Is saying “I play Modern Warfare 2 for the single-player” the new “I read Playboy for the articles”? It might as well be. But get this: I play Modern Warfare 2 for the single-player. I stink at multi-player, so why even bother? That said, I know that many of you bought the game merely to play the multi-player, and thus have no idea what the single-player’s story is about. Thank God for this video, then.

It’s a 60-second recap of the game’s single-player storyline, such as it is.

Red Dawn was more plausible, yes.

Part 5: On the Market and the Birth of Flexity, LLC

Now in stores, the PowerSquid easily lived up to my expectations. The next few months were heady, as Wal-Mart, Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond agreed to carry the product. Then it was a huge hit on television-shopping network QVC, where the PowerSquid became a regularly-featured item. Sales boomed and royalties flowed. Everyday there was a dose of good news. I was ecstatic.

Then we hit a bump in the road. UL contacted Power Sentry and said they had to retract approval for the PowerSquid! Someone had reviewed the file and decided that, in fact, it should have been tested as an extension cord because, well, it ended in cords. According to UL, we had to remove the switch and only have three outlets! I was outraged! Power Sentry was also furious and threatened UL with legal action, as the decision would cost them millions. Faced with a lawsuit, UL looked more closely at the situation and ultimately ruled in our favor. Disaster was averted, again.

In the clear and with sales of the original PowerSquid model booming, I began encouraging Power Sentry to develop a surge protector version of the product, but they said they weren’t ready to take the risk. A friend of mine, who had become a minor investor, suggested we start our own company to sell premium PowerSquid surge protectors that he would fund and Power Sentry would manufacture and warranty. Power Sentry agreed to our deal, saying they would give us a one-year lead in the market on PowerSquid surge protectors. We could have exclusive markets which they weren’t interested in, but we could not sell to their customers. We started a spin-off company called Flexity, LLC, to market our models, which were designed with a full range of features. They were premium units. They had six outlets instead of five. The flagship was called the Calamari Edition, which featured glowing plugs. It was super cool.

Flexity was humming. We developed brochures, packaging, a cool e-commerce site (PowerSquid.com), a tradeshow booth, and issued press releases. There was palpable excitement. We received our first samples and they looked great, but then we submitted to our friends at UL and, surprise, that’s where the trouble began again.
UL said they had written the specifications for the “new and unusual” PowerSquid as a five-armed beast, and there was no way to make it with six. I was incredulous. The electrons didn’t care! I thought the sole purpose of UL was to confirm a product was safe as designed, not to dictate design. Was it revenge for the earlier threat of legal action? Stuck at UL, Power Sentry said there was another lab we could use, MET Lab, which was also OSHA certified. We pushed on with MET. However, while waiting for MET, Power Sentry reconsidered giving us our one year of exclusive lead on surge protector PowerSquid sales, and decided to develop their own models of surge protectors, copying our design almost exactly, only with five cords. With only five cords, their product was sailing through UL. I was disappointed, but powerless because I had not gotten this piece of our agreement in writing.

Meanwhile, the 2006 CES in Las Vegas was approaching and we planned our launch. We were told by Power Sentry to expect to have MET Listed product by February, shortly after the CES Show. We applied for the CES Innovations Awards, the biggest award in the industry, as did Power Sentry. Results were announced the November prior to the show – and we won! In fact, we won three awards: Honorable Mention Audio Product, Honorable Mention Computer Accessory, and Best Innovation in Home Office Product. It was a HUGE victory for a little startup founded on a few thousand dollars! No one would have expected it. We were elated.

We showed up at the CES full of optimism due to our big win. Our reception was overwhelming. Press and buyers came by our booth in droves. We handed out PowerSquid like Halloween candy. It was exciting and exhausting. There was a People’s Choice Award, and we campaigned heavily. We had a blast, but there was one troubling issue. We had to tell the majority of the interested stores that we couldn’t sell to them due to our deal with Power Sentry. We hadn’t realized at how limiting that truly was going to be. We sent countless potential customers to their booth. Nevertheless, we still had tons of interest. Finally, on the last day of the show, it was announced the Flexity PowerSquid won the People’s Choice Award! Our little tiny startup claimed the biggest prize at the industry’s largest trade show! We thought our future and fortune were set.

The Ejector Plug Adapter also launched at the show, having finally received UL approval, in the Power Sentry booth. Unfortunately, it received little attention. People didn’t get it. However, it was picked up by both Walgreen’s and Target, where it then performed very poorly. After a short run, both stores discontinued the product and so did Power Sentry. Despite our earlier hopes for the product, we chalked it up as a failure. We are still trying to find the right partnership to make the Ejector Plug a success.
After the show, we began following up with the media and the buyers, but we still didn’t have product. Power Sentry said there were delays at MET with the testing and we wouldn’t have product until April, which also turned out to be wrong. Articles, and lots of them, started appearing in mainstream and niche publications. Sound and Vision, Playboy, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, and many, many others ran stories. People loved the PowerSquid. It was extremely exciting! We drew enormous traffic to our website, but had nothing to sell. We collected email addresses and told everyone that we’d get back to them soon. In the meantime, Power Sentry started selling their surge protector while we waited on the sidelines.

Finally we couldn’t wait any longer and placed an order without UL approval. It turned out that our customers didn’t care. Only the big box retailer would not sell without UL certification, and they were off limits to us anyways. We were finally in business by October 2006, but it was way too late. Early interest had died down, we were being called vaporware, and the media buzz had quieted. Plus, Power Sentry was already on the market with a cheaper model. We made some sales and the website was doing fairly well, but our huge expectations were falling short. Flexity struggled, but we kept our heads above water thanks to the royalties on Power Sentry’s sales. More stores kept adding the Power Sentry models and bloggers loved the PowerSquid. It was still a heady time, but tempered by our frustrations with Flexity.

Christopher Hawker, an inventor specializing in innovative consumer products, is founder of Trident Design, LLC in Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of “Inventor’s Mind: 10 Steps to Making Money From your Inventions”, a free e-book available at Invent-Shop.com. He will be hosting his first InventShop Inventor’s Workshop in October 2009 for serious inventors who want to learn his inventing system.

This is part 5 of a 6 part series. Read them all here.

Want a PowerSquid? Leave a comment below (including your email) and we’ll pick one commenter at random per day.

Question: What do you do with a 654,000 pound space station with no budget past 2015?

Let her crash and burn, which is just what the current plan is for the International Space Station. The short story here is that NASA will not have the budget to keep the huge space station in orbit. It seems like a shame to let the $100 billion ISS fail in such a glorious method. NASA doesn’t have the money and soon will not even have transportation with the Shuttle on the quick road to retirement.

