Wires Crossed #5 – September 3

Social Networking Sinner

Social Networking Sinner
Washington Post columnist Mike Wise found out the hard way that fooling around on Twitter can cause you all sorts of problems – the ‘you’re taking an enforced, unpaid vacation from work’ kind. Wise reported that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had been suspended for five matches, when in fact no such thing had happened . Wise claims it was a ‘social experiment’ to see how far misinformation could be spread on the web. Sure, you did, Mike. Unfortunately for him, the powers-that-be at the newspaper begged to differ.

And This Week’s “Wishful Thinking” Award Goes To
… Michael Trebilcock of Adelaide who sued Sony when his PS3 upgrade affected the functionality of his console to such an extent he could no longer use as a ‘computer’. Now, we’re not saying that Trebilcock was out of order – in fact he had every right to be annoyed – but did he really think he could take on one of the biggest consumer electronics manufacturers on the planet and win? Wethinks he a little naive, but at least the court didn’t impose costs on him for doing so.

Thanks For Playing
Still, it’s not all negative publicity this week for Sony. Around the world people are hoping that the miners trapped almost a kilometre underground in Chile will get out a lot sooner than the proposed three-plus months. To pass the time of day, would-be rescuers have sent them down an assortment of items to keep them amused, including some PSPs. One would hope they can send the units up every so often to get the batteries recharged, or else their frustration at not being able to finish the like of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box might get at tad frustrating. If it was my sons trapped down there, they’d think it was Nirvana.

Judge, Jury and, um, Write An Essay
Over the years people have been thrown of juries for various reasons – being on the take, falling asleep, not taking the occasion seriously enough, being known to, or flirting with, the defendant, but a Detroit woman was thrown off for a comment she made on Facebook. Hadley Jons got the boot by Judge Diane Druzinski for stating it was “gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're guilty” on her Facebook page. As well as being chucked off the jury, the judge also demanded Jons write a five-page piece on “The Constitutional Right to a Fair Trial”. Sounds like lessons learned all around.