Watch out, Nicholas writing about cars, there’s bound to be errors! (No different from anything else, really.) It’s the McLaren MP4-12C, a £150,000 ($225,000) supercar that McLaren is actually positioning as “affordable.” I mean, an Xbox 360 Arcade SKU is “affordable,” maybe even a fancy gaming mouse when you consider what they do… Oh, I know who would consider this supercar affordable: people who play for Manchester City.

There’s a certain amount of pride in seeing a country pump out something like the new F-35B Lightning II fighter jet. At $113.5 million per aircraft, it’s about as far away from the meaning of the word “inexpensive” as possible. It makes you think, well, if we can afford things like that, why can’t we afford things like this? But, whatever. The entire purpose of this post is to watch a legitimately exciting video. So, let’s!

Apple doesn’t like HTC, not one bit. In fact, Apple recently filed a lawsuit against the Taiwan-based company, alleging that it has infringed 20 iPhone-related patents. This has already been discussed to death, but it gives us an opportunity to look at some of Apple’s other forays into the world of lawsuits. It’s terribly exciting.

I’ll just point you in the direction of this weird rant… thing about Final Fantasy. It sorta explains the differences between Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy XIII. Something about honor and inns and whatnot. Yeah. More importantly, let’s discuss the possibility of Square Enix remaking Final Fantasy VII, because that hasn’t been done before on the Internet.

Hollywood (the movie studios, the record labels, etc.) sure does have a knack for causing its own problems. You’ll recall that it’s en vogue to call copyright infringers “pirates,” which is an insult to legitimate pirates like William Kidd and Henry Morgan. Just because you can fire up uTorrent doesn’t mean you can take on a Spanish Armada. But, whatever, it’s simply easier for Hollywood and its acolytes to call you kids “pirates” than it is to have an adult discussion about the subject.

Looks like Apple is running into some last-minute trouble getting content providers to provide content for the iPad. The device goes on sale next week, and Apple has already seen plenty of pre-orders—even if those pre-orders may have quickly fallen off. The deal is that Apple had wanted to offer TV subscriptions alongside the device’s launch, so that every episode of The Office and Parks and Recreation would automatically be downloaded to your iPad. That was the idea, at least.

God almighty do I have a bone to pick with Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which I bought on release day like a mark. The game is doing quite well for EA, having already sold 2.3 million units (and projected to sell 4 million by the end of the year). So that’s ahead of expectations—it’s a hit, have a party. The thing that annoys me (and Matt, for that matter) is the game’s implementation of checkpoints. There’s not nearly enough of them, and it’s infuriating. I was very close to lighting my monitor on fire last night.

Kudos to Comcast for embracing the year 2009. The nation’s largest—and quite possibly worst—ISP has finally committed itself to deploying 100 mbps broadband beginning this year. That will make the FCC happy, what with the loft goals it set with its National Broadband Plan. It’s also good news for people who know their way around things like Usenet—taps nose like a spy. Will it be affordable, though?

Nicholas here, from the past communicating to the future! (The site is all messed up, so I probably wrote these words several hours before you’re reading them. It’s like a Metal Gear Time Paradox or something.) Nintendo has said it will release the DSi XL on March 28 for $190.

Who saw The Hurt Locker? Oh, right: none of you. Even if you didn’t you probably are already familiar with the basic concept: a U.S. Army guy whose job it is to disable I.E.D.s sorta goes crazy. That’s the gist of it. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense in the UK has unveiled something called the Dragon Runner, a remote-controlled robot that disables bombs.

Now here’s a delightful story. A gentleman in Austin, Texas was laid off from his job as a car mechanic. The thing is, he was “pretty good with computers.” So, in order to get petty revenge on his former employers, he used a system to remotely disable more than 100 cars. Fun!

Let’s make one thing clear: I wouldn’t play Command and Conquer 4 if it was the game on Earth. It’s just not “me.” So pardon my blase attitude while I drop this bombshell: the game uses the same stupid DRM that Ubisoft now uses, which I complained about on CNN. Add this to your list of games not to buy, then.

Today’s a very important day in the history of me using the Internet, a history that began in late 1996. Ladies and gentleman, I have completely uninstalled AdBlock. I do believe that makes me a man in the Jewish faith, so I’ll be expecting presents from all of you.

Surely you’ve heard of Shinji Mikami, right? He’s basically “the Resident Evil guy,” and he’s got 3D on the brain. He told Famitsu, that famous Japanese video game magazine, that he wants to disband his current studio (Straight Story) and form a new one, one for creators, by creators (as opposed to one by run by know-nothing businessmen). This new studio, in a perfect world, would create a 3D horror game.

Well, well! Every single Panasonic 3D TV has been sold, meaning, I guess, that 3D TV is a hit, despite what some people think. They’re on back order now, so if you weren’t among the first to plop down nearly $3,000 for a 50-inch set you get a late slip. You’re late to the party. Last week called, and it wants to know why you didn’t buy a TV?

I’m not an electrician, nor do I play one on TV, but this I like. It’s a re-designed UK electrical plug, one that’s much thinner and far more friendly to today’s portable, hi-tech toys than the standard plug. Apparently the actual UK plug is a cumbersome jerk, and tends to be a drag on people’s laptops, phones, and other gadgetry. Who wants that?

I love how this is controversial. Sony Pictures (creators of Spider-Man) chairman Michael Lynton has suggested that movie theaters offer healthy snacks in addition to their usual parade of garbage, and people have reacted with blind rage. How dare you tell me how to live my life, you pinko liberal communist! It’s like, really? What is so terrible about not covering your popcorn with metric tons of liquid “butter”?

Apparently it’s illegal in Canada to copy music from a CD you bought to an iPod (or whatever). It’s simply not allowed, even if you’re not breaking any DRM in the process. (In the U.S., it’s illegal to copy a DVD to your computer’s hard drive because you have to circumvent the copy protection in the process.) Solution? Some sort of levy, which would ensure that “artists” make money even though you’re not re-buying their music.

Since we’re your go-to source for complaining about DRM, I figure we should mention the latest development regarding EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Dice, the game’s developer’s, have removed SecuROM DRM from both the retail version of the game as well as the digitally distributed one (i.e. Steam). Why a Steam game even needs SecuROM in the first place (it’s merely a disc check, so…) is a question I cannot answer. It’s probably like a contractual thing or something.

An outstanding e-mail showed up in my inbox a few moments ago promoting the release of Donkey Kong Country 2: Serious Monkey Business. It’s a remix album from OC ReMix, the people who are famous for, you know, remixing video game soundtracks. (I used one of their Street Fighter remixes in a video review about a year ago.) But, yeah, Serious Monkey Business!

Just hilarious. Apparently the U.S. intelligence community thought Wikileaks so odious that it labeled it a “potential force protection, counterintelligence, operational security (OPSEC), and information security (INFOSEC) threat to the US Army.” Good ol’ Wikileaks, bringing down the U.S. government.