If you're the kind of person who complains in the comments whenever we post a useless app, then just move right on from this weekend post (or go check out Paradise Monkeys, it actually looks like a good one). But as weird and pointless as this app may be, we have to give the folks behind this iLickIt game credit -- they really took the multitouch screen to a place it probably shouldn't go. The idea is that you get a plate of food from Grandma, and then you have to lick it clean... by actually licking your iPhone or iPod touch. No thanks.

Actually, iLickIt isn't the first app that's asked you to lick something that's been in your pocket (and who knows where) all day long -- there's other ice cream-licking related apps on the store already. But its claim to the very first "iPhone game you play with your tongue" may actually be legit -- it actually times how long it takes you to lick up the food and turns it into a little game. Though we can't really recommend it, it is coming to an App Store near you, so just in case your tongue hasn't had enough to do lately (and yes, I'll just let that one go), there you have it.

It's a quiet weekend here at TUAW HQ, as most of our US-based team is enjoying a well-deserved break over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Since everyone's drinking mojitos by the pool, we're not doing a talkcast tonight (sorry!), but you can grab last week's show (featuring host Christina "C-Mac" Warren and the rest of the usual suspects) direct from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes.

Here's a quick update on some of the stories making Mac and iPhone news this weekend:

• Daring Fireball's John Gruber weighs in on the upcoming iPhone refresh rumors, citing informed sources who tell him that the CPU and RAM upgrades for the next-generation handheld will deliver impressive performance boosts, making this year's model up to twice as fast as the iPhone 3G. He also backs up the expected addition of a magnetometer and a video-capable improved camera (alongside the long-rumored video editing tools on the phone). You can see a thorough roundup of the state of iPhone rumors over at Wired's Gadget Lab. Perhaps the upcoming iPhone refresh is behind the expected ramp-up in distributed support hiring noted earlier this week.
  
• Kwame Jones discovered a preliminary interface for renting and purchasing movies & TV shows on the iPhone and iPod touch, which should be loads of fun even though it will be limited to WiFi connections.
• MDN and other sites have noted a North Carolina effort to get Apple to build a major server farm in the Tarheel State, with up to $46 million USD in tax incentives available if the company reaches a $1B investment threshold in nine years. Seems a shame that lawmakers declared the scuppernong grape as the official state fruit a few years ago, doesn't it.
• Glenn Fleischman from TidBITS pointed out that the UVA freshman computing survey is out again, showing more impressive gains for the Mac platform year-over-year. UC Davis shows a tripling of share for the Mac over the past three years.
  
• In a very quick turnaround, Cartier sued Apple for two iPhone apps that it claimed ripped off its products -- and then promptly withdrew the action. Nicely done.
• The First Ascent team, videoblogging their way up Mount Everest using solar power and MacBook Pro laptops, reached the summit earlier this week. Congratulations!
• The long-admired Windows photo app ACDsee finally released a Mac beta this week; it's worth a look.
• More photos and inside views from the Zurich Apple Store opening via ifoAppleStore.

Got something that's too good not to share? Give us a tip!

Apple reports that it sold its one millionth iPhone 3G on Sunday, meeting (if not exceeding) many analysts expectations that it would do so. This came despite deep hurting surrounding activation of the new phones on Friday.

But hold on: because of clever accounting, a sizable fraction of those handsets were already considered "sold" as soon as they left the loading dock in Asia, according to Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog. "In other words, some of those 1 million iPhones recorded as sold by Apple may still be in transit," they wrote.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster had conservatively predicted that it would take 17 days for Apple to sell a million of the new handsets. He may be closer to the truth, if one counts only the units sold at retail over the weekend.

Additionally, Apple noted that users downloaded 10 million apps from the App Store since it launched last week. In another press release, The Stevester called the App Store a "grand slam."

