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1:05 PM ET, August 11, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Matt Cutts / Gadgets, Google, and SEO:
More info on the Caffeine Update  —  Google recently opened up a preview of our new Caffeine update, and I wanted to give a little more background on this change.  At the Real-Time CrunchUp a few weeks ago, I joked that the half-life of code at Google is about six months.
RELATED:
Vanessa Fox / Search Engine Land:
Caffeine: Google's New Search Index  —  Google has just unveiled a “secret project” of “next-generation architecture for Google's web search”.  This new architecture appears to include crawling, indexing, and ranking changes.  For the first time, Google isn't simply incorporating these changes …
Boy Genius Report:
More iTunes 9 details, Apple developing social networking application?  —  Our same source is back at it again and we have some further clarification on the iTunes 9 rumor we posted a couple days ago.  We really have to take this information at face value, but again felt it was worthy enough to be published.
RELATED:
Zach Epstein / Boy Genius Report:
First reported screenshots of iTunes 9 emerge; Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm integration showcased  —  Now before we get into these screen caps our disclaimer must be made explicitly clear: This is superduperultramegaturbo rumor/skeptical status.  Right then.
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Apple again offers matte screen option for 15-inch MacBook Pro  —  Confirming an AppleInsider exclusive tip from less than a month ago, Apple has restored the antiglare upgrade option — at a cost of $50 — for its 15-inch MacBook Pro line.  —  The change is a quiet concession by Apple …
RELATED:
Xbox.com:
Dashboard Updates: Xbox LIVE Update  —  One of the amazing things about the Xbox LIVE experience is that it's always getting better.  The latest Xbox LIVE Update truly cranks it up a notch - with features that improve your entertainment experience and give you new ways to express your individuality and connect with friends.
RELATED:
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Zune HD Prices Leaked: 16GB for $220, 32GB for $290  —  It feels like we know everything about the Zune HD—except the price.  Well, now we know, if Best Buy's inventory system is right: the 16GB model will go for $220, and the 32GB model will be $290.  —  It also backs up the previously rumored launch date, Sept. 8.
RELATED:
Bret Taylor / FriendFeed Blog:
FriendFeed accepts Facebook friend request  —  We are happy to announce that Facebook has acquired FriendFeed.  As my mom explained to me, when two companies love each other very much, they form a structured investment vehicle...  The FriendFeed team is extremely excited to become a part of the talented Facebook team.
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Now That There's FaceFeed, Does That Make Twoogle More Inevitable?
Discussion: Business Week
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
Delicious Founder: I Wish I Had Not Sold to Yahoo  —  Back in 2005 (a long time in the social media world), Yahoo acquired Delicious, the popular social bookmarking website.  Both Yahoo and Delicious founder Joshua Schachter had big plans to change the way we share, remember, and discover information on the Internet.
Akhil Wable / Facebook Blog:
Facebook Search Improved for Everyone  —  Last month, we began testing new versions of Search with a small group of people on Facebook.  Based on the success of those tests, we're rolling out a new version of Search to everyone on the site beginning today.  —  You now will be able to search …
IEBlog:
Engineering POV: IE6  —  The topic of site support for IE6 has had a lot of discussion on the web recently as a result of a post on the Digg blog.  Why would anyone run an eight-year old browser?  Should sites continue to support it?  What more can anyone do to get IE6 users to upgrade?
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Delicious Creator Quietly Launches Threaded Twitter Conversations  —  Joshua Schachter is best known as the creator of Delicious.  But a few years after he sold it to Yahoo in 2005, he left the company and joined Google.  Since then, he's been known to speak his mind about Delicious' overall direction …
Discussion: Dealscape and Softpedia News
Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times:
Tough times in the porn industry  —  The business, centered in the San Fernando Valley, is being undercut by a growing abundance of free content on the Internet.  —  On a recent Saturday night, Savannah Stern earned $300 to hang out for seven hours at a party in Santa Monica wearing nothing but a feather boa.
Discussion: broadstuff
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Brainstorm Tech:
Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7: The War of the Wallpapers  —  “I would give a lot to have Steve's taste.”  —  Bill Gates said that of Steve Jobs at the D5 conference two years ago, and we knew exactly what he meant.  —  Take, for example, the two images above.
Discussion: The Mac Observer
Sean Michaels / Guardian:
Major labels preparing new digital album format  —  The four big record companies are to compete with Apple's forthcoming Cocktail project by developing their own format called CMX  —  Forget WAV, MP3 and M4A - major labels have something new in mind, and it's called CMX.
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Mahalo 2.0 Is Kicking Ass  —  Jason Calacanis continues to do what he does best: Innovate.  —  When the original concept for Mahalo didn't work as well as he thought it would, he did what all great entrepreneurs do: Try something different.  —  The second version of Mahalo …
Discussion: Softpedia News, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Erica Ogg / Crave: The gadget blog:
MLB beefs up Roku's rotation  —  In its bid to put together a roster of compelling content, Roku has just acquired an ace.  —  Starting Tuesday, the set-top box—known to many as “the Netflix box”—will begin streaming Major League Baseball games.  As with the current Netflix arrangement …
Serkan Toto / MobileCrunch:
Dell to launch China-only mobile phone after all, calls it “Ophone mini3i” (Updated)  —  We broke the news on Dell launching a China-only cell phone on Sunday, and today major Chinese news portal 163.com reports the device is on its way: What Dell will be offering in China is an Android-powered “Ophone” called the mini3i.
Sony Corporation:
Sony Launches High-power, Long-life Lithium Ion Secondary Battery Using Olivine-type Lithium Iron Phosphate as the Cathode Material  —  Sony Corporation today announced that it has launched a new type of lithium ion secondary battery that combines high-power and long-life performance …
Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:
Notice Those Ads on Blogs?  Regulators Do, Too  —  BLOGGERS, be warned.  Advertisers, you too.  —  Two of the National Advertising Review Council's investigative units plan to announce Tuesday their first decisions involving blogs.  Their recommendations call for clear disclosure …
Kim-Mai Cutler / VentureBeat:
Twitter CEO's wife tweets about labor, ongoing birth of first child  —  Sara Morishige Williams, Twitter CEO Ev Williams' wife, is certainly making use of the company product — for the birth of their first child.  —  She went old-school, using text messages rather than a fancy application to post the news.
David Murphy / PC World:
GeekBargain: Microsoft Doubles Cashback Incentives for Bing Search  —  Microsoft kicked off a large Bing promotion today that's geared to attract the attention of the Internet's best bargain shoppers.  The program itself is called Cashback, a function of the company's Bing search engine that …
 
