Top Items:
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Google and Creator of ‘Family Guy’ Strike a Deal — LOS ANGELES — Google is experimenting with a new method of distributing original material on the Web, and some Hollywood film financiers are betting millions that the company will succeed. — In September, Seth MacFarlane, creator of …
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Steven Musil / CNET News.com:
Google taps ‘Family Guy’ guy for Web series — Web search giant Google has enlisted Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane to create an original animated series that it will distribute on the Web via its AdSense advertising system, according to a report in the New York Times .
Discussion:
blackrimglasses.com
Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life:
The GOOG->MSFT Exodus: Working at Google vs. Working at Microsoft — Recently I've been bumping into more and more people who've either left Google to come to Microsoft or got offers from both companies and picked Microsoft over Google. I believe this is part of a larger trend especially …
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Sergey Solyanik / 1-800-MAGIC:
Back to Microsoft — Last week I left Google to go back to Microsoft, where I started this Monday (and so not surprisingly, I was too busy to blog about it). — I think I am the first person in the Seattle/Kirkland area to do so, so this merits an explanation. Isn't Google an insanely cool place to work for?
Donald Bell / CNET News.com:
Rhapsody's new MP3 store offers full song previews — Today, Real Networks has announced several improvements to their Rhapsody music service, including a new online music store and integration with Verizon's VCAST mobile phone music service. — Taking a cue from competitors such as Amazon and Napster …
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Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
Rhapsody Agrees DRM Is Dead; Launches MP3 Store — Streaming music service Rhapsody has joined the likes of Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Napster by launching an MP3 store. — Its move to offer unprotected music downloads has been anticipated since last Fall when Real Networks joined forces with MTV and Verizon.
Discussion:
Bit Player, CNET News.com, Silicon Alley Insider, Brier Dudley's blog, Michael Gartenberg and Gizmodo
Tim Arango / New York Times:
A Movie on Your TV at Home, Before You Can Rent It — The very future of how we consume media rests on the movie star shoulders of Will Smith. That is Hollywood hyperbole — but it contains a speck of truth. — In an industry first, Sony Pictures' hoped-for blockbuster “Hancock,” …
Discussion:
WatchingTV Online
Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
OpenTable seats 3M diners a month, releases mobile version — OpenTable, the San Francisco company that lets you make online reservations at any of 8,500 restaurants, said it it is seating three million diners a month, which means it's making some serious cash — in the multiple millions of dollars a month …
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Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:Book Restaurant Reservations On The Go With OpenTable
Discussion:
Darla Mack
Andrew Chen / Futuristic Play:
25 reasons users STOP using your product: An analysis of customer lifecycle — Churn from a customer lifecycle perspective — As much as I blog about viral marketing, it can't be avoided that having healthy product retention is an equally (and incredibly) important part about having a successful product.
Deborah Gage / San Francisco Chronicle:
Merchants asked to secure their sites — Today is the deadline for any business that accepts credit cards over the Internet to meet new security standards for their Web sites. — But not all businesses are expected to make the deadline, and for those that do, it's not clear how much more secure their sites will be.
Randall Stross / New York Times:
Windows Could Use a Rush of Fresh Air — MICROSOFT Windows has put on a lot of weight over the years. — Beginning as a thin veneer for older software code, it has become an obese monolith built on an ancient frame. Adding features, plugging security holes, fixing bugs …
Discussion:
Windows-Now.com, Computerworld, TidBITS, Brandon Live!, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Slashdot, TeleRead, Memex 1.1 and Digg
Rob Webb / RobWebb2k:
LinkedIn quietly launches Research Network and DirectAds...let the monetization begin. — LinkedIn DirectAds — LinkedIn has quietly launched a beta version of a dynamic CPM text advertising platform called LinkedIn DirectAds. No formal announcement of the launch was made on the LinkedIn blog or elsewhere.
Discussion:
The Social Times
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Marc Andreessen Joins Facebook's Board Of Directors — Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape, Opsware and Ning and the former CTO of AOL, is adding a new notch in his belt: he has joined the board of directors of Facebook, two sources close to the company confirmed to us …
