"In a somewhat surprising move today, wireless carrier O2 Ireland announced that its customers would be able to unlock Apple's iPhone. Per the O2 forum, Rod Coleman, head of O2's Customer Care unit, discussed the decision surrounding the unlocking on iPhones, especially those who want to pass on old handsets."

You have to meet several criteria, which are:

• Registered on the O2 forum;
• Prepaid customers must have reached minimum of €150 on the registered SIM card (this excludes bonus credits);
• And you must have purchased the iPhone from O2 Ireland.

You can get more info on the O2 forum about this particular topic.

"Actor Richard Belzer found himself on the wrong side of the law after an employee at a Manhattan Apple store told cops the "Law & Order" star attacked her, police sources said."

After reviewing the tape of the incident, NYPD said at best it was harassment, not assault, since Belzer didn't "choke" her as the victim alleges. I haven taken more calls than I can count from victims of crimes that, to put it mildly, exaggerated what happened to them. I'm not saying she is doing this, and that she wasn't scared, but under the law it appears her charges are unfounded when it comes to saying Belzer "attacked and choked" her. I'm just anticipating a civil suit next from her, call me cynical.

"In its annual list of the world's billionaires, Forbes this year ranked Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a tie with six others for 136th place with a net worth of $5.5 billion. Jobs' net worth is up from $5.1 billion in an October 2009 Forbes ranking of richest Americans and up from $3.4 billion and 178th place in last year's world ranking."

Doesn't hurt that Apple stock is up more than 150% from last year. But he still has a ways to go to catch up to number one on the list, Carlos "Slim" Helú, who has net worth of $53.5 billion, bumping out Bill Gates. Just so you know, "Slim" was able to build up his wealth in the telecom industry and he takes in roughly $33 million....PER DAY! 

"I have the greatest respect for the men and women behind Apple's tech support. Despite having one of the toughest jobs in the industry, they've always been extremely efficient and courteous in solving my own problems."

And the subscribers to Consumer Reports apparently agree with your sentiments, ranking Apple number one in their survey that rated problems solved, phone waits, phone staff and online support. Approximately 3,700 subscribers surveyed in laptop and also desktop support ranked Apple tops in each. The laptop score was 86 out of 100, and for desktop they scored 87 out of 100. These are up from last years numbers of 84 and 81 respectively.

"New browser time -- and unfortunately, time to restart your Mac. Safari has been updated (for 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 on the Mac side, and Windows XP/Vista/7 on the Win side); it includes the improvements noted: performance improvements for Top Sites, stability improvements for plug-ins, and for sites with SVG graphics and online forms and fixes issues affecting settings changes to some Linksys routers and iWork.com user comments"

Lots of security fixes with this update, all outlined here, and you can get the 31.8 MB download via Software Update or by going to the Safari download page here.

Head on over now to the Apple Store, online pre-orders are now being accepted. Woo Hoo.

"With just a few weeks to go before the iPad hits stores, here's the best way to ensure you're at the head of the line to get one (or three). If history is any indication, the iPad will be in short supply when it goes on sale April 3. Plus there are rumors of production delays that may further constrain supply."

To give yourself ample opportunity, visit AppleStoreCheck.com and they will let you know when things change and the familiar message above is displayed at the Apple Online Store. Once you sign up, they will alert you via email, RSS or Twitter. This doesn't appear to be limited to the iPad either, as they say "We'll check the Apple Store for new products and changes - so you don't have to."

"Good news for all of you Foursquare addicts, after a couple days of noticed absence, the Foursquare iPhone app is now back on the App Store."

This was regarding version 1.6, which was released into the store and then pulled when it was discovered to have been released too early. So they put it back in after fine tuning it, and now they have updated again, since as of yesterday version 1.7 is now available for free in iTunes.

"Remember iCalShare? The calendar-sharing site-once touted by Steve Jobs during a Macworld Expo keynote-seemed to have vanished for a while, but it's now back, and even easier to use. iCalShare now provides more than 3,500 free calendars in 40 categories, with its search tool and interface both undergoing improvements in its latest incarnation."

You can check out all their calendars at their site, iCalShare, and it is worth a look. I use several of these for sport schedules and holidays. It is pretty easy, and the only requirement after creating an account is to make sure you use the iCalendar (.ics) format. This is a sharing site only, it doesn't help you create or host any, but it certainly makes finding that special or obscure calendar. And it beats finding all the dates and entering them manually!

"According to a Microsoft security bulletin, seven privately reported vulnerabilities in Excel could allow remote code execution if a user were to open a specially-crafted file. By exploiting those vulnerabilities, an attacker could gain the same user rights as a local user."

So in order to fix this, Microsoft released two updates, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.4 Update and Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.8 Update. These updates will, as described by Microsoft, take care of “vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.” The updates will also improve stability and slow performance.

