Wires Crossed #69 – February 3

Dating Website Rates Smartphone Users
It seems Android users are more racy and outgoing when it comes to dating, if the findings of a recent survey are to be believed. Polling specialist Zoomerang carried out a survey for dating site Match.com of over 1000 Canadian smartphone users and found that Android users are more likely to have sex on a first date or have one-night stands. A close second were iPhone users then Blackberry users. However, when it comes to alcohol consumption, Blackberry users – at 72 percent – were more likely to drink on a first date. iPhone users were more likely to date a co-worker with about 25 percent saying they had been involved in a work colleague over the past five years.

Twitter Joke Gets Brits Deported
America doesn’t muck around when it comes to joking about blowing things up – especially when done via an open social networking platform like Twitter. Two British tourists were put in jail and deported not long after they landed at LAX in California after one of them sent tweets that said they were going to ‘destroy America’. The country’s Department of Homeland Security didn’t see the funny side of the tweets and promptly picked them up. One wonders at the technology that tells the US about:

  • the content of a tweet
  • who sent it
  • from what account
  • when they were arriving in the US
  • they knew they had the right people.

Secret Service Look Into Policeman’s Facebook Posting
Police Sergeant Pat Shearer of Arizona caught the eye of the United States Secret Service after posting a picture on his Facebook page. The snap showed a group of young men holding up a bullet-riddled shirt with a picture of President Barack Obama on it. Shearer doesn’t see anything wrong with what he did, but his police department might not take the same attitude, as he may have violated police policy with regard to the transmission of electronic media.

Yahoo Axes Apps
Yahoo has taken the blowtorch to some of its apps designed for the iPad, iPhone and Android smartphones. Those being deleted include Yahoo deals, Yahoo Meme, Yahoo News and Yahoo Shopping. The company says it will be no longer supporting the applications because  it was reacting to the changing market, which probably means a couple of things – nobody is using these products anymore, or they are costing too much to support. Then again, maybe they are telling the truth when they say: “Our plan is to keep moving, to keep innovating, and to continuously measure and scrutinize what’s working and what isn’t – so we can make room for great new products.”