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4:25 PM ET, May 31, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
First iPhone 3G 2009 Screens Look Very Real To Me  —  I'm looking at these images from a Hong Kong blog, and they totally look like The Real Thing™ to me.  Sure they are blurry, but those applications' user interface definitely screams Apple design.  The gallery shows the compass …
RELATED:
Rene Ritchie / The iPhone Blog:
Next Generation iPhone Auto-Focus, Compass, & More... Caught on Camera?  —  www.umpcfever.com [Google translation link] has posted what just might be the first pictures taken of the next generation iPhone... taking pictures.  Highlights include the new auto-focus, both how it looks in action …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Prepare For The Facebook Vanity URL Landrush  —  Facebook will soon be allowing all users to claim a vanity URL pointing to their regular profile page, we've heard from a reliable source.  The announcement should come sometime later this week.  Afterwards, at a certain date and time, the landrush will begin.
Discussion: TECH.BLORGE.com and RyanSpoon.com
Guy Newey / Agence France Presse:
Blogging guru chips away at Great Firewall of China  —  HONG KONG (AFP) — How would you react if one million of your customers were suddenly stopped from coming into your shop?  Matt Mullenweg just shrugged.  —  The 25-year-old American is the founder of Wordpress, software …
Rene Ritchie / The iPhone Blog:
Apple Now Charging to Re-Download Apps on the iPhone?  —  Looks like Apple's begun charging full price if you try to download an app you've already bought over the iPhone.  This did not used to be the case — previously you'd be given a dialog stating you'd already bought it and you could go ahead and re-download it for free.
Thanks:shankargan
Paul Bonanos / GigaOM:
In Music, Apple's Strength Becomes a Vulnerability  —  One of Apple's great successes this decade has been its ability to unite the cell phone, the portable MP3 player and the music store in one ingenious handheld device, the iPhone.  As new applications arise that allow on-demand streaming music …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Republican PR Director Calls Facebook's Randi Zuckerberg “totally full of sh*t”  —  One thing I love about Facebook spokesperson Randi Zuckerberg - she says exactly what she thinks, and she isn't afraid to use the power of Facebook to back up her opinions.  —  Mean bar bouncers can lose …
Dave / Master of 500 Hats:
The Faces, The FACES, It's ALL About the F**king FACES! (or, the Avatars / Icons, or a Big Butt)  —  DISCLAIMER: i've never really had any professional training in user interface design... and i'm sure that's obvious from my blog fonts & colors.  However, i started designing & developing applications …
Discussion: Epeus' epigone
Bobbie Johnson / Guardian:
How much is it worth to be one of Twitter's suggested users?  —  The site's choice of recommended users remains controversial - but arguments may reflect its critics' motivations, rather than being a failing of the service  —  With Twitter growing so fast, people are once again turning …
Loïc Le Meur / Loic Le Meur Blog:
Cory Visits and the Social Networking Execs Line Up  —  Last Friday I got invited to join a brainstorming session to help Newark City mayor Cory Booker using social software.  Why was this meeting different than yet another celebrity or politician tweetering and Facebooking?
Thanks:loic
Phred Dvorak / Wall Street Journal:
In San Francisco, Homeless Stay Wired  —  Mr. Pitts Lacks a Mailing Address But He's Got a Computer and a Web Forum  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Like most San Franciscans, Charles Pitts is wired.  Mr. Pitts, who is 37 years old, has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Reuters:
Nintendo to launch new version of Wii Fit: report  —  Nintendo Co Ltd plans to launch a new version of its “Wii Fit” home exercise game this autumn, aiming to help boost sluggish sales of its Wii console in Japan, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.
Discussion: Engadget
Aaron Brazell / Technosailor.com:
WordPress and WordPress MU to Merge  —  This is the first year I did not attend WordCamp San Francisco, the annual event that is the largest of the WordCamp gathering.  It seems like I'm missing the announcement of some big news.  —  Matt Mullenweg announced during his State of the Word speech …
Discussion: Geekword, Thanks:technosailor
RELATED:
Andrew Mager / The Web Life:
Live: Wordcamp 2009  —  The following is a live blog.
Discussion: Ben Werdmuller
 
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 More Items: 
Kelly Hodgkins / Boy Genius Report:
Sprint's HTC S511 Snap makes an appearance on Best Buy website
Discussion: WMPoweruser.com, WMExperts and Gizmodo
Rich Miller / Data Center Knowledge:
Study: Data Center Supply Near All-Time Low
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
HTC Killed The Physical Keyboard. Smart Move.
Thanks:atul
Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:
Put Ad on Web. Count Clicks. Revise.
Thanks:atul
Erik Sass / MediaPost:
Super-Marketing: Safeway Chains Offer Mobile Coupons
 Earlier Items: 
Chris Davies / Android Community:
HTC Hero video promo [Updated]
Randall Stross / New York Times:
Shooting to Software Stardom on the iPhone
Jeff Bakalar / Crave: The gadget blog:
Our E3 2009 Predictions
Discussion: Technologizer
Julie Weed / New York Times:
Finding New Employees, via Social Networks
New York Times:
Contractors Vie for Plum Work, Hacking for the United States
Discussion: Rev2.org
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount says it expects its merger with Skydance to close on August 7; the new company will trade on Nasdaq as PSKY

New York Times:
Docs and interviews: Media Matters is struggling to survive, having racked up ~$15M in legal fees to defend itself from lawsuits by Elon Musk, the FTC, and AGs

Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Sources: Netflix is searching for a video podcasting head; the role could be under Netflix's TV and film licensing arm rather than the original content side

 
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