Top Items:
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Netscape Founder Backs New Browser — SAN FRANCISCO — It has been 15 years since Marc Andreessen developed the Netscape Internet browser that introduced millions of people to the Internet. — After its early success, Netscape was roundly defeated by Microsoft in the so-called browser wars …
RELATED:
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
RockMelt: Netscape's Andreessen Backing Stealth Facebook Browser — Netscape founder Marc Andreessen is backing a new browser dedicated to browsing Facebook, called RockMelt, according to rumors we've heard from reputable sources. A semi-independent desktop client for Facebook?
Discussion:
Download Squad, Softpedia News, @vanelsas, Digits, VentureBeat, GigaOM, Technology Review and Jon Burg's Future Visions, Thanks:atul
Jackie / Qik:
Qik for iPhone 3GS - now live and free from the App Store! — You've been asking for it, and now it's here: Qik for the iPhone 3GS can now be downloaded - for free! - directly from the App Store. — If you already have Qik on your iPhone, you should know that this version is a little different.
Discussion:
MobileCrunch, Boy Genius Report, Electricpig, Engadget, Lifehacker, TheNextWeb.com, SlashGear, GottaBeMobile.com, MobileContentToday, jkOnTheRun, Mashable! and Gizmodo
RELATED:
Biz / Twitter Blog:
Project Retweet: Phase One — Some of Twitter's best features are emergent—people inventing simple but creative ways to share, discover, and communicate. One such convention is retweeting. When you want to call more attention to a particular tweet, you copy/paste it as your own …
RELATED:
Jim Dalrymple / The Loop:
Sources confirm no Apple tablet at Sept. event, coming in 2010 — Speculation of an Apple event in September broke earlier today, but The Loop has learned the event will not include the introduction of the rumored Apple tablet. — Very reliable sources familiar with the product …
Discussion:
ITworld.com, T3.com News, Pocket-lint.com, Gizmodo, BetaNews, Engadget, 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, Silicon Alley Insider, TUAW and Electricpig.co.uk
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Here It Comes. But What Is It, Exactly? Apple Plans Keynote Event for September. — Time to get the rumor mill kicked into high gear: Multiple music industry sources say Apple executives have told them the company is planning one of its famed keynote events for the week of Sept. 7.
Discussion:
dot.life, TechCrunch, Redmond Pie, Edible Apple, I4U News, MobileContentToday, Electricpig, The Apple Core, The Toybox, internetnews.com, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Engadget, DisplayBlog, TECH.BLORGE.com, EverythingiCafe, SlashGear, Electronista, Gadget Lab, Neowin.net, The iPhone Blog, 9 to 5 Mac, Insanely Great Mac, Crave, The Mac Observer, Silicon Alley Insider, geeksugar, Technologizer, Tech Trader Daily, Gizmodo, mocoNews, Between the Lines, The Loop and Daring Fireball
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Zune Apps — In my brief comments yesterday on the new touchscreen Zune HD that is set to debut September 15, I noted: … I mean, why not? The software platform has quickly become a major driving force behind the sales growth of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Microsoft is a software platform company.
Discussion:
PC World, FierceMobileContent, The iPhone Blog, Edible Apple, GottaBeMobile.com, Pocket-lint.com, Gizmodo and Engadget, Thanks:atul
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
A Sad Day. Goodbye, Riya — Facial recognition service Riya will shut down on August 21, 2009, says founder Munjal Shah in an email to users this morning. We are adding it to the TechCrunch DeadPool. — This was one of the original services that defined the early Web 2.0 movement.
Jose Nazario / Arbor Networks Security:
Twitter-based Botnet Command Channel — While digging around I found a botnet that uses Twitter as its command and control structure. Basically what it does is use the status messages to send out new links to contact, then these contain new commands or executables to download and run.
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Facebook privacy: a guide — Everywhere you look (even here at Ars), there are articles about people making poor decisions about what kinds of info and how much to share on sites like Facebook. The Internet is no longer a place where you can hide out easily—friends, family …
Nate Lanxon / CNET News:
Google Chrome 4.0: Fastest OS X browser by 34 per cent — Safari, eat Google's dust — its Chrome Web browser — under its developmental title Chromium — has hit version 4.0 on the Mac, and our tests confirm it's the fastest browser in the world on both PC and now on Mac OS X.
