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8:50 AM ET, January 4, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Paul Buchheit:
Should Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail block Facebook?  —  Apparently Facebook will ban you (or at least Robert Scoble) if you attempt to extract your friend's email addresses from the service.  —  Automated access is a difficult issue for any web service, so I won't argue with their decision — it's their service and they own you.
RELATED:
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Facebook lets me back in...  I just received this email.  —  I answer Mike Arrington and several others in a video that now is up at http://www.mogulus.com/robertscoble.  —  UPDATE: In the video I cover a whole bunch of topics and take questions from the live audience that was there when filmed.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Plaxo Flubs It  —  News leaked prematurely today …
Om Malik / GigaOM:
A Heart-to-Heart with GigaOM Readers  —  Happy New Year.  As you may have noticed, my byline hasn't been up on the site for a few days.  That's because the holidays weren't exactly my most jolly.  —  I had a heart attack on Dec. 28.  I was able to walk into the hospital for treatment …
Scott Hillis / Reuters:
“Major Nelson” emerges as face of Xbox  —  REDMOND, Washington (Reuters) - Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and sporting unkempt graying hair, Larry Hryb looks like just another guy in Microsoft's corporate headquarters.  —  But Xbox 360 players know Hryb by his alter ego, “Major Nelson,” …
Discussion: Open (finds, minds … and Kotaku
RELATED:
Scott Hillis / Reuters:
Microsoft touts Xbox sales but laments online woes
Discussion: WinBeta
Alex Petraglia / Primotech:
Recent Xbox Live Issues May Be Result of Attack
Ryan Block / Engadget:
Xbox Live outage, day 13: still up and down, still preventing fun from being had
Discussion: Hacking NetFlix
John Markoff / New York Times:
Intel Leaves Group Backing Education PCs  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Intel said Thursday that it had chosen to withdraw from the One Laptop Per Child educational computer organization, which it joined in July after years of public squabbling between Intel's chairman, Craig R. Barrett, and the group's founder, Nicholas P. Negroponte.
Discussion: Bloomberg
RELATED:
Dean Takahashi / Tech Talk with Dean Takahashi:
Intel pulls out of One Laptop Per Child group  —  Here's another turn in a soap opera.  I'm sure that kids in developing countries are not going to benefit from this internecine squabble.  —  Intel has decided to pull out of the One Laptop Per Child nonprofit organization after a dispute with its chairman, Nicholas Negroponte.
Steve Stecklow / Wall Street Journal:
Intel Backs Out of Laptop Program
Discussion: Between the Lines and Channel 9
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 …
Discussion: WebProNews and All Points Blog
RELATED:
wipo.int:
(WO/2008/003095) RECOGNIZING TEXT IN IMAGES  —  Publication Number:  —  WO/2008/003095  —  International Application No.:  —  PCT/US2007/072578  —  Publication Date:  —  International Filing Date:  —  Int.  Class.:  —  G06F 17/30 (2006.01)  —  Applicants:
Dean Takahashi / Tech Talk with Dean Takahashi:
CES gadgets: Sling Media unveils new Slingbox PRO-HD for moving HD video around the home  —  Sling Media, the local outfit recently acquired by Echostar, is benefiting from our urge to watch videos anytime, anywhere, and to sling it around the house so we can watch it in whatever room, except maybe the bathroom.
Discussion: CNET News.com, Gizmodo and Engadget
RELATED:
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
CES: Echostar's Sling To Offer SlingPlayer For Blackberry
Discussion: Voices and Engadget
Mary Kathleen Flynn / Behind The Money Blog:
Leah Culver, 25, writes the code that powers Pownce  —  Technorati  —  Facebook  —  Digg  —  How does a 25-year-old computer science major from the University of Minnesota wind up as a co-founder of one of Silicon Valley's most closely watched startups?
Discussion: CenterNetworks
Matt Asay / The Open Road:
Mac's market share growth is “nothing short of spectacular,” suggests analyst  —  Apple has been on a tear of late, but it's not just a story of iPods.  Indeed, web analyst Net Applications now puts the Mac's market share at 8%, up from 5.3% in early 2007.  That is stunning growth by any measure …
Discussion: CNET News.com
Peter Galli / eWEEK.com:
Microsoft Takes Heat for Office 2003 SP3 File Format Blocking  —  CorelDraw .CDR files are one of the formats that have been blocked.  —  Microsoft is facing criticism from a competitor and some customers for its decision to block some older file formats with Office 2003 Service Pack 3, which it released last September.
Catherine Holahan / Business Week:
Sony BMG Lets the Music Play  —  The last of the major labels finally throws in the towel on DRM, and prepares 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 …
Discussion: bit-tech.net and hypebot
Thomas Claburn / InformationWeek:
Antitrust Lawsuit Charges Apple With Monopolizing Online Music  —  The complaint takes issue with Apple's refusal to support the Windows Media Audio format.  —  An antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple on Dec. 31 charges the company with maintaining an illegal monopoly on the digital music market.
 
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 More Items: 
Tony Smith / The Register:
Sony confirms Skype coming to PSP
Discussion: TechCrunch UK
John Cook / John Cook's Venture Blog:
InfoSpace cutting staff, top execs leaving
Travis Hudson / DVICE:
Traveler 350 revives the oldie, but goodie, the trackball
Discussion: Crave and Gizmodo
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
EU: one license, DRM scheme to rule them all
Staska / PC JOINT:
Is Art Lebedev working for Apple? ;)
Business Wire:
gOS 2.0 “Rocket,” the Second Major Release of the Friendly Linux OS …
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
Parent of Dating Sites Looks for a Match
Discussion: paidContent.org
NPR:
Rip This, and Sue That?
 Earlier Items: 
Dion Hinchcliffe / Enterprise Web 2.0:
12 predictions for Enterprise Web 2.0 in 2008
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
iSteamy Converts iPhone in Handheld Porn Powerhouse (Extremely NSFW)
Discussion: Insanely Great Mac
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE SUPER-SECRET NETFLIX SET-TOP BOX ARE REVEALED
Amanda Natividad / paidContent.org:
China Plans To Restrict Online Videos; Effect on Private Companies Still Unclear
Kristin Shoemaker / Download Squad:
Flipping the Linux switch: 5 tips every new Linux user should know
FortiGuard Center:
Facebook Widget Installing Spyware
Jim Goldman / Tech Check with Jim Goldman:
CES: We're At The “Greatest” Tech Show On Earth
Jeremy Horwitz / iLounge:
First Looks: Belkin RockStar
 

 
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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