Top Items:
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
The MacMini HDTV revolution — Yesterday I was over talking with the team behind Retrevo, the consumer electronics search engine. — We all agreed that Apple TV sucks. More on that in a minute. — But we all notice a trend: hooking MacMinis up to your HTDV. I think it's a revolution.
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Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
FlickrFan: Dave Winer's New Photo Viewing Software — Long-time inventor Dave Winer has released an early version of his new Mac software called FlickrFan tonight. Though there are some kinks in it at launch, the service leverages a number of APIs to do some very cool things.
Dave Winer / Scripting News:
New product release today — Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... It's with much anticipation that I say this. — I have a new product that may be familiar to those of you who used Radio 8, and in other ways may be completely new. — The idea is simple.
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work:
A Flickr-powered screensaver? Incredible — I don't want to turn this into a Dave Winer *thing,* but I have to say that the release of his newest software tool — a Mac-only screensaver/RSS widget called FlickrFan — fills me with, well... a sense of underwhelmingness.
Podcasting News:
Dave Winer Intros FlickrFan & Turns Your HDTV Into The Next Internet Platform — RSS and podcasting pioneer Dave Winer has a new project, FlickrFan, that's a platform for uploading and downloading Flickr images. — Even more important, though, it's an attempt to turn your HDTV into a platform that embraces the Internet.
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Wal-Mart Kills Video Download Store Before Christmas, No One Notices — Honestly, if we hadn't been tipped to this, we probably would've been none the wiser—same as pretty much everybody else on the planet apparently—but it looks like Wal-Mart's video download store caught pneumonia and died on Dec. 21.
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Gina Keating / Reuters:
Wal-Mart cancels movie download service — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc quietly canceled its online video download service less than a year after the site went live, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday. — Wal-Mart shut down the download site after Hewlett Packard Co discontinued …
Discussion:
Engadget
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent.org:
Wal-Mart Cancels Video Download Service; HP Says Wasn't Worth Powering — Yet another example of bricks-and-mortar scale not translating to online sales power and of grand online video plans deflating ... Reuters reports that Wal-Mart, (NYSE: WMT) one of the largest sellers of DVDs …
Karl Ribas / Karl Ribas.com Blog:NEW at Wal-Mart: SEM Services
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Search Engine Land, WebMetricsGuru, Insider Chatter, Mashable!, HipMojo.com, Search Engine Journal and Jim Kukral
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
A Post-Google Fraternity of Investors — SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Sacca had a plum job as the Wi-Fi guru at Google. But with his stock options fully vested, he left the Internet search company this month for a new career as a venture capitalist. — Mr. Sacca, 32, joins a growing number …
Discussion:
The Open Road
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
3 down, 1 to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM — Warner Music has bent beneath the force of the anti-DRM winds sweeping the globe. The label will now offer its complete catalog, DRM-free, through Amazon's new MP3 store. — The announcement means that EMI, Universal …
Discussion:
The Technology Chronicles, Boing Boing, last100, Bit Player, Slashdot, Engadget, Gizmodo and Digg
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Scott Karp / Publishing 2.0:
What Is The ROI Of Requiring User Registration To Access Online Content? — I somehow got logged out of my NYTimes.com registration and just hit the registration wall when I tried to read an article — I almost forgot it was there. Which made me wonder, now that the TimesSelect pay wall is gone …
Brian Caulfield / Forbes:
Apple's Piping Hot Innovation — Want a coffee with your iPhone? — Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) Chief Executive Steve Jobs wants to patent a process that will save customers the hassle of waiting to order a cup of coffee at a local Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) …
Discussion:
iLounge, Techdirt, Geek Speaker, ParisLemon, O'Reilly Radar, VentureBeat, The Mac Observer, Connecting the Dots, MacDailyNews, Ubergizmo, MacUser, JD on EP, Switched, Mashable! and MacRumors
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Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:Yahoo to patent “smart drag-and-drop,” Ars submits prior art
Discussion:
MacNN
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:Apple Tries To Patent A Way to Avoid Long Lines
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Doc Searls Weblog
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
NTV Predictions: Video Advertising — Among the questions we've asked our panel of experts was this one: Which online video ad format will become dominant in 2008? — Selections from their responses are below. We'd love to hear your take on the question or on our panelists' predictions in the comments.
Discussion:
Social Media
Center for Democracy & Technology:
Music Download Warning List — Claims to have the “Largest Music & Movie Selection,” “Over 12 million MP3 files,” and to allow users to “Find Any Song for Movie Fast!" — Charges $34.44 for a lifetime membership — Claims to be “legal” on the home page.
Discussion:
Mashable!
Katie Hafner / New York Times:
Inside Apple Stores, a Certain Aura Enchants the Faithful — It was 2 o'clock in the morning but in the subterranean retailing mecca in Midtown Manhattan, otherwise known as the Apple store, it might as well have been midafternoon. — Late one night shortly before Christmas …