There are of course folks in the government that want the ISS to survive a bit longer, but they can’t find the money. AIG executives apparently need a bonus so the space station needs to come down. Sorry, science and humanity, some playboy needs to make yacht payment. Sad.

So how’s the Sirius XM iPhone app treating you? I hear good things! (Remember: I don’t have an iPhone, and I never will.) But here’s something that probably should be brought up: the lack of Howard Stern. He’s not my cup of tea, and my loyalties lie elsewhere, as you know, but to deny his show’s importance to Sirius XM is silly. Anyway, Mr. Stern explained yesterday why his show is nowhere to be found on the iPhone app. Citing a “contractual rights thing,” Mr. Stern then said he hopes to be on the app “one day.” Hoo hoo.

And, really, who benefits by not having Stern on the app? Certainly not Sirius XM (even though the app has been downloaded like whoa without the show), which wouldn’t mind all those iPhone users out there buying a Sirius XM subscription. Same thing with Stern: you’d think that a radio broadcaster would want to reach as large an audience as possible—the iPhone helps there, right? Why wouldn’t you want to be a part of the future

(And what lazy reporter thought that naughty content would preclude Howard Stern from being included? Playboy Radio is on the app, as is The Virus, which includes Opie & Anthony and Ron & Fez, two shows that use naughty language and talk about “adult” things.)

In any event, there’s no time frame for when to expect Stern.

I wouldn’t worry about it.

Vudu’s HD catalog is officially the largest available from any service and even surpasses physical media. In the month of October Vudu added over 150 HD titles per week to reach this historical milestone. Their recently announced HDX service now has over 150 titles as well.

Today, they added 35 HDX titles and 398 HD titles, which we’ve listed after the jump in alphabetical order because we love you!

HD titles:

12 Angry Men
21 Hours at Munich
A Dry White Season
A Fistful of Dynamite
A Great Wall
A Hole in the Head
A Kiss Before Dying
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy
A Rumor of Angels
A Slipping Down Life
Adios Sabata
Alfie
Alien vs. Predator
Ambush Bay
American Ninja
Angel Unchained
Art School Confidential
Article 99
At First Sight
Avalanche
Avanti!
Baby Boom
Barfly
Behind Enemy Lines
Ben-Hur
Beverly Hills Cop 2
Beverly Hills Cop 3
Black Girl
Blade Runner (Director’s Cut)
Blue State
Body Heat
Border Cop [aka The Border]
Braveheart
Breaker! Breaker!
Brian’s Song
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bucktown
Bull Durham
Bulletproof Monk
Caveman
Child’s Play
China Doll
Cinderella Man
City of Industry
Clambake
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Director’s Cut)
Clue
Code of Silence
Coffy
Colors
Company Business
Confessions of an American Girl
Convoy
Cool Blue
Cooley High
Cops and Robbers
Count Yorga, Vampire
Courage Under Fire
CQ
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Crisscross
Crusoe
Curse of the Pink Panther
Cutter’s Way
Cyborg Soldier
Dance with Me, Henry
Dark Blue
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout
Day Watch [Dnevnoy Dozor]
Days of Thunder
Death Rides a Horse
Desperately Seeking Susan
Die Hard With a Vengeance
Die, Monster, Die!
Diggstown
Dirty Work
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Double Trouble
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
Easy Money
Electra Glide in Blue
Enter the Ninja
Erik the Viking
Escape from Alcatraz
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask
Exodus
F.I.S.T.
F/X
F/X 2
Fantastic Four
Farewell to the King
Fay Grim
Fiddler on the Roof
Fight Club
Flesh and Blood
Fluke
Follow That Dream
For Those Who Think Young
For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers
For Your Consideration
Force 10 from Navarone
Friday the 13th: Part 2
From Noon Till Three
Futureworld
Gattaca
Ghost Warrior
Ghoulies
Ghoulies 2
Grave of the Vampire
Gun the Man Down
Hang ‘em High
Happy Endings
Hard Promises
He Who Must Die
Hercules Against the Barbarians
High Tide
Hoodlum
Hoosiers
Hot Dog… The Movie
House of D
House of Games
How to Beat the High Cost of Living
How to Murder Your Wife
How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying
Huckleberry Finn
Hurricane Streets
I Escaped from Devil’s Island
I Love You, Don’t Touch Me!
I, Robot
Ice Age
Ice Age: The Meltdown
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
If Lucy Fell
In the Name of the King
Inherit the Wind
Inserts
Inspector Clouseau
Interiors
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Iphigenia
Irma La Douce
It Runs in the Family
Jason’s Lyric
Johnny Be Good
Khartoum
Kid Colter
Kid Galahad
King of Hearts
King of New York
Kingdom of Heaven
Kings of the Sun
L.A. Bounty
L.A. Streetfighters
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Last Tango in Paris
Lawman
Legend of the Lost
Lenny
Leviathan
Life Stinks
Little Man Tate
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Monsters
Livin’ Large!
Lone Wolf McQuade
Lupo
Mac and Me
Mad Max
Mademoiselle
Madhouse
Making Mr. Right
Man of the East
Man on Fire
Manhattan
Me, Myself and Irene
Memories of Me
Men of Honor
Mermaids
Midnight Cowboy
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Miss Julie
Mississippi Burning
Moby Dick
Moonlight and Valentino
Moulin Rouge
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Unrated)
Mr. Majestyk
Mr. Mom
Much Ado About Nothing
Murder at 1600
Music from Another Room
My American Cousin
My Beautiful Laundrette
Mystic Pizza
Napoleon
Navajo Joe
Nim’s Island
Nobody’s Fool
Number One
Octavia
Once Upon a Time in America
One, Two, Three
Osama
Pajama Party
Paper Lion
Parents
Personal Velocity
Phaedra
Phone Booth
Pit and the Pendulum
Planet of the Vampires
Platoon
Play Dirty
Poltergeist 2: The Other Side
Pootie Tang
Popi
Pork Chop Hill
Posse
Posse
Prisoner of the Mountains
Pumpkinhead
Pursuit
Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You
Queen of Hearts
Quigley Down Under
Radio Days
Rancho Deluxe
Raw Meat
Real Men
Rebel in Town
Red Dawn
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins
Reprise
Reptilicus
Return of Sabata
Return of the Magnificent Seven
Revolt at Fort Laramie
Revolution
Rich Kids
Road House
Robbers’ Roost
Robocop 2
Rolling Thunder
Romeo Is Bleeding
Running Scared
Sabata
Salt and Pepper
Scandalous
Scarecrows
Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy?
Scream and Scream Again
Semi-Tough
Shadows and Fog
Shanghai Surprise
Shutter
Silent Hill
Sleepover
Soapdish
Some Girls
Species 3
Species: The Awakening
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country
Stay Hungry
Storefront Hitchcock
Straight Out of Brooklyn
Street Kings
Super Troopers
Support Your Local Sheriff
Sweet Smell of Success
Swing Shift
Tales of Terror
Tank Girl
Teachers
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terror in a Texas Town
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
The Amityville Horror
The Baby-Sitters Club
The Barefoot Contessa
The Battle of El Alamein
The Bed Sitting Room
The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Model-T’s
The Chocolate War
The Conversation
The Couch Trip
The Counterfeiters
The Dark Half
The Day After Tomorrow
The Defiant Ones
The Delinquents
The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission
The Dogs of War
The Food of the Gods
The Foot Fist Way
The Gallant Hours
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Group
The Gunfight at Dodge City
The Hard Word
The Hawaiians
The Honey Pot
The Horror Show
The Hospital
The Hotel New Hampshire
The In Crowd
The Jewel of the Nile
The Job
The Juror
The King and Four Queens
The Knack, and How to Get It
The Last Man on Earth
The Long Goodbye
The Longest Day
The Lover
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven Ride!
The Maltese Falcon
The Masque of the Red Death
The Mighty Quinn
The Neanderthal Man
The Omen
The Organization
The Package
The Peacekillers
The People That Time Forgot
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Playboys
The Pope of Greenwich Village
The Presidio
The Pride and the Passion
The Punisher
The Purple Rose of Cairo
The Relentless Four
The Resurrected
The Return of a Man Called Horse
The Return of Dracula
The Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Pink Panther
The Revolt of the Slaves
The Right Stuff
The Rock
The Rookie
The Running Man
The Scalphunters
The Secret of NIMH
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
The Sentinel
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
The Thomas Crown Affair
The Train
The Virgin Suicides
The White Buffalo
The Wonderful Country
The Young Savages
Thelma and Louise
This World, Then the Fireworks
Thrashin’
Three Kings
Throw Momma From the Train
To Kill For
To Live and Die in L.A.
Topkapi
Trail of the Pink Panther
Transporter 2
Troll
UHF
Undertow
Undiscovered
Unforgettable
Unforgiven
Urban Cowboy
Valdez Is Coming
Welcome to Woop Woop
What Happens in Vegas (Unrated)
What’s New Pussycat?
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Windtalkers
Witness for the Prosecution
Wooly Boys
X-Men: The Last Stand
X2: X-Men United
Yellowbeard
Yentl
Young Billy Young
Youngblood
Yours, Mine and Ours

