Top Items:
Catherine Holahan / Business Week:
Auctions on eBay: A Dying Breed — As consumers opt for fixed-price purchases, what happens to the company that perfected the art of online bidding—and the scores of e-auctioneers? — Bruce Hershenson, who auctions vintage posters online, is hanging up his eBay gavel.
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Nick / Rough Type:
Was eBay a fad? — We already know that the famously cute story of eBay's origin - founder Pierre Omidyar launched the site to help his fiancee trade the PEZ dispensers she collected - was a lie cooked up by a PR operative. We also know that the company's vaunted “reputation system” …
Bruce Horovitz / USA Today:
Starbucks offers new flavor: Free Wi-Fi — Thirsty for more business during the worst slump in its history, Starbucks will try to lure more customers by offering two hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi a day. — The Wi-Fi freebie will be available starting Tuesday to customers who purchase …
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Rafe Needleman / Webware.com:
Wikia Search launches the hackable search engine — This morning, Wikia is rolling out cool features on the controversial Wikia Search engine (previous review). — Starting today, if you do a search on the engine and don't like the results, you'll be able to change them.
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Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
Jimmy Wales Reboots His ‘Google-Killer’ — Last January, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales launched a search engine called Wikia Search, a purported “Google-killer” that aimed to edit and refine search results with the same methods that have made Wikipedia a Web phenomenon—the contributions of thousands of volunteers.
Discussion:
Alt Search Engines, Mashable!, TechCrunch, Search Engine Watch Blog, Open Source, The Inquisitr, CenterNetworks, VentureBeat and Valleywag
Eric Auchard / eWeek:
Yahoo Opposed Google Deal Before Microsoft Bid — Execs dismissed a search-advertising deal with Google due to antitrust concerns, one day before Microsoft made its takeover offer. — SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc executives dismissed a search-advertising deal with Google due to antitrust concerns …
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Emmanuel Evita / Google:
Google Site Search Taps Power of the Cloud to Improve Search for Business Websites — Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced Google Site Search™, a service that provides quality search to any website with the flexibility of cloud computing. The new service, hosted by Google …
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Joanna Stern / LaptopMag.com:
MSI Wind (Windows XP) — This 10-inch mini-notebook has good computing punch and impressive endurance. — Price as Reviewed: $499.00 — Review Contents: — In order to achieve their diminutive size, weight, and price, most mini-notebooks come with compromises: the screen or keyboard is too small …
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Erica Ogg / CNET News.com:Acer aspires to lead low-cost laptop race
Discussion:
Crave, Crave at CNET UK, eWeek, Electronista, Engadget, Gearlog, UMPCPortal and GottaBeMobile
Susan Panico / PlayStation.Blog:
Introducing Qore: Taking you behind the curtain with PlayStation — Today we are announcing that Qore: Presented by the PLAYSTATION Network, a highly interactive, monthly lifestyle gaming program covering the world inside PLAYSTATION is on its way to PS3. Qore has been developed …
Discussion:
CNET News.com, VentureBeat, Veronica Belmont, Mashable!, last100, NewTeeVee, Silicon Alley Insider, I4U News, Joystiq, Opposable Thumbs, PS3 Fanboy, Kotaku, Things That, GamePro.com and videogaming247
Aidan Malley / AppleInsider:
All-encompassing iPhone patent filing hints at GPS, video chat — Apple has filed for a patent that addresses virtually every aspect of the iPhone, including potential additions such as GPS mapping, media messaging, video calls, and voice commands. — While Apple has filed …
Gregg Keizer / Computerworld:
Firefox on track to crack 20% share in July — Firefox, Safari, Opera gain in May; IE drops more than one percentage point — Computerworld) Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox browser is on pace to hit the 20% market-share mark next month, a Web metrics company said today.
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Gavin Clarke / The Register:
Gates' last act: frees IE 8 and Silverlight second betas — TechEd 2008 Bill Gates has announced the next betas of Internet Explorer 8 and Silverlight 2 while outlining plans from Microsoft on development, services. He also took the opportunity in his valedictory keynote at TechEd in Orlando …
Discussion:
TECH.BLORGE.com
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com:
Goosh: a retro Web app with cutting-edge interface — If ever something was neither fish nor fowl, it's Goosh, a Web-based command-line interface for Google. — On the one hand, Goosh creator Stefan Grothkopp shows off the power of Web 2. applications, with the browser becoming …
Prashanth Koppula / Official Google Webmaster …:
Improving on Robots Exclusion Protocol — Web publishers often ask us how they can maximize their visibility on the web. Much of this has to do with search engine optimization — making sure a publisher's content shows up on all the search engines. — However, there are some cases …
Discussion:
Live Search Webmaster …
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Tristan Louis / The TNL.net weblog:
Is Techmeme myopic? — I'm a big fan of TechMeme, a web aggregation service that provides, at a glance, a few of what's being discussed in the technology-focused part of the blogosphere. It has allowed me to unsubscribe from a large number of RSS feeds that were providing me with redundant information …
Discussion:
vanderwal.net Off the Top
Nick Farrell / Inquirer:
Nearly all returned gadgets still work — Users only think they are broken — A STAGGERING 95 PER CENT of electronic goods which are taken back to the shop are not actually broken, according to consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture. — Apparently, when punters return their electronic gear …
Jeff Smykil / Infinite Loop:
Apple secrecy to new levels: fake store built just for ad — With 186 stores in the US, Apple has a retail presence in 37 of the 50 states. 29 of those states have multiple stores, including New York with 13, Florida with 14, and California with 38. That's why it makes total sense that Apple …
Jessica Dolcourt / CNET News.com:
‘Second Life’ enters the world of mobile phones — Demanding a better-than-average processor, a 1024x768 screen resolution, a boatload of RAM, and a strong video card just to take part, it's hard to believe that Second Life, the virtual world developed by Linden Lab (download for Windows and Mac), could ever survive on a mobile phone.
