We’re taking the wraps off of iConsole.vg ahead of the alpha signup wave that will start on January 20th. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

As if Facebook didn’t need any more issues, after their latest privacy meltdown… here comes something else. In case you were living under a rock, Facebook decided to capitalize on everyone’s profile on search engines. They did so by presenting users with a Privacy Wizard. Users that “skipped” the wizard, unknowingly unlocked all privacy options, putting their entire profile up for view.

Well, here’s the new debacle. Companies (a key revenue generator for Facebook) are locking down their walls. Ordinary fans can continue to post comments (hidden replies that require multiple clicks to appear). But, fans can’t make new threads on the company’s wall.

Two big culprits that I’ve seen are General Motors and Sega. However, there are many, many more. I suspect this was the call of a couple of social media companies that manage dozens… if not hundreds of company blogs.

Facebook needs to step in here and explain that this won’t work in the long run. It turns off fans from interacting with the company’s wall, and thus, Facebook in general.

I know Facebook has taken pride in giving more control over access to people’s walls, but this is just going to hurt Facebook, and if they can’t force companies to have open walls… they can at least work to head off such lockdowns. If I were Facebook, I’d be calling some social media managers right now.

So, I answered them all in one thread.

Don’t think that I’m done answering questions though, from Twitter to even email, ask away (and yes, I answer comments too).

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. When Dreamcast failed, I said there has to be a better way. If a great system like that failed, it’s time to re-think consoles in general. The competition, unfortunately, ordered up more of the same. So, I decided to build a startup that would deliver some real change.

Blogs have been an awesome bootstrapper, but today I step down from PhoneNews.com as the Editor-in-Chief. The future for MechaWorks lies in Full Circle: The open, cross-platform, cloud gaming console. You can head on over to MechaWorks for all the details. No need for me to rehash it all here.

The good news is, I’m not going anywhere. I’m just now doing what I’ve dreamed of for years… pun not intended.

Thanks to all of you that have tuned in, and I’m sure there will be many more. I hope to stay just as open and available, tackling all of your questions. Between my contact inbox (over on the right), and my Twitter page… you can ask me just about anything MechaWorks-related. I’ll try to answer all your questions.

And, I promise, zany-off-topic entries will continue. I wouldn’t be a good startup CEO otherwise.

Sunday’s are becoming more of a day of rest for me. As a recovering workaholic, I don’t really have that balance down quite yet. So, I’m going to work… to take more of a break on Sundays.

And, I figured I’d kick this trend off right by hacking my Xbox 360 hard drives. Buying in to one of the deals that I covered over on CheapenGadget.com, I picked up one of the last good deals from Circuit City. Basically, the deal was a refurb combo, leftover from one of their (failed) Xbox 360 bundles. Essentially, it was an Xbox 360 wireless controller and 20 GB hard drive for only $36. As commenters noted at the time, it was an okay deal, made less hot because Microsoft reserves 7 GB per drive.

And, as I’ve blogged quite a bit in the past, I think it’s pure antitrust that Microsoft will ban you from Xbox Live, if you put your own SATA hard drive into the Xbox 360. Sony, on the other hand, welcomes you upgrading your own hard drive.

Thankfully, a well-known trick works around this. Buy buying just the right Western Digital 120 GB 2.5-inch hard drive (WDC WD1200BEVS), you can flash the drive with Xbox firmware. Then, Microsoft sees the blasted drive as an Xbox drive, and you don’t get banned from Xbox Live.

Sure, this is an old hack at this point, but what can I say? I haven’t actually taken the time to play an Xbox 360 game in weeks. Okay, months. When you see what I’ve been up to, I’m sure you’ll understand.

As the staff has warned me, it’s easy to wreck the latches in the process. But, even PC Word whipped up a photo gallery (even though they made a typo on the drive model)… so I doubt it will take very long to do.

Update: Upgrade was a breeze. About the hardest part (and I’m not joking) was putting the hard drive back onto the Xbox 360. When you have an HD DVD drive on top, clearing everything off to pop it back in is a pain.

Seriously though, there were no real hassles, aside from having to unplug everything SATA from my PC. The hddhackr tool didn’t play well with my PC until I had unhooked all other devices (many DOS tools don’t like simply turning the ports off in the BIOS).