HDX titles:

Alien vs. Predator
Day Watch [Dnevnoy Dozor]
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Fight Club
Finding Amanda
Happy Endings
House of D
Ice Age
King of New York
Little Miss Sunshine
Men of Honor
Mission: Impossible 2
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Unrated)
Nim’s Island
Platoon
Shutter
Silent Hill
Speed
Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home
Street Kings
Super Troopers
The Day After Tomorrow
The Job
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Matrix Revolutions
The Punisher
The Rock
The Rookie
The Running Man
To Live and Die in L.A.
Top Gun
Transporter 2
Undiscovered
What Happens in Vegas (Unrated)
Wooly Boys

Vudu

We all knew that eventually Blu-ray would hit the home theater in a box market and while the Pioneer LX010BD isn’t the first, it seems well equipped. For £2000 ($3,137 USD) British AV snobs will be rock’n out to 5.1 audio sound out of dodecahedron compact speakers (it means 12-sided shape, playboy) that claim to produce omni-directional sound for a better surround experience. Plus, the system ships with a LCD touchscreen remote which should partially justify the systems stratospherically high price. To bad the Blu-ray player is only Profile 1.1 and therefore cannot enjoy any of BD-Live’s fun features ’cause otherwise, this is one nice HTIB.

What shocks me is the small scale of the operation. Their entire DVD division is being axed and it’s 55 jobs. This is Playboy we’re talking about here! And their yearly revenue is around $70-80 million. Why, I could buy and sell them 10 times over! Actually, no. But I’d like to. Interestingly, they’re focusing on Playboy fragrances. Who wants to smell like… whatever that is?
[via HardOCP]

Polk Audio plans on launching one of the first outdoor capable subwoofer and satellite speaker system at this years CEDIA Expo. Pics are not available yet, but what we do know is that the system will be comprised of new, Atrium series speakers, each with an outdoor theme. The Atrium Sat 30 speakers are designed like outdoor lighting fixture and sport a $150 price each. The down-firing subwoofer should look like a round, paintable, flat-top terra-cotta plant stand and also have the same $150 price. So if our math is right, a playboy can have a rock’n Polk Audio 5.1 system for $900. We’ll have more deets next week at CEDIA.

Wait, you’re still using ice cube trays? Your grandma uses ice cube trays. All those trays do is sit there, holding ice cubes, take’n up space. Time to get multitasking playboy; you need the iceorb.

 

• Makes 21 cubes of ice on a vertical wall
• Stores up to 51 cubes – airtight and odor free
• Chills wine and other beverages in a bottle
• Use as a cooler to keep cold foods fresh while serving
• Use lid under orb while serving to catch condensation
• Spill-proof design
• Dishwasher safe – top rack only
• 6″ diameter x 5″ tall

What will they think of next? Refrigerators with built-in ice makers? Crazy talk. Available now for only $16.

Command and Conquer set the de-facto standard for video game cinematography long ago, and the upcoming release isn’t going to disappoint. There is a former Playmate, a UFC Heavywieght champion, and even Star Trek’s Sulu.  No word on who is going to play what charecter with the expection of Ms. McCarthy. She has been cast as the always popular, but also deadly, Tanya. 

The cast of Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 follows (in alphabetical order by last name): Gemma Atkinson (the UK’s Hollyoaks), Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Hunt for Red October), Andrew Divoff (LOST), Kelly Hu (X2, The Scorpion King), Jenny McCarthy (Scream 3, former Playboy Playmate of the Year), Ivana Milicevic (Casino Royale), Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man,Juno), Autumn Reeser (The OC), Peter Stormare (Prison Break, Armageddon), George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes), and two of the most recognizable names in competitive mixed martial arts Randy “The Natural” Couture (former UFC Heavyweight champion) and Gina “Conviction”Carano (Undefeated Elite XC fighter, American Gladiators).

