Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
7:30 PM ET, February 6, 2008

Techmeme

 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.
RELATED:
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.
Shane McGlaun / DailyTech:
Bad to Worse: Fifth Undersea Cable Cut in Middle East
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,
RELATED:
Ina Fried / CNET News.com:
Microsoft shareholders drive down value of Yahoo bid
Discussion: WebProNews and Voices
Electronista:   Yahoo resistance costing Microsoft
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.
Discussion: TechCrunch, Valleywag and Ask News
RELATED:
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
Ask launches BigNews, a buzz-based news aggregator with Digg integration
Discussion: Mashable! and Rev2.org
Ryan Naraine / eWeek:
Apple Plugs QuickTime Malware Installation Hole  —  The company acknowledges the bug could lead to drive-by malware installations on Windows and Mac machines.  —  Apple has issued a patch for a high-profile vulnerability in its flagship QuickTime media player, acknowledging that the bug …
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 …
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.
BBC:
Holographic displays step closer  —  Holograms could soon be helping monitor surgical procedures after a faster way to make the 3D images is discovered.  —  The journal Nature reports the breakthrough by US researchers who developed a novel material in which holographs can be created in minutes.
Discussion: Slashdot
RELATED:
John Timmer / Ars Technica:
Holodeck 0.1: the durable, rewritable holographic display
Discussion: Nature
Laura M. Holson / New York Times:
In CBS Test, Mobile Ads Find Users  —  Pssst, hey you!  There's a cheap latte waiting at the coffee shop on the corner!  —  CBS plans to announce on Wednesday that it is trying one of the first serious experiments with cellphone advertising that is customized for a person's location.
Chris Isidore / Company news:
Time Warner may shed AOL unit  —  Media conglomerate says it may sell part of AOL and spin-off more of Time Warner Cable.  Company also sees slower earnings growth in '08.  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Time Warner's new chief executive officer confirmed Wednesday that the media company …
RELATED:
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.
Daniel Terdiman / CNET News.com:
EA unveils Spielberg's ‘Boom Blox’ for Wii  —  It's been a long time coming, but we finally have some actual details about the first game to emerge from the partnership between Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts.  —  Known as Boom Blox, the game, which will be available in May only on the Wii, is from EA's casual games unit.
Brooke Crothers / Nanotech:
ARM, Samsung Agreement May Point To Future iPhone Chips  —  Samsung's ARM chip roadmap may contain sign posts to future iPhone processors.  On Tuesday, ARM Holdings and Samsung Electronics extended their Strategic Long-Term Licensing Agreement, allowing Samsung to retain access to key ARM processor IP.
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.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
MySpace's San Francisco Debut in Living Color!  —  Last night, BoomTown checked out the new space MySpace is renovating for its soon-to-open San Francisco office.  The occasion was a party the social-networking site held for developers as part of its recent platform launch.
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag:
Pleading, price cuts can't halt Rackspace exodus  —  Rackspace management called Tumblr's David Karp yesterday and pleaded for mercy.  The Web-hosting service even offered to cut bandwidth chargeds from $2 a gigabyte down to 40 cents.  (Other Rackspace customers, take note.)  Didn't work.
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 7:30 PM ET, February 6, 2008.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
CIO challenge 5: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs?  —  Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series!  After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Declan McCullagh / CNET News.com:
Obama loses Silicon Valley to Clinton: Is anyone surprised?
Discussion: City Room and Valleywag
Anne Broache / CNET News.com:
MPAA-opposed college piracy amendment vanishes
Official Google Docs Blog:
Stop sharing spreadsheets, start collecting information
Marguerite Reardon / CNET News.com:
AT&T to expand 3G wireless network
Discussion: Engadget, PR Newswire and Epicenter
Business Wire:
CORRECTING and REPLACING Akamai Reports Fourth Quarter 2007 …
Bernard Lunn / ReadWriteWeb:
This Is Not Our Bubble  —  Back in early October I posted …
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
Get Yer Free Calls While They Last
Gina Trapani / Lifehacker:
TrueCrypt Now Available for Mac, Too
 Earlier Items: 
Matthew Broersma / CNET News.com:
Canonical distributes Parallels via desktop update
Discussion: TechSpot News and The Register
Nick / Rough Type:
One computer to rule them all  —  IBM has launched …
Major Nelson / Xbox Live's Major Nelson:
Xbox 360 HD DVD Player price drop (now US $129.99)
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Wikinvest To Add Unique Comp Data For Stock Research
Zach Epstein / The Boy Genius Report:
Sprint Launches Unlimited Access Plan
Ryan Naraine / eWeek:
Adobe Ships Silent Fix for Critical PDF Reader Flaw
Discussion: Zero Day and Computerworld
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Facebook to Punish Stupid Applications, Reward Good Ones
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
How a BitTorrent Tracker Owner Hides from the MPAA/RIAA
Discussion: PC World, CrunchGear, Mashable! and Digg
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

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

 
Sister Sites:

Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page