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2:05 PM ET, February 24, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Apple:
Apple Announces Safari 4—The World's Fastest & Most Innovative Browser  —  New Nitro Engine Runs JavaScript More Than Four Times Faster  —  Apple® today announced the public beta of Safari® 4, the world's fastest and most innovative web browser for Mac® and Windows PCs.
RELATED:
John Biggs / CrunchGear:
Safari 4: Finally a reason to come back UPDATE  —  Welcome to the future, Safari fans, because the Safari 4 beta just hit the download shelves and it's ready to tear some things up in Tiger and Leopard and even Windows.  The download requires the latest security patch (2009-01) but other than that you're ready to ride.
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple releases public beta of Safari 4 browser  —  Apple on Tuesday announced a public beta of Safari 4, a new version of its share-gaining web browser that packs a powerful new JavaScript engine and support for the latest web standards.  —  Dubbed “Nitro,” the engine in Safari 4 …
Acacio Cruz / The Official Google Blog:
Update on Gmail  —  The Gmail outage that affected many consumers and Google Apps users worldwide is now over.  Users should find that they're able to access their email now without any further problems.  —  Before you can access your Gmail, you may be asked to fill in what's called …
RELATED:
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
Where were you during the great Gmail outage of February 2009?  —  If you live in the United States, chances are, you were asleep.  But for those in other parts of the world, and those of us who are nocturnal, Google's email service, Gmail, was down for several hours on Tuesday morning.
Official google.org Blog:
The Next Chapter for Google.org  —  When Larry and Sergey laid out their vision for Google.org, they hoped that this “experiment in active philanthropy” would one day have an even greater impact on the world than Google itself.  They committed resources from Google's profits …
RELATED:
Owen Thomas / Gawker:
WSJ Conference Organizer's Wife Secretly Running Google  —  Megan Smith, a Google executive little known outside Silicon Valley, is taking a high-profile role running the search engine's in-house charity.  She's part of a power couple whose louder half is AllThingsD blogger Kara Swisher.
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Ballmer: Office 14 not this year  —  During his annual “Strategic Update” briefing with Wall Street analysts on February 24, CEO Steve Ballmer said Office 14 won't be shipping in 2009.  —  “Office 14 will not be this year,” Ballmer told analysts.  —  Microsoft officials have been careful …
RELATED:
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
Apple launches a new iTunes Pass feature for groupies  —  Is there an artist you love?  I mean really love, as in you'll buy anything they do before you have any idea what it is?  A lot of people probably do, and for them, Apple has a new feature on iTunes called “iTunes Pass.”
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Apple's Upsell: The iTunes Pass
Discussion: Macsimum News
Dong Ngo / CNET News:
Marvell makes ultrasmall wall plug computer  —  You might have heard or even used one of those Powerline network adapters, such as the one made by Netgear that plug directly into the wall.  Now think of a similar device with the exception that it is an entire computer.
RELATED:
Cyril Kowaliski / The Tech Report:
Marvell unveils $99 wall-wart Linux PC
Discussion: SlashGear
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Nokia To Staff: Hey, Who Wants To Quit?  —  Nokia (NOK) this morning said that it offering employees a “voluntary resignation package” in an effort reduce its staff by 1,000 people.  The company also said it “encourages” workers to take time off instead of cashing in days off for extra pay.
RELATED:
Nokia:   Nokia continues to increase cost-efficiency and adapt operations to market situation
David Pogue / New York Times:
The Kindle: Good Before, Better Now  —  In the high-tech industry, you live for the day when your product name becomes a verb.  “I Googled him.”  “She's been Photo- shopped.”  —  Amazon, however, is hoping that its product name, a verb, becomes a noun.  “Have you bought the new Kindle?”
RELATED:
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:
Designing the Kindle 2  —  SEATTLE—Amazon wanted to make the …
Discussion: WebProNews
Patrick Wintour / Guardian:
Facebook risks ‘infantilising’ the mind  —  Social network sites risk infantilising the mid-21st century mind, leaving it characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity, according to a leading neuroscientist.
Jessica Vascellaro / Digits:
Yahoo Loses a Deal-Maker, Point-Person in Microsoft Talks  —  By Jessica E. Vascellaro  —  As Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz readies a company-wide reorganization, insiders are playing close attention to how she'll fill one critical hole.  —  Gerald Horkan, Yahoo's senior vice president …
Discussion: CNET News and paidContent.org
RELATED:
Jim Goldman / Tech Check with Jim Goldman:
Yahoo and Microsoft: Deja Vu All Over Again
Discussion: CNET News
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Steve Jobs is 54  —  Tuesday, Feb. 24, is Steve Jobs' birthday.  —  He turns 54.  —  To celebrate this very personal milestone, we thought we'd re-post what may be the most personal public speech this intensely private man has ever made: his 2005 commencement address to the Stanford University class of 2005.