Click through for some possibly NSFW pics of the, um, highlights.

Remeber, Jenny McCarthy is Jim Carry’s girl. He’ll mess you up.

Kelly Hu

Ivana Milicevic

Gina Carano

George “Sulu” Takei

Playboy TV’s shameless new show puts a guy with three girls. He must dismiss one immediately, then whittle it down to one after a little vetting process. Once he goes on a “real” date with his one remaining chick, he has to choose at the end whether to have a “weekend getaway” (likely at an hourly-rate motel) with his lady friend or receive a sweet gadget like an iPhone 3G or HDTV. The girl is motivated to get the guy, too, because if she snags him, she gets a prize.

How morally bankrupt is that? It’d be a hit if it weren’t on a premium channel.

I do not understand. What’s the point of having a Playboy-branded cellphone if it doesn’t have photos of unattainable naked ladies pre-loaded onto it? Is the idea that some future bunny will see the logo and be overcome with the idea of posing for me, so that I might shoot her nude form with the included 1.3 megapixel camera?

I guess it’s a decent looking phone, including the purplish colorization, but the branding has me confused. Playboy is supposed to be simple, there’s a lifestyle around the brand that basically says “naked chicks”. This phone does not.

ROMAN’S MISSIONS

The Cousins Bellic
A nice easy introduction to GTA’s driving. Drive to Roman’s place with your drunk cousin in tow. If you fail this, you’ve got a long road ahead.

It’s your Call
Another simple mission, and your first chance to use your mobile phone. Just watch out for the loan sharks and phone Roman when they arrive. Get back to the depot. Easy.

Three’s A Crowd
Another mission with the loan sharks. Pick up Mallory at the subway. Then go pick up Michelle, then take her back to her apartment. Call Roman and he’ll tell you to buy some clothes – just don’t spend too much, because money’s tight at the moment.

First Date
Here you need to take Michelle bowling. We’re not sure if you need to win, but she’s so hopeless at bowling that you probably will anyway. Then just take her home. After this, you can call her anytime to set up another date.

Bleed Out
Go and find Roman on the basketball court. You’re going to have to fight the people beating him up, but try to only take on one at a time, or you’ll get surrounded. Use the disarm on Darden to take his knife away and then stab him.

Easy Fare
This is your first cab mission for Roman. Pick up Jermaine, take him where he wants, then lose the cops. After this you’ll be able to take on taxi missions to earn extra money.

LITTLE JACOB’S MISSIONS

Jamaican Heat
Pick up little Jacob and take him where he wants. Go to the vantage point and wait for dealers – if you stay where you’re told, there’s no chance of them hitting you. Shoot them all, then get back to Jacob’s house. Another easy mission.

Concrete Jungle
This is your first chance to do some in-car shooting, but it’s just as easy to run Little Jacob’s competitors over. After that’s done, take Jacob to the dealers’ house and let him keep them busy while you shoot everyone. This mission introduces cover shooting if you haven’t done it yet.

VLAD’S MISSIONS

Bull In A China Shop
Go to the shop that’s giving Vlad trouble, and throw a brick through window to convince them to pay up. This brick trick’s handy for causing a distraction in situations when pulling a gun might be considered going a bit far.

Hung Out To Dry
Here you’re chasing the owner of the Laundromat, so you’ll want to pick a fairly chunky car to ram him off the road – if you hit him directly from behind you might go through the windshield. There’s a car out the back you can hotwire, but a Patriot might be a better choice.

Clean Getaway
Here you just need to catch the subway, then punch out the two guys there. If you’ve got a gun, just shoot them. Then it’s off to the car wash and then to the garage to finish the mission.

Ivan The Not So Terrible
Ivan’s a pretty ropey driver, so the tough bit of this mission’s chasing him across the rooftops. Chase him in car, across rooftops, stamp on his hands or let him go. This might affect what happens later, though…

Uncle Vlad
Head to Comrades but park your car out back and equip a shotgun. Pop the bodyguards, sprint through the doors, drive out front and make sure you pick up Roman, then follow Vlad. You need to be quick, but you finally get to execute the guy who’s been causing you so much grief.

FAUSTIN’S MISSIONS

Crime and Punishment
This is the first mission where you need to get a cop car: to do it, either call 911 – although this means one guy will stay in the car and need to be dealt with – or fire into the air to attract police attention. This way both cops will leave their car to investigate, and you can steal it without getting a wanted rating. Now all you have to do is pull over vans – but make sure you’ve got a shotgun equipped for when things inevitably go wrong.

Do You Have Protection?
Drive to the Sex shop, then kneecap the guy Faustin tells you to. Head back to the gun shop and you’ll be rewarded with an SMG.

Final Destination
Here you’re heading to the subway to whack a guy. Have a gun ready, because one of his bodyguards has an SMG and you need to take him out fast. After that’s done, sprint across the tracks and pop your target before he gets in a car. Or shoot out his tyres and kill him when he crashes.

No Love Lost
This is one of the first missions where there’s no point in shooting at your target – you just need to be careful you don’t fall off your bike and chase him at a distance. When his gang turn up in the park, dismount at a distance from them, and use trees as cover while you shoot them all. There’s no rush for this.

Rigged To Blow
Here Faustin’s given you a truck rigged with a bomb. Drive carefully, because one or two knocks will make it explode. Just take it to the destination, and watch it blow from a distance. Easy.

STORY MISSION

Killing Faustin
Before taking on this mission, answer Dimitri’s text to find a bulletproof vest behind the bins. Shotgun pull before the club. Shogtun everyone, through the alley, up the staris. Wait for him to get to the roof, then you can do him as he pops out. No mercy, because he’s got a machine gun.

BRUCIE’S MISSIONS

Logging On
This is your introduction to the internet café. Just go and set up a profile at Lovemeet.com – the second part of this mission comes later.

Search and Delete
First, get a cop car and use the computer. When you find your target, you can’t stop him until a certain point, although you can shoot out his tyres. You need to watch out for trucks swerving around in the road in front of you, but the trickiest part of this mission is losing the police attention you’ll get from running through toll booths. Just stay calm and don’t bump or shoot any civilians and it’ll be fine.

Easy As Can Be
This is a tough drive with lots of shooters. Brake early on the corners – it’s better to slow down a bit than power slide, mess it up and have to reverse out of a spot while everyone’s peppering you with gunfire.

Shadow
Although this mission’s called Shadow, you don’t really need to be that stealthy – you can just spook the dealer you’re after, then sprint after him. Then shoot him and his mates, and you’re done.

