{"id":26929,"date":"2023-01-01T19:07:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-01T19:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/01\/here-are-mobilesyrups-top-2022-wtf-stories\/"},"modified":"2023-01-01T19:07:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-01T19:07:57","slug":"here-are-mobilesyrups-top-2022-wtf-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/01\/here-are-mobilesyrups-top-2022-wtf-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Here are MobileSyrup’s top 2022 WTF stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With 2022 coming to a close, it\u2019s time to look back at the wacky news from the past year. 2022 was not 2021 or 2020, but a lot of weird stuff still went down.<\/p>\n

Here are some of MobileSyrup\u2019s<\/em> top \u2018WTF-worthy\u2019 stories that shocked Canadians, and in some instances, the world:<\/p>\n

\u2018Will Smith Slap\u2019 NFT collection<\/h2>\n

Within 24 hours of the 2022 Academy Awards, where actor Will Smith walked up on stage and slapped comedian and actor Chris Rock, OpenSea, the most established NFT marketplace, became home to an NFT collection featuring a total of 1,999 \u2018JPEGs\u2019 of the incident with different meme text written on each one.<\/p>\n

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Yup. Will Smith\u2019s slap has become an #NFT<\/a> that 719 people have already bought on OpenSea. Each of those NFTs has been selling for an average of 0.0101 ETH or roughly $42 (US$34). pic.twitter.com\/wYD3HEjaNF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Temur Durrani (@temurdur) March 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Within the first 24 hours, 721 people had already purchased said NFTs of Smith smacking Rock, with the cheapest NFT listed for 0.003 ETH ($12.89 CAD), and the most expensive listed for 69 ETH ($296,452.79) at the time.<\/p>\n

Back then, it wasn\u2019t certain whether the Academy Awards incident was staged or not, and hence, each NFT had either \u201cTeam Fake\u201d or \u201cTeam Real\u201d written on it, and users could purchase an NFT based on their belief of the authenticity of the event.<\/p>\n

The collection was removed from OpenSea, and visiting the collection\u2019s link now displays a 404 error.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet and Violet glitches<\/h2>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet\u2019s <\/em>and Violet\u2019s <\/em>rampant game glitches are relatively recent. The title, which was released in mid-November, quickly became a talking point. Not because of the long-awaited title\u2019s release, its gameplay concepts, Pok\u00e9mon designs or the storyline. Instead, the controversy is due to the game featuring countless bugs, visual glitches and crashes.<\/p>\n

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The bugs in Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet\/Violet are amazing. pic.twitter.com\/0awP4jA4bR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 David Toons (@DavidToons_) November 19, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For a franchise as big as Pok\u00e9mon,\u00a0<\/em>the sheer number and variety of bugs and glitches found in Scarlet<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Violet\u00a0<\/i>are\u2026 astounding. \u201cI experienced a few game crashes and visual hiccups like Pok\u00e9mon falling off cliffs to their deaths, wild Pok\u00e9mon walking through my battles, weird evolution glitches that create double Pok\u00e9mon, ridiculous frame rate slowdowns, weird camera angles, Pok\u00e9mon getting stuck in walls or the ground, and wall and ground clippings that are especially noticeable when catching Pok\u00e9mon,\u201d wrote MobileSyrup <\/em>senior reporter Dean Daley in his review of the game.<\/a><\/p>\n

This paints a bad look for the franchise. It\u2019s evident that Scarlet<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Violet\u00a0<\/i>needed a few more months of polish, especially given it\u2019s a AAA-level title in one of the biggest media franchises ever.<\/p>\n

Check some of the funniest Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet and Violet<\/em> glitches here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk acquires Twitter<\/h2>\n

Elon Musk acquiring Twitter likely caught you by surprise.<\/p>\n

Initially, it was made public that Musk had acquired a 9.2 percent stake in the social media company<\/a>, worth $2.89 billion USD (roughly $3.6 billion CAD). Back then, Musk was reportedly joining the Twitter board, but that never materialized as he offered to acquire the platform in a deal valued at $44 billion USD ($56 billion CAD at the time.)<\/p>\n

On a side note, it was revealed that the Royal Bank of Canada and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce aided in the purchase. Musk reportedly borrowed about $25 billion in loans<\/a> from 12 banks, out of which RBC pledged $750 million USD (roughly $955 million CAD) and CIBC put up $400 million USD (roughly $500 million CAD), totalling about $1.15 billion USD ($1.46 billion CAD) of the Canadian Bank loans.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, due to a concern about Twitter\u2019s bot user count, Musk said that his deal to buy Twitter couldn\u2019t proceed until the company proved that fake and spam accounts make up less than five percent of the platform\u2019s users.<\/p>\n

