Wires Crossed # 103 – October 19

Freebies From EA

Freebies From EA
EA is a stand up company when it comes to stuff-ups. In the past week, it had a problem with a coupon code glitch during a promotion, which accidentally allowed consumers to get $20 off an unlimited number of games. They closed the loophole pretty quickly, but what was impressive is that instead of getting all grumpy and over reacting, the company announced via its Origin forum that all games bought using the dodgy coupon code would be honoured. Nice PR move.

Halo 4 Players Banned
On the other hand, there’s Microsoft who has taken a hard line against a group of Halo 4 players who managed to get a copy of the game before its official released. Some of the people with pirated copies began playing them online, but were spotted by the Xbox Live Enforcement Team and have now been permanently banned from using Xbox Live. How ‘permanent’ is permanent, only time will tell, but we don’t know what is more interesting/weird/funny/stupid – Microsoft reacting the way they have, or why people would play a pirated game online for all the world to see.

Gays Outed On Facebook
Facebook’s privacy settings have been a bane to both users and the company itself over the past couple of years. There have been many incidents whereby people have either not understood how to use the feature, or have used it incorrectly not realising they have done so. Two University of Texas students joined the Facebook page of the Queer Chorus at the college, however they didn’t realise that their status would be seen by friends and family. Both had not told their parents they were gay, and one in particular appears to come from a fundamentalist Christian family, so to say they were unhappy is an understatement.

England Soccer Players  Banned From Twitter
Football players who are in the England squad have been banned from tweeting on their Twitter account without approval from the FA. Ashley Cole and Ryan Bertrand are both left backs for England and Chelsea, but they have more in common with each other than just football teams as they have both been hauled over the coals recently for controversial tweets. The English Football Association has called time on the practice and has introduced a Code of Conduct that gives a clear indication of what is acceptable and what is not. Targetting opposition players and management is a big no-no, and they are not to do the same 24 hours before the game.  Sounds like common sense to us.

Brought to you by CyberShack.com.au