Wires Crossed #32 – April 8

Move Over Justin, Things Just Got Messi

Move Over Justin, Things Just Got Messi
While social media pundits spruik the ability of tween sensation Justin Bieber to have more than eight million followers on Twitter (currently, the world record), Barcelona and Argentine footballer Lionel Messi can go one better. On Wednesday he opened a Facebook account and within hours had more than seven million followers. While the Biebster and his Bieliebers cannot be denied, Messi’s foray into social networking would suggest that footballers have more pull than pop stars.

Anonymous Claim Free Speech At Stake After Attack On Sony
Denial of service attack group, Anonymous, is claimed to have an offshoot called SonyRecon that says it is targetting Sony websites and the company’s staff due to the CE giant stating it is going to sue PS3 hackers who have managed to unlock the gaming console. Anonymous is a firm believer in rights-free content, which is at odds with all of those vendors that create the product. And SonyRecon is not mucking around going after the big boys including the CEO and chair of Sony, Sir Howard Stringer. How successful they will be is yet to be seen, but they have already managed rendered the PS Network redundant for a day, and there is no sign of a truce in sight.

Sacre Blur!
When it comes to privacy, the Europeans sure know how to put corporates in their place. Google’s love affair with the continent isn’t getting any better after both Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic have had issues with Google’s lack of privacy with its Street View product. Now the Swiss have gotten in on the act by demanding the company manually blur the two percent of images it believes are not currently obscured automatically. Naturally Google is appealing and has (rightly) said that to enforce such obligations is unreasonable – both financially and in practical terms. The Swiss don’t care, and Google cannot upload any more pics until their appeal has been heard.

Teacher Sees Future Crims In Classroom             
Almost all the teachers who taught me I respected, were fair-minded and pretty intelligent. So it makes one wonder why a teacher in New Jersey, US, would be so stupid as to put a comment on her Facebook page stating that her students were ‘future criminals’. Now don’t get me wrong; I know that in certain parts of the US that description would be no exaggeration – hell it might even be true where she teaches. But putting it up on your Facebook page for the world to see? Pahleeze…dumb, dumb, dumb. She is now suspended pending an investigation.