I’ve already installed all of my games to the hard drive, and queued up all the downloads. Even with all of that, I only managed to fill about half the drive. Like many, I found a T6 and T10 torx screwdrivers to be the right tools.

Oh, and I do encourage every Xbox 360 owner to undertake this hack, even if you have the 60 GB hard drive. Even if you have to hunt down a tech-savvy friend to do it for you.

No, it wasn’t the PSPgo (didn’t like it, sorry). It wasn’t the Project Natal (like OnLive, I’ll hold off judgement until it’s in the real world). It certainly wasn’t Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. No, folks, it was New Super Mario Brothers.

Friends of mine will probably gasp at that, as I am a Sega evangelist and typically shun most-things-Mario. Scratch that, all-things-Mario.

But, the game does underscore what I have been begging Sega (publicly for the most part) to do… get Sonic back in 2D. And, don’t pull a Paper Mario, but make a new Sonic game that feels like the old ones. It should have the graphics of the old ones. No, I don’t mean 8-bit, but the same texturing, the same shading. The same pseudo 3D elements (that don’t conjure up the word pseudo-3D when you play it).

Please, Sonic Team, rip off New Super Mario Brothers… because I was telling you to implement the idea long before there was a Paper Mario. And, to be honest, with Sonic churning out 2D games throughout the Game Boy Advance era, I don’t think anyone would consider it stealing the concept either. But, please, Sonic Team, don’t take the GBA-era and apply that to consoles… reach back to your Genesis (and Sega CD) roots.

But, as the MechaWorks Jobs page has given away… that’s not the only reason that we’ll be there. So, if you’re looking to score a job in the industry (especially if you’re out of work), and you’ll be at E3, head on over there and send us an email.

We will be doing informal job-related sitdowns, but we’ll also be busy with other activities at the show… so don’t feel bad if we don’t get to you right at the show.

And as usual, if you’re a fan, we do tend to hold impromptu social events at trade shows. Drop me a line if you will be there.

Yes, holding out on this stuff is tough. But trust me, we’ll have a lot to show in the coming weeks and months.

Apple doesn’t buy companies like EA. Apple buys small to mid-range companies with large amounts of intellectual property. That IP can be tapped and used to make new chips, add multi-touch to iPhone, and all sorts of other cool things.

I suspect Apple will build its entertainment holdings the same way. If they don’t, it’s not their style, and I wouldn’t advise messing with a good style.

If you will recall, I reported awhile ago on the potential (and some discussion of) an Apple/Bungie deal. That is more of the direction that I think (and hope) Apple is headed on entertainment acquisitions.

Sound familiar? If you’ve played Metal Gear Solid 4, you’ve officially been there and done that. I’ve long talked off-the-blog about 24′s continual ripping off of Metal Gear Solid. People have finally started listening to me after I noted continuously that Tony Almeda (aka Raiden) would rise from the dead.

Spoiler alert. (Cease reading if you don’t want to know what happens next on 24… or if you haven’t played all the Metal Gear games.)

President David Palmer (shot in the head) will be back too. The clock didn’t stop counting (which happens whenever a key protagonist dies), but people didn’t listen to me about that happening when Almeda was “killed.” He’ll make an appearance later this season. It’s not clear just yet if Palmer (who had an almost brotherly bond formed with Bauer prior to the series beginning) will take on the Solidus role of mixed-up-bad-guy-that-used-to-be-president.

Oh, and you can start playing the Father & Son theme from the end of MGS4. Intel confirms Jack’s father will be back for some healing aww-he’s-not-so-bad moment (don’t count on that for this season, but it’s in the cards). For those of you not familiar with the 20-year-running Metal Gear saga, Solid Snake battled, and killed his genetic father, Big Boss, twice… only to find him rise from the dead for the series finale.

My point to all of this is not to ruin 24 for you. It’s a great show. And don’t worry, Jack Bauer wasn’t made in a test tube. Though John Voight is probably going to wind up being a dead ringer for Ocelot (don’t say I didn’t warn you). I just think it’s worthy of pointing out where they get their material from. And, that crosses into the tech sector… which is my domain.

On one final note, kudos to Apple for putting down the money for a formal endorsement. After years of Macs being featured, Apple paid the token gesture amount to have Mac OS X featured. The 24 team is a huge fan of all-things-Apple, and Apple got a free ride for years with countless product placements.