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20% fake\/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be *much* higher.<\/p>\n

My offer was based on Twitter\u2019s SEC filings being accurate.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Twitter\u2019s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%.<\/p>\n

This deal cannot move forward until he does.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As time passed on, Twitter filed a lawsuit\u00a0against Musk <\/a>to force him to make good on his deal to buy Twitter. In the suit, the company\u2019s lawyers said Musk wanted to walk away from the deal because it \u201cno longer serves his personal interests.\u201d Judge Kathaleen McCormick from the Delaware Court of Chancery announced that Musk\u2019s Twitter deal will go to court on October 17th.<\/p>\n

Before that happened, Musk revived his buyout offer <\/a>and asked for some time to get the funding in order, and revealed why he wants to acquire the platform.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,\u201d wrote Musk.<\/p>\n

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Dear Twitter Advertisers pic.twitter.com\/GMwHmInPAS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Musk completed the acquisition in late October, and the rest is history. You can read the whole chaotic saga of the deal\u2019s aftermath here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carrier locks store doors, ask customers for ID to enter<\/h2>\n

In early September, Rogers started keeping the doors at some of its physical stores locked, and the only way inside was by showing your government-issued ID.<\/p>\n

It was in an effort to reduce robberies and fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety of our team members and customers is of the utmost importance to us. Several measures have been put in place over the last few years to improve safety in the stores, including robust training, upgraded cameras, and enhanced door screening policy,\u201d Rogers spokesperson Chloe Luciani-Girouard told\u00a0CBC Toronto<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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MobileSyrup<\/em> reporter Brad Bennett went into carrier stores to experience what it feels like to shop when carriers lock their doors. According to him, the new policy doesn\u2019t result in a great buying experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile a locked door doesn\u2019t seem like much of a hassle, it makes the shopping experience slightly more involved and doesn\u2019t leave much room for browsing. For example, in the flagship Rogers store at Yonge-Dundas Square, the policy results in only Rogers employees opening the door. So no matter how much eye contact you make with the security guard standing by the door, they won\u2019t let you in. Once you\u2019re in, a sales rep will immediately help you if one is free, which is nice, but if they\u2019re all busy, you\u2019ll be asked to sit and wait,\u201d wrote Bennett.<\/p>\n

Read more about Bennett\u2019s experience shopping in closed carrier stores in Toronto here<\/a>.<\/div>\n

Rogers\u2019 July outage<\/h2>\n

The morning of July 8th was a dreaded one. Rogers\u2019 internet and mobile services went down for customers in Ontario and other provinces.<\/p>\n

Other carriers and services owned by Rogers, including Fido, and internet service providers that use Rogers\u2019 network, like TekSavvy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Oxio<\/a>, experienced network issues throughout the day and into the weekend. The outage also impacted some travel and financial services, including Interac, the Confederation Bridge\u2019s ability to process debit payments, the CRTC\u2019s phone lines, Canadian Blood Services, Service Canada, ArriveCan and more. Users of the network were also unable to dial 911.<\/div>\n
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We know how important it is for our customers to stay connected. We are aware of issues currently affecting our networks and our teams are fully engaged to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share.<\/p>\n

\u2014 RogersHelps (@RogersHelps) July 8, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It was later revealed that the outage impacted more than 13 million wireline and wireless customers. 2.9 million customers were wireline (consumers, businesses, etc.), and 10.2 million were wireless customers (postpaid, prepaid, wholesale, etc.). It was also revealed that Rogers Internet Gateway, Core Gateway and Distribution Routers could not communicate between themselves or the company\u2019s cellular, enterprise, and cable networks, which caused the outage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Core Gateways and Routers impacted, the wireless and wireline networks went offline and were unable to deliver traffic to and from residential and business customers,\u201d Rogers said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The carrier later offered its customers\u00a0credit for five days\u2019 worth of service<\/a> to make up for the massive outage.<\/p>\n

While Rogers was trying to make up for its service going down, scammers were having a field day. Several Canadians received phishing messages from scammers posing as Rogers, seemingly offering \u201ccompensation\u201d for the outage.<\/p>\n

Even the CRTC had to chime in<\/a>,\u00a0issuing a warning about an \u201congoing scam\u201d regarding the Rogers outage. The commission noted in a tweet that people should avoid clicking links in messages claiming to be from Rogers about reimbursement for the July 8th outage.<\/p>\n

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Now getting Rogers service outage text message phishing attempts, so that\u2019s great. pic.twitter.com\/FqATmgqKFL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Douglas Tr0n Soltys (@tron) July 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rogers claimed it would implement safeguards to prevent a widespread outage from happening again, like splitting the network. Read more about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Image credits: Shutterstock<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n