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12:36 PM ET, January 15, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google Ends Google Video Uploads, Shutters Notebook, Catalog Search, Dodgeball & Jaiku  —  Google's announced they're closing or ceasing development of a variety of products as part of an already continuing move to keep efforts focused on other products with greater usage.
RELATED:
Vic Gundotra / Google Code Blog:
Changes for Jaiku and Farewell to Dodgeball and Mashup Editor  —  Google has long believed that thoughtful iteration is the best way to build useful products for our users.  As part of that process, we are always looking for ways to better focus our teams on the products that can have the most impact.
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Google grows up; Restructuring tweaks signal end of adolescence
Discussion: TheStreet.com
The Official Google Blog:
Changes to engineering  —  At Google we recognized early …
Discussion: Fast Company
Brian X. Chen / Gadget Lab:
Steve Jobs Probably Won't Come Back to Apple  —  Steve Jobs' medical leave from Apple is likely to be permanent, analysts say.  —  In a letter to Apple staff on Wednesday, Jobs said he was taking a five-month medical leave because his health issues are “more complex than I originally thought.”
Discussion: MediaVidea and MacBlogz
RELATED:
Saul Hansell / Bits:
What If Steve Jobs Doesn't Come Back to Work?  —  We don't know what's wrong with Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief executive.  But it's got to be serious.  You don't take a six-month leave of absence, as he is, just because you've got a stomachache.  —  So that raises the question …
Bloomberg:
Tim Cook: the man in Steve Job's shoes  —  Apple Inc. founder and chief executive Officer Steve Jobs is prone to fits of passion, table pounding and screaming.  —  Tim Cook, who will oversee the company while Jobs takes medical leave, never raises his voice.  Still, Cook's management style won't be a shift for employees.
Apple:
Apple Media Advisory
Nick Wingfield / Digits:   When Steve Jobs Met Tim Cook
Zach Spear / AppleInsider:
Lawsuits against Apple likely in light of Jobs' latest disclosure
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Fake Steve Jobs Banned From CNBC*  —  Newsweek's Dan Lyons — “Fake Steve Jobs” — is banned from CNBC because of his appearance on the cable network earlier this evening, a source close to the situation tells us.  —  In a special report about Steve Jobs' stepping down from day-to-day operations at Apple …
RELATED:
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
On Apple Reporting: Fake Steve Rips CNBC a New One
Rebecca Buckman / Forbes:
The Exacting Standards Of Carol Bartz  —  The turnaround at automated design software firm Autodesk gives hints of how Bartz will manage Yahoo!  —  When Carol Bartz swept into the chief executive's suite at tech firm Autodesk in 1992, she took over a classic, chaotic engineers' paradise.
Discussion: Computerworld Blogs
RELATED:
John C Abell / Epicenter:
Bartz Says ‘Gut’ Against Microsoft Search Deal.  Nicely Played ...  It could be that freshly-minted Yahoo CEO Bartz still hasn't drunk the Kool Aid when she says things like she's in no hurry to sell the company's search business to Microsoft — and that her “gut” tells her it isn't a good idea anyway.
Discussion: Tech Trader Daily
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Wall Street Journal:
Bartz Could Boost Chance of Search Deal
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Judge calls RIAA objections “specious,” will stream hearing  —  A federal judge has agreed to a novel request: streaming parts of an upcoming file-sharing trial over the Internet.  Judge Nancy Gertner has granted the request of Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson and students to put the gavel …
Discussion: Mass High Tech
RELATED:
WebOS Arena:
Best Buy to be Palm Pre's exclusive retailer  —  We received news from a credible source that BestBuy Mobile will be getting an exclusive deal with Sprint for the Palm Pre release.  For 60 days the number one consumer electronics retailer will be the only place where you can get your hands on the Palm Pre, besides Sprint of course.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
How Warner Music Killed Facebook Music  —  Facebook's ongoing effort to launch a free streaming music service is stalled, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.  The company was close to a deal that would bring free streaming music from three of the four big labels …
Discussion: CNET News and p2pnet
RELATED:
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:   Lala, Qloud may be leading contenders for Facebook music deal
RELATED:
Agence France Presse:
PC shipments up just 1.1 percent in fourth quarter: Gartner
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Wall Street Journal:
Departing Yahoo President Has History of Missteps  —  On Monday night, outgoing Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Jerry Yang delivered some tough news to Yahoo President Susan Decker: The Yahoo board had picked someone else as its new CEO.  On Tuesday, Ms. Decker announced her plans to resign …
Dusan Belic / IntoMobile:
PerfectStorm theme makes your iPhone look like the BlackBerry Storm  —  Here's a cool theme for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM)-to-iPhone switchers.  The so called PerfectStorm brings the BlackBerry Storm look and feel to the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone.  And while I don't personally like Storm's icons …
Discussion: BerryReview.com
Nick Wingfield / Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft Is Exploring Job Cuts  —  Microsoft Corp. is seriously exploring significant work force reductions that could be announced as early as next week, in a sign that the weak economy is prompting tough decisions even at one of the steadiest ships in the technology industry.
 
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 More Items: 
Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
The Deal That Could Have Saved Nortel
Roger Cheng / Wall Street Journal:
Sprint's Boost to Offer $50 Flat-Rate Plan
John Herrman / Gizmodo:
Pioneer Stops Making New Laserdisc Players, Finally Concedes to VHS
Cat Keynes / The Register:
China's three-horse mobile bet: Repeating America's mistakes
Craig Simms / CNET News:
Dell 2209WA  —  Design and features  —  Dell's 2209WA is a screen …
Diane Garrett / Variety:
Blockbuster links with CinemaNow
Discussion: paidContent.org
Alistair Croll / GigaOM:
Identi.ca Gets Funding to Make Open-source Twitter Variant
Discussion: /Message, VentureBeat and StartupNorth
 Earlier Items: 
Amanda Lenhart / Pew Internet:
Adults and Social Network Websites
Discussion: RotorBlog.com
Rafe Needleman / Webware.com:
‘American Idol’ branding lands in Habbo
Discussion: Music Ally and paidContent.org
Mark Milian / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Rose to co-host live Web game show at Sundance
Discussion: NewTeeVee and The Social
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook Blows A Whopper Of An Opportunity
Discussion: eWeek, TECH.BLORGE.com and AppScout
Bob Walsh / Webware.com:
GoDaddy.com outage takes sites offline
 

 
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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