The World Worm Web

Holy dinner date! Two of tech’s heaviest heavyweights, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, had supper together two weeks ago and talked about—well, we don’t exactly know, but you can be sure it was probably more about Ping than poking.

It’s true! Apple CEO Steve Jobs had Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over for dinner at his pad and then went for a walk afterward to talk some more.

The big question is obviously what they talked about and what the significance of this meeting of the billion-dollar minds was all about.

Easy money would be on the two talking about how Ping, Apple’s new music-based iTunes social network, might better sync up with Facebook’s 500 million-strong population. If you’ll take a trip down memory lane with me for a moment, you’ll remember that Facebook and Apple didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye on a few things when Ping launched last month.

Perhaps this meeting was a first, necessary step in ironing out the wrinkles. It doesn’t take a genius to see the boatloads of money that could be made for both companies if Ping were tightly integrated into the Facebook platform. [LA Times]

Red Devil no more … Wayne Rooney set to quit Manchester United. Source: Paul Ellis / AFP

Manchester United star Wayne Rooney is set to quit the club because of limited match time under manager Sir Alex Ferguson, according to media reports.

Rooney is yet to make a public statement, but he now feels that his relationship with Ferguson has suffered irreparable damage, reports The Guardian.

Ferguson’s latest snub of Rooney fuelled fresh speculation the Manchester United superstar could be heading for the Old Trafford exit, despite the 24-year-old still having more than a year to run onhis current contract.

Ferguson left Rooney on the bench for the clash with West Bromwich Albion, where the Red Devils squandered a two-goal lead to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Ferguson did not comment about the decision to omit Rooney, a move that followed speculation of a rift after the striker earlier contradicted the United boss’s claims he was injured by stating he was fully fit.

It came after an earlier decision to drop Rooney for his return to Everton in September, which followed revelations about the 24-year-old England international’s private life.

Rooney made headliens after poor performances and injury at the 2010 World Cup, as well as an alleged relationship with a prostitute, Jennifer Thompson

Since then Rooney has been in and out of the United starting line-up and looking a pale imitation of the potent attacking force who was crowned the 2010 Footballer of the Year.
 
Rooney moved to Manchester United in 2004 after making his professional debut with Everton as an 18-year-old in 2004.

An Australian father has been jailed for life for murdering his three sons in what prosecutors called “an unspeakable act of vengeance”.

Robert Farquharson, 41, was convicted of driving his car carrying his sons into a reservoir and leaving them to drown as he swam free.

The prosecution said he acted out of resentment and anger against his ex-wife Cindy Gambino.

The so-called Father’s Day murders has sparked shock and controversy.

Farquharson had been driving his three sons – Jai, 10, Tyler, seven, and two-year-old Bailey – to visit his ex-wife in Geelong, near Melbourne, on Father’s Day in 2005.

‘Not enough’

He had pleaded not guilty to murder, saying he had blacked out during a coughing fit at the wheel of his car.

He was first convicted and given a life sentence without parole in 2007, but a re-trial was ordered on appeal, leading to his conviction in July this year.

The Supreme Court judge in the Australian state of Victoria, Lex Lasry, told Farquharson that he must serve at least 33 years of his life sentence, but could be eligible for parole after that.

Ms Gambino has told reporters the chance of parole means the sentence is not enough.

“It’s a life sentence for me. It should be a life sentence for him,” she said.

Justice Lasry argued in favour of parole, saying Farquharson was “not a threat to the community as best as I can tell”.

He told Farquharson that “prior to these terrible incidents, you could be properly described as a man of good character”.

Friends and relatives of the father say he is a broken man who deeply loved his children and would carry the grief with him forever.

Justice Lasry said: “Even if it’s momentary – if it’s a momentary crime – it’s a momentary crime of the most breathtaking proportions.”

BBC © MMX The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

eBay is adding QR Codes scanning to its barcode scanning app RedLaser, which the company acquired from Occipital in June.

The app, which has has seen over five million downloads from the App Store (that’s 3 additional million downloads since June), looks up price comparisons in its product database by scanning the barcode of an product. QR Codes, which is short for Quick Response (because they can be read quickly by a mobile phone through its camera), are used to take a piece of information from a transitory media and put it in to your cell phone – this can be links, videos, text, photos and more.

With RedLaser’s QR Code integration, consumers can receive information such as links to videos, product reviews or websites to get more product information, contact information for customer support, or calendar appointments for upcoming sporting events and concerts The new app will also populate product results with eBay Marketplaces and Half.com listings.

While QR codes are popular amongst the geek set, the technology hasn’t yet become a mainstream way to identify products in U.S. stores (barcodes dominate this arena). In fact, I can’t remember that the last time I saw a QR code on a product at a store. But eBay claims that QR codes are popular in Asia and other parts of the world and are gaining traction in the U.S.

CrunchBase Information

eBay

Information provided by CrunchBase

I’ll be honest. I don’t know much about the bio of German-based street artist Mr. Talion. But what I lack in background information I more than make up with appreciation of his work. Clever and cutting, Mr. Talion weilds his cultural sarcasm with a varsatile grip and makes a big scene while keeping a very low profile.

