Few questions about WiiConnect24

1. I've heard leaving it on with Standby mode on will fry the GPU, leaving to garbled images and "artifacts". Does this still happen?
2. Will leaving WiiConnect24 with Standby Mode have any ill effects on HBC?

1. Dunno, haven't heard much about this recently, most people dont seem to get this.
2. No. They cannot force an update via WC24, nor can they execute any code via it. All they can do is send you a message.

But really, there's not that much point in having it on. You can get your messages when you turn on your Wii anyway, and it wastes electricity. But if you want to have it on, there is no good reason I know of not to.

Well, I know some channels/games require Standby mode on (News, Forecast, Nintendo, etc), and I was interested in checking out the Nintendo Channel.

Yes the news, forecast channels at least need wii24 turned on, or at least the news channel does to get the news feeds. The Nintendo channel is pretty neat, you can keep up on the news and updates of products and games they are coming up with.

You can have WC24 on without having standby connection on. I don't have standby connection on and I can use Nintendo Channel fine (or at least I could until I got a new router and never got round to configuring the Wii to it). News and Weather channels need standby connect afaik though.