Top Items:
IEBlog:
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Now Available — We're excited to release IE8 Beta 2 today for public download. You can find it at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8. Please try it out! — You'll find versions for 32- and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008.
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Victoria Barret / Forbes:
Microsoft Vs. Google, Again — Forget about that $44 billion takeover bid for Yahoo. Microsoft's latest assault on Google is slier. — Since May Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) has been reimbursing people up to half of the value of items they buy using its search technology.
Microsoft:
Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Fact Sheet — An overview of the features and benefits of Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer 8. — Windows Internet Explorer 8 is the next version of the world's most popular browser that optimizes developer and end-user experiences to provide a window to the Web of online services.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Transcoding Is Not A Crime, Says Court In Veoh Porn Case — Update: More analysis of the decision here. — Finally, a judge who may have actually visited the Internet once or twice before deciding a case. Judge Howard Lloyd, a judge on the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California …
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Ryan Tate / Gawker:
Bloomberg Runs Steve Jobs' Obituary — For whatever reason, the Bloomberg financial newswire decided to update its 17-page Steve Jobs obituary today. It's true that the secretive Apple CEO's battle with pancreatic cancer, and speculation over his health, rattled some investors earlier …
Kasper Jade / AppleInsider:
iPods, MacBooks, iMacs up next on Apple's 2008 roadmap — With a multinational iPhone 3G launch now successfully under its belt, electronics maker Apple Inc. is preparing to close out the year with a final phase of product introductions that will stretch over the course of the next two months.
Discussion:
MacRumors
David Pogue / New York Times:
New Nikon Holds a Secret — If you saw it just sitting there, you'd never guess that the new Nikon D90 is a mind-blowing, game-changing camera. — It looks like any other big, black intermediate single-lens reflex camera: much more compact than a professional model, but much bigger and heavier than a pocket camera.
Discussion:
Laughing Squid, Dvorak Uncensored, Imaging Insider, neutralday, Chase Jarvis Blog and Thomas Hawk's Digital …
Wall Street Journal:
More Artists Steer Clear of iTunes — Apple's Online Music Store Sells Lots of Singles, — But Labels Seek Higher Profits of Full Album Sales — ITunes has been the runaway hit of the music business, selling more than five billion song downloads since it started five years ago.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
BackType, A Twitter For Comments — BackType is the newest YCombinator startup to launch from their summer program. They're a blog-comment focused startup - founders Christoper Golda and Michael Montano are for the first time aggregating all comments from millions of blogs into a single, searchable, parsable stream.
New York Magazine:
CONFIRMED: Aaron Sorkin Creates Facebook Page, Writing Facebook Movie — Aaron Sorkin, a man whose discomfort with the Internet goes way, way back to the days he got angry at the Television Without Pity message boards, is writing a movie about the founding of Facebook.
Discussion:
L.A. Times Tech Blog, Voices, Valleywag, The Social, Blog World Expo Blog, VentureBeat, Portfolio.com and Industry Standard
Matt Richtel / New York Times:
Industry Rethinks Moneymaking Software Practice — SAN FRANCISCO — Before they ship PCs to retailers like Best Buy, computer makers load them up with lots of free software. For $30, Best Buy will get rid of it for you. — That simple cleanup service is threatening the precarious economics of the personal computer industry.
Bob Sullivan / The Red Tape Chronicles:
‘Forgot your password?’ may be weakest link — Almost everyone forgets a Web site password once in a while. When you do, you click on the familiar “Forgot your password?” link and, after entering your pet's name, identifying your high school mascot or answering some other seemingly obscure questions …
Rebecca Selvenis / The Official Google Blog:
Strengthening the study of computer science — At a time when more and more digital technologies are becoming indispensable to millions of people, the field of computer science (CS) is in trouble. Enrollment and retention of CS students, particularly those historically underrepresented in the field …
eWeek:
Corrupt File Brought Down FAA's Antiquated IT System — The Federal Aviation Administration's flight plan IT network, which went down for about 2.5 hours Aug. 26 and fouled up the takeoff plans of thousands of travelers in more than 40 airports across the country, is back up and running.
Mike Yuen / Edge Online:
Prepare for the Digital Distribution Era — As the debate over the future of the console wages on, the gaming community continues to look for the latest trends that will give one of the leading consoles the edge to push ahead of the pack. — However, some gaming enthusiasts have taken …