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5:15 PM ET, January 4, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Catherine Holahan / Business Week:
Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM  —  The last major label will throw in the towel on digital rights management and prepare to fight Apple for valuable download revenues  —  In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without …
RELATED:
Ken Fisher / Ars Technica:
Lone holdout in DRMed music recommends DRM circumvention  —  With three of the big four music labels abandoning DRM, that leaves Sony as the big holdout.  That's right, the same company that brought you the Sony rootkit scandal is also the last of the major labels to repent and abandon their DRMed ways.
Discussion: Podcasting News
Fury.com:
Today is My Last Day at Google  —  After a life-changing four and a half years of working with the most talented group of people I have ever met, I've decided to take the plunge and do it all over again, working for a very small start-up.  Today is my last day at the Big G.
RELATED:
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Google's User Experience Expert, Kevin Fox, Joins New Start-up Company
Discussion: TechCrunch, techno.blog and WebProNews
Greg Linden / Geeking with Greg:
The coming 2008 dot-com crash  —  Early January is the time we see many predictions for 2008.  I have not played this game since 2006, but I want to chime in this year.  —  I am only going to make one prediction, but one with broad impact.  We will see a dot-com crash in 2008.
Ben Edelman:
Sears Exposes Customer Purchase History in Violation of Its Privacy Policy  —  Want to know what a given customer has purchased from Sears?  It's surprisingly easy to find out.  Here's the procedure:  —  1) Go to the Sears “Manage My Home” site, www.managemyhome.com .  Create an account and sign in.
Discussion: Zero Day, Techdirt and Computerworld
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive  —  We've all been wondering what to make of those whispers that Warner was indeed going Blu-ray exclusive, and apparently, those rumblings are true.  Based on a breaking release, Warner Bros.  Entertainment will be releasing its high-definition titles …
RELATED:
TimeWarner:
Warner Bros.  Entertainment to Release its High-Definition DVD Titles Exclusively in the Blu-Ray Disc Format Beginning Later This Year  —  In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros.  Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year …
Discussion: ParisLemon and TECH.BLORGE.com
Thomas Claburn / InformationWeek:
Google Patent Imagines Robots Indexing The Grocery Aisle  —  The two computer scientists behind “recognizing text in images” search technology also worked on Google Street View and Google Book Search.  —  A patent application filed by Google with the World Intellectual Property Organization …
RELATED:
Bill Slawski / Search Engine Land:
Googlebot In Aisle Three: How Google Plans to Index the World?  —  Robots reading cereal boxes in the Supermarket?  Googlebot at the Art Museum?  Street signs and building addresses snatched from Street View images for local search, image search, and product search?
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Will fans pay?  Reznor opens books on 'Net music experiment  —  Radiohead isn't talking numbers, but Trent Reznor is.  After producing Saul Williams' The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust and offering it to fans online, Reznor yesterday laid out the numbers from his experiment.
Gizmodo:
Sennheiser Wireless Earphones Utilize Kleer Technology Instead of Bluetooth  —  Sennheiser MX W1: First Wireless Stereo Earphones Using the Kleer Bluetooth Alternative  —  Kleer wireless technology has shown promise in terms of both energy efficiency and sound quality when compared to Bluetooth …
Discussion: Electronista
RELATED:
John Biggs / CrunchGear:
Sennheiser releases first untethered Kleer wireless earbuds
Discussion: Gizmodo
Jeremy Kirk / Macworld:
Apple music monopoly lawsuit seeks class-action status  —  A class-action suit filed against Apple alleges the company unfairly uses technological restrictions with its iPod line and iTunes Music Store to beat out competitors.  —  The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District …
RELATED:
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:   Apple antitrust suit alleges monopoly over music, players
Troll Tracker / Patent Troll Tracker:
4 Interesting New Cases From Last 2 Weeks of December  —  Well, what do we have for you today?  How about the Rothschild family investing in a Eurotroll, and suing in Marshall, Texas?  How about an ex-Fish & Richardson associate buying patents for millions of dollars (while an associate) …
RELATED:
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Digg And Others Sued For Infringing Infamous Computer Solitaire Patent
Karl / DSLreports:
HDMI Over Coaxial - Another option for home networking  —  If you're lucky enough to no longer be worrying about the speed of your broadband connection, you may still be concerned about the speed of your home network, particularly when it comes to shoveling HD content around the house.
