Top Items:
Leo Laporte / TWiT.TV:
A Cast By Any Other Name... According to Wired News's Listening Post blog, Apple has sent a cease and desist letter to Podcast Ready claiming that the terms "Podcast Ready" and "myPodder" infringe on Apple's trademarks, and that they cause confusion among consumers.
RELATED ITEMS:
Jason Calacanis / The Jason Calacanis Weblog:
Apple to trademark Podcast? (or "How to fight the good fight") — In perhaps the worst trademark enforcement decision—ummm—ever, it seems Apple is trying to get people to NOT use the term Podcast/Podcasting in the names of their companies. Podcasting for those of my readers who are non-technical, is best defined two ways:
Discussion:
Open Gardens
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Will Apple sue PodTech.net? (My employer) — Hmmm, seems like Apple is sending lawyers out after companies using the word "Podcast." I wonder if PodTech is next? — Leo Laporte says it's time for the entire industry to stop using the word "podcast." I agree.
Tim Arango / New York Post:
RETAIL-IATION — WAL-MART WARNS STUDIOS OVER — DVD DOWNLOADS — Worried about its massive DVD sales, retail behemoth Wal-Mart has told some of Hollywood's biggest players it will retaliate against them for selling movies on Apple's iTunes. — Last year when Disney announced …
Rob Hyndman / robhyndman.com:
The HP Saga: Dunn is Indeed Done; Hunsaker Sacked — The WSJ and NYT have now issued their first pieces (AP here) after the news flashes that followed HP CEO Hurd's press conference today (audio). HP Chair Patricia Dunn is resigning as Chair and from the Board effective immediately, at the request of the Board.
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Grace Wong / CNNMoney.com:
HP's Dunn resigns from board — CEO Hurd takes over as chairman amid growing leak investigation scandal. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Hewlett Packard chief executive Mark Hurd said Friday that he is taking over as the company's chairman effective immediately, replacing Patricia Dunn …
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Some VoIP services surpass traditional phones — A large-scale VoIP study from Keynote Systems concludes that VoIP audio quality is improving, and in some cases exceeds that of the traditional phone network—so long as you're making calls within the US. More than 100,000 people a month …
Ethan / ...My heart's in Accra:
Holiday in Harare: part 4 - Zimbabwe's Internet under threat — They turned off the Internet shortly after I left Harare. — I don't think the two events were connected. — And they didn't really turn the net off, despite alarming reports to the contrary.
Discussion:
Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
DRM is old and busted, according to BitTorrent cofounder — BitTorrent cofounder Ashwin Navin believes that DRM is not the answer to legal online video services despite his company's getting ready to launch its own DRM-based movie service in the near future.
Kylebhansen / Kyle's Comments:
SOS - Save Our Skype — The movement to save Skype at San Jose State continues to grow. The JMC163 class blog has a list of recent posts about the issue. Andrew Venegas sent an email to Bob Neal, the Sr Director, Network & Telecom Network Services UCAT, and got a response.
Discussion:
Steve Sloan …
RELATED ITEMS:
Erick Schonfeld / B2Day:
With a Rebtel Yell, Swedish Startup Raises $20 Million — I got a call this morning on my cell phone, which showed a local New York number with a 646 area code. But it wasn't a local call at all. On the other end was Hjalmar Winbladh, CEO of Swedish mobile VoIP startup Rebtel.
Valleywag:
Yahoo pulls a Scrooge with forced unpaid holiday vacation — Several Yahoos confided their frustration to me when the company sent an all-hands memo this week, forcing all employees to take the Christmas-to-New-Year week off, either unpaid or using their allotted vacation days.
Wall Street Journal:
Cablevision Gave Backdated Grant To Dead Official — Cablevision Systems Corp. awarded options to a vice chairman after his 1999 death but backdated them, making it appear the grant was awarded when he still was alive, according to a company filing and people familiar with the matter.
Reuters:
Publishers aim for some control of search results — Global publishers, fearing that Web search engines such as Google are encroaching on their ability to generate revenue, plan to launch an automated system for granting permission on how to use their content.
Forbes:
#1 William Henry Gates III — SOURCE Microsoft (quote: MSFT), Software, Self made — EDUCATION Harvard University, Drop Out — In June Microsoft's visionary announced his retirement from company he cofounded 31 years ago. Ray Ozzie, a former foe at Lotus, will assume …
Discussion:
Valleywag
Nick / Rough Type:
Concerns grow over online advertising — Storm clouds may be building over the online advertising market. Both Business Week and the New York Times have published major articles on click fraud. Though neither produces hard evidence that it's an unmanageable problem, both raise troubling questions about its prevalence and growth.
Nwhite / Windows Vista Team Blog:
Update on Ability to Mute the Windows Vista Start-up Sound — We heard you loud and clear when it came to discussing our plans to include a default start-up sound that plays as you boot-up Windows Vista: you said you wanted to have the opportunity to mute it if and when you felt it necessary.
Blake Snow / Joystiq:
Sony: Nintendo is losing audience, not expanding it — In an interview with GameDaily, Sony VP Jack Tretton spoke out about the PSP versus DS market share battle. He believes according to early adoption rates of both the PSP and DS that Nintendo may actually be losing its core gamer audience instead of expanding upon it.
Nwhite / Windows Vista Team Blog:
Interim Windows Vista Build 5728 Released Today — Today we released an interim build of Windows Vista, also known as an EDW, or External Developer Workstation. This build is number 5728 and serves as an update to RC1 and runs in parallel with that release. The build is available to the public.
