Australia’s crazy anti-violent video game restrictions strike again! Valve submitted Left 4 Dead 2 (aren’t we boycotting that game?) to whatever board is in charge of rating video games down there, and the board replied with this: yeah, this game is too violent for anyone under the age of 18.

Of course, since Valve is, you know, interested in making money, it really can’t have a game out there that’s only playable by the over-18 crowd. To that effect Valve has re-submitted the game with some tweaks here and there in an effort to get passed the censor.

But there’s more! It seems that Valve anticipated this scenario, and has developed a special, Australia-only version of the game. You have to imagine that this version is way toned down, and may not be an accurate representation of the “real” game. So if Valve can’t get the censor to approve the slightly tweaked version of the game, then it’ll activate Plan B: selling the Australian version.

My guess is that, should the Australian version end up being released, then you’ll see plenty of Australians buy that version (in order to support Valve), but then download the cracked American version. That’s probably what I would do, to be honest.

The problem lies in the rating system. Australia doesn’t have a “mature audience only” classification, so if a game is considered too violent or graphic for the average 15 year old, it’s banned. Seems like something that’d be easy to fix, but apparently their attorney general doesn’t see the need for people to prepare for the coming zombie apocalypse.

Don’t worry Australia. You can still play Peggle.

Here’s a fun story. Police in Australia thought they were being mighty clever when they took over an “underground hacking forum.” (The forum is r00t-y0u.org, though it seems to be down right now.) One of the hackers on the forum then retaliated by breaking into police computers using a simple SQL injection. Security fail.

The police computer that the hacker broke into was supposed to be a honeypot, something put there so police could “trick” the hackers into exposing themselves. Unfortunately for the police, the PC ran Windows, and the hacker was able to rock a SQL injection. The police “left the MYSQL password blank.” Smart.

Of course, the police say that no “real” data was compromised in the hack.

The lesson is, of course, not to mess with script kiddies and their message boards. Or, maybe, to at least set a password every once in a while.

Talk about perspective. On this day when Manchester United announced that it had accepted Real Madrid’s £80m bid for Cristiano Ronaldo (who will make something like €211,000 per week in Spain), we here at CG now turn our attention to the efforts being made to improve literacy. One Laptop Per Child—remember them?—has been handing out free laptops to children on Elcho Island, an Aboriginal island some 1,200 miles northwest of Sydney. (It’s part of Australia.) The idea is to help the island’s children with their schoolwork, get a decent education, and improve their lot in life. It’s certainly a more altruistic use of technology than salivating over a digital compass, or complaining, somewhat pointlessly, about a certain Android phone’s keyboard.

Organizers hope to send some 400,000 computers to the whole of Australia, all of which would go to Aboriginal schoolchildren. So far, about 2,000 have been sent.

A main goal of the program is to help improve children’s literacy. Apparently, in Aboriginal communities, illiteracy in English is a chronic problem. Unless something is done to change this, these communities will continue to suffer, if that’s even the right word. I guess the overriding idea here is that a proficiency in English would do wonders to improve these people’s situation there. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

What does this mean? Well, the Age believes kids are addicted to cellphones they way they are addicted to their rock and roll and fancy dancing which could mean the end of society as we know it once those kids stop listening to intelligent older men and start going off driving their cars at all hours of the afternoon and spending time in my yard throwing stones at the sparrows in the feeder and then going off to school to learn about rap music and all that evolverution stuff or whatever they teach these kids these days. It could also mean that parents now have a line to their kids no matter where they are, something that I, as a parent and older man am glad of. When did you guys give your kids cellphones?

via Giz

Yesterday’s revelation that China blocks access to YouTube should not have come as any surprise, but did you know that other countries censor the Internet in their own special ways? (Happy families are all alike!) For example, did you know that India’s Computer Emergency Response Team’s has the power to block Web sites wily nilly? Ostensibly it was set up to help eliminate terrorist-realted sites, but it has also blocked “Hindu nationalists and other radical groups on social networking sites such as Orkut.” Or, that in Argentina a search for “diego maradona” will be tampered with because of a terrible court ruling?

Yeah, so Foreign Policy compiled a list of little known Internet censors. The list includes, as mentioned, Indian and Argentina, but also France (see its draconian file-sharing laws), South Korea (it regularly blocks North Korean propaganda) and Australia (ostensibly it blocks child pornography and terror-related content, but it could well broaden). The point of the brief little round-up, I guess, was to show that Internet censorship isn’t merely something that happens Over There; nope, it happens to more familiar countries, too.

Never mind the nonsense that Americans have to put up with in the name of “protecting” this or that group or entity or institution.

Also, embedded for the hell of it, the Hand of God goal. Fact: Maradona > Pelé.

As for the huge black rectangle—get it, black, censorship, etc. We’re so deep and meaningful!

