Top Items:
Alan Sipress / Washington Post:
Open Call From the Patent Office — The government is about to start opening up the process of reviewing patents to the modern font of wisdom: the Internet. — The Patent and Trademark Office is starting a pilot project that will not only post patent applications on the Web and invite comments …
Microsoft:
Microsoft Announces 512MB Memory Unit for Xbox 360 and Increased Xbox LIVE Arcade Game Size Limit — 512MB Memory Unit enhances storage capabilities and choice for Xbox 360 gamers; increased Xbox LIVE Arcade size limit provides additional flexibility for game developers.
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Seth Schiesel / New York Times:
Microsoft Prize of $10,000 to Promote Xbox Games — Reaching out to millions of aspiring game developers around the world, Microsoft plans today to announce a contest that will award $10,000 and the opportunity to entice millions of eyeballs to the next great digital diversion for the company's Xbox 360.
Eliot Van Buskirk / Listening Post:
U.S. Copyright Royalty Board Rejects Webcasters, Embraces SoundExchange — On Friday, which is generally accepted in public relations circles as the best day of the week to release controversial news, the United States Copyright Royalty Board (image to the right) announced new royalty rates for webcasts, effective from 2006 to 2010.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Orbitcast, StartupSquad.com, Podcasting News, The Future of Music … and Slashdot
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Christopher Null / PC World:
The 50 Most Important People on the Web — Despite what Time magazine would have you believe, you are not the most powerful or influential person on the Web. At PC World we love online personals, social networks, and videos of people falling on their keisters as much as the next person …
Ellen Lee / San Francisco Chronicle:
Google moves YouTube ahead — Since the acquisition, more deals struck for video, though copyright issues remain — In a clip posted on YouTube shortly after Google said it was acquiring the popular online video site for a whopping $1.65 billion, YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley …
BBC:
Windows fails second virus test — Microsoft's Live OneCare security software has failed tests which check how well it spots and stops malicious programs designed to attack Windows. — OneCare was the only failure among 17 anti-virus programs tested by the AV Comparatives organisation.
Bob Tedeschi / New York Times:
A Richer Trip to the Mall, Guided by Text Messages — SEARCH engines made it easy to find items at online stores. Now the Internet is poised to solve a more vexing problem: finding items while you are at the mall. — Technology companies like NearbyNow of Los Altos, Calif. …
Shira Jacobson / SeekingAlpha CE Stocks:
This is the Dawning of the Age of Apple — Carl Howe (Blackfriars Communications) submits: We have all heard about the "iPod halo effect" where iPod owners increasingly are buying Apple (AAPL) computers. Well, it appears that the iPhone has kicked that effect into high gear.
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
Time Change a 'Mini-Y2K' in Tech Terms — Two years ago, when Congress passed a law to extend daylight saving time by a month, the move seemed a harmless step that would let the nation burn a little less fossil fuel and enjoy a bit more sunshine. — Representative Fred Upton …
Discussion:
Feld Thoughts
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
AddThis Widget Gathering Lots Of Interesting Data — You may have seen the AddThis buttons on blog at some point while surfing the web. It's a simple, free widget blog owners can add to their site that shows a number of bookmarking options at the end of a blog post (there's also a feed reader widget for easy RSS subscriptions).
Discussion:
Data Mining
Douglas Heingartner / New York Times:
Patent Fights Are a Legacy of MP3's Tangled Origins — Microsoft says it was doing the right thing: paying a German rights holder $16 million to license the MP3 audio format, the foundation of the digital music boom. Then an American jury ruled that Microsoft had failed to pay another MP3 patent holder …
Discussion:
PaidContent
James Bannan / APC:
It's official: Pirates crack Vista at last — A genuine crack for Windows Vista has just been released by pirate group Pantheon, which allows a pirated, non-activated installation of Vista (Home Basic/Premium and Ultimate) to be properly activated and made fully-operational.
Matt Cutts / Gadgets, Google, and SEO:
Three solid Gmail productivity tips — If you're a techie person, email is essential but it's hard to stay on top of all of it. If you use Gmail and Firefox, here's a few tips to get email under control. — The first tip is remedial: keep most mailing list emails out of your inbox.
Discussion:
Googling Google
Noam Cohen / New York Times:
A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side — In a blink, the wisdom of the crowd became the fury of the crowd. In the last few days, contributors to Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia, have turned against one of their own who was found to have created an elaborate false identity.
Discussion:
Andrew Lih
CNET News.com:
Newsmaker: Adobe sees future on the Web — newsmaker If you need more evidence of the Web shaking up the packaged software business, talk to Bruce Chizen. — The CEO of Adobe Systems oversees a company that successfully harnessed the power of an earlier technology wave—personal computers …
Discussion:
JD on EP
Don Dodge / Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing:
USA Today social redesign - 92% don't like it — USA Today introduced a completely new website complete with lots of social network features like comments, reader rankings, blogs, photos, and better search. Reader reaction? 92% don't like it. I read all 130 comments (at the time of this post) …
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