I love this next project. Event canceled mischief.

Yeesh. Balls on this guy!

Street Art Price Tagger

14 October 2010 Last updated at 19:00 ET
By Daniel Emery Technology reporter, BBC News

Medal of Honor’s prequel book author Chris Ryan on the game’s realism

The video game Medal of Honor (MoH) has gone on sale despite calls by the UK defence secretary to ban it.

The game follows the exploits of Special Forces troops battling insurgents in Afghanistan in 2002.

In August, Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox called for the game to be banned after it emerged that users could fight as The Taliban.

Its developer EA said the game was meant to be realistic, but eventually renamed The Taliban “The Opposition”.

This edition, the latest in EA’s long running series of games bearing the MoH title, has dispensed with its World War II theme and opted to recreate modern combat in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.

But with 150,000 American, British and Allied troops fighting in Afghanistan, many felt taking on the role of the Taliban was a step too far.

Dr Fox described the game as “un-British” and said it was “shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban against British soldiers”.

The Canadian and Danish Defence Ministers also criticised the game.

EA weathered the storm for a few weeks, but in early October the firm bowed to pressure and took the term “Taliban” out of the multiplayer option.

Despite the change, the game is still banned from sale on military bases, although troops can purchase it elsewhere and play it on station.

‘Ploy’

Johnny Minkley, a journalist with video gaming website Eurogamer, told BBC News that he thought EA’s decision to allow users to play as the Taliban was a marketing ploy.

“I don’t think EA was that naive,” he said.

Players fight as Special Forces operating in Afghanistan in 2002

“They knew that this would be controversial, but they needed to do everything to get attention, especially when they are going up against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – the biggest brand in the world.”

The game itself has received mostly positive reviews, scoring an average of 75% according to the review aggregator site Metacritic. Computer and Video Games Magazine described it as “an accomplished, confident online shooter”.

Mr Minkley agreed, saying the developers had done “a really good job” but added that the product was some way from being perfect.

“The campaign stands up well and it is a competent and exciting first person shooter.

“But I do have a problem with it, and that is that the single player mode is very short.

“A competent gamer could get through the entire game in under five hours.”

Logging on

In the 1990s, single player games usually lasted for days, if not weeks. However, that changed with the 2001 release of Max Payne, which could be completed in under 12 hours.

“This is an ever growing trend – we saw it with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – of having an exciting, but short, single player game,” said Mr Minkley.

The decision to allow users to fight as The Taliban caused controversy

“Developers claim that the multi-player aspect – where players compete on line – extends the life of the game, but the fact remains many people cannot or do not want to play online,” he added.

US developer Activision’s last modern combat shooter – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – grossed over $1bn in sales, and the follow on title Call of Duty: Black Ops, due for release on 9 November this year, is expected to do as well, if not better.

EA’s decision to switch the Medal of Honor theme from the Second World War to a modern day conflict has prompted some critics to accuse the US firm of imitation.

Mr Minkley agreed, but said the decision was a financial one and Medal of Honor was not a pale imitation.

“What they’ve tried to do is focus on the confusion and uncertainty of western forces in Afghanistan and it feels different from a Hollywood style shooter like Call of Duty.

“You also have to bear in mind there is a degree of WWII fatigue and, ultimately, games developers are there to make money,” he said.

“This is a commercial decision to follow the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 but – other than The Taliban issue – is far less deliberately proactive than Call of Duty.”

The full body scans at airports – the ones that reveal your naughty bits in great detail – are fortunately optional, given prior abuse. But after Octopber 31, if you opt out, it looks like you’ll be more thoroughly “screened” than ever.

While turning down the full body scan has always resulted in a pat-down, there’s a newer “enhanced” screening procedure that’s being tested at some airports if you opt out, like at Boston’s Logan airport. Here’s what’s it like described on Daily Kos:

Two (female) TSA officers stepped over to me, and gave me the new procedure, which included touching my face and hair, and in between and directly under my breasts. Much like a medical appointment, they explained the motions they would make before actually touching me, and both women were professional and polite about the screening – even apologetic about it – but I couldn’t help but think this was overly invasive overkill.

And on another blog:

Immediately, the screeners we very rude to me and ordered me to sit down, which I did. I waited with no communication and no acknowledgement that my wallet and carry-ons had long since come through their screening, and were waiting on the other side for anyone to pick up.

Finally a team came over, had me go through the metal detector, collect my things and go to a separate area. These screeners were very pleasant, if also thorough–they took every single item in every pocket of every bag and swabbed each separately, and scanned for explosives. They patted me down and asked a lot of questions.

The Transportation Security Administration confirms to Christopher Elliott that it “is in the process of implementing an enhanced pat-down at security checkpoints as one of our many layers of security”, which is being tested in Boston and Las Vegas.

They’re more coy about how and when the new, gropier screening technique will be implemented across the US, but the gist of Elliott’s conversation with the TSA is that it’s either going to roll out out nationwide on October 31, or it’s going to be phased in gradually. (I would guess in time for holiday travel.) So get ready to spread ‘em. Or, um, spread ‘em. [Elliott.org via BoingBoing]