Hasta La Gadget!

When an inmate at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre near Gatwick, West Sussex, England, needed access to a tattoo gun (presumably banned in UK lockups, just as they are in the US) inspiration struck. According to The Sun, the inmate used the motor of a PlayStation’s optical drive to move a sharpened ball-point pen. Sure, there are better ways to get ink — such as waiting to be released — but it ain’t exactly a prison tattoo if you don’t get it in prison. The paper goes on to say that from time to time a similar contraption made from “Nintendo consoles” turns up stateside, although the only such device we’ve ever seen was in an episode of The Wire, and it was made from an old cassette player. Either way, this is one mod we surely won’t see from Ben Heck any time soon.

PlayStation tattoo gun mod gets inmate a stern rebuke, admiration from his cell block originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 18:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Samsung Messager Touch is the latest touch-screen messaging phone for U.S. Cellular pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20005823-85.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Dialed In/a/p

We never had any doubt that Comcast’s anti-net-neutrality court victory would prove to be more of a defeat in the long run, and that’s exactly how it’s shaping up: some 74 Democratic members of Congress have voiced concerns about the FCC’s plan to re-classify broadband as a more highly-regulated “telecommunications service” instead of as an “information service” in letter sent to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski today, and a group of Democratic senators and representatives are planning a series of meetings in June with the goal of revamping US telecommunications law in general. According to Senate staffers who spoke to the Washington Post, the idea isn’t to pre-empt the FCC’s plan, but rather to bring the law into alignment with the modern market instead of trying to fit a round peg into a square hole — our current telecom law was enacted in 1996 and is based on law written in 1934, so a more modern revamp could bring sweeping changes to the way broadband providers are able to sell and manage their services.

We don’t know what the specific agenda is yet, but we’d bet the FCC’s recent finding that there’s no “effective competition” in the wireless industry is sure to play a big part in these discussions, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see some serious talk about cable providers and set-top hardware as well. Whatever happens, we’ll be keeping a sharp eye on these meetings — this is the first time we’ve seen the government take up the issue of modern telecommunications policy with this level of interest and momentum, and we’ve got a feeling some big things are afoot.

Congress investigating general revamp of telecommunications law originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From the same development team behind Grand Theft Auto comes Red Dead Redemption, the story of an ex-outlaw named John Marston who has been given a second chance at life. Set at the end of America’s Wild West, Redemption is a truly ambitious effort from every angle. Does Redemption hold water on its own, or is it just Grand Theft Auto on horseback?

Motorola is quick to address Android 2.2 and its flagship handset. No surprises here as the company does intend to make Froyo available as an update in the near future. Great! Now define “near future” and we’ll be happier! pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20005791-251.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Android Atlas/a/p