Top Items:
Tim Stevens / Engadget:
Dell's Mini 9 selling for just $249 — who needs a subsidy? — If you thought last month's $99 Mini 9 was just too cheap (unlikely), or were scared off by the two year contract that came along with the offer (rather more likely), check out Dell's latest deal.
Fred / A VC:
Hasn't It Always Been About Status? — What's the day? What you doing? — How's your mood? How's that song? — when it passes right by me — It's behind me, now it's gone. — Fireworks, Animal Collective — Facebook's announcement that they are opening up API access to user's status updates (and more) is big news.
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Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life:
Breaking down the walled garden: Some thoughts on Facebook embracing OpenID and opening up status update APIs — Facebook made two interesting announcements this week in the area of making their platform more open. The first announcement was made by Mike Shroepfer in the developer blog post Next Steps in Openness where he writes
Jonathan Skillings / Crave:
OLPC to laptop makers: Use our design — The One Laptop per Child initiative seems to have found that imitation isn't simply a form of flattery, it's grounds for a new business model. — Speaking at the TED 2009 conference, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte said that the future of the initiative …
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Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
The Pirate Bay Demand Webcast of Trial — On February 16th 2009, one of the biggest trials in P2P history begins. The case of the largest BitTorrent tracker, The Pirate Bay, will be followed by millions around the world. — The Pirate Bay team have been preparing for the media battle …
Discussion:
digg.com
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Prop 8 Donor Web Site Shows Disclosure Law Is 2-Edged Sword — FOR the backers of Proposition 8, the state ballot measure to stop single-sex couples from marrying in California, victory has been soured by the ugly specter of intimidation. — Some donors to groups supporting the measure …
Joe Wilcox / Microsoft Watch:
My Phone? You Crazy! — That's right. Microsoft's MobileMe-imitating synchronization service is called My Phone. Why not call it Me-Too-Me or My Second Best? Based on the feature set, Microsoft is playing catchup with Apple and Google rather than truly innovating.
Matt Asay / The Open Road:
Ubuntu desktop apparently scares Microsoft — Ubuntu must be giving Microsoft fits on the desktop. That's the only reason I can come up with for Microsoft's LinkedIn search for a new director of open-source strategy, with a focus on the desktop: … Given Red Hat's relative inaction on the desktop …
Thomas Claburn / InformationWeek:
Google Gmail Within Striking Distance Of Hotmail — Between September 2007 and September 2008, Gmail's visitor total grew 39%, from 18.8 million to 26 million. — The growth of Google's Gmail service is accelerating and, if current trends continue, it could surpass Windows Live Hotmail by the end of this year.
Discussion:
Googling Google
Erik Sherman / BNET Technology:
Can Apple's Multi-Touch Patent Withstand Scrutiny — or Challenge? — When the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued patent number 7,479,949 for a “touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics,” eyebrows shot up throughout the industry.
Chris Messina / FactoryCity:
Where data goes when it dies and other musings — I've been wanting to write about Ma.gnolia's catastrophic data loss last week ever since it happened, but wasn't quite sure how I wanted to approach it. Larry (Ma.gnolia founder and the sole person who maintained the site) is a good friend of mine …
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
College Music Service Ruckus.com Shuts Down — Ruckus, an online music service geared towards universities that allows students to stream an unlimited amount of music, has apparently just closed its doors. The service was designed to appeal to college students, offering a legal alternative …
