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.
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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
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.
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
VOIP - The Details Kill The Fun — A bunch of VOIP services have launched to help people make cheaper calls from normal phones. None of them are compelling for the mass market. — VOIP is great when you initiate calls from VOIP phones or software (Skype, Vonage, etc.).
Discussion:
Naked Conversations
allAfrica.com:
Namibia: Five in Court Over VOIP Calls — Christof Maletsky — THE case in which five foreign nationals are accused of operating illegal Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services at Walvis Bay has been postponed to October this year. — Shen Yuefei (37) and Qipin Huang (36) …
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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 …
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 …
Rich Miller / Netcraft:
HostGator: cPanel Security Hole Exploited in Mass Hack — HostGator says hackers compromised its servers using a previously unknown security hole in cPanel, the control panel software that is widely used by hosting providers. "I can tell you with all accuracy that this is definitely due …
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.
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.
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
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.
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:
New fitness center targets teens with games — Walk through the malls and high school halls in America, and you'll quickly notice that kids in the US could use a few good workouts. A new fitness center opening this Saturday hopes to lure kids in with a combination of a "fitness arcade," …
