Anguished cries will ring out from cubicles around North America today. It seems that Hasbro has finally stuck the knife into Scrabulous…and twisted.

Scrabulous users have known for months that Hasbro was planning on putting the unofficial Scrabble site out of business. A couple of weeks ago EA launched its own Facebook Scrabble app with Hasbro’s blessing. And in the past 24 hours Hasbro succeeded in forcing Scrabulous off Facebook.

It looks like you can still play on Scrabulous.com. But somehow playing via Scrabulous.com is nowhere near as rewarding. I know, I’ve tried.

The irony is that I was asked to be a beta tester for EA’s new version of Scrabble at the beginning of this month and, to be honest, I thought it was pretty good. The one and only problem I could find was that because the rights for Scrabble have been sold to two different companies in two parts of the world, I could only play EA Scrabble with people in North America. Which is kind of ridiculous considering the main benefit of internet Scrabble ought to be that you can play with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Since I liked the look and feel of EA Scrabble I was planning on using EA for games in North America and Scrabulous for playing with friends in Europe. Not anymore.

You would have thought that since Scrabulous is so popular, Hasbro would have thought a little more before doing something like this. Then again, anyone who has read Stefan Fatsis’ paean to Scrabble, Word Freak, would know that Hasbro has never been all that interested in helping the game anyway.

Call me naive, but I have a pretty high opinion of the NYPD. I certainly feel safer in New York than London. But watching this video I have my doubts. According to Gawker (via Gothamist and the NYT’s City Room) the cyclist was arrested while the cop has been put on “modified assignment” pending an investigation. Though what on earth the poor guy on the bike could have been doing to warrant this kind of treatment beats me.

Bully Cop Shoves Man Off Bike (Gawker)
Police Investigate Officer in Critical Mass Video (City Room)
Video of Cop Assaulting Cyclist at Critical Mass Ride (Gothamist)

Apple’s prickly CEO does not take kindly to Joe Nocera probing persistent rumors of his ill health:

On Thursday afternoon, several hours after I’d gotten my final “Steve’s health is a private matter” — and much to my amazement — Mr. Jobs called me. “This is Steve Jobs,” he began. “You think I’m an arrogant [expletive] who thinks he’s above the law, and I think you’re a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong.” After that rather arresting opening, he went on to say that he would give me some details about his recent health problems, but only if I would agree to keep them off the record.

Apple’s Culture of Secrecy (NYT)

Here’s another video I came across during my research lately. Couldn’t we all do with a bit of cheering up at the moment? I know I certainly could.

The Judy Garland Show (Wiki)

I was doing some research last night into the 1950s variety programs “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hour” when I came across this incredible sketch by Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray. Amazing to think that Caesar performed original comedy every week in front of a studio audience with no cue cards and no second takes.

Sid Caesar (Museum of Broadcast Communications)