Russian Revolution
Little Jacob will help you out on this mission, but this is mainly about precision aiming and taking cover. You’ll have to brave the cops to make it out of the front, but if you pop a couple you’ll have a fairly clear route past the rest. but then it’s plain sailing to lose them.

Out Of The Closet
Go to the internet café. Your date’s going to be at the diner on 69th and Hove. There are cops around so stab him when he runs. To avoid any trouble.

No. 1
This is the game’s only story mode race – the only thing you need to worry about is the second last checkpoint where crashing through a barrier could put you in the riverbed. Otherwise, just take the corners steady – you’ll have plenty of time to outdistance the other racers on the straights.

MANNY’S MISSIONS

Escuela Of The Streets
This is the first mission where you really need to tail someone. Watch out at the traffic lights and on corners, because it’s easy to accidentally get too close and scare your targets off early. When you get to your destination, shoot everyone. You can either shoot the lock off the door – which’ll warn them that you’re coming in – or throw a brick through the window, climb in that way and take them by surprise. There’s a Sprunk machine at the back of the warehouse to top up your health when you’re done.

Street Sweeper
Here you need the element of surprise to get all your targets. Kill the first two gang members by ramming your car into them, jump out to finish stragglers then get the other car. There are cops everywhere, but if you start a gunfight there’s a chance they’ll actually do your job for you.

The Puerto Rican Connection
Here you’re following an elevated train. Just switch to the far view with select and look out for corners by watching the radar. When it stops, pop the two goons then sprint after the guy. You can shoot him at a distance if you use the lockon, but try to do him in one shot to minimise police interference.

ELIZABETA’S MISSIONS

Luck of the Irish
A relatively simple introduction to sniping, this. The only tricky bits are that you’ll need to shoot the guy struggling with Packie on the left, and the last guy through the window of his truck.

Blow Your Cover
Don’t pull a gun until you’re up the first flight of stairs in this mission – even though the people downstairs threaten you, you don’t actually need to take them on. On the way up the stairs, blast everyone, and grab the medipack on the stairwell. Get the vest on the rooftop, then blast a path out through the SWAT teams.

The Snow Storm
If you’ve got a sniper rifle, you can shoot the first couple of guys with that. Then head into the old hospital and methodically clear everyone out. The room with the coke has two guys with guns and a bullet proof vest inside – you’ll need it to escape from the cops. Don’t get bogged down in a gunfight, just clear a path and grab one of the SUVs parked on the left as you leave.

PLAYBOY X’S MISSIONS

Deconstruction for Beginners
Although Playboy X wants you to go up on the roof with him, you don’t have to – the three lookouts are on the end of each crane and you can shoot them from ground level with a sniper rifle. Switch to the AK as you enter the building site and be methodical before you move forward. Clean out as many people as you can before you shoot the third union boss – this’ll send in a chopper full of backup for the final boss. You move in a fairly straight line, so as long as you don’t dash forwards nobody shoot get behind you.

Photo Shoot
Here you’ll need to use your mobile phone camera to identify your target, but as long as you get him vaguely in the shot you don’t actually need to get a closeup of his face. Marlon’s the one in the black jacket – he’s got two cars parked for the getaway but you can pop him before he gets to them if you shoot straight away. If he makes it, they’re both Patriots so you’ve got a tough chase ahead…

FRANCIS MCGREARY’S MISSIONS

Call And Collect
The blackmailer you’re looking for’s wearing a black and yellow puffy jacket. If you can’t see him, just walk through the crowd – you can call him on the phone twice, but the second time Nico will start threatening him and scare him into running. There’s no way to kill him without attracting police attention, so shoot him in the head and make a run for the nearest car.

Final Interview
Go to Perseus to get a suit plenty of time ahead of your job interview. Once you’re in the office with him alone, shoot Goldberg. The easiest way to escape – assuming you’ve got a bit of health left – is to shoot out the windows and jump out, avoiding taking on security in his office. Then grab a car and make your getaway.

Lure
Once you’re on the roof with the sniper rifle there are two ways of getting the target in your sights – you can either shoot his satellite dish so that he gets up to adjust his TV, or check his phone number – it’s on his phone – through your sights and give him a call to make him get up. Either way, pop him in the back of the head.

DWAYNE’S MISSIONS

Ruff Rider
Go to the arcade: you’ll be given a choice of killing a girl or letting her go, but either way you’ll need to chase down her boyfriend on a motorbike. He’ll crash eventually, and you can run over his head.

Undress To Kill
This is a slightly tough mission, because there are three guys to kill. The first is in the front office, near the doors, with a shotgun – if you sneak in, you can kill him with a melee weapon without alerting the club staff. The second target’s near the stage, chatting to a stripper – you can’t shoot him without causing a massive ruckus. The third guy’s in a booth at the back, having a dance – he’s carrying an AK and being guarded by a guy with a shotgun, but you’re best off popping him second, then killing the second target when he runs.

Anyone who makes it to the car park will jump in a van and head down the stairs at the rear, making you chase them – if more than one guy gets away, the passengers will shoot at you as you chase them. If you’ve got a car, you can block the steps, but trying to break into any of the vehicles in the car park will set off the alarm.

Have A Heart
This is an easy mission – just remember to pay the toll on the way to the hospital, or you’ll get bogged down in a police chase and run out of time.

The Holland Play
This is where you get to make the game’s first major decision – whether to kill Dwayne or Playboy X. Dwayne’s only protected by one guy with a bat. Playboy’s protected by a gang of goons, and he’ll make a run for it – but killing him gets you his apartment as a safe house.

MICHELLE’S MISSION

Wrong Turn
Check your emails and go to the jewellery shop to find your target. Watch where you can cut him off at corners as he runs, and you’ll be able to chase him down easily.

PATRICK MCGREARY’S MISSIONS

Harboring A Grudge
When Packie says ‘Get at ‘em’ – DON’T. Stay hidden behind the sign with him, and pick off the Triads one by one. More will appear when you jump down, so be ready – and watch for the ones on the right. When you’re done, go into the office behind the truck to find a medipack, then steal the truck. Be careful when you’re dropping grenades – only do it when you’re on a straight with nothing ahead, otherwise you run the risk of getting stuck and blowing yourself up.

Waste Not Want Knots
This is your first heist with the McGreary boys, so make sure you look after them. You can barrel in the front, but there’s much less risk if you climb over the fence and head for the side door. Once you’re inside, the boys will announce that they’re pushing forward – stay with them, or one of them’ll die. Get to the office so the boys don’t get shot, then sprint out again.

