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12:50 PM ET, November 3, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Microsoft: Third party apps killing our security  —  Why would hackers target Microsoft directly when there is so much low hanging fruit hanging from the Windows operating system?  —  The short answer is that hackers won't attack Microsoft directly because they have plenty …
RELATED:
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Irrepressible widget-maker RockYou aims at Asia, raises $17M  —  RockYou, a company that started out two years ago making simple slideshow widgets for MySpace, and more recently applications on Facebook and other rival social networks, is now invading Asia.  —  It has taken on strategic funding …
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Video of RockYou Founders Talking About the New $17 Million Funding …
Discussion: GigaOM and The Social
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Microsoft confirms MinWin is in Windows 7, after all  —  MinWin — the core of the Windows operating system — is, indeed, in Windows 7.  It's just not part of it in the way many people (including yours truly) initially assumed.  —  Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich, who detailed via …
Discussion: Download Squad, Neowin.net and Slashdot
Business Technology:
Salesforce.com Wants to Host Your Web Site  —  Salesforce.com is getting into the Web site hosting business, the latest sign that the company's ambitions reach beyond the sales-automation software it's named for.  —  Salesforce.com, whose annual conference gets under way in San Francisco Monday …
RELATED:
Bernard Lunn / ReadWriteWeb:
Salesforce.com Says Hello World
Ted Dziuba / The Register:
What Ray Ozzie didn't tell you about Microsoft Azure  —  Behind the whiteboard of confusion  —  Fail and You Unveiled earlier this month at Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference by Chief Whiteboard Operator Ray Ozzie, the Azure Services Platform confused damn near everyone.
Discussion: Beyond Search and Startup Chatter
Business Wire:
MySpace and Auditude Partner With MTV Networks to Enable New Advertising Opportunities for User Uploaded Video  —  Patented Indexing and Ad Targeting Combine to Transform Audience-Posted Videos Into Advertising Revenue Opportunities for Content Owners  —  LOS ANGELES & PALO ALTO, Calif. …
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo's Scott Moore and Al Warms to Depart This Week  —  Aside from upcoming layoffs, it seemed as if Yahoo had staunched the flow of major execs from the company.  —  Not so, it seems, as several sources with knowledge of the situation confirm that the two top execs of the troubled Internet …
Kelly Hodgkins / Boy Genius Report:
Verizon Wireless kills Pay as You Go data plans, data plans now mandatory  —  This has been rumored to be coming but VZW E dropped the bomb on us all by leaking a Verizon Wireless document detailing some drastic changes to Verizon's data plans.  Starting November 14th, 2008 …
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
How Low Will Online Ads Go?  Lower, Says J.P. Morgan.  Very, Very Low, Says Gawker's Nick Denton  —  A year ago, the conventional wisdom said that the online advertising market would still grow in an economic slump because online ads were cheaper and more effective.  —  And they are.
Rafat Ali / paidContent.org:
Social Networks Reunion.com and Wink Merge; $100M in Revenues Combined This Year  —  Two lesser-known social networks Reunion.com and Wink have merged.  The two sites focus on people and alumni/classmates search, and now plan to launch a new brand early next year.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
RELATED:
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Reunion.com and Wink merge to form new people search site
Discussion: Technology Live
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Ad Net Rates Dropped 11% In The Third Quarter  —  The average amount advertisers pay publishers to display their ads one thousand times — CPMs — dropped 11 percent from Q2 to Q3 across the 307 ad networks and 1,300 publishers that ad-optimizing firm The Rubicon Project calls clients.
Simon Sage / IntoMobile:
Verizon BlackBerry Storm site updated, treasure hunt announced  —  The BlackBerry Storm notification page set up by Verizon back during the announcement has received a significant overhaul, showing off not only specs and 360°-worth of pictures, but also something of a treasure hunt from November 6th. to the 15th.
James Sherwood / The Register:
Motorola legal tie to pull pricey Aura phone off eBay  —  Exclusive Once you've grown tired of your mobile phone then it's your prerogative to flog it on eBay, right?  Not if you buy Motorola's upcoming Aura phone, because the firm's penned a contract to prevent secondhand sales.
Abbey Klaassen / AdAge:
Kindle Offers Glimpse of ROI on Oprah  —  Nod From Talk Queen Causes a Surge in Web Traffic  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Since Amazon launched the Kindle, its electronic reader, a year ago, it has created a swarm of dedicated customer advocates.  But on Oct. 24 it snagged the most important evangelist …
Noam Cohen / New York Times:
Censorship, or What Really Weirds Out Weird Al  —  Visitors to MTV's new online music video site can listen to songs with plenty of crass and vulgar lyrics, but may be surprised to find that certain other language had once been deemed too nasty for broadcast — that is, the names …
New York Times:
Campaigns in a Web 2.0 World  —  Shortly after 9 a.m. on Oct. 19, Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president during the taping of “Meet the Press” on NBC.  Within minutes, the video was on the Web.  —  But the clip was not rushed onto YouTube; it was MSNBC.com, the network's sister entity online …
Discussion: Portals and KM and Know It All
David Adewumi / VentureBeat:
Weebly scores 1 million users, reaches profitability  —  Weebly, an AJAX-based drag and drop web page creator, today announces it has reached a million registered users — and perhaps more importantly — that the three-year-old company is now profitable.  —  The San Francisco …
Justin Berka / Infinite Loop:
Class action suit filed over PowerBook G4 memory slots  —  Most of the time, the lawsuits that are filed against Apple involve fairly current products like the iPhone, but the most recent suit is a bit of a throwback.  This time around, the PowerBook G4 is in the spotlight.
Discussion: AppleInsider
Business Wire:
Amazon Announces Beginning of Multi-Year Frustration-Free Packaging Initiative  —  Amazon.com has launched “Frustration-Free Packaging,” a new initiative designed to make it easier for customers to liberate products from their packages.  Amazon is focusing first on two kinds of items …
Discussion: Engadget, Gizmodo and GottaBeMobile.com
 
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 More Items: 
Sydney Morning Herald:
Sensis concedes defeat to Google
Discussion: Screenwerk and WebProNews
John Oates / The Register:
Virgin sacks the Facebook 13, BA customers stink
Discussion: Pulse 2.0
Glenn Fleishman / Ars Technica:
GE wants your appliances talking to your electricity utility
Chris Mellor / The Register:
InPhase delays holographic storage to late 2009
Discussion: Engadget
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Yahoo News Is Bracing for a Day of Heavy Traffic
 Earlier Items: 
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Palo Alto Networks pulls in new funds to ride out recession
Discussion: PE Hub News
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Western Digital pushes into living room with WD TV
Discussion: Crave, Maximum PC all and Electronista
Kelly Fiveash / The Register:
Windows 7 ‘pre-beta’ washes up on Pirate Bay and co
Ryan Tate / Gawker:
Times Said Shopping About.com
Discussion: AppScout
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
Motorola ZINE ZN5 officially hits T-Mobile, paparazzis lose their jobs
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
John McCain and Barack Obama Talk Tech
Discussion: CNET News, Datamation and TechCrunch
 

 
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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