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8:30 AM ET, November 14, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
John Markoff / New York Times:
Google Adds Searching by Voice to iPhone Software  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Pushing ahead in the decades-long effort to get computers to understand human speech, Google researchers have added sophisticated voice recognition technology to the company's search software for the Apple iPhone.
Trevin Chow:
Introducing the Microsoft Store US  —  We previously launched Microso ft Store internationally in the UK, Germany and Korea.  I'm now happy to announce that we have officially launched Microsoft Store for the U.S!  —  With this launch, our customers in the U.S. are able to buy …
Discussion: Between the Lines and TechCrunch
RELATED:
Brandon LeBlanc / The Windows Blog:
Introducing the Microsoft Store  —  This is something I think is pretty exciting - especially if you're looking to score some Microsoft product.  We are announcing the Microsoft Store - the first online store where you can purchase Microsoft products straight from the source!
Paul Boutin / Valleywag:
What just happened at Valleywag?  The FAQ  —  I love Owen, but he has trouble writing in English during a crisis.  So here's the basics on what's happening at Valleywag:  — Some guy named Denton can't figure out how to sell ads on Valleywag.  — So he's going to sneak Valleywag …
RELATED:
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Google Finally Starts Firing Slackers?  —  Times are changing at Google: You can't slack off and expect to keep your job anymore, reports a reader who says he's an employee:  —  Recent change in behavior here at Google... it used to be nearly impossible to get fired for general underperformance …
BBC:
$100 laptop to be sold in Europe  —  Europeans will soon be able to buy their own XO laptop.  —  The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organisation is planning to sell the devices via online store Amazon's European outlets from 17 November.  —  The machines will be sold under the Give One …
Discussion: Engadget
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
“Fred” is the star of the NewTeeVee Live conference  —  The star of the NewTeeVee Live conference in San Francisco: Fred.  —  Lucas Cruikshank, the hyper, screeching 15-year-old Internet sensation from Omaha who created the “Fred” series on YouTube, won over the adult audience at a conference …
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Very Curious Microsoft-Facebook User Data Relationship  —  Facebook's ties to Microsoft go back to 2006 when they first signed an advertising deal.  A year later they took a $240 million investment, and the advertising relationship was extended this year.
Discussion: MSN and The Social Times
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Cell phone boarding passes coming to an airline near you  —  The next time you head over to the security line at the airport, you may not have to fish around for your boarding pass in order to get past the TSA agents.  Instead, you'll be able to flash your phone or PDA …
Discussion: Chicago Tribune and Gizmodo
kottke.org:
High quality YouTube video hack  —  You may have noticed that the video of Burn-E I embedded looked a bit better than a normal YouTube video.  YouTube has been quietly offering high-quality versions of some of their videos for quite some time via a “watch in high quality” link just underneath the player.
Eric Engleman / TechFlash:
Q&A: Ian Freed of Amazon Kindle on ebooks, blogs, and Jeff Bezos  —  Amazon.com is putting a lot of marketing muscle behind its electronic book reader, the Kindle, ahead of this year's holiday season (the company recently secured a coveted endorsement from Oprah).
Discussion: TeleRead
Paul Boutin / Valleywag:
Federated Media slashes rates to $5 CPM  —  John Battelle has his own plan for riding out the holiday ad-buying slump.  The founder of online-advertising network Federated Media, which brokers ads for sites like Boing Boing, GigaOm, and Dooce, can't fire writers, but he can cut the price of their ads.
Discussion: The Blog Herald
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
A scientific formula for popularity on Digg, YouTube  —  Bernardo Huberman, Hewlett-Packard's director of the HP Social Computing lab, and fellow researcher Gabor Szabo have published a highly detailed report (PDF) on “predicting the popularity of online content.”
Discussion: Digital Inspiration
Tech-On! : tech news:
Non-contact Charging System Simultaneously Charges Multiple Mobile Devices  —  Mojo Mobility Inc, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm, developed a technology to simultaneously charge multiple mobile devices using a piece of sheet and started seeking collaboration with device manufacturers.
Discussion: Gearlog, Unwired View and Engadget
