Top Items:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
New AOL Chairman and CEO-and About-To-Be-Ex-Googler-Tim Armstrong Speaks! — For a tall man, Tim Armstrong has been on an awful lot of online companies' short lists. — For a big Web exec job, that is. Indeed, whenever one opens up in the Internet space, the 6′-3″ Google ad sales …
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google Ad Chief Tim Armstrong Replaces Randy Falco As Chairman And CEO Of AOL — Breaking: AOL has named a new CEO and chairman. Tim Armstrong, who headed up ad sales in the Americas for Google, will replace Randy Falco as chairman and CEO. AOL President and COO Ron Grant will also be leaving the company.
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 …
Discussion:
Guardian, Between the Lines, BoomTown, CNET News, Search Engine Land, paidContent.org, Gawker, VentureBeat and Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks:atul
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 …
RELATED:
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.
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.
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.
RELATED:
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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.
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.
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.
Discussion:
Computerworld, ipcom-insights.com, San Francisco Chronicle, Kelsey Group Blogs and Computerworld Blogs
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 …
Zach Spear / AppleInsider:
Inside Apple's new third-gen iPod shuffle (teardown photos) — The latest, most petit version of Apple's iPod shuffle music player can be disassembled without major challenge, according to a new tear-down report, which notes that the player is compatible with third-party headphones …
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.
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 …
RELATED:
Benjamin J. Romano / Microsoft Pri0:Billionaire Bill, down $18 billion, is back on top of Forbes list
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.
Robot Pete / AndroidGuys:
G1's Going for Under $100... But Why? — Sometimes we hold off publishing certain articles on AndroidGuys simply because know that it would be redundant to post something that's clearly made its way around the net. Such is the case with the stories making their way around other Android and mobile gadget sites.
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 …
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 …
Discussion:
Being Peter Kim, Logic+Emotion, Silicon Valley Watcher and bub.blicio.us, Thanks:daveambrose
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 …
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.
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
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
Ben Kuchera / Ars Technica:
Resident Evil 5 Versus mode coming after launch for $5 — While Resident Evil 5 is designed to be played in co-op mode, Capcom has sent word that a Versus mode will be added to the game... for a price. While we have no date other than “post-launch,” the mode will allow up to four players to compete against each other online.
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Obama White House: Copyright treaty is a ‘national security’ secret — Last September, the Bush administration defended the unusual secrecy over an anti-counterfeiting treaty being negotiated by the U.S. government, which some liberal groups worry could criminalize some peer-to-peer file sharing that infringes copyrights.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
MySpace's Experimental New ‘Events’ Product Finally Taps Into The Social Graph — MySpace's Events page hasn't really seen a major upgrade for years - the site looks like it hasn't been updated since 2005, and now lags behind Evite and the current leader Facebook by a wide margin.
Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
Why is U2 endorsing the BlackBerry? — The weird marriage between rock's biggest band and the world's dorkiest phone. — A question inspired by this week's news that Research in Motion, the company that makes the BlackBerry, has become the chief sponsor for U2's next bombastic world tour: Who exactly is profiting from this deal?
