Wires Crossed #101 – October 4

Yahoo CEO Delivers Ultimatum To Employees

Yahoo CEO Delivers Ultimatum To Employees
Recently appointed Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, has thrown down the gauntlet to her employees by telling them at a recent meeting that if a product cannot be shipped within six months of being announced then it is to be scrapped. In some major markets, Yahoo is failing to make a dent in Google’s seeming monopoly on search engine prowess and the features it has to offer.  The former Google protégé is determined to make her mark at Yahoo, while eating into the marketshare of her former employer and we see this as a the first salvo before the fire bombing begins.

Cook Says Sorry Over iOS 6 Mapping Failure
Bouquets were raining down on Apple after the announcement of the iPhone 5 two weeks ago, but just a week later a huge brickbat has headed its way in the form of customer complaints about its new mapping software included in iOS 6. Noting that there are many inaccuracies, Cook has taken the unusual step of encouraging consumers to take up rival brands, such as Google Maps and Nokia Maps, while Apple staff strive to keep on “improving Maps” and bring it up to speed with its competitors. Would this have happened 12 months ago? We think not.

Viral YouTube Video Lands Grandmother In Hot Water
A YouTube video has some welfare agencies in the US concerned after it showed a Delaware grandmother encouraging her primary school-aged grandson to fight another boy of the same age.  The video was shot on a smartphone by a bystander, who promptly uploaded it to the video sharing site. Supporters of the grandmother are stating that all she was trying to do was teach the boy to stand up for himself after he had been bullied. Child welfare advocates are saying the exact opposite in that there is no excuse for the grandmother to incite the boys to fight. Who needs a security camera on every corner when every second person has a smartphone with video capabilities?

Twitter Pic Gets Police Chief In Hot Water
And speaking of social media causing grief, a police chief in Detroit wishes he had been more circumspect with his love life. A spurned lover posted a picture on Twitter, which is not unusual in itself, but what caused consternation was that the pictures of police chief Ralph Godbee’s former lover Angelica Robinson – who is also a serving police officer – included one of her with a Glock pistol in her mouth. But it didn’t end there, Godbee also used resources of the police department to try and track Robinson down, thinking that she might be suicidal. The upshot is that Godbee has been suspended while there is no news of what punishment, if any, awaits Robinson.