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3:15 AM ET, January 7, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Tom Neumayr / Apple:
Changes Coming to the iTunes Store  —  Apple® today announced several changes to the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com).  Beginning today, all four major music labels—Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, along with thousands of independent labels …
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
The Price Of Going DRM-Free: Apple's Hidden $1.8 Billion Music Tax  —  Nearly two years ago, Steve Jobs published an open letter to the music industry calling for the death of DRM (digital rights management).  He convinced EMI to ditch DRM back in April, 2007, but the three other major music labels held out.
Discussion: CNET News, AppScout and CrunchGear
Brad Stone / New York Times:   Want to Copy iTunes Music? Go Ahead, Apple Says
Wilson Rothman / Gizmodo:
Apple Confirms $179 Battery Swap Cost for 17" MacBook Pro  —  We just confirmed with Apple that swapping out the 17" MacBook Pro's non-removable battery will cost $179.  Fortunately, says Apple, the swap might not be needed for a long time:  —  From a spokesperson at Apple:
RELATED:
Michael Hirschorn / The Atlantic Online:
End Times  —  VIRTUALLY ALL THE predictions about the death of old media have assumed a comfortingly long time frame for the end of print—the moment when, amid a panoply of flashing lights, press conferences, and elegiac reminiscences, the newspaper presses stop rolling and news goes entirely digital.
RELATED:
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Sony's VAIO P ultraportable revealed  —  Chicklet keyboard, check.  Tiny pointing nub, check.  Looks like this is Sony's Vaio P series ultraportable on display at CES.  By on display we mean, on display as these shots were taken off the display monitors here at CES.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
WebEx on Your iPhone, Finally  —  If I had to name one collaboration application that I to use on an almost daily basis, with the exception of Google Docs, my answer would be Cisco's WebEx.  A lot of companies make pitches to me using WebEx.  Despite its patchy performance on the Mac …
RELATED:
Marguerite Reardon / CNET News:
Cisco adds social networking to its forte
Discussion: Contentinople
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Pandora Radio 2.0 Lands On The iPhone Tonight  —  Pandora Radio, the personalized internet radio service that has remained among the most popular iPhone apps on the iTunes App Store since its inception in July (and that I've previously called the iPhone's killer app), will be releasing its most significant update yet later today.
Reuters:
Apple disappoints-no Jobs, big news at Macworld  —  (Refiles to delete extraneous words in paragraphs one and three) (Adds analyst comment, product details)  —  Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said on Tuesday it was dropping copy protection from songs sold on the Internet and debuted its slimmest 17-inch laptop yet …
RELATED:
Sam Diaz / Between the Lines:   Apple's final Macworld: Schiller delivers but announcements disappoint
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Stevenote?  Here's Your Stevenote.  Or, More Specifically, Your Woznote.  —  Call Steve Wozniak the anti-Steve Jobs.  He's far nerdier than Jobs ever was; he's not a polished presenter; he has a zillion passions beyond Apple (Segway Polo, anyone?); and nobody's ever going to spend any time worrying that he's looking gaunt.
RELATED:
Roman Loyola / Macworld:
First Look: Axiotron Modbook Pro
Guardian:
The shape of things to come  —  A self-confessed ‘pretty unlikely early adopter’, the digital guru Clay Shirky still proved to be uncannily prescient about the impact of the web - which is why Tom Teodorczuk is getting his media forecast for 2009  —  Clay Shirky, with his bald head and composed manner …
Discussion: Podcasting News and PSFK
Dave Zatz / Zatz Not Funny!:
TiVo Beefs Up Search Functionality  —  Later today, broadband-connected TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD subscribers will be treated to a revamped search experience.  And, marking a first, TiVo is finally taking widescreen televisions seriously with a high-def interface utilizing that extra real estate.
Discussion: Gizmo Lovers Blog and TiVo Blog
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Report: PC makers to provide free Vista-to Win-7 upgrades starting July 1  —  In yet another indicator as to the progress of Windows 7, the Tech ARP site reported that Microsoft plans to allow PC makers to offer customers who buy Windows Vista machines as of July 1 free upgrades to Windows 7 once it ships.
