Top Items:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
How Much Is A Suggested Slot On Twitter Worth? Jason Calacanis Offers $250,000. — When newbies sign up to Twitter now, they are presented with a list of 100 suggested users to start following. Simply being on that list can boost your followers well above 100,000.
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Amount And Value Of Twitter Traffic — Much is being written today about the value of a large following on Twitter. Jason Calacanis wants to pay $125,000 a year to have Twitter recommend him to other users, for example. He thinks that over time accounts with massive followings …
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A VC
Dave Winer / Scripting News:
Why it's time to break out of Twitter — First, so there are no misunderstandings, I am using Twitter, I will continue to use Twitter and I will recommend Twitter to others, as I have been for 2 or so years. This is not me slamming the door on the way out, something I dislike intensely.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
AOL Gets a New CEO: Google Sales Boss Tim Armstrong (Plus the Whole Press Release) — Everyone who wondered why Randy Falco and Ron Grant were still running AOL gets an answer: Time Warner (TWX) was lining up their replacement. — Google (GOOG) sales chief Tim Armstrong becomes chairman …
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Guardian, CNET News, Reuters, Between the Lines, Computerworld, VentureBeat, paidContent.org, Search Engine Land, BoomTown, Silicon Alley Insider and Gawker, Thanks:atul
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:New AOL Chairman and CEO-and About-To-Be-Ex-Googler-Tim Armstrong Speaks!
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Silicon Alley Insider
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:Google Ad Chief Tim Armstrong Replaces Randy Falco As Chairman And CEO Of AOL
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Jobwire
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
Apple iPhone 3.0 OS event March 17th, we got some info — So it looks like Apple's planning on holding an event for iPhone 3.0 OS March 17th along with showing off an updated SDK. This would fit nicely with their brief history of having a preview software event followed by a hardware refresh in June/July.
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Andrew Nusca / Between the Lines:
Palm Pre to arrive...we don't know. Still. (updated with plans) — In a private webinar today at 2PM EST, Palm product line manager Matt Crowley said after a 20-minute rehash of the CES 2009 presentation and demonstration of the company's now-fabled Palm Pre that there is …
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Adrian Covert / Gizmodo:
Pre Available First Half of 2009, Pricing Plans Confirmed — Sprint's and Palm just confirmed during a webcast conference that the Pre is still on target for a release in the first half of 2009 and will use Sprint's “Everything” line of plans. — Individuals can choose from 450 minute …
Associated Press:
Source: Obama official on leave after FBI raids — WASHINGTON (AP) — An aide to President Barack Obama is on leave from his White House job after the FBI raided his old District of Columbia government office Thursday, arresting a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, a White House official said.
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David A Nakamura / D.C. Wire:Breaking: D.C. Tech Official Busted in Federal Bribery Sting
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Ben Smith's Blog, Computerworld, Epicenter, Washington Post, techPresident, Fast Company, Network World and Computerworld Blogs
Sascha Segan / PC Magazine:
New Carrier Promises Unlimited 3G Data, VOIP — A brand-new mobile-phone carrier, Zer01 Mobile said Thursday that it can give you truly unlimited voice and data on smart phones for $69.95/month, without a contract, on a network as broad as the one owned by AT&T. — That's because, in many ways, the network is AT&T's.
Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Apple exploring Magic Wand controller for next-gen Apple TV — Apple is exploring the possibility of including a wireless “remote wand” with future versions of its Apple TV media system that would provide users with precise control over a cursor on the Apple TV screen in very much the same …
Stephen Shankland / CNET News:
New beta paves way for Firefox 3.5 — Updated 3:56 p.m. PDT to include details about the fourth beta and upcoming Firefox 3.5 — Mozilla on Thursday released the third beta version of Firefox 3.1, aka Shiretoko, one of the frontrunners in the current race to improve Web browsers.
CNN:
Sex offender kills teen while under GPS monitoring, police say — VANCOUVER, Washington (CNN) — When 13-year-old Alycia Nipp didn't come home from a trip to Wal-Mart, her family had no idea where she was, but a tracking device was transmitting the location of her alleged killer.
