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11:00 AM ET, August 12, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Gmail Blog:
We feel your pain, and we're sorry  —  Many of you had trouble accessing Gmail for a couple of hours this afternoon, and we're really sorry.  The issue was caused by a temporary outage in our contacts system that was preventing Gmail from loading properly.  Everything should be back to normal by the time you read this.
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Systemwide GMail Outage
Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:
Lenovo intros the monstrous ThinkPad W700, and we get our hands all over it (updated with Wacom video demo)  —  Like your laptops to be over-achievers?  Like, the really annoyingly stacked variety of over-achiever?  Enter Lenovo's newest outrage — the ThinkPad W700.
RELATED:
Adrian Covert / Gizmodo:
Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Has a BUILT-IN Wacom Tablet and Professional Grade Screen
Discussion: Gadgetell, OhGizmo!, GottaBeMobile and Crave
Xavier / notebooks.com:
ThinkPad W700: Lenovo Intros Biggest ThinkPad Yet (videos)
Discussion: GottaBeMobile
Michelle Thatcher / Crave:
Lenovo set to announce ThinkPad W700
Discussion: eWeek
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent  —  Several Internet and broadband companies have acknowledged using targeted-advertising technology without explicitly informing customers, according to letters released yesterday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Brent Csutoras:
TWITTER LIMITS FOLLOWING TO 2,000  —  Twitter has always been looking for better ways to combat spammers and it appears they have recently added a new measure to combat one aspect of gaming.  —  User can now only add up to 2,000 followers before being limited and receiving this error message.
RELATED:
Dave Winer / Scripting News:
Twitter limiting followers to 2000
Discussion: Loic Le Meur Blog and broadstuff
David Risley:
Twitter Limits to 2000 Follows. Could They Charge To Lift The Limit?
Shawn / TmoNews:
Android may be here sooner then we think  —  We're hearing rumor after rumor that Android has been delayed, and pushed back to 2009.  Well TmoNews is jumping into the pool or rumors, calling BS on those other rumors, and putting in our vote of confidence on a presale of the Android phone on September 16th, 2008.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Much Anticipated DataCase Launches: Turn the iPhone Into A Wireless Drive  —  The much anticipated DataCase application for the iPhone launched this morning.  —  The app, which costs $6.99, turn your iPhone into an easy-to-use wireless storage device that can be access by any other device on your wireless network.
Discussion: TUAW
Royal Pingdom:
Social network popularity around the world  —  With the help of Google data, we have looked at 12 of the top social networks to answer a simple, but highly interesting question:  —  Where are they the most popular?  —  The social networks we included in this survey were MySpace, Facebook …
Discussion: Webware.com
Stephanie Condon / The Iconoclast:
States may tax iTunes, other digital downloads  —  If you enjoy buying music from iTunes, movies from Amazon.com's Unbox, or computer software from anywhere, be warned: the halcyon days of tax-free digital purchases may be over.  —  With retail e-commerce sales now estimated to exceed $130 billion a year …
Discussion: DailyTech and 9 to 5 Mac
Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee:
Vongo is Gone-go  —  This certainly isn't shocking: Starz Entertainment has shut down online movie service Vongo.  A visit to the site shows the following message:  —  The writing was on the wall for the service when the company announced Starz Play, a white-label movie download service for Verizon, in May.
Steve Weis / Google Online Security Blog:
Keyczar: Safe and Simple Cryptography  —  Cryptography is notoriously hard to get right and if improperly used, can create serious security holes.  Common mistakes include using the wrong cipher modes or obsolete algorithms, composing primitives in an unsafe manner, hard-coding keys in source code …
Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:
Estonia, Google Help ‘Cyberlocked’ Georgia (Updated)  —  Civil.ge, the Georgian news site, is “under permanent [cyber] attack.”  So they've switched their operations to one of Google's Blogspot domains, to keep the information flowing about what's going on in their country.
RELATED:
TG Daily:
AMD split rumors accelerating  —  San Francisco (CA) - Hector Ruiz' time at the AMD as we know it today is coming to an end.  Ruiz recently stepped down from his role as CEO, but kept his position as chairman of the board with the purpose of launching AMD's Asset Light and Asset Smart strategies …
Discussion: Engadget
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
3G iPhone Connection Problems Chip-Related?  —  Om has complained about his frustration with the 3G iPhone, which has poor reception and forces him to spend more time on the 2.5G EDGE network than he thought, but the issue may be with Infineon's 3G chip, according to Richard Windsor, an analyst with Nomura Securities.
Discussion: Inquirer, jkOnTheRun and MacDailyNews
Jemima Kiss / PDA:
Is Amazon's Kindle the iPod of the book world?  —  Can Amazon's Kindle electronic book reader ever make the mainstream?  —  Amazon's shareholders will hope so - its stock rose 8% yesterday off the back of an estimate by Citigroup analyst Mark Mahoney, who said sales will reach 380,000 by the end of this year.
Discussion: The Register, Reuters and Epicenter
Maggie Shiels / BBC:
‘Pump and Dump’ conmen targeted  —  Scammers using the net to hype stocks are being targeted with software that can spot fraudulent trading patterns.  —  Many hi-tech conmen use junk mail to hype stocks so they can sell shares they own in the companies at a profit.
Discussion: Techdirt and Virtual Economics
 
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 More Items: 
Forbes:
Iteration # 419: Is Google a Content Company?
Heather Dougherty / Hitwise Intelligence:
Google's share of US searches hits 70%
Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Verizon now touting own ‘Visual Voice Mail’ service
John Koller / PlayStation.Blog:
Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack Now Available
Discussion: I4U News and Engadget
Matthew Lasar / Ars Technica:
Congressional Dems back porn-free wireless broadband network
Peter Svensson / Associated Press:
Broadband growth plummets in 2Q, cable stronger
Discussion: DSLreports and Valleywag
Cornelia Dean / New York Times:
Handle With Care  —  Last year, a private company proposed …
Jon Brodkin / Network World:
Loss of customer data spurs closure of online storage service ‘The Linkup’
 Earlier Items: 
Allen Stern / CenterNetworks:
AOL Integrates buy.at and Goowy to Create Affiliate Widgets
Discussion: Webware.com
Matthew Miller / The Mobile Gadgeteer:
Congratulations Apple, you made the iPhone less stable than Windows Mobile
Discussion: jkOnTheRun
Dan Kaplan / VentureBeat:
MOG, platform for music blogs, launches vertical ad network
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Global Trail of an Online Crime Ring
Brooke Crothers / CNET News.com:
AMD to Nvidia: Two chips are better than one
Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:
Users Fight Back Against the New Facebook
David Chartier / Infinite Loop:
Two weeks after Apple calls MobileMe stable, mail goes down
Michelle Quinn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Trying to watch the Olympics on TV and the Web
 

 
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

 
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