Top Items:
Damon Darlin / New York Times:
The Year of the Simpler Gadget — THE National Bureau of Economic Research hardly stunned the nation this month when it announced that the United States had been in recession since December 2007. — And, as it turns out, the buyers of consumer electronics could very well have been a leading economic indicator.
Anne Eisenberg / New York Times:
Need a Ride? Check Your iPhone — SOON you may no longer need to stick out your thumb to catch a ride. Instead, you may get one by tapping your fingers on your iPhone. — Avego, based in Kinsale, Ireland (www.avego.com), is demonstrating an iPhone application intended to let drivers …
Discussion:
Smart Mobs
Brad J. Ward / SquaredPeg:
There's something going down on Facebook. Pay attention. — I really need you to listen up for this post. Please. — Something is going down on Facebook, and it has implications for your school. — Several weeks ago I was contacted by my friend and colleague Michelle at Winthrop …
ChannelWeb:
Microsoft Extends XP Availability For Distributors — Microsoft system builder partners who've been feeling queasy about the impending Jan. 31, 2009, deadline for selling PCs with Windows XP pre-installed can now breathe a bit easier, as Microsoft is giving them a way to obtain XP licenses through distribution after the deadline.
Macenstein:
Is this the new Mac mini? — An anonymous tip (the best kind). Thoughts? — Click to embiggen.
Discussion:
CrunchGear, Webomatica, Boy Genius Report, PalmAddicts, Engadget, Boing Boing Gadgets, VentureBeat and 9 to 5 Mac
CdrInfo.com:
First Hybrid Blu-ray/DVD Movie Title Announced For Japan — Japanese entertainment software developer Pony/Canon will release the first movie title on a hybrid Blu-ray/DVD disc in Japan in February, in an effort to accelerate the transition from the DVD to the Blu-ray format.
Jack Schofield / Guardian:
Twitter Venn, text snowflakes and other entertainments — One of the interesting things about Twitter is the fast-growing “tweecosystem” of add-ons and applications that expand or exploit the basic service. I've just been playing with a new one called Twitter Venn, which lets you display searches as Venn diagrams.
Discussion:
Data Mining
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
YouTube Unveils Unique View Counts. Now You Can Tell If Your Mom Is Your Only Fan — YouTube has just released a new feature for its analytics platform that allows content owners to see how many unique visitors are watching their videos. While YouTube videos have long displayed …
Discussion:
digg.com
Jeremy Liew / Wall Street Journal:
Will the Recession Kill Web 2.0? — The last fast few years have seen resurgence in Internet companies not seen since the bubble years of the late 90s. The growth of these advertising-supported “Web 2.0” companies has propelled online advertising sales to $21 billion from $6 billion between 2002 and 2007.
Hans Sandberg / The Nordic Link:
Yes Dear, There Will Be a Gizmondo, Just Not This Year... And It Will Be Different — As you may have suspected by now, there will be no launch of the new Gizmondo in December, but it's not because of any evil shenanigans on Carl Freer's part. It was the financial crisis that killed …
Tessa Lewin / Guardian:
The key(board) to equality — Communication technology can change the lives of women around the world — Geeks and feminists have much in common. If feminism is about embracing and striving for some kind of utopian dream of human equality, then democratising knowledge is an important part of this process.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
After Steve Jobs, who runs Apple? — “We are in the early stages of changing roles in Apple's management structure,” Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster wrote last week in the wake of Steve Jobs' decision to hand the Macworld keynote over to senior vice president Phil Schiller — a move Munster characterized as …
