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World demands justice for Galaxy Nexus owner who 'beat' Windows Phone
Now here's a little righteous indignation to liven up your Monday. It's the sorry and admittedly one-sided tale of Galaxy Nexus-owner Sahas Katta, who claims he beat a "Get Smoked" Windows Phone challenge at a Microsoft store yesterday, but was denied his prize. To win a $1,000 laptop, he simply had to complete a task on his personal phone quicker than a store employee who was using a Windows Phone. It so happened that the task chosen for Sahas's contest suited him perfectly: he was told to cold boot and then bring up the weather in two different cities, and by a stroke of luck he already had two separate weather widgets for San Jose, CA and Berkeley, CA running on his Nexus' home screen. He also had his lock screen disabled, which goes against Google's own security advice but which he says gave him the "split second" edge he needed. The principle of justice, meanwhile, was smothered with lock screens, because Sahas was promptly informed that he'd just been "smoked" by a Windows Phone, even though he'd been quicker. At first he was told that the Windows Phone won because it "displays the weather right there," then he was told it was because both his cities were "in the same state," and finally he just gave up. A Microsoft insider has since tweeted that he'll "make it right" for Sahas, but will it be the kind of right that includes a $1,000 laptop?Update: Looks like the gent got an apology, a laptop and a phone out of the deal. And suddenly, all was well in the world.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
The Daily Grind: Real ID disaster averted... or is it?
Well, it's all over after all. The evil dragon released by Blizzard has been slain by Blizzard again, after several days of people alternately cursing and staring slack-jawed in disbelieving horror. We can all go back to slaughtering Internet Dragons again, and the privacy issues are dealt with forever. Or if not forever, at least for now. Important lessons have been learned, lives have been ruined, and we can all go back to the way things were a couple days ago. Or can we? When your friend has a few drinks and smashes your entire living room to pieces but apologizes for it afterward, you usually aren't going to toss him a beer the next time he's at your house. Even though the unpopular decision has been reversed, it's understandable if your ire toward World of Warcraft hasn't cooled just yet... or if your trust in Blizzard isn't wholly restored. Are you willing to forgive and forget? Or is this the sort of thing you're going to remember for a long time?
