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9:15 AM ET, January 30, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
With an official description, Google Drive is more real than ever  —  Almost everyday now brings a new hint into what Google is planning for its “GDrive” online storage service.  Today, a piece of code found in the Google Pack software bundle includes both a product category and description for GDrive.
Discussion: Mark Evans and Digital Inspiration
RELATED:
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
First Official Description of GDrive  —  Brian Ussery noticed an interesting reference to GDrive in a file used by Google Pack.  The file includes “localized information which is sent to translators”.  —  The product category for GDrive is “online file backup and storage” and there are two lines that describe the application:
Discussion: Pocket-lint.co.uk, Thanks:atul
Brian Ussery / beu blog:
GDrive  —  “Online file backup and storage... GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents... GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device - be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone”.
MediaShift:
Warning: Dependence on Facebook, Twitter Could Be Hazardous to Your Business  —  You've probably heard how much the micro-blogging service Twitter can help your business, or that being on social networking site Facebook can boost your company's profile.  But what you might not have considered …
Discussion: Beyond Search
RELATED:
TechCrunch:
The Economy According To Mint  —  Aaron Patzer is the CEO and founder of Mint.com, a personal finance site that helps 900,000 consumers keep track of their spending.  Mint's data is a snapshot of the consumer economy.  In the guest post below, Aaron parses the data to tell us what the economy looks like from consumer's eyes.
Scobleizer:
Zuckerberg: Facebook's “intense” year  —  Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, in a tie?  Oh my.  —  If you know Mark you know he's a pretty casual dresser.  Usually seen in T-shirt, jeans, and sandals.  —  But not here at the World Economic Forum where we walked around downtown Davos …
Stephen Shankland / Webware.com:
Google fakes out Hotmail for Chrome support  —  Google has added a patch to its latest beta and stable versions of Chrome to make the browser work better with Microsoft's Hotmail site.  —  With the patch, Chrome tells Microsoft's site it's actually Apple's Safari browser …
Discussion: Google Operating System and Switched, Thanks:indiatweets
RELATED:
Long Zheng / istartedsomething:
Sacrificing security for usability: UAC security flaw in Windows 7 beta (with proof of concept code)  —  This is dedicated to every ignorant “tech journalist” who cried wolf about UAC in Windows Vista.  A change to User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7 (beta) to make it “less annoying” …
Kevin Poulsen / Threat Level:
Fannie Mae Logic Bomb Would Have Caused Weeklong Shutdown  —  A logic bomb allegedly planted by a former engineer at mortgage finance company Fannie Mae last fall would have decimated all 4,000 servers at the company, causing millions of dollars in damage and shutting down Fannie Mae for a least a week, prosecutors say.
RELATED:
Jeremy Wagstaff / loose wire blog:
The Hazards of Recommending
Discussion: GMSV and Slashdot
Roger A. Grimes / Security Adviser:
Browser security wars  —  Looking for a magic bullet against malware?  You won't find it in a browser.  Roger A. Grimes tested all the major browsers (and some that aren't so major) and found that the browsers are probably safer than your computing practices are
Discussion: InfoWorld, PC World and Obsessable
Times of India:
Rs 500 laptop display on Feb 3  —  Text:  —  NEW DELHI: A $10 laptop (Rs 500) prototype, with 2 GB RAM capacity, would be on display in Tirupati on February 3 when the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Techology is launched.
Discussion: Liliputing, Engadget and Slashdot
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Once Again, You Don't Get To Use DMCA Takedowns To Remove Any Content You Don't Like  —  from the it-has-to-be-copyright-infringement- of-your-content dept  —  Michael Geist has the latest example of what appears to be a company abusing the DMCA takedown process to try to quiet the speech …
David Schlesinger / Full Disclosure:
Twittering away standards or tweeting the future of journalism?  —  I've been tweeting from the World Economic Forum, using the microblogging platform Twitter to discuss the mundane (describing crepuscular darkness of the Swiss Alps at 5 a.m.) or the interesting (live tweeting from presentations).
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
11 Business Plans For Twitter  —  Start the slideshow  —  Deadline for entry into our Create Twitter's Revenue Model contest is up and we thought we'd share some of the best entries.  We haven't decided on a winner yet, so check them out and let us know what you think.
