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3:50 PM ET, January 5, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Apple:
Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs  —  For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.  —  Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health …
RELATED:
Apple:
Statement by Apple's Board of Directors  —  It is widely recognized both inside and outside of Apple that Steve Jobs is one of the most talented and effective CEOs in the world.  —  As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue …
Discussion: PC World and Guardian
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Gizmodo Gets Steve Jobs Macworld Story Right, CNBC Gets It Wrong  —  The headline news is that Steve Jobs is sick and that's why he isn't giving a keynote at Macworld.  —  One interesting side note is that an online media outlet most people would call a blog got the story right and a reliable old media brand did not.
Discussion: Gizmodo and Fast Company
internetnews.com:
Apple's Jobs: Hormone Condition Won't Hinder CEO Duties  —  Steve Jobs seeks to quash a new spate of rumors, revealing that he's been suffering a hormonal imbalance but remains fit to continue at Apple.  —  In a public letter released today, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs sought to dispel …
Discussion: InformationWeek and Fast Company
Charles Cooper / Coop's Corner:
Now Apple's credibility really is in the balance  —  If you're an Apple shareholder or employee, the good news is that Steve Jobs' health is not in any immediate danger.  —  Or so we're supposed to surmise from the cryptic note issued by Jobs early Monday on the state of his health …
Discussion: GigaOM
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Steve Jobs Admits Health Caused Him To Skip Macworld (AAPL)
Discussion: CNET News, mocoNews.net and BoomTown
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Celebrity Twitter Accounts Hacked (Bill O'Reilly, Britney Spears, Obama, More)  —  My guess is this has nothing to do with the phishing attacks that started on Twitter a couple of days ago.  But a few minutes ago the official Fox News Twitter account posted “Breaking: Bill O Riley is gay” …
RELATED:
BIZ / Twitter Blog:
Monday Morning Madness  —  This morning we discovered 33 Twitter accounts had been “hacked” including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama (who has not been Twittering since becoming the president elect due to transition issues).  We immediately locked down the accounts and investigated the issue.
Brian Prince / eWeek:
Twitter Phishing Scam Takes New Turn with Promises of iPhone
Wall Street Journal:
TV and Web Marry After Long Courtship  —  After more than a decade of disappointment, the goal of marrying television and the Internet seems finally to be picking up steam.  —  A key factor in the push are new TV sets that have networking connections built directly into them, requiring no additional set-top boxes for getting online.
RELATED:
Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:   LG high-def TVs to stream Netflix videos directly
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Roku Netflix Box Gets Amazon Video on Demand  —  Roku's Netflix box is currently a one-trick pony, but it's getting Amazon's Video on Demand later this year, meaning you can soon buy or rent and instantly stream movies and TV shows from Amazon's service.  —  Amazon's Video on Demand library …
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
For Sale at the New York Times: The Front Page  —  The New York Times (NYT) is already trying to mortgage its headquarters and unload assets like its stake in the Boston Red Sox.  —  So what's left to sell?  The front page.  —  Today's edition of the Times features the first display ad the paper has ever sold on its front page.
Discussion: Furrier.org
RELATED:
Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:
The Times to Sell Display Ads on the Front Page
Discussion: Screenwerk
TOP 20 MSI News:
Debut of MSI U-Series New Force First Launch of U115, the Dual HD Model  —  Whole New All-In-One Wind NetOn Models Starting an Era of Dual Core Atom  —  Taipeiã€'In the CES 2009, to be held in Las Vegas from January 8, MSI will once again capture the world's eyes with its prolific R&D and designs.
Intel:
Intel and Adobe to Extend Flash Platform to TVs  —  Optimizing Adobe Flash Technology on Intel® Media Processor CE 3100 Will Enable Rich and Seamless Web Content on TV  —  Adobe® Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and Intel Corporation today announced plans to collaborate …
Leo Lewis / Times of London:
Sony on brink of upheaval as analysts back British chief  —  Sony, the embattled Japanese electronics group, is on the brink of a corporate upheaval that could see job cuts and sweeping changes to management and manufacturing processes.  —  Company sources have told The Times that operations across …
Tania Branigan / Guardian:
China targets Google and Baidu in crackdown on ‘vulgar’ websites  —  Chinese officials today launched a crackdown on “vulgar” websites including Google and the country's leading search engine, Baidu.  —  Officials named 19 sites they said had failed to censor inappropriate content despite warnings …
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
RELATED:
New York Times:
Blu-ray's Fuzzy Future  —  The biggest news at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January was not the birth of a new product but the death of one.  —  A decision by Warner Brothers to withdraw support for the HD DVD video disc format sent shock waves through the electronics industry …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
2009: Products I Can't Live Without  —  At the beginning of each year I traditionally publish a list of my favorite startups and products.  This is the fourth year I've done this - previous lists: 2006, 2007, 2008.  You guys get to pick the winners of the Crunchies - this list is all mine.
Discussion: CloudAve and TechCrunchIT
Chris Mellor / The Register:
Iomega aims at TVs with home server  —  Backs up PCs and plays digital media files  —  Iomega has announced a home storage and media server that backs up files on connected PCs and plays digital media content to connected output devices.  —  The Home Media Network Hard Drive (HMNHD) …
Discussion: Gizmodo
Michael Rose / TUAW:
Rumor watch: AT&T tethering plans may be announced this week  —  It's been under the rumor banner for some time now, but we've been told by a trusted source that the long-awaited AT&T iPhone-as-modem tethering plans (preliminary details in MacBlogz' post from November: 5 GB data cap …
Stephen Schenck / Obsessable:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 HD features highest-density hard drive storage to date  —  Hard drive manufacturer Seagate has announced drives featuring the highest-density data storage offered by the industry.  The Barracuda 7200.12 HD is a 1 TB drive — nothing new there …
 
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 More Items: 
Financial Times:
Surfers should pay congestion charges
Reuters:
Software firm UIQ files for bankruptcy
Discussion: Electronista
Christian Zibreg / TG Daily:
Paid Android applications to arrive this month
Discussion: Unwired View
internetnews.com:
The Dangers of Web Access
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
How to Solve the Big Music/YouTube Spat: Copy MySpace
Simon Dumenco / AdAge:
Digg This, HuffPo: What's $200 Million Divided by 2009 Reality?
Joseph Tartakoff / The Microsoft Blog:
Goldman Sachs: Microsoft lay offs would be “good” for stock
Discussion: TechFlash
Robert Palmer / TUAW:
NRK offers free podcast containing every Beatles song
Discussion: NRKbeta
 Earlier Items: 
Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
As Lively Goes Down, NewLively Springs Up
Discussion: Industry Standard
Chris Snyder / Epicenter:
Al Jazeera To Come Pre-Installed on Some Sony Phones
TechRadar.com:
Stallman: “we still have a fight on our hands”
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Trying To Understand: Facebook's Lawsuit Against Power.com Makes No Sense
Lewis Page / The Register:
Windows for Warships™ reaches Royal Navy frigates
Claire Cain Miller / New York Times:
In Silicon Valley, Venture Capitalists Turn Cautious and Focus on the Short Term
Discussion: Bits and The Open Road
Ken Barnes / USA Today:
Music sales boom, but albums fizzle for '08
 

 
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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