Australia looks to be moving ahead with its plan to censor Internet content on a country-wide level, and will test its array of filters later this month. To refresh your memory, the Australian government wants to block access to illegal material on the Internet, be it genuinely awful material like child pornography or something more controversial like terrorist Web sites. (Who’s a terrorist?, when is a site advocating terrorism?, etc.)

The scheme is made of two filters: a giant blacklist, maintained by the government, that ISPs would have to block access to; and an optional filter that would be used to weed out unseemly content from being accessible to children. Quite the nanny state you’ve got there.

Of course, there’s plenty of people who don’t like the idea. Type in “australia censorship” on Facebook and you find dozens of groups populated with thousands of people who aren’t too keen on the idea of mandatory Internet filtering. Oh, and these filtering schemes, in tests, have slowed Internet speeds by as much as 87 percent. So there’s that.

Again, as with the Great Usenet Purge of 2008, it’s hard to defend against censorship when officials hide behind things like child pornography and terrorism. No one wants to be seen as being “soft” on such topics, and the nuance required to successfully argue against this type of censorship is often difficult to articulate in a media environment of 60-second sound bites and screaming Drudge sirens.

Australia, land of kangaroos and terrible actors, must be beaming today, what with the news that someone there was able to overclock an Intel Atom processor to 2.38GHz. That’s the fastest we’ve ever seen an Atom run, as a matter of fact.

Of course, getting the processor, found in an MSI Wind, to run that was quite the challenge, as it should be. Not since Frankenstein pieced together his monster did someone go to such lengths to accomplish anything.

What does running an Atom at 2.38GHz gain you, aside from bragging rights? Nothing, I would guess, which is about par for the course when it comes to overclocking. It’s the old Slashdot axiom, “Because you can.”

Australia looks set to join China as a state-mandated Internet censor. The measure is primarily aimed at combating online child pornography, but an open-ended statement from the government’s communications minister sounds ominous:

…we are talking about mandatory blocking, where possible, of illegal material.

“Where possible”? That seems pretty capricious.

The government must have recognized the nature of the proposal, as early drafts included ISP-level opt-out clauses. Say you wanted unrestricted access to the Internet. You’d contact your ISP and they’d put you on a “don’t censor this connection” list.

That scenario is no longer possible; the whole country will be subject to the “virtual curtain.”

The thing about this, which is similar to the war on Usenet here in the U.S., is that it’s damn near impossible to come out against measures that, to the letter, have anything to do with eliminating child pornography. Nothing like appearing to be soft on child porn to completely ruin your reputation, right?

Kids, when your friend asks you to lower the volume of your computer while you’re playing World of Warcraft please do so as soon as possible. Because if you don’t you might end up getting stabbed. In the head. With a chef’s knife.

That’s exactly what happened in Australia. The victim is doing about as well as one could after being attacked with a knife; only one of his fingers was “nearly” severed.

As for the guy doin’ the stabbing, the Australian magistrate has refused him bail. He’ll be in custody till next month, meaning he may well miss the launch of Wrath of the Lich King.

I never talk to anybody on the phone anyway, so this is all gains for me. Sucks for you long talkers and independent phone sex operators, though.

And you see that picture on the right? That’s actually how they do it there.
[Via BGR, IntoMobile and Cellular News]

Silent Hill: Homecoming, which is only getting so-so reviews (which stinks because it’s my favorite game series; Silent Hill 2? Now there’s proper narrative in a video game), is effectively banned in Australia because of its over-the-top violence. But what, exactly, is the reason why the game won’t be coming out down under?

How about this: drilling into and severing body parts. Yikes, is that even necessary?

Says IGN:

…the OFLC [the Australian ratings board] cited several high impact scenes in the game, mostly focusing on drilling into and severing body parts. One scene in particular that was highlighted as a problem involved Alex (the main character) having a drill forced into his right eye socket, which caused a lot of blood to spray out.

Konami is being urged to tone down the violence so that the game can see a release down there.

I don’t know, I’m pretty squeamish when it comes to excessive violence, so you won’t see me crying that the ratings board is giving Konami a hard time. I also can’t be bothered to fight video game censorship because, really, it’s not a big deal to me.

So, you’ve heard the stories of developers making enough coin selling iPhone applications to swim around in it Scrooge McDuck style. “I love iPhone applications more than anyone!”, you thought to yourself, “I should make them!” So you picked up a book on Objective C and Cocoa, spent about 20 minutes with it, and then decided to dedicate your life to something that didn’t make your brain cramp.

If only you lived in Australia or near any of the European Qantm colleges, a lack of self motivation wouldn’t be a problem. For the bargain price of just $7,300 USD, you could join Qantm’s recently announced iPhone game development course.

But what about that pesky NDA? According to a representative from the school, either an NDA might be drafted up just for their sake, or Apple may be working on a new one entirely.

