Facebook buying Instagram has officially sent everyone doolally as serious financial news outlet Forbes posits quite seriously that Apple will buy Twitter in retaliation.
We're slowly backing away while vowing to eat our collective hat (we have one of those, you know) and considering suing 50 Cent and waiting and hoping and dreaming of an intergalactic video message from William Shatner of our very own.
Will Apple buy Twitter? – Hahahahahahahahahahahaha no. [Forbes]
Shatner update – Back from lunch with his millionth Twitter follower, Billy Boy Shatner had a spare 45 seconds during the ad break of Dawsons Creek reruns to record a message for the crew of the International Space Station. They've been enjoying his album of space-related covers on repeat for the last eighty-six days, you see. Something something Star Trek reference. [Universe Today]
MMO money MMO problems - Microsoft wants to patent the use of in-game incentives to get MMO players meeting their virtual pals in real life (or IRL, if that makes you feel more at home). And, if you happen to see a Microsoft marketing message, maybe spend a few quid while you're there, so much the better. But really it's about meeting friends. No, really, there are name badges and everything. [Kotaku]
A rum pa pum pum – Forget tinny synthesised drum loops, actual drums controlled by an iPad is where it's at these days. It is probably time to stop saying "where it's at" though. [TNW]
RM1.50 – Back from Birmingham and fresh from being converted into Malaysian Ringgit, 50 Cent is off to court where he's being sued for allegedly sampling a track by The Persuaders without permission. The catch – there is one, of course – is that he gave the track away online, so his defence consists of "no commercial gain, no foul". Not sure that's going to fly, Fiddy. [Cnet]
Living the brand – Nokia has shot its advert for the 41MP-toting Pureview using the 41MP-toting Pureview. And boy has it taken that idea and run with it – the resulting advert covers the fact that you can take photos and share them and shoot video and take photos and share them and shoot video and take photos and share them and shoot video and take photos and… [Gizmodo]
Fox's Dozen - Faster than a greased ailurus fulgens, Mozilla has released Firefox 12 for download. It comes with easier updates, line numbers and breaks in page source and some other itty bitty upgrades to boot. Download it here. [Neowin]
AR goes JP – At last, a use for augmented reality we can get on board with: unleashing dinosaurs across the nation's capital. Head to Buckingham Palace armed with your smartphone plus the Universal 100 app and you can watch a T-Rex run riot (ish) in the gardens.
If you're not in London, you can check out the special edition Universal Pictures Blu-ray and DVD covers that are similarly augmented by AR specialists Aurasma. Titles include Jurassic Park, King Kong, Back to the Future, Apollo 13 and, um, Mamma Mia which presumably features an AR Pierce Brosnan bludgeoning his career to death. [PR]
They'll never take our chilled snacks - The revolution may not be televised but botnets might be as researchers have found that there are security vulnerabilities in some smart TVs. Ars Technica supposes this could lead to DoS attacks on your fridge. If they try and get between us and our Mini Babybel, there'll be hell to pay. [Ars]
If I were a rich man – No money to fly first class? No problem. Virgin Atlantic has the next best thing – a virtual Google Maps inspired tour complete with videos of every tiny feature so you can see exactly what you're missing out on while tucked up back in cattle class with the proles. [Virgin]
Bonus tech video of the day – Why, it's the HTC One X v. iPhone 4S camera test of course!
