Top Items:
Ben Darnell / Official Google Reader Blog:
Something looks... different. — As of today, Google Reader has a new look — and even more important, a lot of new features that we think you'll like. We've listened to your feedback, done usability research, and examined all the ways that people consume content on the web, from feed readers to email clients.
Discussion:
Search Engine Journal, Basement.org, Guardian Unlimited, Search Engine Watch Blog, The Blog Herald and Lifehacker
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Official Google Blog:
Now anyone can Talk — Last year, we launched Google Talk, a free and easy service for making voice calls and sending instant messages. It used to be that only Gmail users could use Google Talk but now anyone can sign up for Google Talk. If you haven't tried the service yet, here are 5 good reasons to give it a try:
Tariq Malik / LiveScience:
New Power Suit Amplifies Human Strength — NEW YORK—Engineers in Japan are perfecting a wearable power suit that amplifies human strength to help lift hospital patients or heavy objects. — Driven by portable batteries, micro air pumps and small body sensors that pick up even the slightest muscle twitch …
Frank Ahrens / Washington Post:
Hollywood Says Piracy Has Ripple Effect — Illegal Film Distribution Decreases Sales, Jobs and Tax Revenue, Study Says — Seeking another weapon in its war on piracy, the movie industry hopes to wow lawmakers today with a study that says the economic impact of illegal DVD …
Discussion:
Davis Freeberg's Digital …
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Cynthia Brumfield / IP Democracy:
Industry Study: 38% of Film Piracy is on the Internet — The Washington Post's Frank Ahrens has this article about a study on film piracy that claims that 38% of all movie piracy occurs on the Internet, with the rest coming from illegally copied DVDs. Financed by the movie industry …
Reuters:
Mark Cuban: Only a 'moron' would buy YouTube — Billionaire investor and dot-com veteran Mark Cuban had harsh words Thursday for YouTube, the online site that lets people share video clips, saying only a "moron" would purchase the wildly popular start-up. — Cuban, co-founder of HDNet …
Discussion:
DealBreaker.com, Mark Evans, Search Engine Journal, Junto Boyz, Clickety Clack, BGSL and V7N Search Marketing News
Tariq Malik / SPACE.com:
Virgin Galactic Unveils SpaceShipTwo Interior Concept — NEW YORK - Future passengers aboard Virgin Galactic spaceliners can look forward to cushioned reclining seats and lots of windows during suborbital flights aboard SpaceShipTwo, a concept interior of which was unveiled by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson Thursday.
Ina Fried / CNET News.com:
Dunn grilled by Congress — update A congressional committee on Thursday grilled former Hewlett-Packard Chairman Patricia Dunn over why she didn't put a stop to controversial techniques used by the company in an investigation into press leaks. — Under questioning, Dunn was asked …
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James Boyle / Financial Times:
A view from (under) the long tail — I lead a double life. It gives me something in common with spies, weekend cross-dressers and fugitives from the law, but in my case the reality is much more boring. As an academic, I spend much of my time thinking and writing about the internet economy …
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Meet the second generation of UMPCs, shoulda been 1st — When the UMPC platform was launched at Intel's 2005 IDF we were teased with a $500 or less device on the WWAN running on ultra-low powered chips capable of either 8-hours off battery or putting Vista to sleep for up to a week.
Zephoria / apophenia:
Facebook is open — Facebook is open. I've already received friend requests from companies selling their wares by creating a Profile. I am also faced with more contexts that i can deal with. (Note: i'm not accepting friendships from folks that i know in the blogosphere until i figure …
Wilson Rothman / Wired News:
Map Quest … SLOUCHED IN AN undecorated cubicle in Lebanon, New Hampshire, sleeves rolled up on his button-down shirt, David Williams is looking for one-way streets. It's frustrating work. Williams stares at his email inbox: a solid wall of news alerts from Yahoo and Google.
Discussion:
The Map Room
Vanessa Fox / Official Google Webmaster Central Blog:
Fresher query stats — Query stats in webmaster tools provide information about the search queries that most often return your site in the results. You can view this information by a variety of search types (such as web search, mobile search, or image search) and countries.
Mike Shields / mediaweek.com:
Facebook Creates Sponsored Stories Ad Unit — Facebook plans to unveil a new ad unit in the coming weeks that the company says uniquely harness the site's social networking dynamic. — The new placement, dubbed Sponsored Stories, appears within Facebook's News Feed platform.
Discussion:
Conversion Rater, Mashable!, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Unit Structures and This is going to be BIG.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Why The New .Mac Webmail Is Important — Earlier this week Apple announced that a new version of webmail for Mac users is "coming soon." There was a bit of chatter about this around the blogosphere, with most people concluding that this fresh coat of paint on the inferior .mac product is a bit of a yawn.
Jonathan Miller / IGN:
X06: Assassin's Creed Update — The latest on Ubi's next, um, killer game, including controls and potential multiplayer. — 10,000 plus. — That's how many character animations are loaded into Assassin's Creed, 700 of them alone contextual. To put things into perspective, Prince of Persia …
