The Washington Post reports that the SEC violated procurement law when it purchased almost US$1 million in computer equipment from Apple in 2008. In a report released last week, the SEC's inspector general said that after the purchase the computer equipment "immediately failed" to work as intended. The report says that the SEC violated federal regulations when it told Apple its budget for one of the orders and failed to seek out any further competitive bids.

The SEC was seeking to purchase updated equipment in order to help meet its expanded duties in regulating the financial industry. Prior to the purchase, the SEC was still relying on old tape reels to store and back up data. The report also accuses Apple of wrongdoing. It says Apple used the known budget the SEC had (originally $200,000) and tailored the order around that. However, Apple left out "essential equipment that the SEC was subsequently forced to purchase," according to the report. That essential equipment cost the SEC another $773,000. The SEC said that "appropriate action was taken" against the employee responsible for the purchase. Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet declined to issue a comment on the matter to The Washington Post.

TechCrunch reports that iOS 5, expected to debut at WWDC next month, will feature a "completely revamped" notification system and widgets. Apple has long been rumored to be revamping its notifications system in iOS, and many have expected that such a notification system revamp would make its way into iOS 5.

The widgets functionality is somewhat a new concept, however. Besides TechCrunch's mention that there will be iOS widgets, nothing else is known about what they'll look like or what function they'll perform. MacRumors postulates that iOS widgets could "presumably provide quick access to information without the need for launching dedicated apps, much the same as Dashboard widgets in Mac OS X." They might also function similarly to a pretty cool concept video of how widgets might work in iOS.

Earlier today we told you how Apple's legal team finally caught up with Fei Lam, the teenager from New York who was selling white iPhone 4 conversion kits, and filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against him. Now new information about the whole ordeal has emerged including how exactly Apple found him.

In an interview with Fast Company, Lam says that he first found out about the lawsuit when he received an email from Fast Company. Lam also says that, contrary to reports, he did not make US$130,000 for the sales of white iPhone parts.

He is apparently meeting with Apple's lawyers within the next month to discuss the lawsuit and any legal repercussions, however Lam will not be represented by a lawyer as he doesn't have the funds to cover one. An earlier report by Fast Company also noted that Apple only tracked Lam down after hiring a private investigator that worked for an anti-counterfeit and trademark protection firm. Looks like when it comes to Apple, you can't remain on the lam forever*.

*I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the worst pun ever.

BGR broke out a rumor today suggesting Apple may unveil a new Back-To-School promotion at WWDC. As part of this sale, everyone who buys a new Mac with their educational discount would receive a free iPod touch or $200 off the cost of an iPad.

For the past several years, Apple has kicked off a back-to-school promotion in late May or early June. It would not be surprising to see this discount extended to the iPad this year.

The WWDC part of this rumor, though, has us scratching our heads. In previous years, these promotions were announced on Apple's website. There was no event, not even a press release. Yes, they occurred around the time of WWDC, but they were not announced at WWDC. Why would this year be any different?

Sadly, a 20-year-old male employee at Foxconn (Apple's contract manufacturer for many products) committed suicide Thursday morning, according to a report from the Hong Kong China News Agency (HKCNA) cited by Bloomberg. The worker was reportedly employed at the company's new facility in Chengdu where an explosion killed three workers on May 20.

Further details about Thursday morning's incident are sparse, and the reasons behind the factory worker's suicide are currently unknown. This is at least the 14th publicized death by suicide among Foxconn's workforce since the start of 2010.

Foxconn chairman Terry Gou declined to comment about the incident saying he doesn't know the full details about the apparent suicide. However, last year, Gou said suicides by Foxconn employees were prompted by personal issues rather than tough working conditions in his company's facilities.

Labor groups like China Labor Watch disagree. Foxconn's critics have slammed the Taipei-based company for operating facilities with a sweatshop atmosphere -- an accusation Gou vehemently denies.

