Top Items:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
AOL CEO Randy Falco's Entire Memo to the Troops on Layoffs — Here is the letter AOL CEO Randy Falco (pictured here) has penned to the entire staff about layoffs of 10 percent of its workforce-or 700 people-and other cost cuts, which the online service is announcing today.
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: AOL to Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff, Cutting 700, Due to Ad Meltdown and a Refocusing on New Structure — Time Warner online unit AOL is cutting 700 employees due to the weak economy and the ensuing falloff in advertising revenue, but also because of recent structural changes made to refocus the once-mighty service.
Discussion:
Digits, paidContent.org, VentureBeat, CNET News, Silicon Alley Insider, Search Engine Watch, Tech Confidential and The Toybox
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Some Things Need To Change — Yesterday as I was leaving the DLD Conference in Munich, Germany someone walked up to me and quite deliberately spat in my face. Before I even understood what was happening, he veered off into the crowd, just another dark head in a dark suit.
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Paul Carr / Guardian:
Not safe for work: If you can't say anything nice, kill yourself, says Paul Carr — Yesterday, as Techcrunch's Michael Arrington was leaving the DLD conference venue in Munich, one of the conference attendees walked up to him and spat in his face. — I'll say that again. One of the attendees.
Peter Gumbel / Fortune:
Putin-Dell slapdown at Davos — The Russian prime minister tells the Dell CEO: 'We don't need help. We are not invalids.' — DAVOS, Switzerland (Fortune) — Ever since Vladimir Putin rose to power in 2000, his political opponents and entire countries have learned to their cost that he has a tough, demeaning streak.
Discussion:
CNET News, Silicon Alley Insider, Gawker, techblog.dallasnews.com, Gizmodo, Digital Daily and Engadget
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Apple vs. Palm: the in-depth analysis — Apple and Palm kicked a lot of dirt at each other last week — acting Apple CEO Tim Cook flatly told analysts that “We will not stand for people ripping off our IP” when asked specifically about competition like the Palm Pre, and Palm responded …
Discussion:
Digital Daily, Fast Company, The iPhone Blog, techblog.dallasnews.com, LAPTOP Mag and Great Falls Ventures
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Uh Oh. Now You Can Suggest Stories To Techmeme Via Twitter — There's a “new way to get on Techmeme”. It's called Twitter, have you heard of it? — All you need to do is send a message on the micro-sharing service that begins with “Tip @Techmeme” or “Tip @TechmemeFH”.
Thanks:erickschonfeld
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The Official Google Blog:
Introducing Measurement Lab — When an Internet application doesn't work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else? It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users …
Discussion:
eWeek, Techdirt, Ars Technica, Tech Daily Dose, Electronic Frontier Foundation, InformationWeek, SitePoint, Digital Destiny, Network World and P2P Blog, Thanks:fredericl
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Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb:Google Announces Measurement Lab: New Initiative to Expose Traffic …
Discussion:
Google Blogoscoped
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Why AT&T loves the iPhone (again) — For much of last year, AT&T (T) Mobility's websites seemed to be promoting every cell phone in their arsenal except for the iPhone — as if the company wasn't sure the revenue coming in from iPhone users was worth the steep bounty it was paying Apple (AAPL) for each sale.
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Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:AT&T: 1.9 million iPhones activated
Discussion:
NEWSFACTOR, Local Mobile Search, GigaOM, Contentinople, Tech Beat, Silicon Alley Insider, Boy Genius Report and Electronista
Cox Communications:
Congestion Management FAQs — In February, Cox will begin testing a new method of managing traffic on our high-speed Internet network in our Kansas and Arkansas markets. During the occasional times the network is congested, this new technology automatically ensures that all time-sensitive Internet traffic …
Discussion:
PC World, Digits, Ars Technica, Technologizer, Crave, Slyck, Obsessable, Geek News Central, Light Reading, Zeropaid File Sharing …, TorrentFreak, Free Press and Telecompetitor
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Amy-Mae Elliott / Pocket-lint.co.uk:
Acer smartphone launch confirmed … “Are you ready to join Acer's launch into the world of mobile communications?” — So asks an invite that's just dropped into Pocket-lint's inbox this morning, confirming rumours the company are to launch a smartphone. — Due to be unveiled on February 16 …
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The New York Times Company:
The New York Times Company Reports 2008 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The New York Times Company announced today fourth-quarter 2008 earnings per share from continuing operations (EPS) of $.19, including $.10 per share for severance costs …
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Kim Dixon / Reuters:
House fails to pass digital TV delay bill — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An effort to delay the February 17 deadline for a nationwide switch to digital television failed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday after Republicans blocked the move. — The legislation is backed …
Times of London:
Danger online: Perils of revealing every intimate moment — Anything goes on the web. We find out why we share personal details online and explain our obsession with social networking — So Chelsy Davy announced the end of her five-year relationship with Prince Harry via Facebook alongside a cutesy icon of a broken red heart.
Thanks:noahkagan
Dan Goodin / The Register:
DDoS attack boots Kyrgyzstan from net — Russian bears blamed — The central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan was effectively knocked offline for more than a week by a Russian cybermilitia that continues to flood the country's internet providers with crippling data attacks, a security expert said.
Discussion:
Computerworld
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Dan Rayburn / The Business Of Online Video:
Apple Moves To Dual CDN Vendor Strategy: Now Using Limelight With Akamai — For many years, Apple has relied on Akamai to deliver the vast majority, if not all, of Apple's content. But in the fourth quarter of 2008, it appears that Apple moved to a dual-vendor strategy and started using Limelight Networks …
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Sources: AT&T, Comcast may help RIAA foil piracy — CNET staff writer Marguerite Reardon co-authored this report. — AT&T and Comcast, two of the nation's largest Internet service providers, are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry …
Claire Cain Miller / Bits:
Maybe We Should Call Them Venture Pessimists — Venture capitalists need a healthy dose of optimism to do their jobs — betting millions of dollars on young ideas and hoping they turn in to the next big thing. — These days, though, that optimism is in short supply.
Dan Moren / Macworld:
iPhone push notifications: dead and buried, or waiting in the wings? — Apple's no stranger to missing a deadline or two, nor is the company averse to pushing back products a few weeks or months when they need more time. But less common are products that disappear entirely into the world-devouring maw …
Bloomberg:
Google's Schmidt, 12 Other Executives Meet With Obama — Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt, Xerox Corp. Chairman Anne Mulcahy, and Motorola Inc. President Greg Brown are among business executives meeting with President Barack Obama this morning as his $816 billion …
Hiptop3.com:
Sidekick LX 2009 — We got the above image in our inbox. danielle says she was taking a survey about smart phones on QuizPoints and was presented with this one. Here are the specs it lists in the photo: — Social Networking Suite of Apps — Facebook — MySpace w/ video upload
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900 First Impressions — After the BlackBerry Bold's epically delayed launch on AT&T and the Storm's epically borked launch everywhere, RIM needs 2009 to be better than 2008. The T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a good way to start.
Ted Rheingold / Dogster Inc. Company Blog:
Yahoo Quietly Shutters Yahoo Pets [grin] — With no notice Yahoo quietly started directing pets.yahoo.com users to a subsection of their women's vertical Shine. — [Excuse me while I have a David vs. Goliath moment.] — The demise of pets.yahoo.com comes as no surprise …
Alexis Madrigal / Wired Science:
Autonomous Robots Invade Retail Warehouses — Next time you order a new pair of skinny jeans from Gap.com, you should know that you are helping welcome in the hive-mind robot overlords of retail. — Warehouses run by Gap, as well as Zappos and Staples now use autonomous robots to pluck products …