Three Leaf Clover
This is one of the toughest missions in the game – and the longest. Don’t get bogged down killing cops – you need to avoid taking damage and pop the guys marked in red on the radar to clear a path. Don’t stay in open spaces because you’ll get shot, and grab the medipack as you head into the tube station.

Make sure you get a big four-door when it’s time to run – you’re going to have to run four police roadblocks so you need something chunky. You can get loads of distance on the bridge, but as soon as you hit the off-ramp, veer right and towards the tree-lined park – here it’s pretty easy to lose the cops because they’re terrible at off-roading.

If you break your car but you’ve got rid of police attention, you can call a cab to get you back to the safe house – it’s much less risky than trying to steal a car.

A Long Way To Fall
Check the text to find the guy you need to intimidate, then head upstairs. You need to be really careful on this mission, because every doorway means you could be shot from two angles. Stay close to the walls, and always tackle the stairs slowly. The last guy isn’t packing a gun, so you don’t need to worry about him too much.

Hostile Negotiations
Roman’s been kidnapped, and it’s time for a huge gunfight. On the lower levels, fire in bursts so you don’t get shot while you’re firing at someone else, and feel free to lob grenades around. When you get to Roman, you can use the sniper rifle for a perfect shot at the guy holding him, but it’s fairly easy to just free-aim.

UL PAPER MISSIONS

Dust Off
This is a pretty simple one. Just shoot the two guys guarding the chopper, then make a run for it and jump in. Nobody’s going to chase you if you do it efficiently.

Paper Trail
Here you need to pick up the chopper you were using earlier and fly it in a chase after another copter. The only bit to worry about is flying under the bridge – don’t descend too sharply, or you’re dead. After that, stay on the right of the enemy chopper to let Little Jacob get a clear shot. After that, you’re free to try making friends with him.

Portrait Of A Killer
This is basically a street fight, so you run the risk of attracting police attention if you shoot from the wrong place. You can get behind the Russians and attack from above, which is probably the best bet – otherwise they’ve got a height advantage on you. Just stay as far away as you can and pop the lot of them.

RAY’S MISSIONS

Taking Out The Trash
This is an easy one. The boys on the back of the Trashmaster keep the enemies off you, so you just need to drive. And not crash into anyone, obviously.

Meltdown
This is an easy car chase. Just make it to the park, shoot Luca’s henchmen and chase him to the toilet. Shoot the doors open and you’ll find Luca cowering. Kill him and leave with the diamonds.

DEREK MCREARY

Smackdown
Tricky one, this. When you find Bucky, follow him through the back alleys to his house. Now you’ve got two options. You can stay at a distance and work your way in slowly, shooting the guy on the porch and then taking cover outside the door – but that’ll alert the police, and there’s a risk that they’ll shoot you in the back.

The other option is to do things quick – ram your car into the house and try to take out a couple of Bucky’s boys before they get inside, then dash in and take cover behind the sofa to shoot the rest. The last man’ll be hiding at the top of the stairs with a shotgun, so be careful about popping him.

There’s nothing you can do about the police turning up, but that can work to your advantage – if they get drawn into a firefight, they might finish off Bucky’s boys for you. Whatever happens, leave via the back door and circle around to the right to find one of the getaway cars parked in the yard.

Babysitting
Another tough one. The key here is to stay close to Kim’s boat – as long as you’re relatively nearby, he won’t die, even if you can’t kill his pursuers. Once you get the rocket launcher, use it to take out any boats behind you, but be careful about using it on any boats near Kim’s – you’re probably better off switching back to the machinegun and shooting the men rather than their boat.

Tunnel Of Death
There’s no rush to block the tunnel here, so make sure you’re loaded up before you do it. When the ambush starts, shoot the guy who’s approaching you, then start rolling grenades into the police cars – don’t risk using the rocket launcher, because it’s too easy to blow yourself up. Once the mission’s done, you can take it fairly steady in the police transport.

STORY MISSION

Blood Brothers
This isn’t really a mission – it’s more like a decision. Do you shoot Francis or Derek? If you pick Francis, you’ll unlock the Undertaker missions for later…

PHIL’S MISSIONS

Museum Piece
Get behind cover straight away. There are guys coming at you from all sides, so make sure your back’s covered while you clear out one aisle – then you can concentrate on the others. There’s a medipack at the top of the stairs, so grab that and watch out for more people appearing on the balconies as you head through the museum. When you get outside, shoot the first two guys you see, then jump in a car and lose everyone.

No Way On The Subway
Another mission where you can’t kill the people you’re chasing until a certain point. You’ll need to chase them through the subway – you can actually kill the first biker after passing a couple of trains, but if you leave him alone he’ll crash into an oncoming train on his own and die anyway. After that the last biker veers onto the bridge – follow him, and accelerate to take the jump when he brakes. He’ll crash, so you can shoot him or run him over at leisure.

Late Checkout
Once you get up in the lift here the shooting’s going to start straight away, so tap left on the D-pad to pull out your biggest gun and get blasting. This is actually a fairly decent place to use a rocket launcher, grenades or Molotovs, because the confined space makes them very effective. The toughest section happens as you reach the roof – the glass stops you dashing through to take cover, but doesn’t stop bullets. Keep your head down and blind fire over the top to take down the first few enemies.

Truck Hustle
This one’s a simple matter of shooting absolutely everyone before you even try to make it onto the truck. After you sprint to the truck and grab the back, just pull back on the stick to hang on at the corners.

Trespass
Phil gives you two options here, but the best one is to head around the back and shoot your way up the building. It’s best to take a rocket launcher on this mission so you can take out the chopper easily, but a few clips of carbine ammo will do the job just as well.

Catch The Wave
Once the shooting starts in this mission, hide behind the truck to shoot the mobsters, then stay between Phil and the boats once you’re on the water. All you have to do is stay alive and between Phil, and eventually you’ll ‘lose’ the other boats. Simple.

To Live And Die In Alderney
Things go wrong as soon as you get to Frankie’s house in this mission, so be ready to get driving. You’ll need to follow Phil’s car – shoot at the cops if you want – until it’s time to do a runner on foot. Don’t worry if Frankie gets hit, because it doesn’t seem to matter too much if he dies. The main thing is to lose the cops, which is easiest to do by going through people’s back gardens until you cut off their line of sight.

STORY MISSION

Weekend At Florian’s
Instead of getting a GPS in this mission, you need to listen to directions. If you can’t be bothered with that, though, just head to Middle Park West in Broker – that’s where you’ll find Florian.

