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12:20 AM ET, February 20, 2007

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Peter Lauria / New York Post:
HEAVENLY DEAL  —  SIRIUS, XM SET TO CONFIRM MERGER PLAN TODAY  —  Satellite radio operators Sirius and XM are expected to announce their long-awaited merger today, according to a source familiar with the deal.  —  The two sides were locked in negotiations over the weekend trying to hammer …
RELATED:
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:
Sources: XM Radio, Sirius merger imminent  —  XM Radio and Sirius are reportedly in final negotiations that should result in a merger.  First reported by the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal is confirming that the two companies are very close to a deal that may be announced as early as today.
Evan Blass / Engadget:
It's official: XM and Sirius plan to tie the knot  —  It's been more than two years since we first reported that XM and Sirius were in talks to merge, and although the New York Post may have jumped the gun a bit way back then, it was certainly on the money today, as the two satellite radio pioneers …
Discussion: digg
Gizmodo:
XM and Sirius Officially Merge  —  The rumors were flying all day after that NY Post story hit and now we can officially tell you that XM and Sirius are indeed merging.  Mel Karmazin (head of Sirius) will be CEO while Gary Parsons (head of XM) will be chairman of the new company.
Thomas Heath / Washington Post:
Satellite Radio's XM, Sirius to Merge  —  District-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., which together control the emerging satellite subscription radio market, today announced that they plan to merge in a $13 billion deal.
Discussion: Lost Remote and WebMetricsGuru
Mark Evans:
The XM-Sirius Deal Can't Save Satellite-Radio
Discussion: robhyndman.com
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
3X DVD introduced: HD DVD, now in lower resolution!  —  Doug Carson & Associates (DCA), makers of DVD mastering software, announced today that the first 3X DVD-ROM disc was officially mastered over the weekend, a move that some think will allow HD DVD to become more popular and possibly even win the ongoing "format war" with Blu-ray.
RELATED:
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Is "3X DVD" HD DVD's secret weapon against Blu-ray?
Discussion: digg
Richard MacManus / Read/WriteWeb:
Why AOL Created 63 Million New OpenIDs  —  Written by Jitendra Gupta of Karmaweb and edited by Richard MacManus  —  Late last week AOL announced its support of the open identity system OpenID, for all 63 million of their AOL/AIM Ids (for those looking for a quick introduction to OpenID, click here).
Discussion: Venture Chronicles and KarmaWeb
Anick Jesdanun / Associated Press:
Entrepreneurs profit from free Web names  —  NEW YORK — It's not often you can compare Internet addresses with clothing, but a growing practice comes close, contributing to a global shortage in good names.  —  Entrepreneurs have been taking advantage of a five-day grace period to sample millions …
Lisa Barone / Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog:
The Lisa's Problem With Wikipedia Explained  —  It's fair to say that I've done some mild Wikipedia bashing lately.  I may have even referred to it as "devil spawn Wikipedia" on more than one occasion.  And because our loyal readers like to keep us/me in check (please don't ever stop that) …
Catharine P. Taylor / Adweek:
The Ties That Bind: Connection Beats Page Views  —  Digital media executives watched throughout 2006 as Web 2.0 asserted Internet users' creative independence from the media giants.  And by November, it was nearly a fait accompli.  That was when comScore Media Metrix showed that …
RELATED:
David Kaplan / PaidContent:   MySpace May Beat Yahoo On Pageviews, But Not When It Comes To Attracting Advertisers
Matthew Aslett / Computer Business Review:
Take Microsoft's Linux money, says Red Hat  —  Red Hat Inc's CEO has said the company is encouraging customers to adopt Microsoft Corp's offer of support vouchers for Novell's Inc's rival Linux operating system in order to get the issue over with.  —  Microsoft announced in November 2006 …
Marshall Kirkpatrick / TechCrunch:
MSN Experimenting With Most Digg Like Service Yet  —  Last week we saw first Yahoo! and then Dell launch sites that were largely acknowledged to be Digg inspired.  Digg may not have invented the vote-on-news motif but it may have been most important in popularizing the paradigm so far.
Paul Kapustka / NewTeeVee:
Eyespot Powers NBA's Video-mixing site  —  Not unlike an unheralded draft pick who cracks the starting lineup, startup video-editing site Eyespot jumps into the big leagues Tuesday as the technology engine behind the NBA's new "highlights mixer" web site.  —  With league-sanctioned clips of dunks …
Discussion: mathewingram.com/work
Greg Jarboe / Search Engine Watch Blog:
Google News isn't top dog in UK news search, either  —  Last week, my article, "Is Google News the Tail Wagging the News Search Dog?," appeared in Search Engine Watch - just as Search Engine Strategies was getting underway in London.  The article cited data showing that Yahoo News and AOL News …
Microsoft:
Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2  —  Update is fully compatible with Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system; new licensing updates enhance opportunities for virtualization.  —  Microsoft Corp. today released Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 SP2 …
David Jenkins / Gamasutra:
Nielsen Puts Nintendo Ahead In Web Traffic Report  —  New data from Nielsen/NetRatings suggests that Nintendo's website saw the biggest rise in visitors of any computer hardware manufacturer in January - with more overall traffic than Sony Computer Entertainment's site and Microsoft's Xbox website.
Discussion: GigaGamez, Joystiq and You NEWB
 
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 More Items: 
Steve Rubel / Micro Persuasion:
Many Web 2.0 Sites Fail to Link to Related Content
Ben Kuchera / Opposable Thumbs:
Shopping for HDMI cables: who do retailers think they're kidding?
Discussion: digg
Mike Yamamoto / Crave: The gadget blog:
An MP3 player from Russia, with love
Discussion: Anything But iPod and Engadget
Nick Farrell / Inquirer:
Ballmer blames pirates for poor Vista sales
Discussion: TechSpot News
Peter Rojas / Engadget:
Is Palm up for sale?
Kotaku:
Wii Demand Kneecaps Indie Wii Movement
Stowe Boyd / Message:
Traffic And Flow  —  Emily Chang has announced her consolidated …
BBC:
The mash-up future of the web
 Earlier Items: 
Joe / Techdirt:
More Labor Woes At Indian Outsourcers
MacNN:
Adobe ships Photoshop Lightroom 1.0
ZDNet:
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TOOLKIT
Discussion: Macsimum News
Jon Udell:
Blogging from Word 2007, crossing the chasm
Discussion: Scobleizer
David Carr / New York Times:
Do They Still Want Their MTV?  —  MTV prospered for decades …
Discussion: PaidContent
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming

 
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