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 More Items: 
Wang Linyan / CHINAdaily:
Penalties ordered for dirty texting
Discussion: Digits and The Straits Times
Michael Fitzpatrick / BBC:
Mobile phones get cyborg vision
Matt Wilson / Mercury News:
Cupertino hopes to attract big businesses with more office space
Discussion: 9 to 5 Mac
Rita Chang / AdAge:
How Wedded Are Marketers to the iPhone?
Discussion: Local Mobile Search
John Schwartz / New York Times:
Tilting at Internet Barrier, a Stalwart Is Upended
Thanks:atul
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
New Study States The Obvious: Kids Download A Lot Of Music
 Earlier Items: 
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Inside the short, troubled life of a music start-up
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
Handling Video Traffic Spikes: In the Event of a Michael Jackson …
Discussion: TechCrunch and VentureBeat
Yahoo!:
Get Ready Penny-Pinchers, the New Yahoo! Deals is Here!
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb and Mashable!
Richard Alleyne / Telegraph:
Mobile phone text messaging is making children more impulsive claim researchers
Discussion: The Register
Mathew Patterson / Campaign Monitor Blog:
Campaign Monitor attacked by hackers, some accounts compromised
Discussion: Softpedia News and The Register
MacGregor Campbell / New Scientist:
Robots to get their own operating system
Discussion: broadstuff
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian

John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Substack, very deliberately, tries to have it both ways by saying publications on their platform are independent while presenting them all as parts of Substack

 
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