BERNIE’S MISSIONS

Hating The Haters
This is another chase scene where you can’t kill your target until a certain point – just be aware that you’re going to have to pick Bernie up on your moped, because you don’t want to drive past and lose him.

Union Drive Blackmailers
This is possibly the toughest chase in the game, because the blackmailers can’t be stopped and will flip cars over as you chase them. Once you’ve made it along the freeway – and don’t worry about the cops who show up to tackle the blackmailers – they’ll become vulnerable and eventually crash, letting you take them down as they dash through the park.

Just don’t go too nuts with the shooting, or you’ll have to lose the cops before you can finish the mission.

Buoys Ahoy
Inevitably, your picnic’s going to go wrong – so when it does, just follow the enemy boat until it crashes. You can actually flank Dimitri’s men by scrambling up the bank and getting behind them, which takes them by surprise and lets you shoot them in the bank. Get the one nearest the boats first, so that when the cops turn up you can hope in the boat with Bernie and run for it.

GERRY MCCREARY’S MISSIONS

Actions Speak Louder Than Words
This is another tailing mission, but unlike the last one the bad guys don’t stop at red lights, so it’s more important to stay with them than to keep your distance. When you get to their HQ, leave your car on the getaway spot, then trigger the bomb and finish off anyone left. Afterwards you’ll have to evade the police which can be tricky because of the lack of places to go – stay on the straights until you find a place with a junction, then zigzag.

I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots and your Motorcycle
The bike you need’s around the side of the house. Go and find the man you’re supposed to be killing, but be aware that he’s going to bolt straight away. There aren’t too many preset events in this chase – although you need to be wary of buses coming out of the side streets – so the main thing is practicing hit your power slides to get around corners fast. Dab the brakes coming in, then hit the handbrake as you go into the bend and accelerate out.

I’ll Take Her
Although you’re technically supposed to drive your kidnappee towards the coast so she doesn’t get nervous, it isn’t really that important – as soon as you crash or do something crazy in the car, you’ll spook her and you can get on with the kidnap. Don’t go too fast – she’ll grab the wheel or slap you, making you swerve, and if you’re travelling at speed you’ll collide with something and trash the car.

Keep it steady and brake every time she goes nuts – after five or six, Niko will knock her unconscious, letting you tackle the freeway drive in peace. Just don’t forget to pay the tolls.

She’s A Keeper
You can’t afford to switch cars in this mission because Grace’ll die – so focus on avoiding the Ancellotis rather than shooting it out with them. As always, zigzagging is your friend – once they’re all gone, just cruise on home.

Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend
Another mission gone wrong – again, get straight to cover. Don’t worry about Packie too much, but be aware that the walkways don’t give you much cover – you’ll need to stick close to the pipes if you want to avoid taking damage.

JIMMY PEGERINO

Pegorino’s Pride
You’ll want to wear a suit to get into this mission. The sniping’s relatively easy – just start shooting as soon as the guys run in from the back. Keep your distance as much as possible as you make your way into the building, and shoot as many people as possible from as far away as possible – you can pop the lookouts on the stairway and in the window from miles away with the sniper rifle, saving you from making a dash across open ground.

Once you get to the building, stay in cover and shoot as many people as you can before you go inside, paying special attention to the guys coming from the doorway on the right. Once you go a certain distance into the building you’ll be told to get to Pegerino before he dies – run, because you’ve only got about thirty seconds to get to him.

A bulletproof vest really helps out in this mission, because you don’t want to be worrying about your own health. Then it’s a simple car chase to clean up the final few guys.

Flatline
The important thing here is not to pull a gun – if you do, it’s an instant two-star wanted level. Head for the ER and shoot Anthony’s bodyguard, then Anthony. This makes the police arrive, but they’ll leave their cars out front, so shoot a path through and grab a motor to get out. If you’re running low on health, there’s a Sprunk machine in the lobby that you can use for top ups.

STORY MISSION

Undertaker
This is a massive shootout at the church – keep an eye on Packie, and take cover behind the hearse as you roll grenades under the Albanians’ cars. Shoot the dudes. When you get in the hearse to drive to the cemetery, don’t drift around the corners or you’ll lose the coffin.

GAMBETTI’S MISSIONS

Entourage
Find the gangsters and get in convoy – this opening bit’s simple enough. When the shooting starts, get to cover straight away. Shoot all the gangsters from the alley, then jump in your car. Four cars will get on you when you hit the intersection, so drive straight at the lead one and veer around it to break out of the ambush. Then just zigzag through the streets until you’re away. Try not to shoot too much, or you’ll have the cops to worry about as well.

Dining Out
No point messing around here: shoot the maitre de of the Korean restaurant (he’s packing), then shoot the guys who come to investigate. Then shoot everyone else, behing careful as you head up the stairs, and go through the kitchen to kill everyone else. As Fuk escapes, slide down the ladder (by holding X) and sprint into the alley to blow up his car. Job done.

Liquidize The Assets
When you get to the compound with the cocaine vans, climb over the fence to the right of the gate – now you can clamber up onto the walls.

Wipe everyone out, but before you start blowing up the trucks, head around to the right and shoot the people who come out of the side door – otherwise they’ll make a break for it in one of the vans, making you fail the mission.

Once everyone’s dead, conserve ammo by driving all the trucks into a group and leaving the forklift truck near them, then detonating the cylinder on it with a shot or two. This’ll make everything go up like a bonfire.

//THE END//

Finally, Gambetti and Ray come good on their word and Niko’s greatest nemesis – the crooked soldier Darko – is delivered, bound and beaten, into Liberty City airport for Niko to do with as he pleases. This isn’t really a mission as such; more of a chance for Niko to either settle the score or be the bigger man and walk away.

We chose to spare Darko, since he’s a drug-addled, guilt-ridden wreck. Or you could just cap him in the head. Either way, that’s it for this particular mission. And you thought Darko was going to be the final boss, didn’t you?

Now Dimitri’s on the phone; surprisingly, he wants to make pals! This is another crucial juncture for Niko – should he side with the traitor and bring home potential megabucks or opt for revenge and chase Dimitri down to his lair? So, choose your poison – whichever mission you opt for, there’s going to be a crazy amount of shooting so make sure you’re tooled up on both the ammo and armour fronts…

Next Mission
Head to the warehouse down at the docks, where – surprise – just waltzing in with Phil Bell and grabbing the money doesn’t exactly go according to plan. An enormous warehouse shootout beckons, so make damn sure you’re packing full AK ammo and body armour.

