As we can plainly see in this iPad 2 video review, Apple’s second-generation iPad tablet truly is magical. Though previous rumors suggested the iPad 2 would be roughly the same size as Apple’s first iPad, we now see that Apple has opted for a slightly larger form factor. The new 27-inch iPad 2 is still extremely portable, however, and it’s sure to be just as popular as its predecessor. We’re particularly excited about the iPad 2′s new voice-powered photo editing capabilities and the new video editor, which appears to be even more advanced than top-tier professional editing suites. Hit the break for the full video review and prepare to be wowed.

Allow us, if you will, to inject a little humor into your Friday afternoon. The comedy troop over at JLE have uploaded a “Banned White iPhone 4 Promo” spoof to video-sharing site YouTube. The video has some amazing one liners and lets you know that “if you’ve waited for the white iPhone, you’re an idiot” as you’ve “waited for 5-months for a phone that is a different color that you’re just going to put a cover on anyways.” The three minute spot is after the break, enjoy!

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Look, we’re pretty sure most of you out there have tried this a couple times or are at least familiar with the concept — you use a VoIP service which routes your call through a server that’s usually using Asterisk — you can have any number show up on the outgoing caller ID. Unfortunately for you malicious and deceiving individuals out there, Congress has just passed the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010, and it makes it 100% illegal to use a service like this. Here’s the breakdown:

To cause any caller ID service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information, with the intent to defraud and deceive.

There are exceptions for blocking your own caller ID and for law enforcement usage. In the past, as we’ve understood, this was a grey area, but it was still considered against the law to spoof someone else’s number. Though, we had heard that if you spoofed your own number, it wasn’t illegal (say you’re at the beach drinking a Mojito and need to call a client, you can spoof your office phone number from your cell phone), so we’ll have to see how this pans out. Sorry, SpoofCard.

[Via Ars Technica]

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Too funny. Circuit City headquarters recently had a fit when it discovered that the latest issue of MAD Magazine, a publication that it offers in its retail stores, ran a spoof called “Sucker City”. The four-page feature pokes a bit of fun at Circuit City and apparently when some higher ups caught wind of it they were none too happy. Our favorite quote from page one of Mad’s spoof:

Visit our new store on Rt. 17 directly across the street from Best Buy or visit any of our other 600 stores directly across the street from 600 other Best Buys!

Outstanding. As soon as headquarters was notified of the Circuit City spoof, it removed the magazine from inventory systems and issued an official notice to all stores. In a nutshell, the memo stated that all copies of the current issue of MAD should be destroyed immediately and discarded. Shortly after the internal memo was released publicly however, Circuit City PR kicked in and went into crisis control mode. They did a pretty good job actually, issuing a comical public statement and informing the original post author that affected stores would be replacing the magazines on store shelves immediately. Good show fellas. Hit the jump for page one of Mad’s feature, a copy of the internal memo issued by Circuit City headquarters and then the body of the clean up letter.

Hi, Ben,

I spotted the article about Circuit City and MAD Magazine on your site.

fyi, I became aware of this “situation” only this morning, and I have sent a note today to the Editors of MAD Magazine.

Speaking as “an embarrassed corporate PR Guy,” I apologized for the fact that some overly-sensitive souls at our corporate headquarters ordered the removal of the August issue of MAD Magazine from our stores. Please keep in mind that only 40 of our 700 stores sell magazines at all.

The parody of our newspaper ad in the August MAD was very clever. Most of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony…but there are occasional temporary lapses.

We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, and have issued a retraction order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on sale.

As a gesture of our apology and deep respect for the folks at MAD Magazine, we are creating a cross-departmental task force to study the importance of humor in the corporate workplace and expect the resulting Powerpoint presentation to top out at least 300 pages, chock full of charts, graphs and company action plans.

In addition I have offered to send the MAD Magazine Editor a $20.00 Circuit City Gift Card, toward the purchase of a Nintendo Wii….if he can find one!

All the best,

Jim Babb
Corporate Communications
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Richmond, VA

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