Wires Crossed #79 – April 13

Fugitive Updates Facebook On The Run
We all know that some people are addicted to Facebook, but even this is stretching the boundaries of dependence. Parole violator Travis Nicolaysen is great at avoiding police, but still likes to update his Facebook status, much to the chagrin of the local cops. You would think he would have more important things on his mind. What is interesting about this little escapade is that friends that write on his wall are split between those that are encouraging him to evade capture, and those advising Nicolaysen to turn himself in. He’ll get caught eventually – they always do.

Twitter Rescues Kidnap Victim
Carjacking in South Africa is a prolific problem in the country with more than 10,000 incidents happening every year in the Republic. A man in Johannesburg was hijacked recently and shoved in the boot of his car. However, the criminals forgot to purloin his mobile phone so he contacted his girlfriend who then tweeted his predicament. To cut a long story short, a range of people – from average Joe’s to security specialists – took up the cause and the offenders were stopped by the police and the victim rescued.

EA Named Worst In US
True story. Gaming giant Electronic Arts has been named the worst company in America by the readers of Consumerist magazine. It appears gamers object to several things about the firm, including the inconclusive ending to Mass Effect 3, plus the inclination of gaming companies to hold some of the content back so users have to pay more at a later date. While Consumerist would have us believe that this is the definitive answer as to who is the worst outfit in America, a little bit of digging found that the poll was only between two companies – the other being the Bank of America. Still, to lose out to the Bank of America is no small feat.

Weird Al Set To Sue Sony
As if Sony hasn’t got enough problems, now golden oldie funny guy Weird Al Yankovic might be suing the company over royalties from recordings he has made over the past few decades. With hits such as Eat It and Fat to his credit, Yankovic believes that Sony under reported the number of records he sold. He also alleges that when Sony bought YouTube  he was owed certain monies due to the popularity of his videos. Whether this doyen of comical recordings gets his due, we’ll let the court decide.