I like everything about this video. That's how I imagine the interaction with the Apple Tablet would be: Smooth and light. I hope the styling of the final tablet ends being more than an overgrown iPhone, however. Something with no framing, with the screen fully flushed to the edges, would work mighty fine, thank you very much. [No Where Else]

Authorities haven't said what the charges will be, exactly, but here's hoping whatever they are they involve this asshat paying back every cent he owes the authorities after they chased down that now infamous—and empty—Mylar balloon over Colorado. At least.

Lest you doubt this is actually going to happen, know that police searched the Heene home early Sunday morning. They also scheduled a 1 p.m. EST press conference, where they will update us all on what's going down. "We anticipate criminal charges will be filed sometime in the near future," said Sheriff Jim Alderden in an interview with CNN this morning.

You wanted publicity, Richard? You got it.

Update: Reader John's supplied us with the 911 call from that fateful day, if that's your thing. [CNN, Gawker]

Apple's rumored multi-touch tablet device demos Towers of War, a new Tower Defense game by Conniption Entertainment.

No excuse. No caveat. No "hahahaha we are so funny note." Just that.

So yes, let's all play a tower defense game, Conniption Entertainment. Here is how: You dress up as a tower and you defend yourself against me and the readers hitting you on the head and ribs using the

[Thanks MarkGurman.com]

The damage is so extensive it looks as though the iPhone was dropped by an astronaut, survived re-entry and smashed into the car like a meteor. Needless to say, I am immediately inclined to drop this in the "phony" file—although I applaud the over-the-top imagery. [iphonenieuws via iphoneclub/ Thanks Xeno!]

Here's the creator's explanation, in his own (poorly written) words. It was all just a prank, for some unknown reason!

I am sorry if you beleived it. It was a really bad attempt. You all are smart people. I never planned on it getting this big. But it did. (Come one, I know the Google logo. I am actually a graphic designer, I just wanted to see reactions if it was a crappy back.)

Oh, right, I also DO know CSS and HTML. Just clarifying that. I never was going to let this go on longer than 12 hours.

We're mostly just disappointed, since a more professional mockup would've been so much harder to disprove. Couldn't he have waited one day and gotten the damn Google colors right? [Faker's Blog via PC Mag]

According to a 9to5 reader, this perfect rendering, photoshop, or whatever the hell it is came inside a Russian magazine. My knowledge of Russian doesn't go beyond "hey, wanna dance?", "cheers," and "you have beautiful blue eyes, let's go back to mine" so I don't have a clue about what this page is saying. If you speak the language of Dostoyevsky, drop me a line because I want to know.

Whatever they claim it is, I don't care. It just looks too good and perfect to be true—which is why I want it to be real: It's exactly as I can imagine it will be. And with the perfect, dream technical specs to boot:

• 10.4" WXGA display.
• 1280 x 768 pixel with LED backlighting.
• NVIDIA MCP79
• Intel Atom Z740 1.83GHz with 1MB L2 cache.
• 2GB DDR3-800.
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
• 64GB Solid State Drive.
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
• 1 x USB 2.0
• 1 x Mini Display Port
• Battery Li-Ion 5100mA

Update: Added comparison shot with a Mac Book Air

According to them, it will come sometime in 2009 for $899. You know, delivered to your door by ten flying Russian mail order brides, all of them virgin. Or something like that. [9to5]

This "camera" mounts up on your ceiling and looks like it's taking video of any potential intruders. It goes so far as to have a motion detector that makes it swivel back and forth whenever somebody passes nearby. It doesn't, however, actually capture any video, so you'd better hope that just seeing a camera will be enough to deter any potential thieves. [Chinavasion via Technabob]

Most probably, these cellphones are real Android-based terminals, but they are certainly not the droids you were looking for, even while some say "HTC" on top. But then again, maybe the alleged spy shots we published the other day are not the real deal (although the styling on that G2 is in line with the current G1). [Phandroid]

A camera crew visited Yaroo headquarters to inquire into the strange resemblance between it's logo and that of Japan's most popular search engine (that's right... Yahoo! is Japan's most popular search engine).

But the company spokesman denied that theirs was an imitation. The spokesman explained that the name “Yaroo” was a play on the Japanese word “Yaru,” which means “do.” Since they'll do anything. Including copy stuff, presumably. Ya-boo. [Pink Tentacle]

Also, it could be the way the pic was taken, but the red color just doesn't seem right. Or maybe I'm starting to go color blind. Either way, it could be a case or a legit (RED) iPhone 3G. Or maybe it's just a nice, glossy paint job by someone who wishes there were a (RED) 3G out there in the wild.

Regardless, this kind of simple announcement is one we could easily expect to see Apple making at MacWorld this week.