I hope you've cleaned out your downloads directory, because we have another roundup of software for the week of 7-30-06 to 8-5-06:

Shareware

• Pukka 1.3 - del.icio.us bookmarking utility gets private 'mark and AppleScript support
• Packrat 0.87 - killer offline Backpack client (probably the only) receives page link editing and creation
• TubeSock - Rip, mix, save and convert YouTube videos for your iPod
• WiLMa - automatically change default network, printer, SMTP servers, desktop wallpaper, system volume and more based on Mac OS X Locations
• Audio Hijack Pro 2.7 - big podcast recording update to an already killer audio app

Freeware

• Apple Security Update 2006-004 - many bugs and security holes were put to rest
• kip - iPhoto for your documents (digital or otherwise)
• Afloat - killer Mac OS X plugin/utility that brings transparency and 'always on top' options to all Cocoa apps
• Quake 4 demo - Aspyr finally gets a clue, releases demo of $50, hardware-hungry game
• Picasa Web Album Uploaders - Google releases standalone uploader and iPhoto plugin for their Picasa web photo sharing service
• Doodim - darken background apps (a la Exposé) for better concentration

Open Source

• Back/Center Stage 0.6 - open source media center project receives Apple Remote support, new UI and Intel-friendliness
• NeoOffice 2.0 Aqua Beta - major update to the non-X11 OpenOffice client

Donationware

• ShapeOnYou - handy and integrated basic 3D drawing app
• Photoshop Automator Actions v3 - major update to rocking set of around 50 actions for automation with and without Photoshop

Widgets

• DashMail (formerly QuickMail) - quick email widget, works with addresses from Gmail, AOL, AIM, Yahoo! , .Mac and custom servers. Remembers addresses and subjects, with Address Book support in the works
  
• iPick - magic card trick widget
• Reuters Yahoo! Widget - 10-line Reuters news widget for Yahoo! Widgets (formerly Konfabulator)
• Telescope - Basecamp widget

Universal

• Camino (Intel-optimized) - Mac OS X-friendly Mozilla browser receives an Intel-only optimized build

In case you missed them the first time, here is this week's review of software releases, updates, thrills and spills:

Shareware

• Call Recorder plugin for Skype - don't blackmail without it
• Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.2.5 - vulnerability and bug fixes
• Mouseposé 2 - new features for the premier mouse highlighting app

Freeware

• CamiScript 4.0 - AppleScript menu plugin for Camino
• Boot Camp 1.0.2 beta - detail-less update to Apple's Windows-on-a-Mac utility

Open Source

• Firefox 2.0 beta 1 - pile of new features, including (finally) spell checking, to the flagship Mozilla browser

Widgets

• newTunes - check new releases by artists in your iTunes library

Universal

• FileMaker 8.5 - impressive 100% speed boost for both Intel and PPC-based Macs

Grab a cup of coffee and get your downloading mice ready ladies and gents; this week's software review is coming at you:

Shareware

• AppZapper 1.5: minor fixes and improvements
• ChatFX: spice up your iChat video conferences
• TextExpander 1.3 (formerly Textpander): an essential utility gets even better
• QuarkXPress 7 (yawn): but the Universal is still in beta
• SubEthaEdit 2.5: the much loved collaborative text editor and code-ninja tool receives AppleScript-ability, bug fixes
• Videator: be careful when using it to spice up your videos
• iComment 4.1: maintenance release and compatibility with iWeb 1.1.x
• DivX 6.5: Universal (and free) player along with a retail price encoder for indie video codec

Donationware/Freeware

• Bricksmith (donationware): virtual legos on your Mac. I dare you to name something cooler
• Safari Tidy (free): plug-in to check sites for XHTML compliance
• CoreDuoTemp 0.8 (free): maintenance fix for utility to keep track of temp, CPU usage and frequency on Intel Macs
• MappingService (donationware): get a map from any app
• SmackBook (free): hilarious hack for multi-desktop management utility
• Proxi 1.0 (free): broader app support for application automation utility from Griffin

Open Source

• Maintenance 3.5: minor updates to fantastic Automator action/AppleScript
• Password Assistant: hook into Keychain Access to easily create complicated passwords
• Books: feature-rich book catalogging

Free Updates

• iWeb 1.1.1: hopefully those publishing woes have been vanquished
• Xcode 2.3: Apple's premiere code-ninja tool receives enhancements and bug fixes
• Logic Express 7.2.1: maintenance release

Universal Binary

• Delibar 0.8 (donationware): My personal favorite del.icio.us menubar bookmark utility