From ‘Winklevii’ to Facebook gunmen – This week in tech and web news

We here at Memeburn know you our esteemed reader. Being the busy people you are we know — that, try as you may, and as interested as you are — it’s not always possible to keep up with everything.

In light of that, starting today, you can expect this weekly Friday column giving a roundup of all the important — and at times not so important — tech and online news items from the week.

But there’s more!

As an added bonus, it’ll come with that special Memeburn spin you’ve come to enjoy…

Mark Zuckerberg wins again
After a marathon seven year legal battle which spawned the Academy Award winning film, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have finally conceded defeat to Mark Zuckerberg. The Huffington Post reports that in papers filed by their representatives, the twins — often referred to as the Winklevii — would not be taking their case to the US Supreme Court as they had previously indicated. The Winklevii case had rested on the contention — or complaint even — that the US$65-million settlement they received from Facebook in 2008 was not a fair figure. That’s 65, followed by six zeros, an absolutely and totally unfair figure.

Firefox 5 for desktop released
Mozilla, a global non-profit organisation, only a few months after launching the fourth version of its wildly popular web browser, Firefox has announced the launch of Firefox five. For the time being, Firefox five is still under beta-testing, but if Firefox wants to prove projections that it will lose to Google’s Chrome in the browser wars, it had better be fast about it.

8ta cleans the milk its parent company spilt
Continuing with the trend of falling data prices, South Africans were thrilled by the announcement of “Project Hulk” from Telkom’s mobile division, 8ta. Many South African’s — blaming Telkom for data prices being so high in the first place — welcomed it’s subsidiary’s joining the fight against prohibitive internet costs. The mobile operator announced a 10GB data bundle at R199 (about US$33) per month. South Africans were so exhilarated by this news “R199” became a Trending Topic amongst South African tweeters. For the global audience who are probably greatly confused right now; yes, the internet situation in SA has been so dire that this news is greeted with elation — or as we do in Africa — ululation.

Foursquare reaches 10-million users
Instead of the usual immediately-trashed-and-deleted-press-release, Foursquare, to mark reaching this milestone, chose to create an amazing infographic. It wasn’t just another infographic telling us about the growth of its community, it was an animated inforgraphic. As we noted, “after three years of check-ins the popular location-based service can finally step foot in the playground with social media giants”. Stalkers have been reported to be welcoming the news with joy.

More for fans of Harry Potter
JK Rowling, author of the much-loved Harry Potter series of children’s books, in a YouTube video announced her much awaited Harry Potter website, Pottermore. According to Rowling, the “unique”, “online reading experience” — which will go live in August — will be a home for “fans of all ages” to interact and share their views on “Potter-verse”. Rowling will also be sharing information she’s been “hoarding for years about the world of Harry Potter”. The site will also be the exclusive place to buy digital audiobooks, and for the first time, eBook versions of all seven books. Or, if you wanted to put it in a single phrase: the richest woman in the UK wanted a bit more and decided to milk those last millions from good ol’ Harry.

Gunman keeps Facebook-ing during hostage standoff
If you wanted any more proof of just how obsessed people can be about connecting and sharing with the people in their lives — as Facebook’s slogan goes — look no further. As reported by the Associated Press, master multi-tasker Jason Valdez found the time to keep his Facebook friends updated in the midst of his busy life. It just happened that what he was up to was holding a woman hostage in a 16 hour long stand-off with SWAT teams. Clearly a friend you definitely want to keep around, one of Valdez’s Facebook friends even warned him of SWAT officers hiding in the bushes, to which Valdez reportedly replied, “Thank you homie… good looking out”.