Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

mafia posts

Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, Apple, ipod shuffle

Wacky Apple lawsuit of the day: Apple conspiring with Italian Mafia

Just when you think you've heard everything, along comes an Apple lawsuit that simply defies reality.

Beverly Hills, CA resident Gregory McKenna has filed a 124-page complaint in a U.S. District Court in Missouri against Apple and a group of other defendants, including the F.B.I., the St. Louis County Police Department, and an auto mechanic. Why? Well, McKenna alleges that Apple conspired with the Italian Mafia to affix special receivers to an iPod shuffle he purchased on eBay and an iPod mini purchased in an Apple Store. These receivers were allegedly used by the Mafia to transmit threatening messages to the iPods.

Okaayyyyy. So, what were these messages? Well, first there was the time in 2008 where recordings of Mafia members saying "I'm going to kill him" were played in unison with a song on McKenna's iPod mini. The most serious message was apparently transmitted not only to his iPods, but also to an iBook G4, a PowerBook G4, and three vehicles including his mother's Honda Accord.

The "message" consisted of the word "herpes" being inserted into the song "Still Tippin'" by hip-hop/rap artist Mike Jones. Mr. McKenna alleges that this was done "to humiliate, degrade, and cause emotional distress" to him. While apparently the Mafia was using the messages to coerce McKenna into doing fashion modeling for them in New York City (I am not making this up), I'd speculate that it's probably Apple's way to get him to purchase newer equipment.

[via AppleInsider]

Filed under: Gaming, Odds and ends, Freeware, App Store, App Review

Mafia Wars out now on the iPhone


Unfortunately, the classic mobile game of Dope Wars (I played hours of it on my old TI-80) still hasn't been allowed on the App Store -- Apple reportedly wasn't happy with the drug-themed gameplay, and so there are only "sugarcoated" versions there now (including one that is literally about sugar, branded as Candy Wars). But Zynga, makers of Scramble Live, have now released a game called Mafia Wars, which brings the same kind of premise: you're a mob boss, and you buy and use firearms to get money and all sorts of illegal items. The gameplay isn't exactly the same (rather than selling for higher and lower prices, you're "doing jobs" that cash out earned points for money), but Mafia Wars goes a little farther than Dope Wars, too, in that, since the game was originally created on MySpace and Facebook, you can "fight" against other players and win cash from them, too.

Don't expect to see any of Grand Theft Auto's 3D graphics or storyline (for that, you can go try Payback) -- this is a strictly turn-based button pressing simulation. But it's got quite a life of its own on Facebook already, so it's well balanced and fun for a few pick-up-and-play minutes at a time. It's free right now on the App Store, though Zynga says there'll be "premium versions" (whatever that means) that cost from $10 to $40 (whatever that means) available soon.

Tip of the Day

To get an instant map to any address, just go to your Address Book and right click on the address field of any one of your contacts and select "Map Of." The address will then be revealed in Google Maps on Safari. You can do the same if a data detector determines there is an address in an e-mail in Mail.


Follow us on Twitter!
 TUAW [Cafepress]

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
Storyist 2.0
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor

 

More Apple Analysis

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher