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1:20 PM ET, October 21, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Paul Boutin / Wired News:
Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004  —  Thinking about launching your own blog?  Here's some friendly advice: Don't.  And if you've already got one, pull the plug.  —  Writing a weblog today isn't the bright idea it was four years ago.  The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis …
RELATED:
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work:
Blogs are so over, Wired magazine says  —  Hey, didn't you hear?  Blogs are so 2004.  They're dead now, says Paul Boutin (who also writes for Valleywag) in a piece he wrote for Wired magazine.  Here's his argument (such as it is) in a nutshell: … Wow — that's pretty persuasive, isn't it?
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Lala May Have Just Built The Next Revolution In Digital Music  —  Call me a skeptic.  When Lala came to our offices last week trying to convince me that music was heading to the cloud, and that they were going to help lead the transition, I wasn't convinced at first.
RELATED:
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Lala's Spectacular New Music Service
Discussion: paidContent.org and Engadget
Peter Burrows / Tech Beat:
Lala Plays a New Song.
Discussion: TG Daily, Bits and VentureBeat
Clint Boulton / eWeek:
Google Open-Sources Android on Eve of G1 Launch  —  Table of Contents:  —  Google releases the complete Android mobile operating system stack under the open-source Apache license, freeing up carriers, OEMs and ambitious application development experts to build functional smart phones with the software.
RELATED:
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Google opens up Android source code
Discussion: AppScout
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Android Code Is Finally Released Into The Open-Source Wild
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Motorola intros avant-garde $2,000 AURA, markets it like a Rolex  —  We can't remember the last time we purchased a phone because it possessed 700+ individual components, a stainless steel housing or a front plate that takes a fortnight to create, but Motorola's hoping you start to care about that kind of minutiae right about now.
RELATED:
Abbey Klaassen / AdAge:
Akamai Gets Into the Ad Business  —  Tech Firm Acquires E-commerce-Tracking Acerno to Aid in Behavioral Targeting, Purchasing  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Big publishers have long counted on Akamai to deliver web content faster and more reliably.  Now Akamai hopes it can convince those clients …
RELATED:
Joanna Stern / LAPTOP Magazine:
ASUS CEO Reveals Eee PC Sales Numbers, Plans for Touch Eee PCs and More Eee Family Products  —  Earlier this week the ASUS Eee PC celebrated its first birthday (with a full birthday party and cake at LAPTOP Magazine).  It was one year ago that the Taiwanese company began selling its first sub-notebook …
John Markoff / New York Times:
A Robot Network Seeks to Enlist Your Computer  —  REDMOND, Wash. — In a windowless room on Microsoft's campus here, T. J. Campana, a cybercrime investigator, connects an unprotected computer running an early version of Windows XP to the Internet.  In about 30 seconds the computer is “owned.”
Discussion: UMBC ebiquity
Tameka Kee / paidContent.org:
Online Video Site Blip.tv Secures Second Round  —  Online video site Blip.tv, based in new York City, has secured its entire second round of funding from Bain Capital Ventures.  The amount was not disclosed, but CEO Mike Hudack said that the round had been in the works well before the financial crunch.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo Earnings: What to Expect When You're Not Expecting (Much)  —  Here's a bright spot in Yahoo's third-quarter earnings announcement later today: Sources told BoomTown that the company will not announce a specific number of layoffs tomorrow, although it will give an overall percentage of employees and costs to be cut.
Chris Morris / Forbes:
Microsoft Xbox: Not Ready For Primetime  —  There's a new member of the “Not Ready for Primetime Players”: The Xbox 360.  —  Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) has delayed the launch of “Xbox Live Primetime,” its programmed series of interactive games with real-world prizes, until the spring.
John Herrman / Gizmodo:
HP Shows Off Two New iPaq Phones: One Touch, One Not  —  HP's rumored touchscreen handset has showed up in the for of the iPaq Data Communicator, a pop-out QWERTY Windows Mobile handset, with a solid but predictable spec sheet.  You'll find a full range of 3G capabilities, Wi-Fi, a-GPS …
Michael Iams / MapQuest Blog:
By Popular Demand... An Optimal iPhone Browsing Experience  —  MapQuest users have come to rely on the quality and accuracy of MapQuest results no matter where they are — which is why we are delighted to introduce MapQuest optimized for the iPhone.  We have served millions of requests …
Research in Motion:
RIM Takes Push to a New Level with BlackBerry Web Signals Technology for Third Party Content Services  —  Online content providers can now push notifications to BlackBerry smartphones and enable streamlined mobile access for their customers  —  Santa Clara, CA - BlackBerry Developer Conference …
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Google-Yahoo Search Deal Toast, Says TheDeal  —  Not confirmed, but makes sense given the way this has been headed.  The partnership will have to be so neutered to pass muster that it seems no longer worth doing anyway.  —  TheDeal.com:  —  Google, Yahoo! likely to drop venture
Jon Fortt / Big Tech:
Apple's next act: Changing PC buying habits  —  Nvidia inside: Apple's latest MacBook laptops have an Nvidia graphics processor next to their Intel chips, which puts the spotlight on graphics chips as an important part of today's basic computer system.  Image: Apple
Discussion: MacDailyNews
Peter Ha / CrunchGear:
Samsung announces the Epix for AT&T  —  The BlackJack series was a turning point for Samsung and solidified their place in the smartphone market among the major players until RIM got all fussy about the name and today they announced the Epix, which is basically the BJ III.
Discussion: Crave, Electronista, WMExperts and Engadget
Microsoft:
Microsoft Announces Global Anti-Piracy Day to Highlight Collaborative Efforts to Protect Customers and Partners Around the World From Software Piracy and Counterfeiting  —  Microsoft works with customers, partners and governments to launch dozens of anti-piracy initiatives spanning the globe.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Brightstorm Raises $6 Million For Online Video Tutorials  —  If high-school education is failing in the U.S., maybe Web video can help.  Founded last April, Brightstorm is a Web video site that brings bright, talented teachers together with students who need some extra help.
Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Google Being More Careful Amid Slump, Schmidt Says  —  Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Google Inc., owner of the world's most popular Internet search site, will make fewer acquisitions and slow hiring amid the global economic turmoil, Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said.
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Make Your Own iPhone/Android Apps With New App Generator  —  Today AppLoop launched a mobile application generator which lets you turn any RSS feed into a mobile application for either iPhone (available today) or Android (coming soon).  The company, who competes with the analytics …
 
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 More Items: 
John Oates / The Register:
Judge tells Oracle and SAP to sort it out
Discussion: CNET News
BBC:
Keyboard sniffers to steal data
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Google's Android ‘GPhone’ App Store Missing Some Big Names
Discussion: Crave
Gary Anthes / Computerworld:
Dear Mr. President: Let's talk tech
Discussion: IP Democracy
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Diamonds Are Forever, And Can Now Be Traded Online Too
GamesIndustry.biz:
Mythic “flattered” by Warcraft's imitation combat
Discussion: Blue's News
Richard Brewer-Hay / eBay Ink:
eBay To Institute Global Ban on Ivory Sales
 Earlier Items: 
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
BeenVerified hopes to make background checks easier and cheaper
Ken Schachter / Red Herring:
Where Congress Puts Its Own Money
Discussion: Techdirt
Lou Cabron / 10 Zen Monkeys:
The Great Google Rebellion
Discussion: Beyond Search
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian

 
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