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The Weekly Web Wonk, v6.10.11

Editor’s Note: Our “Damn It’s Friggin’ Hot” edition of the Weekly Web Wonk comes to you via the well-manicured fingertips of The Wonk’s Wonderful #Wintern, MK Maaaaahtin. Enjoy!

A visibly frail Steve Jobs started the week off strong with his announcement of Apple’s new operating systems. Jobs strayed from the traditional “Apple Tuesday” showcase by introducing his new technologies during the keynote address at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. iOS 5 is set to amp up the abilities of Apple’s mobile interface and will be ready for download this fall.  Mac OS X Lion, the new, streamlined software will be available in July and will only cost Mac users $29. The desktop software update is considerably cheaper than in the past, making it easier for everyone to maintain the iLifestyle.

Jobs also wowed the crowd with the unveiling of iCloud, the much anticipated program that is said to connect several digital devices through wireless technology. iCloud will eliminate the need to tether your iPod, iPhone or iPad to your computer in order to set up or back up your data. That news is almost as cool as Jobs’ plans to build a spaceship-esque headquarters for Apple in Cupertino, California.

Have you heard about the crazy Facebook tattoo lady? If not, watch this viral video, but I’ll spoil it for you now: it’s a hoax. Susyj87 does not have a full sleeve of the faces of her Facebook friends. It was, instead, a clever marketing scheme for a Dutch gift company that specializes in making products out of Facebook profile pictures. Reminds me of that time I got my third grade school photo plastered on a coffee mug for my mom.

In other news, Big Brother just got a bit bigger: Facebook knows what you look like. The facial recognition software hit U.S. profiles back in December, but it was recently implemented globally and automatically applied as a default setting. This isn’t the first time Mark Zuckerberg has subtly hindered the ability of Facebook users to protect their privacy. To disable facial recognition, follow these steps. Whatever one’s thoughts about online privacy, there is validity in the concern that Facebook routinely inhibits users’ privacy with new functions and forces them to change security settings after the fact.

Spanish authorities claim to have arrested the ringleaders of the online hacktivist cell, Anonymous. Does this mean Sony can breathe easier?

Nintendo leaked news of developments in the gaming world with their announcement of Wii U, a new console with a tablet-like controller that grants home video games independence from a television. Satoru Iwata, the President of Nintendo, hopes to revolutionize the home video game experience with groundbreaking technologies, yet Nintendo released a highlight reel that contained footage from PlayStation and Xbox games. Oops! The Wii U is set to hit the market in a year or so. Until then, I’ll be content playing Donkey Kong on my Super Nintendo.

Twitter recently bought out TweetDeck and is rolling out a new photo-sharing feature that will leave TwitPic, Lockerz and Yfrog in the dust. Get this, it’s the preferred social media outlet of Apple and is built into the new iOS 5 mobile operating system. I’d really like to trade in my HTC Inspire for another iPhone right about now…

Speaking of Twitter, what’s the point?

The point is that we can learn a whole lot from crowd-sourcing. So much, in fact, that Iceland is crowd-sourcing its new constitution via a special Facebook page. (Damn you, Zuckerberg, stop taking all the good gigs! First you build the world’s largest network, now you are re-building a financially embattled nation?)

Attn: Desk Jockeys — Is your office’s air safe to breathe? This UT prof is on the case.

Attn: Desk Jockeys Who Wish They Were Rockers — Google is here to help.

Want to be POTUS? As Andre Agassi would tell you, [Facebook] “image is everything.” (I know, I know, you are totally thinking: How does The Wonk even remember that?! The Wonk remembers all, my friend, the Wonk remembers all.)

Finally, get those horns up in support of UT baseball, which displayed “the epitome of teamwork” in surviving a harrowing win-or-die three-game stretch over two days last weekend. The Horns host Arizona State in this weekend’s NCAA super regional with a College World Series berth in Omaha on the line.

Better yet, get those horns up with a grill fork in the other hand … because when the going gets hot, the hot get grillin’.

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