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5:55 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, MacUser and Valleywag
Robert Andrews / paidContent.org:
Sony BMG Joining Amazon Music Store; Final Major To Try DRM-Free: Report
Discussion: p2pnet and Byte of the Apple
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
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.
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 …
Discussion: 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:
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
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.
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: Engadget and Gizmodo
RELATED:
Gizmodo:
Sennheiser Wireless Earphones Utilize Kleer Technology Instead of Bluetooth
Discussion: Electronista
Matt Asay / CNET News.com:
On the record with Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat's new CEO: ‘I must have a mission’  —  I wasn't very nice to Jim Whitehurst when I heard the news that he had been named the new CEO of Red Hat to replace Matthew Szulik.  My reasoning?  Matthew Szulik had done so much for Red Hat and besides …
Discussion: Jeremy's Blog
RELATED:
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com:   Q&A: Red Hat CEO believes Delta past isn't a liability
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
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.”
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 …
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
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / HipMojo.com:
Web Starting to Surpass TV Advertising in Europe: Sweden First, then UK, then...  Every time I think I am being bullish on Web and online video growth rates, something comes along that makes me realize I am actually being conservative.  Case in point: … This is pretty impressive and actually in line with two analysis I did:
Discussion: WebProNews and Conversion Rater
 
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 More Items: 
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
iLuv announces a slew of new iPod accessories, including the i399
Discussion: Gizmodo
Electronista:
iLuv reveals iPod/DVD combo, Bluetooth docks
Discussion: Gizmodo
Jim Irwin / Associated Press:
Purported Spammer Accused of Stock Fraud
Discussion: WebProNews and Techdirt
Megan McCarthy / Epicenter:
Kleiner Perkins Adds Facebook-Savvy General Partner
Discussion: VentureBeat
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work:
The RIAA: Possibly right, still weasels
Mark Wilson / Gizmodo:
CompactFlash Meets SATA Speeds
Discussion: Engadget
Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins / Mashable!:
Forget Kenya, Let's Talk Scoble-gate!
 Earlier Items: 
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
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
Joseph Weisenthal / paidContent.org:
Monster Acquires Affinity Labs, Developer Of Vertical Career Sites, For $61 Million
Associated Press:
U.S. Album Sales Fell 9.5% in 2007
Discussion: CrunchGear, Coolfer, TechCrunch and Digg
Mary Kathleen Flynn / Behind The Money Blog:
Leah Culver, 25, writes the code that powers Pownce