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Entrepreneurs Ask VCs for Cash Back  —  This week's $250 million funding for vacation home rental listing company HomeAway Inc. was the largest web-related venture capital investment since the bubble days at the turn of the millennium.  But it also contained a provision that signals how the lack …
David Kaplan / paidContent.org:
Invest Like It's 1998: Microsoft Stock Hits 10-Year Low; 30 Percent Decline From First Yahoo Offer  —  Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) stock hit its lowest point in 10 years on Thursday— $18.74—when the tech sector took hits from Cisco (NSDQ: CSCO) and Intel (NSDQ: INTC), before coming back to close at $21.25.
Discussion: Associated Press
Gregg Keizer / Computerworld:
Microsoft: Office Web will be available from Mac, Linux, iPhone  —  First stab at online Office will work in IE, Firefox and Safari on multiple platforms  —  Computerworld) Microsoft clarified this week that the upcoming Office Web — a lightweight version of its Office suite that runs …
Joey Sanders / BlackBerryNews.com:
BlackBerry Curve 8900 Simulator Available For Download  —  RIM has released for download the 4.6.1 software simulator for the 8900 Curve2.  While you're waiting for the device, this might be fun to play with and get used to the OS.  —  Click here do access and download the 8900 simulator.
Miguel Helft / Bits:
Is There a Privacy Risk in Google Flu Trends?  —  When Google released its Flu Trends service earlier this week, the Drudge Report flashed a headline that read: “SICK SURVEILLANCE: GOOGLE REPORTS FLU SEARCHES, LOCATIONS TO FEDS.”  —  Google sought to avoid this kind of reaction by talking …
Verizon:
Verizon Wireless And Photobucket Launch Instant Mobile Photo Uploading  —  Web's Leading Standalone Photo Site Makes Photo Sharing Fast and Easy For Verizon Wireless Customers  —  Customer Inquiries  —  For customer inquiries, please call 800-922-0204 or go to  —  For Photobucket:
Discussion: IntoMobile and Unwired View
Benjamin J. Romano / Microsoft Pri0:
Unsealed docs from Vista Capable class-action suit detail exchanges between Microsoft, Intel  —  U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman unsealed several documents containing internal Microsoft and Intel e-mails, in the ongoing class action lawsuit against Microsoft over marketing of Windows Vista.
Electronista:
Alienware intros $1K Area-51 750i  —  Alienware on Thursday veered away from its normal high-end audience to unveil the Area-51 750i.  The system is the company's least expensive gaming tower but comes with the same lightable casing, wiring and stronger power supplies as more expensive Area-51 models …
Discussion: SlashGear and Gizmodo
Benjamin J. Romano / Microsoft Pri0:
October video game hardware sales continue to grow, Nintendo leads  —  Despite a worsening economy, all three current-generation video game consoles had better U.S. sales in October than they did a year ago, according to the latest figures from The NPD Group.
Live Search:
The next step in search  —  Today at PubCon we launched a new release of the Live Search API for publishers and web developers.  Now, in one place, we're making available what is essentially a content management system for your site or blog, plus the ability to monetize by selling ads.
IntenseDebate:
IntenseDebate is Back!  —  The wait is over!  We're pleased to announce that IntenseDebate has emerged from temporary invite mode and is now available for the taking.  —  Since joining Automattic, we have been hard at work scaling our infrastructure and preparing IntenseDebate to deliver super-charged comments across the web.
 
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 More Items: 
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
IM Coming to Popular Mechanics, Seventeen - Can Chat Save Old Media?
Discussion: VentureBeat
Aidan Malley / AppleInsider:
Apple job listing hints at iPhone nearing China launch
Iljitsch van Beijnum / Ars Technica:
Google: more Macs mean higher IPv6 usage in US
Discussion: CircleID
Jonathan Schwartz / Jonathan Schwartz's Blog:
The Inside Story (Java, Microsoft and MySQL)
Mike / Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search:
Google Maps + TeleAtlas + TomTom = Powerful map update strategy
 Earlier Items: 
Brian Krebs / Security Fix:
A Closer Look at McColo
Dan Fost / New York Times:
Keeping It All in the Google Family
John Cook / TechFlash:
Jobster slashes staff by 38 percent
Discussion: Guardian and PE Hub Blog
Justin Berka / Infinite Loop:
New Mac OS X 10.5.6 test build has over 90 fixes
Discussion: Download.com editors
 

 
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

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

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump says Republicans must kill the PRESS Act, which would protect journalists' records and sources from the US government; the bill is stalled in the Senate

 
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