In response to last year's suicides and subsequent harsh criticism, Foxconn, which builds electronic products for several other recognizable brands including Sony and Dell, raised wages, slashed overtime, offered counseling, and tried to improve the work-life balance for its more than one million factory workers in China.

Although Foxconn's suicide rate remains markedly lower than China's national average, Thursday morning's death, last Friday's explosion, and protests outside a Foxconn shareholder meeting earlier this month suggest the manufacturer has more work to do to improve employee safety and overall satisfaction.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to the friends and family of the young man who died.

Peekaboo! Guess Who? (US$1.99) from Bacciz Apps is a lovely little educational iPad game for toddlers and young children. It teaches kids to identify the sounds animals make.

Gameplay is simple and features both a "Kids Mode" for very young players and a "2+ Mode."

First, kids choose a setting -- Farm, Ocean, Jungle or Circus -- and are guided to the appropriate screen. Players next hear a sound made by a hidden animal (in 2+ Mode, the animal is briefly displayed at the start of the turn). Next, three animals appear in circles and the player taps their choice of who made the sound.

If correct, the circle changes to a smiley face and the child is rewarded with a big "Yay!" or "Yippee!" The animal's name is displayed as it emerges from behind a curtain, barn door pile of leaves or forest of seaweed, depending on the level being played.

If the wrong animal is chosen, the face frowns and another choice can be made.

The game also fosters independent play. For example, kids are prompted through gameplay by a dopey, Wallace Shawn-sounding voice. Also, if a player hesitates for a certain amount of time, a hand appears and points out the hidden animal's location. Finally, you can switch between Kid Mode and 2+ Mode at anytime with a tap.

Gallery: Peekaboo! Guess Who? Gallery

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The Unarchiver isn't a new utility to the Mac world, and we reviewed an earlier version of it. It's the Swiss Army knife of unarchiving programs and can handle pretty much any file, no matter how ancient, you throw at it. The native unarchiver for OS X is pretty solid in and of itself, but it's nice to have a utility such as Unarchiver around when you need something to tackle anything from Amiga PowerPacker files to StuffIt Archive files.

There are a number of unarchiving options, including when you want to create folders for the extracted files or alter the modification date, and the ability to move the original archive file to the trash after expanding the contents. The one thing you can't do is archive stuff. If you want to do that, you can use OS X's built-in archiver, buy the venerable StuffIt Deluxe ($49.99) or spring for the US$19.99 BetterZip.

However, Unarchiver is a free download in the Mac App Store, so it's definitely worth having as one of your basic Mac utilities.

Brothers John and Sam Shahidi are living the classic American dream. The pair developed RunPee, a small iPhone application that lets you find the right time to take a bathroom break during a movie. The app became so popular that the brothers founded a startup company called RockLive. They used their experience with RunPee to help sports celebrities develop their own iOS applications and social presence.

Their first client was Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals and they recently signed Mike Tyson. The brothers developed a free game, Mike Tyson Main Event, that's been downloaded almost one million times. During this time, RockLive has grown from two to 22 employees. The California company is still expanding and looking to attract clients outside the sports realm. So who is on their radar? Musicians, celebrity chefs and stay-at-home Moms, of course.

Dear Auntie,

Just got my first iPhone, but the ringtones stink! How do I take my super awesome Star Trek MIDI file and use it as a ringtone?

Hugs and snuggles,

JayW. in MN

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If you see a group of people dancing in front of your local Apple store next weekend, don't be alarmed. Steve Jobs didn't make a surprise visit to the store and, no, Apple isn't launching another product. They are just protesters from the US Uncut group.

The grassroots movement is upset with corporate tax loopholes and has deciced to target the Cupertino company on June 4. They accuse Apple and other corporations like Pfizer of hiding US income as foreign income to avoid paying taxes. The group is calling on its members to protest with a flash mob-style dance-in outside Apple retail stores around the US. Read on for a video to find out why this group is so upset with Steve Jobs and company.

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