Microsoft also brought out two other updates: Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition 13.0.4 (which will now allow you to synchronize notes, tasks, and categories with Exchange Server), and Microsoft Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 1.1.4 (which lets you convert Open XML files created in Office 2008 for Mac or Office 2007 for Windows).

"The first Google Buzz client is now in the app store, The Next Web's Tim Difford reports. Buzzie, from developer Alberto Hierro, gives you full access to your Buzz account, and also lets users who don't have accounts (or don't want to sign in) see what people are buzzing up in their area."

Called Buzzie, it's available now in the iTunes Store for $2.99 USD. I haven't gotten enough use out of Google Buzz to make having an application worthwhile. Have any of you, or do any of you use Buzz frequently? If so, how do you like it?

"Top app maker CJApps has launched a brand new contest to promote the hit game Finger Maniac 1.1, available on the iPhone and iPod touch devices. In the latest update of the game, players are invited to try the 1Million point challenge. Between the dates of 3/1 and 5/1, players will be able to play this challenging mode and the first to reach 1 million points will win a brand new Apple iPad!"

Basically you get 90 seconds to type out as many 10-letter words, as fast as you can. Once you complete this you get rewarded with points. First person to reach 1 million points is the winner! Contest runs until 5/1 so best get going if you want to be in the running, they are already into day 11 of the contest.

"On Wednesday, March 10, 2010, Certified Public Accountant Stephanie Davies, age 39, was at her place of business, the Financial Services Group, located on SW Miley Road in Wilsonville. Ms. Davies reports she was approached at the front counter of her business shortly after 9 a.m. by a young male subject seeking directions to a local motel. The male asked that these directions be written on a piece of paper, and Davies complied with his request. During this moment of distraction, the male suspect grabbed Stephanie Davies' iPhone from the counter and fled the area in a motor vehicle."

Ah but little did he know she had purchased a tracking program for her iPhone. Once the deputy arrived to talk to her, he logged into the victim account and then used his own iPhone to track it down. The funny thing is, this happened at our agency, so I was the dispatcher for the event. Another successful recovery, and according to the deputy, the thief was quite surprised. I don't know which program she used (initially I thought it was MobileMe) but as soon as I find out, I'll let you know.

"How about a nice thick wooden case for that upcoming iPad? While it does double the width of the iPad and make it significantly more unwieldy, it does look nice. This is certainly a "case" of form over function. Har."

I can see using this, if I wanted to use my iPad for a picture frame, cycling through my iPhoto library. Other than that, not so much. They are going to sell for $79.95 USD and are from a company called Vers, which also sells iPhone cases made from wood.

"CBS Interactive today released the 2010 March Madness application ($9.99 app store). Big difference over last year? 3G streaming of games! It is just a shame that the iPad won't be out until April."

You can get the paid app here, for $9.99 USD, but the free "lite" version has highlights and pretty much everything the paid version does except for the live streaming video of the games. I agree it's too bad the iPad won't be available for it, but at least you will be able to use the iPad with MLB At Bat 2010!

"The fee to become an Apple Mac developer dropped significantly Thursday to $99. According to Apple the new low cost of membership is in response to the success of the iPhone Developer Program (also $99 per year) and the potential that apps from that platform might crossover to the Mac."

The previous prices were $499.00 USD for the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) Select and $3,499.00 USD for the ADC Premier program. You can still get the free version of the Mac Developer if you want to tinker and see if you want to upgrade to one of the other programs, but $99.00 USD is a heckuva drop in price and quite the bargain.

"Not content with answering tech questions from Americans, Steve Jobs this week answered a question from all the way over in Sweden."

So Jezper asks via email if he will be able to tether his iPhone and his iPad, to which Steve replies via email from his iphone... No. 

"FileMaker Pro 11, the latest version of the Mac database software, was officially released Tuesday, packing in improved chart visuals, "on the fly" reporting, a new Quick Find capability, and a number of productivity tools that aim to make database creation simpler and quicker."

The last update was in 2009 when they released FileMaker 10. They also released updates to the entire line of FileMaker products. The retail price for FileMaker Pro 11 is $299.00 USD, or $179.00 USD to upgrade. The prices for advanced and server go up from there. I haven't used FileMaker in years, do any of you use it on a regular basis?

If you aren't in any hurry, you can also enter the Schlage giveaway over at iLounge. Details about the rebate though, are here, and you can pick the starter kits up at a number of stores, brick and mortar as well as at Amazon.com, where they offer the Schlage LiNK Wireless Keypad Deadbolt Starter Kit System, Satin Nickel as one of the applicable products.

"After Valve's series of teaser images, it's now been revealed that their upcoming sequel Portal 2 will also be coming to the Mac. The above image comes from a series of scans from the latest issue of Gameinformer magazine which carries a cover story about the much anticipated sequel."

A friend of mine has the Orange Box compilation and Portal was one of the games. Very interesting game and it really made you think. Can't wait to see what they come up with for Portal 2, due out this fall.