Discussion: Electronista
RELATED:
Business Wire:
Gefen and Pulse~LINK Introduce the World's First Consumer HDMI …
Discussion: Engadget HD and SlashGear
Elizabeth Woyke / Forbes:
Imagine A Web Site For Your Toaster  —  Judging from the buzz surrounding this year's Consumer Electronics Show, every device in our homes may soon go online, right down to the toaster.  The Las Vegas show, which kicks off on Sunday evening, will be stuffed with products meant to tap the Internet on the go …
Discussion: larry borsato
Arik Hesseldahl / Business Week:
A Little ‘Intel’ on Apple's Next Move  —  Wondering what Steve Jobs will announce in his Macworld keynote on Jan. 15?  The newest chips from Apple's sole supplier offer some intriguing hints  —  With Macworld Expo just days away, the pre-"Stevenote" buzz is building fast.
Discussion: localmobilesearch.net
Joseph Weisenthal / paidContent.org:
Monster Acquires Affinity Labs, Developer Of Vertical Career Sites, For $61 Million  —  Online jobs firm Monster Worldwide has acquired SF-based Affinity Labs, a developer of community sites centered around various vocations, for $61 million in cash.  Examples of its portfolio include Policelink.com …
Tim O'Reilly / O'Reilly Radar:
Human vs. Machine: The Great Challenge of Our Time  —  In an email conversation with Bill Janeway about our upcoming Money:Tech Conference, he said something really profound: … I've written quite a bit about “bionic software,” the idea that one of the distinguishing characteristics of Web 2 …
Discussion: Paul Kedrosky's …
 
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 More Items: 
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com:
Q&A: Red Hat CEO believes Delta past isn't a liability
Jim Irwin / Associated Press:
Purported Spammer Accused of Stock Fraud
Discussion: WebProNews and Techdirt
Juliette Garside / Telegraph:
Tiscali to rebrand Toucan for launch of mobile service
Discussion: The Register and paidContent
Darren Murph / Engadget:
DXG delivers DXG-566V HD camcorder for $149
Discussion: Electronista
Megan McCarthy / Epicenter:
Kleiner Perkins Adds Facebook-Savvy General Partner
Discussion: VentureBeat
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work:
The RIAA: Possibly right, still weasels
Discussion: p2pnet and CNET News.com
Mark Wilson / Gizmodo:
CompactFlash Meets SATA Speeds
Discussion: Engadget
 Earlier Items: 
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
NY Google Vet Hirsch Leaving For Startups
Discussion: WebProNews
Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:
BiTMICRO introduces 832GB SSD for CES 2008
Discussion: DailyTech
I, Cringely . The Pulpit | PBS:
Always Certain, Sometimes Correct
Discussion: The Mac Observer
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / HipMojo.com:
Web Starting to Surpass TV Advertising in Europe: Sweden First, then UK, then...
Todd Bishop / Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog:
Pre-CES: A glimpse inside a real Microsoft home
Discussion: CNET News.com
Charlie White / Gizmodo:
Fujifilm FinePix Z100fd, So Thin It's Anorexic
Discussion: Engadget and Electronista
Associated Press:
U.S. Album Sales Fell 9.5% in 2007
Discussion: Coolfer, CrunchGear, TechCrunch and Digg
Mary Kathleen Flynn / Behind The Money Blog:
Leah Culver, 25, writes the code that powers Pownce
 

 
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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