Top Items:
Mike Nash / The Windows Blog:
Announcing the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Customer Preview Program (CPP) — Hi, Mike Nash here. In late October I announced the Beta of Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 - beginning with a small group of Technology Adoption Program customers.
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Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Vista SP2: What's inside? — Microsoft is continuing to broaden the pool of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) testers beyond the fairly small, select group who've been working with test builds for the past few months. — Over on the jkOnTheRun blog, Kevin Tofel posted the most complete list I've seen of what's in Vista SP2.
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Wall Street Journal:
Former AOL Chief Seeks Funds for Yahoo Deal — Former AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller is trying to raise money to purchase a portion or all of Yahoo Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. — Mr. Miller has been talking to private equity investors and sovereign wealth funds …
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Another Bogus Yahoo Takeover Story - The WSJ Gets It Wrong — Today's Wall Street Journal story talking about yet another takeover attempt of Yahoo is incorrect, say our own sources. And unlike The Times' story over the weekend, which was equally fictitious (and, here's an interesting fact …
Wall Street Journal:
Google Gears Down for Tougher Times — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Corporate austerity is reaching one of the most extravagant spenders of the boom years. Google Inc. has begun to tighten its belt. — For much of its 10-year history, Google spent money at a pace that was the marvel of Silicon Valley.
Greg Kumparak / MobileCrunch:
Apple announces Top 10 iPhone App downloads of 2008 — With 2008 on the way out and right around 10,000 applications behind them, Apple has released a series of lists outlining which applications scored the most downloads since the App Store's launch back in July.
David Recordon / O'Reilly Radar:
Getting OpenID Into the Browser — Google Chrome did a smart thing: Less. They unified the search box and address bar, since that's what people do anyway. That gives us back precious pixels for the only thing that's as important to an average web user as where they're going: Who they are.
Discussion:
Webware.com
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Arn / MacRumors:
Developers Can Now Issue Free “Promotional” Copies of iPhone Apps — Apple has finally started allowing developers to issue free promotional copies of their iPhone applications. Once an application has been accepted to the App Store by Apple, developers can issue up to 50 promotional codes.
Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report:
Windows 7 Beta 1 to arrive January 13? — At the Professional Developers Conference in late October, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky announced that Windows 7 Beta 1 would be ready “early next year.” A Microsoft insider has now confirmed the actual date, which is indeed very early next year.
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Windows Live Rolls Out Its New Social Network Hub, Boosts SkyDrive/Photo Storage to 25 GB — Today, Microsoft is rolling out some of the sweeping changes to Windows Live it announced two weeks ago. Windows Live seems to be gradually replacing MSN as Microsoft's central hub for everything you do on the Web.
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Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee:
MySpace Video Goes Mobile (But Sans Hulu & Not on iPhones) — You know it's a strange, finicky sign of the times when MySpace announces that it has launched a beta mobile video site that will stream video directly to handsets around the globe — but that news is almost immediately deflated …
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Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Apple deletes Mac antivirus suggestion — Updated 7:45 p.m. PST with expert comment, at 7:20 p.m. PST with context on previous coverage, and at 7:08 p.m. PST with background. — Apple removed an old item from its support site late Tuesday that urged Mac customers to use multiple antivirus utilities …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Computerworld, Industry Standard, Silicon Alley Insider and Computerworld Blogs
Spencer E. Ante / Business Week:
Digg: Not for Sale — The news aggregation site's CEO, Jay Adelson, spelled out Digg's drive for profitability — Over the last few years, Digg has become Silicon Valley's version of the boy who cried wolf. Like the child who warned local villagers that a wolf was about to attack his flock of sheep …
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YouTube Blog:
A YouTube for All of Us — As a community, we have come to count on each other to be entertained, challenged, and moved by what we watch and share on YouTube. We've been thinking a lot lately about how to make the collective YouTube experience even better, particularly on our most visited pages.
Discussion:
What's That Noise?!, GMSV, Podcasting News, Digital Media Wire, Technologizer, Epicenter, VentureBeat, WebProNews, NewTeeVee, The Social and Startup Chatter
Electronista:
iPhone soars to 16.6% of smartphone market — The iPhone is now not only the second most popular smartphone in the world but has saved the smartphone industry from a decline this past summer, according to a research note by Needham analyst Charlie Wolf. Apple's handset has represented …
Discussion:
TeleRead, Digital Daily, AppleInsider, Tech Confidential, CNET News, Between the Lines and MacBlogz
Hunter / FishBowlNY:
New Staff Cuts At Gawker, Gizmodo and Jezebel — FishbowlNY has confirmed layoffs and pay cuts for writers at the blogs Gawker, Gizmodo and Jezebel. Gawker editor Sheila McClear and Jezebel editorial assistant Maria-Mercedes Lara have been let go, Gawker weekend editor Alex Carnevale's month …
David Sarno / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Lohan clears up Ronson rumors, rips on Facebook — Lindsay Lohan was blogging a lot over the summer and into the fall but, like so many people, seems to have fallen into a postelection Internet rut. — But she did post two blog entries to her MySpace page last night.
Live Search:
Battling the plague of the web — The web can be a dangerous place; there are threats around every corner. In recent years, threats coming from web pages have significantly increased, from malicious programs hosted on web pages, to downloads that manipulate your computer and steal your personal information.
Glynnis / FishBowlNY:
Flip.com to Close December 16 — Conde Nast suffered another blow today with news that Flip.com, their online social-networking/scrapbooking site aimed at teenage girls, was shutting down effective December 16. Users received an email earlier today (read after the jump) …
Jeff P Howe / Epicenter:
Crowdsourcing: Now With a Real Business Model! — Venture capital is drying up, with less money flowing in fewer deals, but at least one company managed to score a tidy sum. On Tuesday uTest — which crowdsources software testing — announced it had secured $5 million in Series B financing.
Ouriel Ohayon / TechCrunch:
Everything you always wanted to know about Google... ...But were afraid to ask. This is the title of this very interesting 34-slide presentation on Google prepared by FaberNovel, a french consulting firm. It is hard to realize the real nature of this just 10 years old giant given the number …
Christian Zibreg / TG Daily:
Acer to challenge Apple and Asus with a low-cost iMac clone and a 10.2" netbook — Chicago (IL) - The world's #3 PC manufacturer plans on releasing a 10.2" netbook and an all-in-one desktop computer, which will go head-to-head with Asus and Apple. The company said that the netbook …
Jeremy A. Kaplan / PC Magazine:
The Fastest ISPs in America—and Where You Live — Looking for speed? We polled tens of thousands of PCMag readers across the country to find out which ISPs, and which types of connections, yield the blazingest speeds. — When comparing the nation's ISPs, there are few metrics of particular importance for the average consumer.
Discussion:
GigaOM
Mmanos / LooseBolts:
Our Vision for Generation 4 Modular Data Centers - One way of Getting it just right . . . Data Centers are a hot topic these days. No matter where you look, this once obscure aspect of infrastructure is getting a lot of attention. For years, there have been cost pressures on IT operations and this …
Discussion:
PC World, Microsoft Pri0, Data Center Knowledge, The Microsoft Blog, Beyond Binary and CircleID
