Wires Crossed # – October 7

Facebook Diagnoses Alcoholism?
Call me a cynic, but if we’re getting to the stage where social networking sites are diagnosing diseases, then I’ll never visit a doctor again – I’ll get my diagnoses from the web. A recent study published in the US medical journal, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, says that the authors looked at 300 Facebook profiles, divided them into three categories – teetotallers; occasional drinkers; those who liked to get drunk all the time, and came to the conclusion that some of these people might have a drinking problem. Guess which group? Unsurprisingly, it was those who liked to get totally drunk who  were four times more likely to have an alcohol problem. HHmm, I reckon I could have told them that for free.

Android Earns Microsoft Half A Billion Bucks
The motives behind a well-publicised stoush between Apple and Samsung over the latter’s Galaxy 10.1 Tab slate become a little clearer when you find out that Microsoft will collect $444 million worth of license fees from Android manufacturers this year, according to a report from Goldman Sachs.  The Wall St firm says the Seattle-based software company garners between $3-$6 per device sold, so you can see why Apple would want less of these units on the market. While this particular link maybe tenuous to the lawsuit itself, it does give you an insight into how much money is at stake and why getting lawyers involved at the drop of the hat seems more common than not amongst the CE community.

Cassidy Sues Sony
Former teenage heart throb and oldies circuit staple David Cassidy is suing Sony over royalties from his time in the 1970s television programme The Partridge Family. Back in the day Cassidy was the Justin Beiber of his generation along with Michael Jackson, Leif Garrett and Donny Osmond. Companies made squillions off of his clean cut image and propensity to send teenage girls into a frenzy whenever he appeared in public. He claims he received only $5000 for his cut of all the merchandise bearing his image and now wants his due. Thirty-five years ago, stars’ contracts weren’t as scrutinised as they are these days, so he might have an inkling of a case. However, Sony is not having a bar of it and claim it’s covered. Be interesting  to see  how it works out.

Google’s Gaydar
Definitely a “what the?” moment. As well as being a search engine, mapping agency and email gateway, Google now has an app that can tell you if a celebrity is gay or not. I have absolutely no idea why they have done it, what possible use it could be, or who would want to use the facility. It piqued our interest because it just goes to show that even though Google has serially won the top spot as the place people would most like to work, even its employees get bored sometimes.

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