I thought that the first fatality to emerge from the console launches would be:
a. Someone dropping a big fat and heavy PS3 on their friend’s head while crossing the living room
b. Death by Wiimote: Airborne Wiimotes from the sweaty palms of excited players felling family members over the Christmas period.
The truth is even more bizarre though. A competition at a local US radio station to win a Wii ended in the tragic death of one contestant. In a contest called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii" [cute] contestants were invited down to the station to drink as much water as possible without taking a whiz.
For 28-year old Jennifer Strange, it proved too much. After competing alongside almost 20 others by drinking 8oz bottles of water every 15 minutes, she left the competition and later rang in sick to work complaining of ‘terrible pain’.
She was found dead later that day and the official report concluded that her death was consistent with water intoxication.-Martin Lynch
If snakes tend to make your stomach flip, your sphincter tighten and your skin crawl, do not watch this video.
For the rest of you, including me, press play now. This is not new to the Web but it is to me [thanks bro] – so don’t bother flaming me. This is just about the coolest robotic snake I have seen in action and, the fact that it is also capable of swimming, makes it even more so. This is so much better than the OmniTread.
The ACM-R5 comes from Japan [surprise, surprise], sports a small camera, lights and is powered by a lithium-ion battery that will allow it to swim menacingly for up to 30 minutes. Just look at how smooth the swimming action and you can see the possibilities for carnage and terror down at your local pool.
The audio is Japanese but you’ll get the gist.-Martin Lynch
The Apple iPhone is going to dent your bank account a bit more than expected. The 4GB model will come in at a shade under £600 while the 8GB could be as much as £660 according to some early, pre-order prices on Amazon Germany [thanks Jan]. This compares to approximately £255 and £306 in the US.
When you’re finished choking you might also want to consider some of the other things that are taking the shine of the latest ‘hot’ mobile phone. Most of these are confirmed, while others fall into the ‘maybe’ category.
- The iPhone will be 3G when it arrives in Europe but it will not arrive for a year – not the end of 2007 as expected.
- It will be a closed device and will only run software released by Apple.
- It will use Apple’s DRM software FairPlay which, ironically, no one thinks is fair, at all. This will help tie people into bought music from iTunes, unless they opt to play DRM-free MP3s.
- Apple could win the right to use the iPhone name in Europe, thanks to a loophole says Outlaw.com.
“Trade mark specialist Lee Curtis of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, has found a legal loophole, though, which could strip Cisco of its European rights. He told technology law podcast OUT-LAW Radio that in Europe a person can lodge a revocation application against a trade mark registration if the trade mark has not been used for the past five years.” Read more about that here.
It seems that even after its arrival, the coverage of everything iPhone will be intense - I’ll keep you updated on the main stuff.
That said, less than a week on from its big launch, is the iPhone losing some of its appeal?-Martin Lynch
To stop the international copyright laws that have been plaguing The Pirate Bay, they are looking to purchase the micronation of Sealand. This nation is really just a British naval platform in the North Sea. Donating to the cause will guarantee you citizenship at Sealand.
The "island" of Sealand, seven miles off the coast of southern England, was settled in 1967 by an English major, Paddy Roy Bates. Bates proclaimed Sealand a state, issuing passports and gold and silver Sealand dollars and declaring himself Prince Roy.
Spanish appraisers valued the estate at £504 million which is nearly $1 billion. Prince Michael (son of Roy) told the London Times that it is hard to actually gauge how much this island will cost. If TPB cannot raise enough money for Sealand they plan to continue their search to buy another small island and declare it a nation. All I have to say: Awesome! I'll donate. –Travis Hudson
I thought that the first fatality to emerge from the console launches would be: 
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
