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9:00 AM ET, April 15, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Russell Beattie / Russell Beattie's Weblog:
The end of Mowser  —  It's been a year since I launched Mowser at April 2007's Mobile Monday, so it's time for a progress report.  Sadly, the news isn't good.  —  Mowser is at the end of its life in its current form.  We haven't been able to raise funding, and as a site …
RELATED:
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Is the Mobile Web Dead?  Some Mobile Entrepreneurs Say Yes  —  Former Yahoo! Mobile evangelist turned startup entrepreneur Russell Beattie announced today that he's calling it quits for his company Mowser because the market for mobile browsing is taking a fast turn for the worse.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
AOL Buys Sphere's Blog Content Engine  —  Tomorrow AOL will announce the acquisition of San Francisco-based Sphere, a blog content engine that launched in 2006.  The price is not being disclosed, but sources are suggesting it's in the $25 million range, or possibly a little more.  More details from Om Malik
RELATED:
Tony Conrad / Sphere Blog:
Our New Address @ AOL.COM  —  Unlike the rumor that Sphere has reserved the Wrigley Field bleachers for Game 7 of the 2008 World Series, the conjecture about Sphere being acquired by a larger platform is officially true.  AOL has acquired sphere.  More information is here, here and here again for the curious detail seeker.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Personal Note: Conrad Got Mailed.
Discussion: WebProNews and Photo Matt
Susan Timcheck / AOL Press Releases:
AOL Acquires Sphere
Discussion: Quintura blog
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
Twitter Testing Advertising In Twitter Streams  —  Twitter was down tonight, nothing really unusual for the San Francisco based startup (to be fair though downtime has improved since they dumped Joyent), but what was different is some reports of users spotting ads in their Twitter stream during the service difficulties.
Greg Sandoval / CNET News.com:
Rocker Peter Gabriel offers Filter to cut through online clutter  —  Internet users are awash in information every time they search for new music videos or books online, says rocker Peter Gabriel.  —  One of the founders of the rock group Genesis and the creator of the iconic solo album So …
RELATED:
Devin Leonard / Fortune:   Peter Gabriel's filter
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google's Don't Be Evil Not “Ordained Motto” Says Marissa Mayer  —  Google's “Don't Be Evil” motto, first uttered by Googler Paul Buchheit (now founder of FriendFeed) in 2001, has long been the pillar of their self-imposed code of conduct.  It was amended somewhat in 2006 when CEO Eric Schmidt …
comScore:
AOL's Platform-A Ranks as Top Ad Network in March, Reaching More Than 9 Out of 10 U.S. Internet Users  —  Niche Ad Networks Emerge to Help Advertisers Target Specific Audiences  —  comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released March 2008 data on online ad networks …
RELATED:
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
Not A Misprint: AOL's Platform A Is The Top Advertising Network By Reach
Discussion: Tinfinger and Tech Beat
John Markoff / New York Times:
Tesla Motors Files Suit Against Competitor Over Design Ideas  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley maker of electric sports cars, filed suit in San Mateo County Court on Monday against a competing company and two of its employees, saying they stole some of Tesla's design ideas and trade secrets.
John Cook / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Farecast sold in $75 million deal  —  Farecast has been sold in a deal that values the online travel search startup at more than $75 million, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.  —  The buyer was not known, and Farecast Chief Executive Hugh Crean declined to comment late Sunday.
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
Paul McDougall / InformationWeek Weblog:
Mac Clone Maker Psystar Vows To Challenge Apple EULA  —  A Miami-based vendor that has ported Apple's Leopard operating system to generic PC hardware says Apple's restrictive licensing terms run counter to antitrust laws — and it's vowing to fight.  —  Psystar's OpenMac clone is priced at about $399 …
benheck.com:
Apple IIgs Original Hardware Laptop  —  As many of you know I grew up during the 80's and spent a lot of time with the fun 8-bit computers of those days.  One of my favorites was the Apple IIgs, and when someone requested I build a portable version of it I jumped at the chance.
Maggie Shiels / BBC:
Wiki business  —  Wikipedia started as a hobby with noble aims and in just six short years has turned into a global brand headed by a founder who is both a guiding light for devotees and a lightning rod for critics.  —  While Wikipedia goes from milestone to milestone in its quest …
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Facebook News Feed Reports on You Behind Your Back  —  The Facebook News Feed is a strange beast.  Upon its release, it was met with an extremely negative reception as members protested their new ‘auto-stalker’, but it has slowly gained acceptance as users learned they could control which stories were sent to the News Feed.
Discussion: All Facebook
 
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 More Items: 
Darryl K. Taft / eWeek:
Silverlight Adoption Expected to Triple
Discussion: James.Random
Dennis Overbye / New York Times:
John A. Wheeler, Physicist Who Coined the Term ‘Black Hole,’ Is Dead at 96
Discussion: The Register, Digg and Slashdot
Elvia Aguilar / Corpus Christi Caller-Times:
Agreement will transfer Wi-Fi network back to Corpus Christi
Electronista:
eMusic cracks 200m, credits DRM-free surge
Discussion: Gadgetell and PC World
James Hall / Telegraph:
Tesco Digital to challenge Apple's iTunes
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Fring iPhone Chat/Voip App Launching Today
Discussion: VoIP Watch
Emeka Ajene / Compete Blog:
Following the Money: Marketing to Affluent Internet Users
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
FTC: We'll take on spyware, spam, and unlabeled DRM
Discussion: TeleRead
 Earlier Items: 
David Cohn / DigiDave:
What I Hate About the Internet - Everyone is a “Social Media Consultant”
Discussion: broadstuff and WinExtra
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google Maps + YouTube Videos = Local Video White Pages
Discussion: Google LatLong
Saul Hansell / Bits:
Newspapers Argue for First Amendment Right to Snoop on Readers
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Another Windows veteran to leave Microsoft
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Latest iPhone Firmware Saves Pictures from Safari
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Hitwise: Google Hits New High; Microsoft & Yahoo New Lows
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery

 
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