The UpStream

Last week, it was made public that Apple's design concepts trumped its environmental position. I don't think this came as a huge surprise to anyone, considering Apple has worked pretty hard to incorporate incredibly harmful chemicals in their products that no one else seems to use, and they seal their products so that no one can get into them, including people trying to prevent those chemicals from getting into the water supply.

To Apple's surprise, people were not happy about the decision. Most notable among those upset was the City of San Francisco, who announced the decision that city funds would only be able to be spent on electronics that bear the EPEAT certification. None of this is all that surprising, but what happened this week is. In an uncharacteristic move, Apple decided to reverse its decision, something that would never have happened under Steve Jobs. In fact, Bob Mansfield, Senior vice President of Hardware Engineering, wrote a letter of apology to consumers, explaining that what had happened was a mistake and that Apple would fix it. In contrast, when the iPhone had its antenna problem, Jobs not only didn't apologize, he blamed the other manufacturers.

So, what does Apple have to say about this marketing blunder? Hit the break for more.

Minecraft is growing more and more popular by the way of giving Xbox 360 users a taste of how great the game has become. While the 360 version is still several updates away from the current PC edition, it's going to be getting several enhancements added in the coming weeks that will certainly add some "curb-stomping cool factor" to the game. Also, the PC version is getting an update as well.

Let's start with the PC. Minecraft will be updating to version 1.3 on August 1st. This update will merge the single and multiplayer modes of the game. Interestingly, the single player mode will actually be a "shell on top of multiplayer." Mojang, the developer of the game, said the reason for the change was to accommodate those who will be using the upcoming modding API. If the modes were not merged, creators would have had to develop two different versions of the mod for each mode, which just takes up time. The only issue with the "shell" is that single player games will now take bit more processor power but Mojang said they look to remedy that in version 1.4.

Added to 1.3 will also be emeralds and emerald ore, writing in books, an extra chest for new players to the game and the benefit of buying goods from NPCs in villages. 1.3 will be getting an RC version about a week before the slated August 1st release date.

For the Xbox 360, while you still may be a handful of updates away from an interactive NPC village, you will get the ability to no longer look like the Swedish version of Pete Sampras. Minecraft will be getting a DLC pack of about 40 different player skins to coincide with the 1.7.3 beta update that was entered into Microsoft Cert Testing this week. You will get access to some of the popular original skins found in the PC version but will also be privy to five exclusive console skins not available on the computer. We will see skins like the Creeper, 'Splosion Man, Ms. 'Splosion Man, a scientist from 'Splosion Man (Dr. 'Splosion Man?), the guy from Trials, Covenant Grunt, King, Jack of Blades, Clayton Carmine, Banjo, a prisoner, Danklef and one more I can't seem to remember. Oh yeah, it's Master Chief! You read that correctly; you can now go on a killing spree in style as Halo's own solo-shooter extraordinaire. All of that plus the rest of the 40 skins will only run you 160 Microsoft Points when it hits the Xbox Live Marketplace.

So who's playing Minecraft or is considering it? We have a world you can play in whenever I'm online, just add F5 Penguin to your friends list and play along with me! Tell us in the comments section what your favorite thing about the game is, or what is your favorite skin from the Xbox pack.

Since Peter Molyneux left Microsoft and founded 22 Can, there has been a lot of interest about what the company would launch. Molyneux has said the company would produce 22 experimental games, something he is very good at (look at Milo). His first experiment, announced at E3 2012, is called Curiosity.

The game concept, explained in detail this week, is pretty simple: there is a box (pictured right) which contains something. Everyone in the world, up to 1 million at a time, get to hack away at the box to reveal the contents. That's it; pretty simple, right? The game is free, though you can purchase tools to help you break more, faster. For example, you can spend 50 cents to buy a pickax, or $50,000 to buy a diamond pickax. Molyneux describes the $50,000 purchase as "nothing to be ashamed of."

While 1 million people can destroy the box together, on iOS, Android and PC, only one person will get to reveal the contents. The important question everyone is asking, though, is what's inside? Obviously Molyneux will not tell, but he did say "it's so amazing I think it will appear on news reports." So, my question for you is, what is inside? Only time will tell, and we can start the journey on August 22. Give us your thoughts on the contents in the comments section.

While Yahoo's patent suit against Facebook might have looked like an IPO gimmick, it has lasted longer than Facebook's stock high, and might be worth more in the end. The two companies announced that they have entered into an advertising partnership and patent licensing agreement, thereby settling the dispute. The agreement includes patent cross-licensing, meaning Yahoo will gain access to Facebook's newly acquired patents from Microsoft, and Facebook will gain access to Yahoo's patents, including the 10 in question.

In addition to patent licensing, the agreement will also include a mutual advertising partnership. Together, the companies will form an advertising platform that will be available across both Facebook and Yahoo's global properties. The companies will also partner on Yahoo's media event coverage, bringing that existing content to Facebook's userbase through integrated social programs. This all makes sense considering the 10 patents in dispute had to do with media presentation and advertising.

What do the two companies think of the partnership? Hit the break for the reactions from executives at both companies.

Everyone knows that countries from all over the world will begin a global sports competition like no other in just a few short weeks, jockeying for the ultimate prize: Summer Gold. What most people do not know, however, is there will be another competition going on in the same city at the same time, and the prize for this competition is not quite as prestigious in the sports realm, but very prestigious on the Internet: 'Lulz."

This battle will be between the white and black hat computer security experts. London Olympic officials are expecting the hacking attempts during this year's games to be stronger than all other games together. Richard Clarke, England's counter-terrorism department director, said he believed the hacking threat at this year's games would rise to the level of physical threats at previous games. The ultimate laugh would be getting their own text to display on scoreboards all over London and televisions around the world.

Patrick Adiba, Atos executive vice president for the Olympic Games and major events, said about the matter,

It is very unlikely, as it all operates on a very secure network. It would be quite complicated to get into this network without being detected. It can never be 100 percent, but it is close to 100 percent.

Is everyone as optimistic as the guy whose job it is to convince people it is all going to be okay? Hit the break to find out.

After the departure from Monster Cable, it was unsure how Beats Electronics was going to thrive independently. HTC then swept in and now has a majority stake in the company and Beats Audio is slowly showing up in several more devices here in the States. However, while the company's flagship product, Beats by Dre headphones, has expanded the lineup to include more celebrities, it appears that's all Beats has going for them. The product itself now is not being manufactured by Monster and really lacks the overall sound quality that people are looking for, especially if that person wants to actually listen to music without making it sound like a trunk is rattling in their head.

Beats Electronics has announced that the company is buying the music streaming service MOG, with both sides now confirming the acquisition. For those who don't know, the company is almost an exact replica of the original version of Spotify, which has grown exponentially since its inception in America. MOG is having a very hard time gaining any traction but now with a hardware company behind it, Beats will now attempt to offer a full music experience. This is similar to what Apple does, from the device, to the consumption software to the headphones.

We have more on the acquisition after the break, including the official statement from Beats and what their plans moving forward.