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9:40 AM ET, May 5, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Twitter Mania: Google Got Shut Down.  Apple Rumors Heat Up.  —  Twitter!  Whether you use it or not, or understand it or not, it's the hottest thing in Silicon Valley right now.  It's brought up in every conversation.  And no wonder - the service has exploded to somewhere north …
RELATED:
Owen Thomas / Gawker:
Could Apple Buy Twitter?  —  Facebook tried to buy Twitter.  Google and Microsoft have been giving the red-hot Internet-messaging startup the eye.  But we hear it's Apple that's closest to sealing a deal, possibly for as much as $700 million.  —  A source who's plugged into the Valley's deal scene …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Ignore the Twitter Buyout Rumors: Here's the Facts in Five Beyoncé-Madonna-Approved Steps  —  Was it more than a month ago that the Google was rumored to be in “late-stage negotiations to acquire Twitter”?  —  Not so much late-stage, I guess, with a gestation period that seems interminable …
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:   Twapple?  Let's Recap a Dozen Other Apple Acquisitions That Aren't Going to Happen
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Amazon Kindle DX to feature 9.7-inch display?  Update: Pictures!  —  [It's still an elusive target for our old friend Mr. Blurrycam, but ]We just got some basic specs on the new, decidedly more newspaper- and college textbook-friendly Amazon Kindle DX.  Here's what we know: it's got a 9.7-inch display …
RELATED:
Daniel Ionescu / PC World:
Leaked!  Images of Large Screen Kindle ‘DX’  —  Yesterday we found out a bigger screen Kindle is coming on Wednesday, today pictures and details regarding the new Kindle DX have surfaced.  Amazon's new e-book reader will have a 9.7-inch display and sports new features such as a built-in PDF reader.
Discussion: Imaging Insider
Wall Street Journal:
Amazon Plans Kindle for Textbooks  —  Amazon.comInc. on Wednesday plans to unveil a new version of its Kindle e-book reader with a larger screen and other features designed to appeal to periodical and academic textbook publishers, according to people familiar with the matter.
David Talbot / Technology Review:
Wolfram Alpha and Google Face Off  —  Our exclusive test shows how the two Web engines compare when given the same queries.  —  Last week, as physicist Stephen Wolfram was demonstrating his new Web-based “computation engine”—Wolfram Alpha—to the public, Google announced a data-centric service of its own.
New York Times:
F.T.C. Looks Into Ties Between Apple and Google Boards  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Trade Commission has begun an inquiry into whether the close ties among the boards of two of technology's most prominent companies, Apple and Google, amounts to a violation of antitrust laws, according to several people briefed on the inquiry.
Code Android Singapore:
Leaked Image of G3 aka HTC Hero Surfaced  —  An anonymous reader sent us these photos of the G3, aka as the HTC Hero, that will be released probably in Q3 this year.  This device look very similar to the HTC Magic in terms of the form factor and possibly slightly slimmer …
RELATED:
Kelly Hodgkins / Boy Genius Report:
Images of the Android-powered HTC Hero emerge
Discussion: Electronista
Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report:
What to expect from Windows 7  —  It feels odd to be writing a review of Windows 7 this early.  Normally, software reviews don't make sense until the code is officially released and you have to make a buying decision: upgrade, pass, or buy a new PC with the new OS.
Erik Palm / Webware.com:
Google launches stand-alone contacts manager  —  Google has launched a contacts manager that users of services like Google Docs, Picasa, and Calendar can use, without having to be a Gmail users.  —  Aimed at letting users share contacts more easily between different services, Google Contacts works like any other contacts function.
Discussion: Mashable! and Lifehacker
Dan Nosowitz / Gizmodo:
“Apple Netbook” Student Project Is a Pencil-Drawn Beauty  —  This little project has been making the rounds as the “new Apple netbook,” which, unfortunately, is way off.  But the truth is pretty cool anyway: It's a beautiful pencil-drawn, wooden model.  —  Student Kyle Buckner …
Mark Walsh / MediaPost:
Growth Curve: RIM Device Surges Past iPhone In Q1  —  Thanks to a “buy-one-get-one-free” promotion, Research in Motion's BlackBerry Curve overtook the iPhone 3G as the top-selling smartphone in the first quarter of 2009, according to market research firm NPD Group.
RELATED:
Wojtek Dabrowski / Reuters:
RIM plans next-gen Storm as it eyes untapped market
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Researchers hijack botnet, score 56,000 passwords in an hour  —  The Torpig botnet was hijacked by the good guys for ten days earlier this year before its controllers issued an update and took the botnet back.  During that time, however, researchers were able to gain a glimpse into the kind …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo and Microsoft Deal Progress “Meaningful"-Plus the Deal Team Rosters  —  Recently, BoomTown reported that talks between Microsoft and Yahoo had gotten “hot and heavy.”  —  That mood seems to be continuing, as many sources close to the situation on both sides said that the pair …
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
Vudu Goes Box-free for Entone  —  “Over the top” video services carry the implication of going behind the backs of existing television operators.  But two of the (admittedly smaller) players in IPTV and web-delivered video on demand are teaming up to give us a glance of what a united future could look like.
Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog
Dan Tynan / InfoWorld:
True believers: The biggest cults in tech  —  You may be a member of one of these IT cults or simply know someone who is.  Here's what makes each cult tick.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
CrossLoop's Screen-Sharing App Comes To The Mac  —  After nearly five million downloads of its Windows PC client, CrossLoop brings its screen-sharing app and growing pro-am computer support community to the Mac (download here, for Intel Macs running OS X 10.4 or higher).
Tristan Louis / The TNL.net weblog:
Is Ownership Passé?  —  The rumored release of a Kindle brings to mind an interesting new wrinkle in the way digital assets are traded: Traditionally, music, movies, and books were “owned goods” which were more expensive but fully owned.  With the rise of the itunes music store …
Arn / MacRumors Page 2:
Apple Looking to Takeover Electronic Arts?  —  TheStreet's David Tong relays that FastMoney's Guy Adami claims that there is “chatter” that Apple is eyeing an Electronic Arts takeover.  —  Adami noted that there is chatter that Apple (AAPL Quote) is eyeing Electronic Arts(ERTS Quote) as a takeover target.
Alexei Oreskovic / Reuters:
Hope and fear mark Yahoo at crossroads  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Four months into her fix-it job at Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O), Chief Executive Carol Bartz has worked through an impressive checklist.  —  The 60-year-old executive has moved swiftly to rebuild the Internet company to her specifications …
Bill Ray / The Register:
Apple drives iPhone app developers to the brink  —  Could pay, will pay.  Just not right now  —  Free whitepaper - An improved architecture for high-efficiency, high-density data centers  —  A backlog in Apple's payment processing system has left some iPhone developers still waiting …
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Why Hasn't Google Cleared, Fired Or Suspended Accused AdWords Employee?  —  Google takes plenty of well-publicized heat for things it hasn't really done or concerns that get hyped.  But in the case of one of its AdWords employees being accused of bypassing AdWords policies for his own benefit …
Thanks:atul
Gabriel Madway / Reuters:
Apple's cash grows, but no hint of its plans  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc has nearly $29 billion of cash on hand, a pile of money exceeded at only one other tech company, but if the past is any guide stockholders aren't likely to share in the wealth any time soon.
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Court Says VoIP Is Not A Telco Service; States Can't Tax It As One  —  In recent years, various state regulators, desperate to dredge up extra tax income, have targeted VoIP providers, using the infamous “like a duck” test, to say that since they look like a traditional telephone service …
Discussion: DSLreports
John Nack / John Nack on Adobe:
Some thoughts about the PSD format  —  Here's what I think people want to know: Is Photoshop's PSD format a goofy, antiquated piece of crap, and by extension is Photoshop slow, clumsy, and/or outdated?  —  No. (Read on for details.)  —  The questions arise because various Web sites1 …
 
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 More Items: 
Anne D'Innocenzio / Associated Press:
Recession forces new focus in e-commerce marketing
Discussion: Between the Lines
Lidija Davis / ReadWriteWeb:
McAfee: Enabling Malware Distribution and Fraud
Thanks:atul
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Italy's Troubling View Of The Internet
Andrew S. Ross / San Francisco Chronicle:
Obama riles high-tech exec over outsourcing
Discussion: Associated Press
Sean Bradford / Neowin.net:
Exclusive: Windows 7 RC download goes live
Discussion: Beyond Binary, Thanks:rebelsean
Dave Kansas / Wall Street Journal:
Why Tech Stocks Are on a Tear
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
SMSGupShup (India's “Twitter") Grows To 20 million Users, $150,000/month Revenue
Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac:
New Application Parental Controls to let Apple put adult content on iPhone
 Earlier Items: 
Corey McKenna / Government Technology News:
States' Attorneys General to Meet with Craigslist
Discussion: CNET News
Association of Research Libraries:
Library Associations Ask Judge to Assert Vigorous Oversight …
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Google Chrome on the Mac: what's the holdup? (UpdateD)
Discussion: Technologizer
Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:
Facebook Begins Heavily Promoting Mobile Services
Discussion: TechCrunch and Local Mobile Search
Jason Pontin / Technology Review:
A Manifesto  —  Newspapers and magazines won't vanish.  But they must change.
Kevin J. O'Brien / New York Times:
E.U. to Hear Proposal for Cross-Border Net Copyright
Discussion: The BFF