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8:05 PM ET, June 19, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Slash Lane / AppleInsider:
Apple warns iPhone 3G S activations may take up to 2 days  —  In a near repeat of problems that plagued last year's iPhone 3G launch, Apple's iPhone activation servers are showing signs of buckling under the pressure of hundreds of thousands of customers who are attempting to activate …
RELATED:
Crave: The gadget blog:
Live blog: iPhone 3G S launch day  —  The rolling rollout of the iPhone 3G S is under way.  Apple's latest iPhone has been going on sale Friday at 7 a.m. local time in each time zone where it's available.  —  We've got a team of people covering the launch.
Chuq Von Rospach / Palm Developer Network Blog:
An update on the early access program and the SDK.  —  With the Pre now in customers' hands and reports of webOS hacks in the news, we know that you are more anxious than ever to get access to the SDK and start developing for webOS.  —  We've been working very hard on the SDK and are eager …
RELATED:
Sascha Segan / AppScout:
Palm Promises SDK Soon, Nods At Rogue Coders
Discussion: mocoNews and PreCentral.net
Dan Sabbagh / Times of London:
Sony should beware — Activision chief is not simply playing games  —  Bobby Kotick and a partner bought the once-struggling Activision for $440,000 in 1991, at a time when it was losing $30 million on $10 million in revenues.  Now the world's biggest independent computer games company …
David Talbot / Technology Review:
Wikipedia Gets Ready for a Video Upgrade  —  The organization behind Wikipedia is close to launching an editable online video encyclopedia to enhance the current textual one.  The hope is to revolutionize the popular reference site and goad content providers—from public broadcasters to the music industry …
RELATED:
Stefan Constantinescu / IntoMobile:
Courtesy of Microsoft: Pick up an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G S with a 35% discount from AT&T  —  Bing, a search engine no one uses, is trying to lure users by offering cash incentives.  One of those incentives is a 35% discount at the AT&T (NYSE: T) Online Store, which means you can get a new iPhone 3G S for as low as $130!
Ian Paul / PC World:
iPhone Tethering: Do You Really Need it?  —  Apple iPhone fans may not have to wait too much longer to get Multimedia Messaging and tethering services from AT&T. A confidential source within AT&T says the carrier will offer MMS by mid-July with tethering to follow about two weeks later, according to Appmodo.
RELATED:
Jim Dalrymple / The Loop:
AT&T: $55 tethering rumors are false
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Dear Wanna-bes, Your Twitter Stardom is Coming to an End  —  One of the most controversial practices widely used to build up influence on Twitter is now cause for account suspension, according to a message on the Twitter developers email list from a company support team member.
Discussion: VentureBeat
RELATED:
Jesse Stay / Stay N' Alive:
Twitter Declares Checkmate on Twitter Gamers
Thanks:atul
Edward Wong / New York Times:
China Disables Some Google Functions  —  BEIJING — The Chinese government disabled some search engine functions on the Chinese-language Web site of Google on Friday, saying the site was linking too often to pornographic and vulgar content.  Government officials met with managers …
RELATED:
Eli Lake / Washington Times:
Iran has tech to track tweets, texts  —  The Iranian government has high-tech equipment that will enable it to trace thousands of activists who have encouraged the recent demonstrations and spread news about them by using Twitter, cell phones and other Web-based social networks.
RELATED:
Craig Labovitz / Arbor Networks Security:
Iranian Traffic Engineering
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
In Its Rush To Offer A Persian Version, Did Facebook Violate Its Terms Of Service?  —  Yesterday evening, Facebook hurriedly launched a Persian (Farsi) version of the site for users in Iran.  Following the past week's events surrounding the Iranian elections and subsequent protests …
Discussion: Softpedia News, Thanks:daniel_levine
RELATED:
Franz Och / The Official Google Blog:
Google translates Persian
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple's iPhone 3G S sports chip with 720p HD video capabilities  —  With Apple's new iPhone 3G S hitting store shelves in Europe overnight, the device was thrown within minutes onto the operating table and gutted, revealing a Samsung-branded system-on-a-chip (SoC) featuring a multi-format codec …
Claire Cain Miller / Bits:
Twitter Plans to Offer Shopping Advice and Easy Purchasing  —  Someday, when you ask your Twitter followers to recommend the most comfortable running shoe or the best digital camera, you might be able to go one step further and buy the product on the Twitter site.
Discussion: paidContent, Mashable! and Twitterrati
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
So Why Can't Major Record Labels Provide Accurate Accounting To Bands?  —  The more you learn about the way major record labels work, the more ridiculous it seems.  Unlike pretty much every other creative deal making situation, musicians who sign major record label contracts basically hand over all their rights to the label.
Bloomberg:
Apple Investors Get Used to Life Without CEO Steve Jobs as Stock Jumps 59%  —  Apple Inc. shares have climbed 59 percent since Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs went on medical leave, signaling investors are confident the maker of the iPhone can succeed without its co-founder at the helm.
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Microsoft looks to give MSN fresh wings  —  Although most of the discussion of Microsoft's online business has been around Bing, Microsoft is also working on a fall revamp for MSN, its decade-old portal site.  —  Though often overlooked by Microsoft watchers, the MSN portal remains critically important to Microsoft's online business.
Discussion: VentureBeat, paidContent and Neowin.net
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Like Your Kindle Books Cheap?  Don't Get Too Used to It.  —  Are you one of those Kindle owners who stuffs your device with cheap e-books?  Enjoy it now, say analysts at Bernstein Research.  Because they're not going to stay cheap, or at least, not quite as cheap, forever.
Anand Lal Shimpi / AnandTech:
iPhone 3GS Performance: 54% Faster than the 3G, 11% Faster than the Pre  —  You may have noticed today's review of the Palm Pre.  While I strongly suggest reading it if you're at all interested, I do have some new data for your consumption.  After the announcement of the iPhone 3GS I posted …
Discussion: AppleInsider
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Steve Ballmer Is Making A Bad $10 Billion Bet  —  Steve Ballmer says he is willing to invest 5%-10% of Microsoft's operating income over the next five years on search.  —  That's a boatload of money.  —  Specifically, assuming Microsoft's operating income stays constant (it will likely grow), it's $5.5-$11 billion.
Discussion: eWeek, I4U News and TomsTechBlog.com
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
That Was Quick: Veodia Acquires Screen Capturing Startup ScreenToaster  —  ScreenToaster, easily one of the best web-based screen recording tools out there, is now in the hands of enterprise video platform provider Veodia.  The San Mateo, CA based company - backed by $8.3 million in venture capital …
Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
Google Product Ads Beta?  —  Someone who'd like to remain anonymous forwarded an email from Google, confidentially referring to a product called “Google product ads beta”.  From the mail: … The FAQ goes on to say (my embolding): … [Thanks Anonymous!]  —  [By Philipp Lenssen |
Discussion: Digits, Thanks:atul
 
