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9:25 AM ET, October 19, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Daniel Lyons / Newsweek:
Why Is Jerry Yang Still in Charge?  —  Lately, Yahoo seems to stumble from one idea to the next, with no grand vision or plan for the company.  —  From the magazine issue dated Oct 27, 2008  —  Eight months ago, Yahoo!CEO Jerry Yang had a chance to sell his company to Microsoft for $43 billion.
David Leppard / Times of London:
Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones  —  Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.  —  Phone buyers would have to present a passport …
Discussion: Gizmodo, open and Pat Phelan
Randall Stross / New York Times:
Why This Storm May Stay Away From Apple  —  VIOLENT waves are tossing about the world's largest financial institutions like toys made of balsa.  The dark skies ahead can't be anything but a recession.  Sheets of cold rain have already been smacking the retail sector.
Discussion: Pulse 2.0
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
OMG Britney!  On Twitter!  —  This is perhaps the most exciting news since the May launch of TomCruise.com: I'd like to welcome Britney Spears to our world.  She (or rather her people) have launched both a Twitter account and a bloggy sort of site with near constant updates on her fascinating life.
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Changing That Home Page?  Take Baby Steps  —  A FEW weeks ago, Yahoo began what may be its biggest overhaul of its home page.  But if you are among the roughly 100 million Americans who stop by Yahoo.com every month, the odds are that you haven't noticed any changes.
Frank Washburn / GigaOM:
Where's the Money In Casual Web Game Development?  —  For years, developing web-based casual games was little more than a hobby, a means of creative expression for game enthusiasts.  Then advertising revenue started to reshape the casual gaming landscape — now, multimillion-dollar deals …
Discussion: Clickety Clack
Melissa / yprofileblog.com:
Managing your alias and profile  —  Many of you have expressed your concern with the newest version of profiles, and believe me, we're reading and hearing your comments and are committed to helping you maximize your experience with the new profiles.  —  First off, we want to apologize straight away …
Jai Molloy / Technician's Blog:
BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 (Code name: Kickstart)...  So I haven't posted anything in a while but rest assured I am alive and well.  —  Today I have a little surprise for everyone (unless you read before you click).  I managed to get my mitts on a BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 …
Ryan Block:
New MacBook Pro: now with 20% less battery power  —  Apple touted some pretty decent battery life numbers at the new MacBook / MacBook Pro press event this week: up to five hours on the Pro with discrete graphics off, and four hours with it on (both surely assuming ideal low-power conditions).
Discussion: Gizmodo and Infinite Loop
RELATED:
David Chartier / Ars Technica:
Google monetizes start page, vocal minority gets vocal  —  If you love something, set it free.  Then, if you're lucky, maybe you can figure out a way to make money with it.  Despite what appears to be a vocal minority that is unhappy with the changes, that's what Google may have finally …
Discussion: Guardian and Micro Persuasion
Fred / A VC:
The Stupidest Answer In The World  —  There's a great article in the NY Times Magazine section today about Obama's quest to win the white male vote which was written by Matt Bai.  In it Obama addresses the “bitter quote”: … I made a boneheaded move this week as well with this quote …
RELATED:
Steve Gillmor / TechCrunchIT:
FriendFeed to add Realtime APIs next week  —  Play in Popup |  Download  —  Twitter appears to have an unassailable lead in users and their resultant Follow clouds.  Though Track is dead and IM is postponed indefinitely, the service has added a political track page with a company-selected keyword cluster around the political race.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Pressflip Founder Quits: “I'm Tired Of The Fight”  —  One thing investors don't really like to see is founders abandoning the startups they funded.  But that is exactly what Ted Dziuba is doing with his startup PressFlip.  —  In a blog post Dziuba wrote that he was leaving the company …
 
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 More Items: 
Michelle Meyers / CNET News:
Move over pinochle, Web surfing stimulates aging brains
Evan Koblentz / Wireless Week:
T-Mobile Considers Options, Lawsuit for FCC's AWS Plan
Discussion: Boy Genius Report and Phone Scoop
Cameron Baker / TheTechLounge:
Mitsubishi LaserVue 65" HDTV - We Meet Again
Discussion: Gizmodo, I4U News and Engadget HD
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Destruction Of Bloglines Now Complete; Founder Prepares To Switch To Google Reader
Discussion: TomsTechBlog.com
 Earlier Items: 
Tony Smith / The Register:
Netbooks take ten per cent of Euro PC market
Discussion: Engadget
Ryan Singel / Threat Level:
‘Anonymous’ Member Unmasked, Charged With Web Attack on Scientology
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Beijing: Smile! You're on Internet cafe camera!
Discussion: China.org.cn and WebProNews
Ellen Knickmeyer / Washington Post:
Al-Qaeda Web Forums Abruptly Taken Offline
Discussion: TECH.BLORGE.com
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

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

 
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