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6:10 PM ET, December 12, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Apple tweaks App Store layout amid developer unrest  —  Faced with criticism over the way it's been grouping applications on the digital shelves of the App Store, Apple this week is making some changes to the store's layout aimed at showcasing a broader range of top offerings in each category.
RELATED:
Arn / MacRumors:
Apple Broadens App Store Acceptance, Approves ‘Pull My Finger’
Discussion: VentureBeat
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Your New Agreement With Google, Chrome Users  —  When Google released its browser called Chrome this fall, there was an unusually loud controversy about its End User Licensing Agreement (EULA).  The company responded quickly to those complaints.  —  Now the contract with users has been changed again …
Discussion: Between the Lines and Webware.com
RELATED:
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Google Chrome, the Default Browser in Google Pack  —  Now that it's no longer in beta, Google Chrome has been added to Google Pack.  Firefox bundled with Google Toolbar is still available, but you need to explicitly select it.  Adding Chrome to Google Pack means that existing users …
Christopher MacManus / Sony Insider:
Sony's First Touchscreen Walkman Revealed  —  Sony is set to debut a new 16 and 32GB drag and drop Walkman during CES 2009, according to trusted inside sources.  This will be the most advanced music, video and photo Walkman music player ever released by Sony to date.
Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
Key data center architect leaves Microsoft, headed for Amazon  —  James Hamilton, one of the big brains behind Microsoft's data center strategy, has left the company, according to a note on his Microsoft home page.  And we just confirmed that he's headed across town to Amazon.com …
Discussion: LiveSide and Royal Pingdom
RELATED:
Techhermit / The Digital Cave:
Microsoft's Container Progenitor to leave?
myfoxdc.com:
McCain Campaign Sells Info-Loaded Blackberry to FOX 5 Reporter  —  Exclusive FOX 5 Investigation  —  ARLINGTON, Va. - Private information at bargain prices.  It was a high-tech flub at the McCain-Palin campaign headquarters in Arlington when Fox 5's Investigative Reporter Tisha Thompson bought …
Kevin C. Tofel / jkOnTheRun:
Acer's $99 netbook can actually cost you $1,540.  Should you get it?  —  For those of us already accustomed to the lifetime cost of a subsidized device, this isn't news.  But netbooks are a relatively new market so there's bound to be many folks new to mobile tech and subsidization plans.
RELATED:
Martin LaMonica / CNET News:
Andy Grove urges Intel to build car batteries  —  Intel CEO Andy Grove has joined other Silicon Valley elites who are advocating for an industry shift into energy technology.  —  In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday, Grove said he is urging Intel to invest …
Discussion: TECH.BLORGE.com
RELATED:
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Apple iPod Touch, New MacBook Selling Like Crazy (AAPL)  —  Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber is one of the best-sourced Apple (AAPL) writers on the planet.  So when he declares something, we listen.  And he seems to be carrying good news for Apple, whose rivals in the PC industry aren't having the best year.
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
V is for this user's vendetta against Facebook  —  Everyone knows you on Facebook.  The problem is, Facebook doesn't know you.  —  At least that was V Addeman's problem when he tried to sign up for the social networking site.  —  Recently laid off as a category analyst for convenience stores …
Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Lenovo's Android phone for China hotter than a G1 with a defective battery  —  What if we told you the most beautiful phone in the world was a Lenovo?  Reactions to that statement are likely going to oscillate between “Lenovo doesn't make cellphones” and “impossible, considering this is the country …
Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
November game market a bloodbath  —  Nintendo's Wii may have run away with the U.S. console hardware market for November, but two titles for Microsoft's Xbox 360 were solidly atop the NPD Group's rankings of video-game sales for the month.  Yet Microsoft won't exactly be citing these results …
Arn / MacRumors:
iPod Touch Gaming Ad Shakes Things Up  —  Adage points to a major new ad campaign from Apple which is currently running on http://games.yahoo.com/.  Apple's latest web ad goes outside the usual bounds of traditional banner ads by affecting other portions of Yahoo's page (the ad must be initiated by the visitor).
Rita Chang / AdAge:
Mobile Ad Rates Begin to Drop as Inventory Increases  —  CPMs for Some Categories Have Hit Single Digits  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) — It's getting cheaper to advertise in mobile as cost-per-impression ad rates hits single-digit pricing in some cases.  —  The economy isn't the only factor …
Matt Raymond / Library of Congress Blog:
Library Releases Report on Flickr Pilot  —  In January, the Library embarked on something that took the online community by storm.  In conjunction with Flickr, we loaded a few thousand images from the Library of Congress' vast collections and asked the user community to get involved …
Discussion: WebProNews and Valleywag
John Mahoney / Gizmodo:
Hands On: Pastebud Copy and Paste Trick For iPhone's Safari and Mail  —  Pastebud—the Javascript-based copy and paste framework that lets you move text from Safari to an email or a form on a web page—is the cleverest solution yet, but still doesn't quite hit the mark.
Gerald Magpily / Dealscape:
Could the stars be aligning for a Google-N.Y. Times merger?  —  As the New York Times Co. is negotiating with lenders over its debt, speculation has been floating around the blogosphere, pushing the premise that Google Inc. should acquire the beleaguered Gray Lady.
Discussion: Tech Trader Daily
Pthurrott / SuperSite Blog:
How to fix Windows Mobile  —  This is an interesting if misguided article and, coincidentally, I met with the Windows Mobile folks just this week, so it's good timing as well: … Yep.  This is bad.  Microsoft is working on a number of things before that major update, Windows Mobile 7.
Ryan Naraine / Zero Day:
IE zero-day attack surface expands  —  The attack surface for password-stealing Trojans currently targeting an unpatched flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer has expanded to include all versions of the browser, including the newest IE 8 Beta 2.  —  Microsoft released an updated advisory …
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Sarah Palin, Please Come Back!  Hulu Traffic Drops in November  —  File under “interesting, but understandable”: After a flurry of election-related interest in October, traffic to red-hot Hulu fell off in November.  Blame Sarah Palin-or the lack of her.  —  ComScore says that traffic …
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Handicapping cloud computing: The big picture  —  Cloud computing isn't going to dominate the tech landscape, but will raise a ruckus for software vendors.  Google and Amazon will be cloud computing winners, but the spoils will be relatively small.  And there's a race to deliver …
 
