The boy, who attends middle school in Southern California, is the victim of a beating that seems to stem from a Facebook page proposing “Kick a Ginger Day”, which in turn is linked to a particular episode of South Park. The worst part? That poor kid was beaten up not once but twice, in the same day, by two separate groups of his classmates.

Luckily, it seems the kid was not seriously injured, though as of yet his attackers have not been arrested. As the proud co-worker of two redheads, I hope the bullies get their butts kicked by a large Scottish man. [CNN]

Oxford defines the verb as: “To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.” I think they should include offline usage, too, like when you stop calling people back entirely or leave people at rest stops on road trips. What, you guys don’t do that? [CNN]

You’ll be able to share game trophy and progress info, plus PlayStation store purchases on your Facebook news feed, and deeper integration is expected down the road.

Firmware 3.10 also includes:

• The Photo category on the XMB has been revamped to make it easier to see more of your photos stored on the PS3.
• The PSN Friends List has been modified based on feedback we received after update 3.00. Additionally, you can now choose a colour for your PSN ID on the XMB.

[PR NewsWire and Sony via Kotaku]

The update is actually pretty cool, as far as such things go, peppering status updates with Trophy information, purchases, and other in-game data that the developers can choose to include. It’s a pretty minor update, really, but also includes better photo browsing and, um, different coloured PlayStation Network profiles. Sweet, I guess. [Kotaku]

To recap, here’s what’s new:

• Facebook – Update your status to share what movie, game or entertainment you’re enjoying, connect with friends and view their Facebook stream, status updates and photos on the big screen – all seamlessly integrated and custom-built for Xbox 360. You can even compare your Xbox LIVE and Facebook friends lists to see which of your friends are on LIVE.
• Zune – Zune video on Xbox LIVE offers a full fidelity experience with instant on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound. No waiting for downloads or buffering, it’s there at the press of a button. You can also share the experience with up to seven friends through voice chat and Avatar integration on the TV screen – it puts a whole new spin on “movie night.”
• Twitter – Stay in the know by discovering, posting and replying to Tweets right on your Xbox 360. You can even view friend profiles, trends and conversations, or search to see who’s tweeting about your favourite game.
• Last.fm – Discover more music and explore endless personalised radio stations with Last.fm on Xbox 360. Skip, “ban” or “love” tracks to create your perfect mix-we’ve even built in “Gamer Stations” with game-related types of music selected specifically for the gaming community (Available in the U.S. and UK)

In addition to these social features, Xbox LIVE will also be debuting “News and More,” a new section of the “Inside Xbox” channel, transforming Xbox LIVE into a full-fledged media portal. With a regularly-updated stream of content from MSNBC, The New Yorker and Dilbert, “News and More” brings the latest in current events, arts and entertainment right to your fingertips.

OK, the last one isn’t super interesting, but the Facebook feature would be nice. Looks like Sony caught on before we had the chance to confirm the pics ourselves, but ScrawlFX says it found the them here, here and here. [ScrawlFX via Kotaku]

Rodney was arrested on October 18 as a suspect in two crimes. He declared himself innocent and Robert Reuland — his defence lawyer — found the key to free him: “Where’s my pancakes?”

That seemingly inconsequential Facebook status update proved crucial when the Californian company confirmed that someone wrote it from his father’s Harlem apartment computer, using Rodney’s username and password at around the time of the alleged crime: Saturday, October 17, 11.49am.

Of course, you can argue that anyone with Rodney’s password could have written the status update, while the 19-year-old went on to commit two crimes, but his defence lawyer and the district attorney disagree:

This implies a level of criminal genius that you would not expect from a young boy like this; he is not Dr. Evil.

A spokesman for Brooklyn’s District Attorney said the Facebook update served as the confirmation of the other alibis, namely Rodney’s father and stepmother, who declared he was at their Harlem home at the time.

The most interesting thing in this case, however, is that this seems to be the first time in which social networking has been used to save the arse of someone, rather than nailing a really stupid thief. Some people believe that Facebook and other sites will become part of criminal cases across the country as they get deeper under society’s skin. Personally, I can’t wait till we are all monitored by automagical retinal scans, and naked bald people in funky swimming pools decide who is a criminal and who is not. Can’t wait, I tell you. [Fort Greene]

Tech Crunch’s Michael Arrington believes that Facebook is looking the other way because it doesn’t want to lose the revenue. He points out popular game Farmville: “It took me about 10 seconds to find really scammy ads.”

Of course Facebook is adamant that it’s doing everything it can to stop scams. In an email exchange with Newsweek, Facebook spokesman David Swain stated “We have, and will continue to, move aggressively to stop any activities that threaten or damage our users’ experience. Any assertion to the contrary is false.” Policing and curtailing scam-containing ads will be a challenge for Facebook as it grows, though it would be a good idea to tackle the problem now while it’s still manageable.

I can’t wait to see how this plays out in the Facebook movie. [Newsweek]
Photo by TechCrunch

While I’m all about stopping professional spammers, I find it amusing that this case revolved around Facebook. At this point, a good 75% of the messages I receive from that damned site are unwanted and annoying. Invites to shit from people I don’t know, annoying app pings and all the rest of it. Hell, it’s almost like Facebook is designed to send you annoying messages. That’s the whole point!

But yeah, anyways, nice work nailin’ the Spam King, guys. [CNNMoney]

The contact information of the person memorialised is privatised and the pages cannot be logged into anymore. You need to submit proof of death, but beyond that, I think this is going to make for some really tacky pranking. In the end, I find this to be a nice digital analogue to that which inevitably happens to all Facebook Users. [FB via BB]