With places like Digipen, Full Sail, and the Guild Hall at SMU, this certainly isn’t the first time a college has offered curriculum based around game design. It is, however, the first we’ve heard of a course specifically focused on Steve Jobs’ fancyphone.

Movies are now available on iTunes in Australia and New Zealand. There’s all the major studios, like Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, with awesome movies like National Treasure 2 and Cloverfield on there. Prices start at A$9.99 for movie purchases in Australia, and NZ$9.99.

More than 700 movies are on iTunes down there, so there’s plenty of junk to choose from.

And how about this: you folks all the way down there have 48 hours to watch rented movies, whereas the rest of us only get 24 hours. I wonder why that’s the case.

It looks like Tokyo-based Nippon Signal (and not Mint Wireless based out of Australia) managed to develop what might be the smallest projector in the world. The device was recently showcased at Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS, a yearly trade show with a focus on micro systems technology.

The micro projector is sized at just 90×55x20mm, making it about as compact as a cigarette box (Mint’s product measures 125×55x23mm). The Japanese product features a resolution of  800×600 (SVGA), which isn’t quite HD but acceptable given the size of the device (resolution of the Mint projector: 640×480 in 4:3 mode).

Nippon Signal’s invention has a major drawback though: It’s just a prototype, while Mint’s projector is scheduled for release next month. Whatever, as a Teuton, I am betting on the Germans in this race anyway.

Via Tech-On

A company from the land of Oz has will release what it claims to be the world’s smallest projector this September. The company, Mint Wireless, teamed up with a Taiwanese manufacturer to produce the Mint V10. Measuring at a mere 125 x 55 x 23mm (or, 4.9 x 2.1 x 0.9-inches), the projector is able to project (go figure) a 50-inch image from as close as six feet away.

The price seems hefty, at just over $600 USD, but maybe projector enthusiasts, which I won’t even pretend to be, can rationalize it.

via Gizmodo Australia

What I find funny and sad is that the dude broke up with his girlfriend FIVE YEARS AGO. Get over it, man! Live in the now! Newsflash, Bub: Crying inside a public bar isn’t a turn-on for most girls.

An Australian magistrate banned the man, Michael Leary, “from buying or even holding a beer for 12 months.” The magistrate also made fun of Leary for drinking Melbourne Bitter, which is made by Fosters, saying that it’s “poor judgement on two counts there – drinking that much and drinking Melbourne Bitter.”

No contract customers can get the 8GB 3G iPhone for $699.14 and the 16GB model for $814.20, pre-paid plans start at $28.77 per month with no data.

Meanwhile Gizmodo reported an angry call from Optus, saying that its post about iPhone pricing plans was incorrect. Gizmodo had reported that the iPhone would be available with two plans: a $75.83 cap plan that includes 1 GB of data and up to $287.96 in calls and SMS. And a $95.03 cap plan with 3GB worth of data and up to $383.96 in calls and SMS. Gizmodo’s tip also said the handset would only be available with a two-year contract and the 8GB model will cost $211.18, and the 16 GB model for $316.77.

On its Web site, Optus, says

“Optus Post-Paid customers can get the 8GB iPhone 3G for $0 upfront on a $79 ‘yes’ iPhone 3G Cap, with attractive handset payment options across all new plans… Pre-Paid customers can purchase the 8GB iPhone 3G for $729 then choose any current Pre-Paid calling offer.”

The carrier also says it is offering Free unlimited data on all iPhone 3G plans for the first month, for post-paid customers who connect before the end of August and free unlimited data for pre-paid customers until the end of August. In the hopes that customers will “completely immerse themselves in the features and functionality of the device.”

As we gear up for the WWDC in a couple weeks — and the likely launch of iPhone 2 — we get weird news that the Australian version, which should launch around the same time as the American version, will be the fastest in the world. According to a loudmouth at Telstra, Australia’s iPhone company, the Australian version could be up to 42mbs, which is over 5 megabytes per second. That’s more than fast enough to watch live streaming video on the iPhone’s screen.

Will the carrier actually let you have those kinds of speeds? Probably not, as they’re theoretical limits. So it’s likely and empty claim. Still, it makes us drool just that much more.

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, as Australian mobile company Telstra will be giving laptops away to business users who sign up for a three-year contract for mobile data service. According to the Sydney Morning Herald,

“The company has released a new plan for business customers — only those with an ABN — which offers them a laptop and wireless broadband card at no upfront cost if they sign a 36-month contract.

As well as the laptop, customers will get 1 gigabyte of data usage for $99 [$95 US] a month, although they must also pay 30 cents for each additional megabyte downloaded over their monthly quota.

Telstra’s standard 1GB data download plan on its Next G wireless network costs $84.95, so customers will effectively be paying $14.05 a month for the laptop – $505.80 over the three-year contract.”

This offer will apparently run until the end of June and, although the makes and models of the laptops aren’t yet available, they’ll be ones that normally sell for up to $700 Australian ($674 US).