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2:45 PM ET, August 12, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Nick Eaton / The Microsoft Blog:
Judge: Microsoft can't sell Word anymore  —  A Texas judge ruled Tuesday that Microsoft cannot sell one of its flagship products, Word, in the United States because of patent infringement.  —  You read that right: Microsoft cannot sell Word, the judge ruled.
RELATED:
Ina Fried / CNET News:
I4i says not out to destroy Microsoft Word  —  The chairman of the company that has won a landmark injunction against Microsoft says his goal is not to see Microsoft Word pulled from store shelves.  —  In fact, I4i Chairman Loudon Owen said he is one of the hundreds of millions of people …
Discussion: Computerworld, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Nancy Gohring / Computerworld:
Injunction on Microsoft Word unlikely to halt sales
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Facebook Begins Testing Facebook Lite, A Faster Simpler Version Of The Service  —  It looks like Facebook has tonight turned on a feature called “Facebook Lite” for some users to test out.  We're getting bombarded by tips about it, and some of us are seeing it as well.
RELATED:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
What Facebook Lite Actually Is.  Hint: It's Not Twitter Or FriendFeed.  —  So, the web pretty much exploded tonight over the appearance of something called “Facebook Lite,” a new service that's apparently being beta tested by Facebook.  But users who received the message that they were invited …
Microsoft:
Microsoft and Nokia Form Global Alliance to Design, Develop and Market Mobile Productivity Solutions  —  Companies will collaborate to bring Microsoft Office Mobile and related communications and collaboration software and services to Nokia smartphones.  —  The worldwide leader in software …
RELATED:
Steve Lohr / Bits:
Microsoft-Nokia Alliance: An Assault on the BlackBerry
Discussion: PC World and New York Times
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Schiller Reaches Out Again To Acknowledge App Store Problems  —  A few weeks ago, we wrote about Steven Frank, a well-known Mac developer who was giving up his iPhone over his disgust with the ways Apple is managing the App Store.  (This was right before Mike also gave up his iPhone).
RELATED:
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple's Schiller to angry developer: “We hear you”
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Unreleased Apple product sighted in California - no images (yet)  —  There's definitely an unreleased Apple product looming - and while that bald statement is pretty much an eternal truism, product marketing plans for this one are advanced, a report this morning explains.
RELATED:
Avner Ronen / boxee blog:
Boxee gets a $6M catalyst  —  We are happy to announce that Boxee closed a $6M round of financing led by Boston-based General Catalyst with participation by prior investors Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures.  Neil Sequeira from General Catalyst will join our board.
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Web Video Darling Boxee Gets Another $6 Million: Are Zero Revenue …
Discussion: paidContent and Dealscape
Gartner:
Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Declined 6 Per Cent and Smartphones Grew 27 Per Cent in Second Quarter of 2009  —  Inventory Destocking Continues with 13.9 Million Units Shed by the Channel  —  Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 286.1 million units in the second quarter of 2009 …
John C Dvorak / Dvorak Uncensored:
Special Report: Is US Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra a Phony?  —  Is US CIO Vivek Kundra a Phony?  —  Copyright by John C. Dvorak  —  UPDATE  —  Is US Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra a Phony?  —  This is the sort of question you might ask after trying …
Discussion: GigaOM and Tech Insider, Thanks:mgcreed
Dan Nosowitz / Gizmodo:
Zune HD Release Date and Packaging Leaked, Will Hit Stores September 15th  —  Some loyal Giz readers and Best Buy employees sent us a couple shots of the much-anticipated Zune HD's packaging, and they clearly state that the gorgeous PMP will be available on September 15th.  Break out the wallets, people.
John Herrman / Gizmodo:
T-Mobile HTC Touch Pro2 Review: Wait, How Much?  —  T-Mobile's take on the HTC Touch Pro2, a 3.6-inch-screened, slide-out-QWERTYed refresh to the company's flagship Windows Mobile phone.  —  The price: $349 with a 2-year contract, after instant rebate, making it T-Mobile's most expensive phone
Peter Burrows / Business Week:
Why Apple Is More Valuable Than Google  —  A look at what's behind the Mac and iPhone maker's now firm market-cap edge on the Web-search leader, and how it could one day challenge Microsoft  —  Now that Apple (AAPL) has once again passed Google (GOOG) in market value, can the consumer-electronics maker maintain its lead?
Discussion: Brainstorm Tech
Jeff Atwood / Coding Horror:
Are You a Digital Sharecropper?  —  Will Work for Praise: The Web's Free-Labor Economy describes how many of today's websites are built by the users themselves: … This raises some disturbing parallels.  Are users being turned into digital sharecroppers?
Bobbie Johnson / Guardian:
Wikipedia approaches its limits  —  The online encyclopedia is about to hit 3m articles in English - but growth is stalling as ‘inclusionists’ and ‘deletionists’ fight for control  —  Yet again, Wikipedia is about to break new ground.  The website that has become one of the biggest open repositories …
Discussion: TeleRead
PC Magazine:
Hands On with the Zune HD, Plus Video  —  Earlier today, José Piñero, Zune's new senior director of marketing, swung by the PCMag.com Labs to preview the brand-new Zune HD for us.  —  While there are still lots of unanswered questions (Piñero wouldn't confirm pricing or capacities …
Discussion: Engadget, SlashGear and WMPoweruser.com
Brad Stone / Bits:
RealNetworks Barred From Selling DVD Copy Maker  —  RealNetworks, the Seattle-based digital media company, portrays itself as fighting for people's right to legally make backup copies of the DVDs they own.  It appears to have lost at least the first and perhaps most important round of the battle.
Dave Ohara / Green Data Center Blog:
Apple Recruits eBay Data Center Executive Olivier Sanche, Can Apple Change Data Centers the way they changed cell phone and media players?  —  I have been lucky to meet eBay's Sr. Director, Data Center Services & Strategy, Olivier Sanche at a variety of data center events and discuss many different green data center ideas.
Lee Mathews / Download Squad:
Google Chrome to reach v4 before Firefox?  Work begins on Chromium 4.0  —  Version numbers probably mean more to the general public than to regulars at DownloadSquad.  When it comes to Chrome, however, Google seems like they're hoping to catch up with Opera by the end of next year.
Dan Moren / Macworld:
AirPort Client Update improves MacBook wireless performance  —  PEOPLE WHO READ THIS ALSO READ:  —  I'm not a big fan of going to the airport—the lines, the overpriced food, the little carts zipping all around—but I do like AirPort wireless networking.  And I especially like it when it works.
Discussion: Ars Technica and eWeek
Holly Sanders Ware / New York Post:
REWIND ON2 SALE DEAL  —  SHAREHOLDER SUITS AIM TO BLOCK $106.5M PACT  —  Shareholders of On2 Technologies, the video-software maker that Google agreed to buy for $106.5 million in stock, are blasting the deal, saying the sale process was rigged to favor the search giant.
Discussion: Tech Trader Daily
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
The Top 100 Search Terms Queried by Kids  —  Security firm Symantec has identified the top 100 searches conducted by children online.  Popular items in the list include some expected entries like YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace as well as queries for popular pop idols like Michael Jackson and Miley Cyrus.
Onion News Network:
Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village  —  Web users who choose to move to the desolate village are guaranteed an environment free from Google products and natural light from the sun.
 