Then it’s simply a case of taking your sweet time, seeking cover at every opportunity and using manual zoomed aim to gradually pick your foes off one by one. After about fifty are dead, you should have worked your way up to the office at the top of the warehouse interior.

Drat, some SOB is making off the proceeds! Leg it down to the floor, snag that van waiting outside and chase the thieves across the docks. Be careful not to let them get too much of a lead otherwise you’ll have to restart the mission. Once you’ve caught them, it’s mission completed…

A Dish Best Served Cold
But you don’t want to do that, do you? Nah, revenge is much sweeter so it’s off to Dimitri’s tanker to finally flush the traitor out. This ship is literally crawling with machine-gun and shotgun-toting grunts, so take advantage of the crane that’s located right next to the boarding plank. Take down the nearest guards from above with your AK, before switching to sniper rifle and eliminating /every enemy in sight.

Be sure to look carefully; the more you can pick off at this stage, the less there’ll be to worry about onboard. Once you’re on the ship tread carefully; it’s not uncommon to have left a foe slip through the net and if they catch you unawares Niko’s history.

Work your way through to the bridge, before activating the opening of the bow doors. This’ll trigger another wave of baddies, so remember to seek cover and – above all – /take your time/. After you’ve reached the interior of the hull, wipe out the goons protecting Dimitri before taking him down with grenades from cover. Dimitri can take a lot of punishment, so be careful.

After he’s been incapacitated, enjoy the sweet satisfaction of kneecapping him before popping a cap in his sorry head. Phew, only one more mission remains!

Finale
He’s hardly a contender for the Biggest Bad Guy in GTA IV, but that doesn’t stop paranoid mentalist Jimmy Pegerino from deciding he wants Niko dead after the Dimitri debacle. Niko feels likewise, so he, Little Jacob and Packie tear across Liberty City to dish out a final dose of justice.

Pegerino’s hauled up inside an abandoned pier building, but instead of going for a direct all-out assault, slip around the back by the pier and up onto the roof via a handy ladder.

Pick all the goons off from your handy vantage point with your AK, before dropping down onto floor level and clearing out the rest of the building by nipping in through the now unguarded front door. Pegerino’s making a break for it, so chase him down the pier – taking out any remaining stragglers with extreme prejudice.

Drat, he’s got a boat! Never mind, snag the nearby trial bike and hair down the beach in hot pursuit. After a few minutes, you’ll see a ramp pointing out to sea.

Gun it and tear off the ramp – Niko will grab hold of a handy chopper piloted by his pals. Suspend your disbelief for a moment, because this next bit is tricky. Your mates tell you to stay low to Pegerino as you tail him, but since he’s blasting rockets at you that means less dodging time – so keep nice and high so you’ve got ample time to maneuver.

After a period of sustained pelting with your mingun, Pegerino’s mashed up boat docks at Happiness Island where Niko finally has the chance to end his particular Liberty City story. Sadly, for Niko, it’ll come at a hefty personal price.

Put on your creative thinking caps, fellas. Following the launch of Playboy Mobile last week, THQ announced “Playboy Games: Pool Party” for mobile phones that let you customize your own Playmates and have them compete in pool-related activities. The Playmate Editor allows you to be as pervy as you want so you can create a voluptuous playmate to compete in various challenges, which will in turn, create the right mood for the pool party. It launches in July. Hopefully we get the launch party invite. *wink, wink*

In the interest of human dignity, I will spare you any “funny” jokes about this Playboy cellphone. The only thing that makes it a Playboy phone is the logo on the front. That’s it.

And on top of that, it’s a pretty terrible phone for 2008. Only a 1.3-megapixl cam and 10MB onboard memory. You have heard of the iPhone, right? I hear it’s pretty good.

via Gizmodo

Doug Aamoth and Peter Ha here in Hugh Hefner’s private loft on the 34th floor of the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Nine girls will be competing for the title of “Miss Mobile Playboy” as a kickoff to Playboy’s second generation of mobile content.

First up is the iPhone version of Playboy.com called iPlayboy. It’s already up and running — just go to Playboy.com on your iPhone.

There will also be some upcoming social networking features for Playboy mobile and various content partnerships that’ll be announced in the near future.

The winner will be announced at midnight tonight and gets a crown, $5000, the title of “Miss Playboy Mobile,” and a trip to the Playboy Mansion for a photo shoot.

Your finalists are…

Kristen Wilson – Orlando, FL

Micaela Bartolome – Oakland, CA

Alexandra Fowler – Duluth, MN

Amber Lane – Boca Raton, FL

Heather Leigh Cleary – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Felicia Taylor – Philadelphia, PA

Amber James – Seattle, WA

Tanya Lind – Los Angeles, CA

Rachael Schultz – Longmont, CO

And the winner is…

Amber James of Seattle. Congratulations Amber!

Photos by Peter Ha

Those of you who are still using standard definition need to seriously think about your futures. You’re holding the rest of us back, and I’m starting to think it’s time to cut the dead weight.

After the jump, the new channels, and what I think about them! Because it’s Friday and you care!

Animal Planet HD: Shows about people who talk to dogs, in High Definition!

Discovery Channel HD: We have something similar now, but I’m stoked to see Mythbusters in HD every day.

Learning Channel HD: This channel used to be good, now in HD! HD!

Home and Garden HD: I don’t care, cuz I own neither, in HD! HD! High-Definition!

Food Network HD: That’s right, the gourmand’s version of the Playboy network in 720p. HD! Hi-Def!

Sci Fi HD: Oh, yes, you heard me. You heard me in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, and saw it in High-Definition HD Hi-Def HDTV!

Comcast has promised 60 channels of HD programming by the end of the year, and is on pace to make good on that promise. Go, Comcast!

[Thanks for the tip, Paul!]

AT&T intros flat rate international iPhone data plans starting at $25 [Apple Insider]

Gentle readers, congratulate us. We, as bloggers, are now legally protected as “journalists”. Or at least we’re getting there. Take that, legitimate press.

Phillip Smith has just won an important case that sets a precedent that we’re going to use at some point. He’s a blogger. He was an angry blogger due to some bad experiences working with an eBay listing company. The blog posts got him in trouble legally, but he claimed journalistic protection.

After a protracted case, the judge agreed with him, stating that use of corporate logos are OK in blogs, just as they’re protected in newspapers. Likewise, opinion and linking are tolerated.

This is good news for us. Regular readers will know that we’re always in trouble, hopefully this new status as “journalists” will get us out of trouble earlier. And into the Playboy mansion easier.

Can bloggers be journalists? Federal court says yes [Ars]