Wires Crossed #94 – August 3
Surface Arrives End of October
Microsoft’s play in the tablet market, the Surface, is due to be released on October 26. Although the company was not spruiking the devices releases, a snoopy journalist discovered the date after checking the records at the Security Exchange Commission in the United States, which under law Microsoft has to do. With the Windows 8 operating system attached, Microsoft is going in with all guns blazing with the Surface, in a market that is set to double over the next couple of years. The company has been left in the wake of Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, so to even begin to make a dent they need to produce something special. They think they might have done so with the Surface, but we’ll be sitting on the fence until we get one in our hot little hands.
Google Employee Slung From Jury At Apple’s Request
The battle between Apple and Samsung over patent issues has heated up with the trial set to start as soon as they get a jury settled. And herein lies an interesting little nugget that we came across. When selecting a jury, each side gets to nix four potential jurors for reasons they don’t have to explain. However, in order to get rid of more people, one side can try and persuade a judge to dismiss somebody for a variety of reasons without using up one of their aforementioned challenges. One potential juror had admitted to owning two Samsung phones, two iPads and a Galaxy Tab. Apple thought this was sufficient for the judge to remove the person from the jury. However, the judge disagreed, so Apple used up one of its preemptory challenges, and the person was gone. What we found more interesting was why a person has two smartphones and three tablets! We’re lucky to have a smartphone, and I have more chance of finding out I had 10,000 Apple shares I didn’t know about than buying a tablet.
Judge In Firing Line Over Facebook ‘Like’
And speaking of judges, one in Kansas in the United States has caused a stir because of who she liked on a Facebook page. We all know that judges are supposed to be impartial arbitrators of the law, but Judge Jan Satterfield has raised an eyebrow or two by liking the Facebook page of Sheriff Kelly Herzet who is again running for office in her local district. Some law enforcement positions in the United States are elected, as opposed to being appointed like Australia. Therefore, some have questioned the judge’s impartiality by openly endorsing a law enforcement officer. The judge is wondering what all the fuss is about, but a former resident of the county were the judge works has filed a complaint with the Kansas Commission of Judicial Qualifications over the issue. What one small click of a button can do these days…
Teen Arrested Over Olympic Rant
Which leads us to a nice segue involving yet another social media storm; this time over British Olympian Diver Tom Daley. It appears the young man didn’t live up to expectations by failing to medal in the synchronised diving event with team mate Peter Waterfield. Daley has been hyped as a bona fide medal prospect but finished poorly, leading one tweeter to tell him that he was "overhyped'' and said the diver "let us all down.'' The same person then tweeted "I hold a gun license for shooting birds and I'm gonna shoot yours as well,'' which led to a knock on the Tweeters door at 2am by the police on an unspecified address in Dorset. Methinks the Twitterer is taking these games a little too seriously.