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 More Items: 
Emma Barnett / Telegraph:
Adverts fail to engage majority of social networkers
Sumner Lemon / Computerworld:
Asian undersea cable disruption slows Internet access
Discussion: CNET News
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Mass Firings At AOL Next Week?
Discussion: Tech Trader Daily
Andrew Keen / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
In defence of Apple
John Koblin / New York Observer:
The Gilded Age of Condé Nast Is Over
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider and Mediaite
Chris Williams / The Register:
Two convicted for refusal to decrypt data
Discussion: Slashdot
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Poor Google Knol Has Gone From A Wikipedia Killer To A Craigslist Wannabe
 Earlier Items: 
Paul Krill / LinuxWorld.com:
Oracle offers virtualization template tool
Discussion: The Register
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
After Ten Years In Business, MyWebGrocer Raises $13 Million In Series A
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Intel moving to 32nm
Discussion: SlashGear
Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb:
How Do iPhone Users Find New Apps?
Discussion: mocoNews, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Lars Bastholm / Business Week:
The Content Crisis  —  As media ads dry up, phone outfits …
Discussion: Patricia Handschiegel, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Kent German / Crave: The gadget blog:
Is iPhone MMS imminent?
Discussion: iPhone Buzz and InformationWeek
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Is a Perfect Storm Forming For Distributed Social Networking?
Discussion: Lifestream Blog, jungleG, Know It All and Mashable!, Thanks:atul
Cade Metz / The Register:
Google File System II: Dawn of the Multiplying Master Nodes
Discussion: Search Engine Land
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Evan Drellich / New York Times:
The MLB is planning national packages for streaming companies to bid on in 2028, when its national TV deals with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire

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

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery

 
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