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3:00 PM ET, January 29, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Google's Newspaper Ads: Big Hopes For Small Barcodes (GOOG)  —  Google's efforts to get into the newspaper ad business have yet to yield much.  One tool it hopes will eventually change that: Small, square barcodes, like the one at the right, at the bottom of print ads.
RELATED:
Adam Ostrow / Mashable!:
Interactive Barcodes in Newspaper Ads: The Next Frontier for Google?
Discussion: ParisLemon
Ben Fenton / Financial Times:
U2 manager urges ISPs to help fight web piracy  —  The music industry should shift the focus of its battle with internet piracy towards the technological industries which have “built multibillion dollar industries on the back of our content without paying for it”, according to Paul McGuinness, manager of rock group U2.
RELATED:
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
U2 Manager Says Google And Its Hippie Friends Should Pay The Recording Industry  —  from the still-haven't-found-what-i'm-looking- for... dept  —  While the IFPI and the RIAA have been actively pushing for ISP liability for file sharing, it appears some in the industry are taking it even further.
Guardian:
Silicon Valley's hippy values ‘killing music industry’
Discussion: Mashable!
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Our Tech President Endorsements: Barack Obama and John McCain  —  It's sadly clear that our current leaders have little understanding of technology and why it's important to our economy and culture.  That has to change.  —  We've been interviewing 2008 presidential candidates for the last few months …
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
YouTube + Digg + Obama = YouBama  —  One reason we endorsed Barack Obama as our Democratic nominee for TechPresident earlier today is because he has made an effort to understand technology and create a comprehensive technology platform.  Not only is he Web-savvy, so are his constituents.
Aude Lagorce / MarketWatch:
Motorola may exit its handset business: analyst  —  LONDON (MarketWatch) — There is a possibility that Motorola, Inc. (MOT:, , ) may exit the handset business and concentrate on becoming an enterprise and government company, Richard Windsor, an analyst with Nomura International, told clients a in note published on Tuesday.
RELATED:
Electronista:
Motorola pondering exiting the cell business?
John Graham-Cumming:
How many users does Digg have?  —  According to my calculations: around 2.7m registered users.  —  I obtained this number by finding random Digg users and extracting their user id.  The user id is in a hidden HTML form input field on each Digg user's page.  The Digg user page also gives their date of registration.
Discussion: The Next Web
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Digg Nearly Triples Registered Users In a Year, Says Sleuth Programmer
Discussion: PDA
Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report:
Windows 7 = Vista Release 2  —  All the kerfuffle over Windows 7 - leaked memos, shaky handheld video clips of leaked builds, equally shaky tentative release schedules - is amusing.  I don't have any inside information to offer, only a perspective drawn from 17 years of watching the Windows development process in action.
Matt Cutts / Gadgets, Google, and SEO:
11 Power Tips for Gmail  —  Wow, I can't believe how many people commented on my late-Friday night post about desired features for Gmail.  If you want to suggest something for Gmail, that thread is the better place to do it.  But looking through the comments, I saw a few requests that can already be done today.
Sam / a gthing science project:
The True Cost of SMS Messages  —  I just found out that AT&T (A-fee&fee?) is raising their text message pricing.  When I first signed up for AT&T 6 or so years ago it cost 10 cents to send an SMS message, and it was free to receive them.  —  When AT&T switched to Cingular the price of sending …
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
VMware Down 30% As Growth Disappoints; Now What?  —  VMware (VMW) shares have plunged more than 30% today following the company's announcement late yesterday of both a $5 million revenue shortfall compared with Street expectations in the fourth quarter and a 2008 growth projection that left the Street wanting more.
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
Rapidshare To Be Forced to Shut Down Following Court Defeat?  —  Last week we reported on rumors that Rapidshare had, or was about to be, shut down, rumors that now look likely to resurface.  The company, one of the world's largest ‘one-click’ file hosting services, has lost a copyright infringement case …
Business Wire:
ShoZu Raises $12 Million in Series C Funding; Round Led by New Investor SEB Venture Capital, London  —  Mobile Social Media Company Now Attracting Over 100,000 New Users Monthly  —  LONDON—(BUSINESS WIRE)—ShoZu Inc., the leading provider of mobile social media services …
Brad Stone / Bits:
Slashdot Founder Questions Crowd's Wisdom  —  One of the oldest rivals to the community news site Digg is pointing to recent unrest at the site as evidence that the social news model is flawed.  —  Last week, frequent users of Digg protested changes in its algorithms that were designed …
 
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 More Items: 
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Movie Licensing Goes Virtual With Habbo-Paramount Deal
Discussion: Mashable!
Dean Takahashi / Tech Talk with Dean Takahashi:
DEMO: SpeakLike does automatic IM translation from one language to another
Discussion: Download Squad
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
Barracuda defends open-source antivirus from patent attack
Discussion: eWeek, Linux.com and LinuxWorld.com
Emily Price / Download Squad:
Destroy the web with NetDisaster - Today's Time Waster
Discussion: Webware.com
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Mustek readies 9.5-inch digiframe with integrated NXT flat-panel speaker
Discussion: Electronista
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Cablevision: Could They Try To Go Private...Again?
CNN:
Apple gains in premarket; Piper Jaffray reiterates buy, $250 price target
Discussion: Macsimum News
Steve Williams / Digg the Blog:
Digg Joins the DataPortability Project
 Earlier Items: 
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
Firefox share up over 20% in Europe, mostly at expense of IE
Discussion: TechSpot News and IT Facts
BBC:
Quarter of US iPhones ‘unlocked’
Juan Carlos Perez / IDG News Service:
EBay Plans Lower Fees, Tighter Seller Standards
IDG News Service:
Apple Readies MacBook Air Add-Ons
Discussion: MacRumors
Brian Prince / eWeek:
More Database Vendors Enter the Cloud
Discussion: CNET News.com and GigaOM
Brent Csutoras / Search Engine Land:
How To Create Compelling Social Media Profiles
John Tierney / New York Times:
Hitting It Off, Thanks to Algorithms of Love
Bobbie Johnson / Guardian:
O2 improves package for iPhone users
 

 
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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