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 More Items: 
Lynne d Johnson / Fast Company:
Most Popular Android Applications For November 2008
Kevin C. Tofel / jkOnTheRun:
I'm taking my phone off “the grid”, who's with me?
Discussion: Gear Diary
YouTube Blog:
Tis' the Season: YouTube Greeting Cards Are Back!
Discussion: Webware.com, Mashable! and WebProNews
internetnews.com:
SaaS, Green Tech in Top 2009 IT Growth Areas
Mark Drapeau / Mashable!:
Do Brands Belong on Twitter?
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
A week in, Facebook Connect trying to complete the connection
Jeff / Venture Chronicles:
Advertising in Applications  —  Few things elicit the visceral reaction …
Discussion: Nick Bradbury
TechCrunch:
Race And The Web: Going After Niche Markets Or Practicing Digital Segregation?
 Earlier Items: 
Greg Kumparak / MobileCrunch:
Ustream.tv working on mobile streaming app to take on Qik, Kyte, FlixWagon
Discussion: NewTeeVee
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Visa Launches First Financial App for Android
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Gmail Preferred By Students, But Nothing Beats Texting
Discussion: The Microsoft Blog
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Nokia takes on Huawei in connecting laptops
 

 
From Mediagazer:

The New York Times Company:
The New York Times names Dick Stevenson as Washington bureau chief; Stevenson has been at the paper for nearly 40 years and Washington editor since 2021

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”

Ayodeji Rotinwa / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the Agora Center for Research, a Ugandan newsroom sitting between activism and investigative reporting, posting its work on various social media sites

 
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