Bobbie Johnson / Guardian:
Microsoft: Firefox's billion claim is ‘interesting math’ — Internet Explorer chief ‘encourages people to be somewhat sceptical’ of claims by competitor — A senior Microsoft executive has called into question the claim by rival web browser Firefox that it has been downloaded a billion times.
Bluelounge:
Meet Refresh: Our Newest Compact Charging Station — Refresh is a personal or shared charging station for three or more devices. Compact in size and compatible with most of the new devices hitting the market today, it can charge two iPod/iPhones simultaneously while also charging a Blackberry and a bluetooth headset for instance.
Brian Lam / Gizmodo:
An Insider On the Apple Tablet — I never fully believed the Apple tablet was real beyond dreams, until I heard these words over my phone: “Hey, it's [redacted]. I may or may not have sat in some Apple meetings for the tablet.” — I was driving, and swerved a little bit, even though both hands were on the wheel.
RELATED:
The How-To Geek / Lifehacker:
Digsby Joins the Dark Side, Uses Your PC to Make Money — The popular Digsby instant messenger client not only bundles half a dozen “optional” crapware applications, it's also using your computer to crawl the web, do stock market research, and more. It's time to uninstall.
Discussion:
Download Squad, Digsby Blog, TG Daily, Maximum PC all, The Windows Club and digg.com, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Massive AOL Layoffs? Not Imminent-But Top-to-Bottom Cost Exam Definitely in Process — After a while-in a BoomTown mangling of the old cliché-if you are a nail, everything begins to look like a hammer. — So, it is probably inevitable that the next thing for much-beleaguered AOL staffers …
Discussion:
AdExchanger.com
Cecilia Kang / Washington Post:
Major Carriers Shun Broadband Stimulus — The Obama administration made a national priority of spreading high-speed Internet access to every American home and offered stimulus money to help companies pay for it, but the biggest network operators are staying away from the program.
Wall Street Journal:
Apple's Board to Meet to Discuss Replacements for Google's Schmidt — Apple Inc.'s directors are planning to meet next Tuesday and plan to discuss possible replacements to the board seat recently vacated by Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, said a person familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Between the Lines, AppleInsider, Softpedia News, Neowin.net, 9 to 5 Mac, Network World, Silicon Alley Insider, CNET News and MacRumors
Dan Goodin / The Register:
Bug exposes eight years of Linux kernel — Passes it's-not-crying-wolf test — Free whitepaper - Avoiding 7 common mistakes of IT security compliance — Linux developers have issued a critical update for the open-source OS after researchers uncovered a vulnerability in its kernel …
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Nvidia to launch new chipsets for Intel- and AMD-based notebooks in 1Q10 — Nvidia plans to launch two new chipsets, the MCP89 and MCP99 for Intel-based notebooks, and MCP85 for AMD notebooks, in the first quarter of 2010, according sources at notebook makers.
David Sarno / Los Angeles Times:
YouTube to show Sony's “Ghostbusters” this week for film's 25th anniversary — YouTube and Sony are crossing the streams. — Starting tonight at 9 p.m. PDT, YouTube will host a weeklong showing of Sony's comedy classic “Ghostbusters” in honor of the film's 25th anniversary.
Discussion:
MediaMemo
Tom Krazit / CNET News:
Google's Varian: Search scale is ‘bogus’ — Google's Hal Varian would likely have raised an eyebrow at a term paper submitted by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on the search market. — Varian, currently on leave from the University of California at Berkeley to serve as Google's chief economist …
Discussion:
Search Engine Land
Michael Horowitz / Computerworld:
Consumer Reports at it again — Back in May, I criticized a review Consumer Reports magazine did of netbook computers (What Consumer Reports didn't tell you about netbooks). It was a fairly long critique. — Many computer articles in the magazine strike me as amateurish.
Daniel Terdiman / CNET News:
Video game sales in free fall — In a stark reversal of the trend on display just a few short months ago—when general retail sales were plummeting even as the video games industry was still showing growth—cautious optimism in retail is now being offset by many losing months in video games.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
Paul Sweeting / GigaOM:
With Sony's ePub Move, Adobe Wins — Sony's announcement today that it's throwing open the doors of its e-book store and reading devices to the ePub standard is certainly good news for consumers. ePub — and open standard developed by the International Digital Publishing Form …