Venture Capital Dispatch:
Two Famous VCs Fall Out Of Billionaires Club — Two of venture capital's most successful investors from different eras, Arthur Rock and Michael Moritz, have said goodbye to the exclusive billionaires club this year. — According to Forbes' Billionaires list, the world now has 793 billionaires …
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Benjamin J. Romano / Microsoft Pri0:Billionaire Bill, down $18 billion, is back on top of Forbes list
Mel Carson / adCenter Analytics Blog:
adCenter Analytics Beta To Close — The Microsoft adCenter AnalyticsBeta team announced today the end of the adCenter Analytics beta program. — The beta has been closed, but the program will remain available to current users through December 31, 2009. — Please note that all hosted services …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Digital Daily, AeroXperience, All about Microsoft, ITworld.com, Lies, Damned Lies, Search Engine Watch, LiveSide and TechFlash
Jack Neff / AdAge:
P&G Gives Its Marketers a Crash Course in Social Media — Twittering Digerati Descend on Cincinnati HQ for ‘Digital Hack Night’ Charity Event — BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — Procter & Gamble Co. paired 40 digital media and agency executives with 100 of its North American marketing directors …
Robert McMillan / ITworld.com:
Researchers find ways to sniff keystrokes from thin air — I like it! — That PC keyboard you're using may be giving away your passwords. Researchers say they've discovered new ways to read what you're typing by aiming special wireless or laser equipment at the keyboard or by simply plugging into a nearby electrical socket.
Ryan Singel / Epicenter:
Google Voice Speaks of World Domination — When Google announced its integrated phone service called Google Voice Thursday, it said something very loud. — Google is saying it wants to be the world's communication hub, and hundreds of companies — ranging from mobile phone operators to Skype to Microsoft better be listening.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
iPhone sales grew 245% in 2008 - Gartner — Apple's (AAPL) iPhone was the fastest-growing smartphone of 2008, despite end-of-year sales that failed to maintain the blistering pace set in July with the launch of the iPhone 3G, Gartner researchers reported Wednesday.
Paul Miller / Engadget:
Panasonic's ultra-thin 54Z1 plasma in the wild — Now that it's official and priced, Panasonic seems much happier to show off its wireless HD-sporting, ultra-thin Z1 series, and it's quite the sight to behold. The 54Z1 we got to look at was very strikingly clad in brushed metal gray …
Evan / Your mail is here, come and get it!::
Post your calendar from Windows Live to a blog or website — Do you have a calendar you'd like to share with the world? With Windows Live Calendar, you can create a calendar badge to post on your blog or website. That way, anyone can see your calendar from any browser. — Here's what a calendar badge looks like:
Discussion:
Ars Technica
Tim O'Reilly / O'Reilly Radar:
The Social Nervous System Has More Than One Sense — Radar's Joshua Michele-Ross published a fabulous piece on Forbes entitled The Rise of the Social Nervous System. His premise: … Josh focuses on now familiar examples: the Mumbai terrorist attacks as reported real-time on twitter …
Thanks:atul
Leigh Alexander / Gamasutra:
EA's Brown: Longer Console Cycle, More Price Cuts Ahead — stumble it! — The current console cycle will be longer than in previous years, says Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown — which means the highest-growth period for software sales still lies ahead following further price cuts.
Emil Protalinski / Ars Technica:
Microsoft's own speed tests show IE beating Chrome, Firefox (Updated) — Microsoft has released its own tests that show IE8 can load many websites faster than two open source browsers: Firefox and Chrome. — Just before announcing that Internet Explorer 8 has been finalized …
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Digits:
Oprah to Interview Facebook Founder About ... Friend Requests? — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will take to Oprah Winfrey's couch tomorrow. What to expect? Questions about the economy? Mark's not-so-secret Twitter account? The latest redesign? — Katy Winn/Getty Images — Oprah Winfrey
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Bits
David Meyer / CNET News:
T-Mobile's G1 Android to get new features — T-Mobile will push out a major firmware update to users of the G1 Android handset in April, the mobile operator has said. — The update will introduce features such as virtual keyboards and stereo Bluetooth support, as well as an upgrade of the underlying Linux kernel.
