Wires Crossed #78 – April 4

Blind Driver Gets Behind Google
One of Google’s pet projects is the driverless car. Whether it’s used to replace trains or buses, or compliment them, who knows, but there is one upside – the ability to drive blind and invalid people around. That’s exactly what Steve Mahan did recently in a Google Toyota Prius. Mahan, who is legally blind, rode in the car to run a few errands without having his hands on the wheel. Although still in its infancy, this type of technology is turning heads with Google hoping that it will not only save lives due to the lack of human error and speed, but also save on time and petrol, too.

Used Xbox 360s Not Safe From Hackers
If you have used Microsoft’s Xbox Live Service and then on-sold your Xbox, your credit card details are far from safe. Researchers from two universities in the United States decided to buy a refurbished Xbox from a reseller and see what information they could get from the console. Quite a bit apparently, including credit card details of the original owner. The researchers claim that even if you wipe the hard drive and put the device back to its factory settings it will not make it safe. We’re not expecting a great rush of hackers heading out to buy used Xbox consoles, but it is a worry that those details, even when wiped, can still be gathered.

UK Celebrity Hunts Down Facebook Troll And Offers Him Funding!
British celebrity Noel Edmunds is both loathed and loved figure amongst the television pubic in the United Kingdom. As well as giving the world Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and Noel’s House Party and hosting the British version of Deal or No Deal, he also has the unenviable reputation of introducing Mr Blobby into the television lexicon. And when somebody started a Facebook page called Somebody Please Kill Noel Edmunds, he took umbrage and decided to hunt the person down. With the help of an agency that specialises in such web searches he found the culprit, who turned out to be a university student. They had a meeting, the end result being Edmunds offering the guy some money to fund a study about why people troll the internet hassling people. To which we say, huh?

Facebook Causes Eating Disorders
Yeah, right, or so the people from The Center for Eating Disorders would have us believe. Apparently the massive sample of 600 Facebook readers in a survey carried out by the center shows that 51 percent of people feel more self-conscious about their bodies when they see their picture on Facebook. While 44 percent said they wanted a better body, and 32 percent felt sad looking at their photos, how this can cause eating disorders is anyone’s guess. Going  from answering a multi-choice question in a survey, and then going to the loo and chucking up breakfast, is drawing a very long bow.