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8:20 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
Discussion: Podcasting News, MacUser and Valleywag
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:
Wilson Rothman / Gizmodo:
Confirmed: Warner Going 100% Blu-ray; Is This HD DVD's Deathblow?
Discussion: DVICE
David Carnoy / Crave: The gadget blog:
Warner goes Blu-ray exclusively, delivering crushing blow to HD DVD
Discussion: TechLifeBlogged
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:   Warner tries to curtail format war by ending HD DVD support
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.
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.
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) …
Discussion: WebProNews
RELATED:
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Digg And Others Sued For Infringing Infamous Computer Solitaire Patent
John Biggs / CrunchGear:
Sennheiser releases first untethered Kleer wireless earbuds  —  I pray that Kleer actually takes off but after seeing ideas like this try and fail to gain traction — Zigbee, anyone?  — I'm a little dubious.  Anyway, Sennheiser just launched the first Kleer compatible headphones which allow …
Discussion: Gizmodo and Engadget
RELATED:
Gizmodo:
Sennheiser Wireless Earphones Utilize Kleer Technology Instead of Bluetooth
Discussion: Electronista
Megan McCarthy / Epicenter:
Kleiner Perkins Adds Facebook-Savvy General Partner  —  Sand Hill venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers is taking social networking seriously.  At least, that's the implication of its most recent hire: KPCB has added former Accel associate Chi-Hua Chien to its stable of general partners …
RELATED:
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Kleiner steals Chi-Hua Chien, Web 2.0 guru, from Accel
Discussion: Paul Kedrosky's … and Mashable!
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.
Joe Wilcox / Microsoft Watch:
Scoble's Scrape with Facebook Isn't Friendly … On Wednesday, Facebook suspended the former Microsoft evangelist blogger for a terms-of-service violation.  He had used a testing Plaxo tool to mine, or “scrape” information from about 5,000 of his contacts.  —  Scoble is back on Facebook now, but he shouldn't be.
Discussion: loose wire blog and eWEEK.com
RELATED:
Ina Fried / Crave: The gadget blog:
Windows Home Server remains a tough sell  —  Microsoft has largely succeeded in getting a PC into the home, but its effort to put a server there will be an uphill battle.  —  Bill Gates announced the product to much fanfare at last year's Consumer Electronics Show.
RELATED:
Todd Bishop / Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog:
Pre-CES: A glimpse inside a real Microsoft home
Discussion: CNET News.com
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
NY Google Vet Hirsch Leaving For Startups  —  David Hirsch, an eight-year Google sales vet who helped open the company's New York office, is leaving the company at the end of January.  The 36-year-old is looking, he tells us, to invest in and advise Web startups, with a focus on “helping incubate and accelerate the early stage game.”
Tom Simonite / New Scientist:
Google tool could search out hospital superbugs  —  Transmission of hospital acquired infections like the “superbug” MRSA could be cut using the method that Google uses to rank search results, say UK researchers.  —  Crunching data from wards using Google's PageRank algorithm …
Discussion: InfoWorld, WebProNews and Slashdot
The Macalope:
Yes, Virginia, any idiot CAN file a lawsuit!  —  Congratulations, Stacie Somers of San Diego County!  You're the first jackass of 2008!  —  Well, OK, technically, since the suit was filed on December 31, you're the last jackass of 2007.  But as it's already prompted some very silly analysis …
Discussion: Macworld and The Apple Core
Electronista:
Energizer unveils iPod battery extender, more  —  Energizer today unveiled a new iPod battery extender, as well as several new lighting products; it will be demonstrating them at CES 2008.  The Energi To Go for iPod uses two AA batteries, and when used with the company's e2 Lithium cells …
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
 
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 More Items: 
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
New Year's Tech Resolutions
Mark Glaser / MediaShift:
The Net Effect::Iowa Caucuses Blanketed by Twitter, Blogs, Video
CNET News.com:
Podcast: Sparks fly between Intel and OLPC
Mark / dive into mark:
2008 is the year of Linux on the desktop
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
iLuv announces a slew of new iPod accessories, including the i399
Discussion: Gizmodo
Charlie Demerjian / Inquirer:
Intel's OLPC moves blighted by the old paranoia
Discussion: CNET News.com
Karl / DSLreports:
HDMI Over Coaxial - Another option for home networking
 Earlier Items: 
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work:
The RIAA: Possibly right, still weasels
Discussion: Techdirt and Engadget
Mark Wilson / Gizmodo:
CompactFlash Meets SATA Speeds
Discussion: Engadget
Tim O'Reilly / O'Reilly Radar:
Human vs. Machine: The Great Challenge of Our Time
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...
Arik Hesseldahl / Business Week:
A Little ‘Intel’ on Apple's Next Move
Joseph Weisenthal / paidContent.org:
Monster Acquires Affinity Labs, Developer Of Vertical Career Sites, For $61 Million
Thomas Claburn / InformationWeek:
Google Patent Imagines Robots Indexing The Grocery Aisle
 

 
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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