Update: Thanks to Julio, we have a link to the source. It's a real product, but a fake (RED) iPhone. No surprises there. [Nowherelese]

Yesterday, a reader jumped on the tips line saying:

OMG! I FOUND THE NEW IPHONE NANO! CHECK IT OUT MAN! THIS IS THE REAL THING! I BOUGHT THE ORIGINAL IPHONE 3G FROM THEM! AND THAT WAS REAL! THIS HAS TO BE REAL! CAN'T YOU SEE IT?!?!?! OMG! ASDADGAFAAEFGASDGADFASDHHHHH!!!

I tried to put some sense into him: "Dude, do you think a chinese supplier would have an Apple phone before Apple themselves?" But he wouldn't have it: "COME ON! I KNOW IT'S REAL! IT HAS TO BE REAL! I BOUGHT THREE OF THEM FOR MY FRIENDS FROM MY HIGH SCHOOL IN TEXAS!!!" After a while, I was polite and said good night. It was Christmas Day after all.

It's not anymore. [China suppliers—Thanks JC—not Jason Chen—and good luck with those amazing iPhone nano 3G with optional Java games and 64 polymorphic tones!]

Update: Here's a second iPhone Nano shot someone sent to our tip line. How's that look to you?

Peter Serafinowicz, of the possibly acclaimed Peter Serafinowicz Show, has put together a couple videos in the style of Apple's stodgy online product demonstration videos, imagining two new products from the company. The iToilet, below, is relatively uninspired (it's funny because it's impossible, and something to do with bathrooms! Ha!) but the Mactini is kind of fantastic. Not to mention Serafinowicz's wonderfully convincing half-Jobs, half-generic-demo-guy character, who is only a wandering eye outside of fitting right into Apple's product tour rotation. UPDATE: It turns out that Serafinowsicz is partially responsible for the hilarious Look Around You series, so this sketch is no fluke. The vids are taken from his forthcoming Christmas special sketch show, which you can preview here. [Cult of Mac]

Think about it. The more all these people work in all those weird countries, the more clothes there will be, and the cheaper the manufacturing will result. That means increased profit margins for manufacturers, free entertainment for those workers/slaves/kids slaves no matter where they are, and exactly the same quality for your jeans, shirts, jackets, and sneakers, at the same price.

See? Everyone wins! [The Onion]

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]

I want to read the rest of these emails, badly:

• Yahoo! Answers Answer-Jim311 responded to: "Can Elves get Pregn
• Frosty The Snowman. Dude-Check it. I snapped a pic of this chick that I fu
• George W. Bush. Dear santa-Can I have a third term? I promise I'll b
• Ronald McDonald. I wish-I had your cred man. I can do more than sell
• Elfbang.com. Your subscription-We renewed your subscription to the hottest elf on elf action [Someone actually registered this domain name. Yes, I tried it.]
• Al Gore, me (7) Re: My Movie-Still haven't watched it yet? It affects you too, the polar ice c
• Digg. lnsaincain02 has sent you a shout on digg- Another D

In any case, I'm just glad that Santa escaped his imperial imprisonment. [Holy Taco via Walyou]

More fakemodos
• Apple Cancels All iPhone 3G Orders, Releases iBrick 3G
• Apple Introduces iPhone 3G Videoconferencing Kit, ZOMG!
• Indiana Jones' Theme Secret Lyrics Uncovered
• Apple Introduces Manila Case—The World's Thinnest Notebook Case

Several crashes of military aircraft can be attributed to knockoff chips, but more insidiously, internal military data might be at risk. Melissa E. Hathaway, a head of cybersecurity at the FBI, says, "Counterfeit products have been linked to the crash of mission-critical networks, and may also contain hidden 'back doors' enabling network security to be bypassed and sensitive data accessed [by hackers, thieves, and spies]." Robert P. Ernst, who investigates counterfeiting for the U.S. Navy, estimates that 15% of the spare or replacement microchips bought by the Pentagon are fake. Where do these parts actually come from?

Made in, as BusinessWeek colorfully puts it, the "Chinese hinterland," a lot of these components are made on the cheap and sold to the government for much less than name-brands can offer. To be fair, no evidence of terrifying espionage has been found; all of the problems are due to crappy chips failing to work at the worst times, which really should have been expected, since the military has been paying half the price for the same product.

But you can start to take off that tin foil hat, because steps are being taken. After the inquiries the military has decided to effect a rule requiring the source of all chips be ascertained before they place a bid. I'm satisfied, aren't you? [BusinessWeek]

There are actually open source versions of this I-Doser app (which they might have even taken a few assets from), so you can try it out before you sink some cash into this. Their shady looking site also has a disclaimer that says "I-Doser makes no medical, psychological, physical or otherwise, claims to the effectiveness of the I-Doser application, Simulation CDs, and MP3s," which leads us to believe that it's quite bogus and most likely does nothing. Don't you think that if you could get high from a SOUND, kids would have been all over this years ago? These kids sniff cat pee! [I-Doser via JPostvia T3]