Jose Martinez / NY Daily News:
Model Liskula Cohen sues Google over blogger's ‘skank’ comment  —  A Vogue cover girl is suing Google in an attempt to unmask the blogger who trashed her as a “skank” and an “old hag.”  —  Liskula Cohen, a blond beauty who has modeled for Giorgio Armani and Versace, made headlines last year …
Discussion: Ars Technica, Pulse2, The Social and Gawker
Nicholas Deleon / CrunchGear:
Say hello to iWork 09: Like iWork 08, but plus one  —  Whoever predicted that Apple would introduce iWork '09 today gets a gold star.  Keynote, Pages and Numbers all received what I would consider minor updates; no need to run around all willy nilly for these, methinks.
RELATED:
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Obama picks RIAA's favorite lawyer for a top Justice post  —  As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama won applause from legal adversaries of the recording industry.  Stanford law professor Larry Lessig, the doyen of the “free culture” movement, endorsed the Illinois senator, as did Google CEO Eric Schmidt and even the Pirate Party.
Gamasutra:
Breaking: Ziff Davis Sells 1UP To UGO/Hearst, Closes EGM  —  Following repeated rumors to the effect, Gamasutra has learned that Ziff Davis has sold its 1UP division to Hearst's UGO Entertainment, and is shutting long-running print magazine EGM in the process.
RELATED:
David Kaplan / paidContent.org:
Ziff Davis Gets Out Of The Game: Sells 1UP To Hearst, Shutters EGM Mag …
Discussion: Business Wire, GameSetWatch and Kotaku
RobK / Mobile Industry Review:
New HTC mobile gets leaked by reseller  —  Popular mobile phone online retailer Expansys has opened up pre-ordering on a new HTC mobile, before the High Tech Computer Corporation has even publically announced it let alone confirmed it actually exists.  —  Brought to our attention by Cellpassion …
Discussion: Cellpassion and wmpoweruser.com
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Google Trends Features ASCII Art Of 9/11  —  A reader tipped us off to how ASCII art of an airplane is showing up in the number two position at Google Trends.  When we first looked ourselves, we thought the image was that of an airplane approaching a landing strip.
Discussion: Bits, TechCrunch and Gawker
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Here Come The 12 Inch Netbooks, And Intel Isn't Happy About It  —  12 inch Netbooks are coming.  Dell has the Inspiron Mini 12, Samsung will unveil its 12 inch netbook model to the U.S. shortly, and more are coming.  And Intel isn't happy about this at all.  —  In fact, the whole Netbook market may be making them nervous.
Discussion: CrunchGear
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Apple's Brilliant Video Engineer: Anonymous No More  —  My favorite moment at this year's Macworld Expo keynote had nothing to do with any of the products that were unveiled-it was was about the unveiling of a person.  —  At last year's Macworld Expo keynote, Steve Jobs waxed rhapsodic …
Discussion: AppleInsider and Obsessable
Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Weak Password Brings ‘Happiness’ to Twitter Hacker  —  An 18-year-old hacker with a history of celebrity pranks has admitted to Monday's hijacking of multiple high-profile Twitter accounts, including President-Elect Barack Obama's, and the official feed for Fox News.
 
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 More Items: 
Ashlee Vance / New York Times:
Data Analysts Captivated by R's Power
Bobby White / Wall Street Journal:
Cisco Woos Entertainment Firms
Discussion: GigaOM
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:
$9 million for SpotMixer's video ad service
Discussion: VentureBeat
Joe Mullin / The Prior Art:
Realm of the Lawyer-Inventor: Oprah's Book Club sued for patent infringement
Discussion: The Register
Humberto Saabedra / PhoneNews.com:
Pharos Announces Traveler 137 with PAYG Maps
Discussion: PR Newswire
Mark Wilson / Gizmodo:
$199 Sign Language Translator...OK, Video Dictionary
Discussion: Gearlog and SlashGear
Ryan / Signal vs. Noise:
iPhoto '09 and Domain Language
Discussion: Gizmodo
 Earlier Items: 
Micha Pekrul / McAfee Avert Labs:
Rogue LinkedIn Profiles Lead To Malware
Mark Ward / BBC:
The dark side of the flash drive
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
AOL Boss Kevin Conroy Bolts For Univision (TWX)
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Borland CEO Nielsen Joins VMware; Cutting Staff 15%
Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
On Google Disallowing Crawling of Their LIFE Hosting
Discussion: Beyond Search
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Forbes Layoffs Finally Arrive: 19 Fired From Magazine, Web
Discussion: Gawker and paidContent.org
Brian Krebs / Washington Post:
Data Breaches Up Almost 50 Percent, Affecting Records of 35.7 Million People
 

 
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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