Top Items:
CmdrTaco / Slashdot:
Fifth Cable Cut To Middle East — You may have noticed a number of stories recently about undersea cables getting cut around the world. Apparently the total is now up to 5, but the scariest part of this is that Iran is now offline. You can also read Schneier's comments on this coincidence.
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Paul Miller / Engadget:
Cut four undersea cables, shame on you, cut a fifth, also shame on you — If you're reading Engadget today because your favorite Iranian gadget blog is offline, here's why: a fifth undersea cable has now been reported as cut, responsible for [knocking Iran] and a few other million people mostly off the interwebs.
Asma Ali Zain / Khaleej Times:
Cable damage hits 1.7m Internet users in UAE — DUBAI — An estimated 1.7 million Internet users in the UAE have been affected by the recent undersea cable damage, an expert said yesterday, quoting recent figures published by TeleGeography, an international research Web site.
Discussion:
Business Technology, I Love Bonnie.net, Gizmodo, CrunchGear, DSLreports, securosis.com and Boing Boing
Shane McGlaun / DailyTech:Bad to Worse: Fifth Undersea Cable Cut in Middle East
Discussion:
Good Morning Silicon Valley
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Microsoft Bid for Yahoo Drops To $29.50 a Share — As Yahoo waits in vain for other bidders or deal alternatives to emerge, the dissatisfaction of Microsoft investors with the Yahoo bid has reduced the value of Microsoft's offer to $29.50 a share. — Why? — The bid is half-cash / half-stock,
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Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
No spin: Ars reviews the MacBook Air with solid state drive — The MacBook Air's high-end model comes with 200 extra MHz and a solid state drive. Is it worth the extra $1,300 to upgrade? We compare the two Airs directly to find out whether the price is worth paying.
Discussion:
Engadget, Gizmodo, Forever Geek, The Mac Observer, Macsimum News, Insanely Great Mac and Digg
Elizabeth Woyke / Forbes:
Google Likely Out, And Happy — After dominating the U.S. wireless spectrum auction for months, from influencing the terms of the auction to bidding, it looks like Google is off the hook. — Nine days into the closely watched Federal Communications Commission auction …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Ex-Googlers Launch Instructional Video Site Howcast, Raise $8 Million A Round — A New York City startup called Howcast is launching today that wants to be the YouTube of instructional videos. In fact, the three founders—Jason Liebman, Daniel Blackman and Sanjay Raman …
Discussion:
HipMojo.com, Techland, The Technology Chronicles, Contentinople, Screenwerk, VentureBeat, NewTeeVee, paidContent.org, Rev2.org and Silicon Alley Insider
Greg Sandoval / CNET News.com:
Video site Revver shopping itself for a song — Revver, a YouTube competitor that made a name for itself by paying video producers, has fallen on hard times. — The company's staff has dwindled to less than half the size it was 18 months ago, according to former employees.
Discussion:
NewTeeVee, WebProNews, HipMojo.com, mathewingram.com/work, Mashable!, TechCrunch, Bloggers Blog, Gawker, paidContent.org and Silicon Alley Insider
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
“BigNews”: Ask's Digg Project Revealed (IACI) — Here's the Ask.com/Digg collaboration we'd heard about earlier this week, but it may be less than we'd advertised: “BigNews” is actually more of an attempt to create a new spin on Techmeme/Google News than a ripoff of Digg's social news site.
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Cisco's second quarter in line; Sees slower growth ahead — Updated: Cisco Systems on Wednesday reported fiscal second quarter earnings of $2.1 billion, or 33 cents a share, on revenue of $9.8 billion. Excluding charges, Cisco reported earnings of $2.4 billion, or 38 cents a share.
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Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
The Latest From Jerry: Stay Focused, Yahoos! — Yet another employee letter to Yahoos from CEO Jerry Yang has now become public, thanks to Yahoo being required to file these things with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. It makes you wonder why Yahoo (and Microsoft) …
Discussion:
Valleywag, Digital Daily, paidContent.org, WebProNews, Reuters, Silicon Alley Insider, Techland and Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim
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John Murrell / Good Morning Silicon Valley:It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Discussion:
Between the Lines
Josh Bernoff / Groundswell:
Why Social Applications Will Thrive In A Recession — Is a recession coming? Don't ask me — I'm not an economist, and even the economists don't really know. But if it's anything like the last recession, advertising will plummet and experimental media will crater.
Discussion:
Web Strategy, VentureBeat, Insider Chatter, The Social Web, Furrier.org and The Social Times
Ryan Naraine / eWeek:
Adobe Ships Silent Fix for Critical PDF Reader Flaw — Adobe patched a gaping code execution hole in Reader but, inexplicably, has issued no public documentation on the risk severity. — Adobe has released a software fix for what's described simply as “security vulnerabilities” …
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
Get Yer Free Calls While They Last — Everyone loves a free lunch, so just about everyone should love ooVoo, at least until the end of the month. — The video conferencing company has just launched its new VoIP to landline/mobile phone service and is kicking things off with a month of free calls to the United States and Canada.
Bernard Lunn / ReadWriteWeb:
This Is Not Our Bubble — Back in early October I posted about coming economic storms and what entrepreneurs could do to prepare. Given recent news, it is now almost certain that we are in recession. The bad news from financial institutions and credit markets is like a steady drumbeat …
Jacqui Cheng / Infinite Loop:
QuickTime 7.4.1 update fixes AfterEffects rendering issue — Apple released an update to QuickTime this afternoon, bringing the software to an unassuming 7.4.1. Unsurprisingly, Apple is somewhat vague in its description, but assures us that the update “addresses security issues …
Brad Linder / Download Squad:
Why Windows 7 looks so much like Vista — Last month we posted a video and screenshots of what may or may not be Windows 7, the next version of Microsoft's flagship operating system. The company hasn't confirmed or denied the authenticity of these images, but many readers have been a bit... vocal about their doubts.