Dave Morin / Facebook Developers:
Facebook Connect and Apple's iPhoto '09  —  At Facebook, we think that photos are one of the most powerful ways to connect and share with friends.  Since 2005, Facebook Photos has given users a chance to share rich experiences with their friends who are on and off Facebook.
Associated Press:
Swiss police spy marijuana field with Google Earth  —  ZURICH, Switzerland - Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company's satellite mapping software.  —  Police said the find was part of a bigger investigation …
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
The Handset Market Is Getting Darwinian  —  The economic downturn knocked the wind out of the handset market in the third and fourth quarters of 2008, resulting in shipments of 1.2 billion handsets for the year and overall growth of just 5.4 percent, according to data released today from ABI Research.
Discussion: ABI Research, Computerworld and eWeek
internetnews.com:
Super Bowl 09: Social Media Hits the Gridiron  —  Twitter, YouTube, Facebook — round up the usual suspects!  Super Sunday is going to be a Web 2.0 extravaganza.  —  There's an old saw about the Super Bowl that the game itself is really just an excuse to watch the ads.
Discussion: ClickZ
Eric Krangel / Silicon Alley Insider:
Rumor: Sony PS4 Plans Leaked, And It Targets Casual Gamers (SNE)  —  Take this one with a massive dose of skepticism, folks: A site we're not familiar with called gamingfront.net claims to have a leaked report from inside Sony (SNE) explaining the technical specs and thinking behind the so-called PS4, successor console to the PS3.
Thanks:anjrued
Jart Armin / Internet Evolution:
Dutch Treat: Pay for Some Content, Pirate the Rest  —  There may be an upside to illegal file sharing: The Institute for Information Law in the Netherlands reports that the average downloader buys more DVDs, music, and games than people who never download.  Illegal downloaders represent 45 percent …
Discussion: Beyond Search, open and Slashdot
Matt Rosoff / Digital Noise:
Microsoft: More Zunes coming in 2009  —  Remember that teenage trick of sticking your fingers in your ears and saying, “I can't hear you”?  That's how I felt on Thursday morning when I talked to Adam Sohn, the marketing director for Zune.  —  I don't mean that Microsoft is oblivious to reality …
Discussion: Anything But iPod and blogs.ft.com
Antone Gonsalves / InformationWeek:
Samsung Touts Highest Density Memory Chip  —  Samsung is targeting manufacturers' new generation of “green” PCs with its new technology, which will be used in servers, workstations, desktops, and laptops.  —  Samsung Electronics on Thursday said it has used its 50-nanometer circuit technology …
Neil McAllister / Fatal Exception:
The case against Web apps  —  Five reasons why Web-based development might not be the best choice for your enterprise.  —  For most of us, especially given these tough economic times, for the Web to have become the platform of choice for enterprise application development seems like a no-brainer.
Discussion: Slashdot
Colin Barras / New Scientist:
Cheap, super-efficient LED lights on the horizon  —  Incandescent tungsten-filament light bulbs face a global switch-off as governments push for energy efficient fluorescent lamps to become the standard.  But the light could soon go out on those lamps too, now that UK materials scientists …
Discussion: Slashdot and digg.com
Beatrice Oltean / MSDN Blogs:
Live Search autosuggestions come to Firefox  —  We're happy to report that we've officially integrated Live Search into Firefox by popular demand.  —  The Live Search add-on for Firefox gives you auto-suggestions from Live Search right in the browser while you're typing your query.
 
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 More Items: 
David Pogue / Pogue's Posts:
The Twitter Experiment  —  A couple weeks ago, I wrote …
Discussion: Twitterrati
 Earlier Items: 
Robert X. Cringely / Notes from the Field:
The Julie Amero case: Injustice for all
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Adding YouTube Annotations Just Got Easy.  I've Got A Bad Feeling About This...
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
Joe Hall / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim:
Twitter is a Cash Cow in the Making
Thanks:wesmax27
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
$2.99 Printed PhotoBooks Now Available On Facebook: HotPrints
Discussion: RotorBlog.com
David Peterson / SitePoint:
President Obama uses RDFa
Discussion: Ewan Spence's All New Musings, Thanks:catone
 

 
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”

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

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

 
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