Discussion: Tech Trader Daily
Arnold Kim / MacRumors:
New NVIDIA-based iMacs Imminent?  More Hints.  —  Over the past week, there have been an increasing number hints that the long-awaited iMac revisions are indeed imminent.  Resellers have had low stocks of iMacs and educational Apple sales reps have been authorized to give special pricing on the current iMacs.
Clive Thompson / Wired News:
The Netbook Effect: How Cheap Little Laptops Hit the Big Time  —  Netbooks prove that we finally know what PCs are actually for.  Which is to say, not all that much.  —  Mary Lou Jepsen didn't set out to invent the netbook and turn the computer industry upside down.  She was just trying to create a supercheap laptop.
Discussion: TomsTechBlog.com, Thanks:atul
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
InstantAction enables 3-D games in web browsers  —  InstantAction is announcing today the formal launch of its site that lets gamers play 3-D games in a web browser.  —  The site will have nine games that are available for free at the outset, with a half-dozen more games coming soon.
Michael Learmonth / AdAge:
Reality Sinks in at Online Advertising Confab  —  Recession Could Lead to Business Failures, Irrational Risks  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — For five years online was advertising's growth business, but 2008 delivered a wake-up call: Online advertising isn't immune to the recession, and it's only just begun.
Discussion: VatorNews
Ryan Lawler / Contentinople:
CBS's TV.com Goes International  —  CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) is expanding the reach of its online video portal TV.com, opening some of the content up to international audiences.  —  CBS Interactive announced the international availability of certain video clips on TV.com today.
Yinka Adegoke / Reuters:
U.S. cable, programmers set for Web TV by summer  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cable and satellite TV providers are working on a free online video service to deliver up-to-date cable shows to computers and mobile phones, but the industry is worried the project could cannibalize pay-TV's long-standing revenue model.
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
Pirate Bay Trial Day 7: Screenshots for Evidence  —  Today's scheduled witnesses are Magnus Mårtensson, a lawyer for the IFPI, Anders Nilsson of Antipiratbyrån and John Stéenmark.  —  Prosecutor Håkan Roswall begins by saying that Tobias Andersson from Piratbyrån …
Discussion: Ars Technica and The Local
Dan Rayburn / The Business Of Online Video:
VUDU First To Sell HD Movies On-Demand, But Films Expensive, Library Limited  —  While most online video services have been renting HD quality movies for some time and Apple has been selling HD quality TV show via iTunes, to date, no one has been selling HD quality movies online.
Discussion: last100, NewTeeVee and Ubergizmo
Mhtaylor Mhtaylor / Digits:
Intuit Defends Its Threatening Letter to Mint.com  —  By Marisa Taylor  —  Does financial planning phenom Mint.com, one of the 34 tech pioneer companies invited to Davos for the World Economic Forum this year, have competitor Intuit shaking in its boots?  —  A letter sent to Mint CEO Aaron Patzer …
Discussion: SmoothSpan Blog
Natasha Lomas / silicon.com:
“Android is not open.  It's a marketing label”  —  Google, Symbian get claws out in ‘open’ cat fight  —  If you thought the rise of open OS platforms would herald a new era of peace and harmony in the mobile industry you'd be sadly mistaken, as rival players in the space Google and the Symbian Foundation …
 
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 More Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis
Royal Pingdom:
The latest domain name numbers and trends
Discussion: CircleID, Thanks:atul
Joanna Stern / LAPTOP Mag:
One Third of Dell Inspiron Mini 9s Sold Run Linux
Discussion: The Tech Report and Liliputing
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
Red Hat VP explains software patent threat at Linux Expo
Discussion: Open Source
Chris Preimesberger / eWeek:
Hitachi to Acquire Personal Storage Maker Fabrik
Discussion: Crave and Engadget
Amanda Hickman / MediaShift Idea Lab:
More thoughts on Times Open
Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab
macles*:
Another Acer Aspire One
Elizabeth Garone / Wall Street Journal:
Growing a List of Opportunities
Thanks:atul
 Earlier Items: 
InfoWorld:
VMware adds to cloud strategy
Discussion: Between the Lines and The Register
Mark Rutherford / CNET News:
Borg-like cybots may patrol government networks
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Making sense of Mac market share figures
Discussion: OSNews
Robert L. Mitchell / Computerworld:
When good browsers go bad — and they all do
Discussion: Electronista, PC World and SitePoint
Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee:
Where to Watch Obama's “State of the Union” Online
Discussion: WatchingTV Online
Andy Sternberg / netZoo:
To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days
Andrew Chen / Futuristic Play:
Which startup's collapse will end the Web 2.0 era?
Discussion: HipMojo.com and MediaVidea, Thanks:atul
 

 
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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