Top Items:
Marshall Kirkpatrick:
Now Microsoft Wants Its Laptop Back — Microsoft and AMD sent out a pile of very expensive (yet trashy looking) laptops to a number of bloggers over the past week. We were told we could keep them - now after a day of minor outrage by some people they are emailing us back with the following request that we not keep them after all!
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Mike / CrunchNotes:
The Microsoft "Scandal" — So we received one of the Microsoft computers the other day that everyone's been screaming about. I don't think this is much of a scandal, because Microsoft is being pretty open about exactly what they are doing - giving away computers loaded with Vista to bloggers …
Discussion:
NevilleHobson.com
Michael Gartenberg:
Lessons from the Ferrari Fiasco — First lesson, No Good Deed Goes Un-Punished. I've been following some of the posts about Microsoft (actually Edelman PR) sending some very nice Ferrari laptops with Windows Vista to some bloggers. Ostensibly to keep, although now bloggers are being told to return them or to "give them away".
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
I think the Microsoft Vista giveaway is an awesome idea — Lots of people like BL Ochman are screaming bloody murder about Microsoft giving bloggers and other influentials free laptops loaded with Windows Vista. I personally don't get it. — That is a GREAT idea.
Discussion:
ProBlogger Blog Tips, notgartner, Web Worker Daily, Vecosys, LEWIS 360°, Seeking Alpha and the j. botter weblog
Joe Wilcox / Microsoft Watch:
How Much Oomph Does Vista Really Need? … System requirements are a hot topic, because so many people are asking. I recently spoke to solution providers about what they're hearing from customers about Windows Vista. Top concern: Hardware requirements. — Microsoft hasn't exactly stormed out the information, either.
Discussion:
Michael Gartenberg
BL Ochman / B.L. Ochman's weblog:Edelman Has New Ethics Scandal Brewing With Microsoft's Blogger Bribe Campaign
Andy Beal / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim:Microsoft & Edelman Make Two Mistakes with Free Laptop Fiasco
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Richard Waters / Financial Times:
Apple 'falsified' files on Jobs' options — Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, was handed 7.5m stock options in 2001 without the required authorisation from the company's board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter. — Records that purported to show …
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Xeni Jardin / Boing Boing:
Google "disappears" sex blogs? UPDATED — Xeni Jardin: UPDATE (Dec. 28): Readers have been writing in to say that whatever happened here, the issue appears to be resolved for now — at least for the specific sex blogs cited in this post. I haven't verified this, but if it's true, great.
Discussion:
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Jim Tharpe / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Busy travelers snap up iPods from Hartsfield vending machines — Concourse A machine sold $55,000 worth of electronics in a month — Anita Leopold has a little surprise for anyone who thinks vending machines were created to dispense lightly salted snack food and sugar-laced temptations.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
ProfileLinker Takes Meebo Approach to Social Networking — There are clearly too many social networks, and if you belong to one you likely belong to many. Boston based (soon to be relocated to San Francisco) ProfileLinker's aim is to help you stay organized across those networks.
The Sun:
Talk talk naked — NEARLY half of Brits regularly chat to friends and family on their home phone NAKED, a survey has revealed. — The poll showed 49 per cent of 600 people questioned were happy to use the phone in their birthday suit. — Women are more likely than men to go au naturel …
Discussion:
Reuters
Chris Winfield / 10e20:
101 Biggest Stories in Search 2006 — The first thing that you will do when you read this list is say "This list isn't just about search!" And you will be right. 2006 was a year that saw the definition of search expand. Search to me has become an all-encompassing word. Search is information.
Dave Girard / Ars Technica:
The Mac OS X font managers review — Introduction — Well it was a long time coming, but I've been through the trenches and come up, sucking chest wound and all, with the Ars review of font management programs. I've also succeeded in not completely losing my mind while the developers updated the apps …
Discussion:
MacUser
Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
News site Digg raises $8.5M more, rejects evidence it has been gamed — Digg, the news site that lets users rank stories by voting, has raised $8.5 million in fresh financing from existing backers, putting to rest for now speculation that it might sell to a bigger media player.
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Full disclosure... I am sitting in an airport in Houston. I see a lot of people are wondering who is paying for the trip. I wasn't supposed to announce what I was doing until I got to New Orleans, but since news schedules have been moved up (John Edwards announced he's running for President today) I'm sure the campaign won't mind.
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Pete Cashmore / Mashable!:
Mashable's 2007 Predictions — It's now only a few days until 2007, and a good time for the yearly prediction posts to start rolling out - including one from Mashable. To add a more interesting spin, we'll throw in a mini-game of blog tag - a few people "tagged" at the end of this post …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
PayPerPost In The News Again — PayPerPost, the controversial startup that pays bloggers to write about advertisers' products, will be in the news again tomorrow. They will be announcing the acquisition of blogging tools and services company Performancing (see our earlier coverage of Performancing).
Kotaku:
Games Make You Drive Like an Idiot — FoxTrot Cuts Back to Weekly Reaffirms Love of WoW — FoxTrot cartoonist and World of Warcraft enthusiast Bill Amend recently announced that he would be cutting back from producing his excellent newspaper strip on a daily basis to a weekly one.
Jordan Robertson / Associated Press:
Online shoppers overwhelm iTunes store — SAN FRANCISCO - Swarms of online shoppers armed with new iPods and iTunes gift cards apparently overwhelmed Apple's iTunes music store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns of 20 minutes or more for downloads of a single song.
