Tech news round-up: From Facebook Chatroulette to the death of iPhone

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, here’s your weekly roundup of all the important — and at times not so important — tech and online news items from the week.

With that special Memeburn spin you’ve come to enjoy…

ChatRoullete for Facebook

After promising an “awesome announcement”, as Memeburn reported, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the addition of Skype video calling to Facebook. Of course throughout the announcement — which an over-eager Skype may have pre-empted — the shadow of Google+ loomed large.

In his usual humble way Zuckerberg said, “we think this is awesome because we’re using the best technology that’s out there for doing video chat with the best social infrastructure that’s out there”. Of course, not everyone shares that opinion. Tweeting possible slogans for the feature, Rob Delaney wrote, “Facebook Video Chat: Like ChatRoulette, but with real-life consequences within your relationships and social circles”, and Danny Zuker proposed, “Facebook Video Chat: Because you’re never too old to have your mom catch you masturbating”. Can’t be certain. but something tells me, Facebook will pass on the suggestions.

Obama campaigns for re-election in 140 characters or less

We’ve all read and heard about how the 2008 Obama campaign pioneered social media in politics. But, as Barack Obama fends off unemployment with his 2012 re-election campaign, he’s going even further. As Joe Rospars, the 2012 campaign’s chief digital strategist said in an interview, the campaign “…is going to be one that integrates all the various elements of the digital channel…”.

This week in a “Twitter Town Hall” event under the hashtag #AskObama, Obama 2.0 took the first shot with this new digital campaign. The questions — one from political rival John Boehner — were in no way easy. However, as Paul Brandus, a White House Press Corp Twitter reporter jokingly tweeted, “Next we have a question from ‘Michelle’ from Northwest Washington, who wants to know when you’ll be home for dinner”, and “We also have a question from ‘George’ in Crawford, TX, who tweets ‘It’s not as easy as it looks, is it’?”.

And there we went again…

Following an obvious hack of a Fox News Twitter account which Memeburn wrote about, another official account’s been hacked. This time, as reported by the Guardian, it was PayPal UK’s turn. Someone clearly less than thrilled with the online payment service — after they’d had their account frozen — went about wreaking havoc on the account.

They began by changing the bio to state: “The official Twitter account for the fail team at PayPal”, and adding link to paypalsucks.com. The hacker then proceeded to tweet and retweet a stream of invective “exposing the nightmare of doing business the Paypal way”.

Praise the lord Jobs, iDeliverance is at hand!

As was reported by the Wall Street Journal ,behind their paywall, so we read the Huffington Post report instead (take that Murdoch) “large deposits of rare-earth minerals” were found off the floor of the Pacific. Except in geologist circles — movers and shakers that they are — this would never have been leading news. That is till the “Mac Faithful” entered the story. As many, breathing sighs of relief, reported, the discovery will alleviate iPad supply shortage concerns. Or, as my favourite headline announced with much joy and effervescence, “Japan discovers rare earth, iPad’s, LCD’s and LED’s not going extinct“.

iPhone officially no longer cool

Say what you will about Apple, but they’ve always had that cool factor down pat, and the “Mac Faithful” — or as I prefer, “Apple-o-philes” — have never been shy about whipping out the latest iWhatever and gushing a trove of reasons as to why it’s the second coming. However, at the end of the day, for many, it’s all been because Apple was cool. Yes, was. After reports of its death were greatly exaggerated, by even the New York Times, Memeburn can definitively declare the death of iPhone’s cool. As has been reported what Memeburn once described as “one of the strangest [most stupid] of internet memes”, LolCats, has launched an official iPhone app. No further explanation is needed; there is nothing cool about LolCats.

Does this in anyway seem like something James Dean would have been associated with?