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 More Items: 
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch Europe:
European MySpace employees wait for a bloodbath
Thanks:mernas
Michael Learmonth / AdAge:
‘MeinSpace’: Can Bruno Save MySpace From Cultural Irrelevance?
Katharine Viner / Guardian:
‘Internet has changed foreign policy’
 Earlier Items: 
Technology Review:
If you thought email is making geographical distance less important, think again.
Andrew LaVallee / Digits:
Dell Challenges Apple's Greenness
Discussion: InformationWeek and TUAW
Paul Miller / Engadget:
Dell Vostro 1220 leaks out, looks as cool as it sounds
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Occipital Brings Seamless Barcode Scanning To The iPhone With RedLaser
Cliff Edwards / Business Week:
Windows 7: Microsoft vs. the PC Makers
Debby / My Sex Professor:
iPhone Vibrator App from MyPleasure.com
Discussion: Gizmodo
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
DirecTV terminates its Dish acquisition after a group of Dish creditors rejected a modified bond exchange offer

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
A growing number of podcasters, including Tim Ferriss, are moving away from interviews to monologues or co-hosts, as some well-known guests can be overexposed

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
A New York judge finds Sirius XM liable for a difficult subscription cancellation process; Sirius says it will appeal but abide by a new “click-to-cancel” rule

 
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