BLACK 8 GIG."

Looks like a very professional piece of tech-copying, doesn't it? Detailed right down to the Nokia logo splashed on the front. Those naughty Chinese cloner "gods" have even packaged the phone up with a "Nokia" charger, handsfree earpiece, a 256MB microSD card and a manual. An actual manual. Plus a one-year warranty! Talk about laugh-out-loud.

It's available in the Philippines, apparently, for just $161. [RedFerret]

[iCopy via iPhone Atlas via Wired]

Let me go one step further and remind you that you can copy a key for like two bucks at the hardware store, and that combining scissors, a key, and the edge of a shiv of aluminum can, this tutorial might as well be titled "How to lose a finger." Also, entering someone's home with a key copy is probably still considered unlawful entry, regardless of the lack of shattered door frame. Having said that, I will try this later and let you know how it goes. [Instructables]