Top Items:
Walter S. Mossberg / Personal Technology:
A Windows to Help You Forget — In just two weeks, on Oct. 22, Microsoft's long operating-system nightmare will be over. The company will release Windows 7, a faster and much better operating system than the little-loved Windows Vista, which did a lot to harm both the company's reputation …
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Google: We're Hiring, and Spending, Again — Google CEO Eric Schmidt used the opening moments of a New York City press conference to reinforce a message he's been delivering for a couple months: The worst is over, things are looking up, and Google is spending accordingly.
Discussion:
Digits, Bits, Gawker, Digital Daily, blogs.usatoday.com, PC World, paidContent, ResourceShelf, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, 901am, Search Engine Land and Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks:atul
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Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Reviewing Some Bad Google Search Results With Sergey Brin — After today's Google search press briefing, where I raised the issue of some poor quality search results in Google at one point, Sergey Brin asked me to demonstrate a few. My pleasure! Below, what we reviewed and comments from Google's cofounder.
The Official Google Blog:
Quickly view formatted PDFs in your search results — Google search results sometimes include documents that were not originally formatted to be viewed in a web browser, such as PDFs. In the past, the only way to view these documents was to download them and open them in a separate viewer application.
Discussion:
Mashable!, Search Engine Watch, Technologizer, CNET News, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Search Engine Journal, The Next Web, The Web Life and Gizmodo, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Emil Protalinski / Ars Technica:
Microsoft mulling 128-bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 9 — Believe it or not, Windows 7's successor(s) have been in the planning and early development stages for a while now. We haven't posted anything about any of them yet, but we've been watching closely to see if anything really interesting turned up.
Discussion:
Softpedia News, SlashGear, Lockergnome Blog Network, Maximum PC, Gizmodo, PR News, gdgt and digg.com
Robert Mueller / CNET News:
FBI head banned from online banking after phishing attempt — SAN FRANCISCO—No one is immune from cyberthreats, not even the head of the FBI. — FBI Director Robert Mueller was banned by his wife from doing online banking after he nearly fell for a phishing scam, he said on Wednesday during …
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Kevin Poulsen / Epicenter:
Google's Abandoned Library of 700 Million Titles — Imagine a world where Google sucks. — It might seem a stretch. The Google logo is practically an icon of functionality. Google's search engine and other tools are the company's strongest, if unstated, argument in favor …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Twitter Talking Separately to Microsoft and Google About Big Data-Mining Deals — Is there gold in them thar tweets? — Maybe so, because-according to sources familiar with the situation-Twitter is in advanced talks with Microsoft and Google separately about striking data-mining deals …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Apple's Mighty Mouse Never Lived Up To Its Name. And Now It Can't. — It seems pretty clear at this point that Apple is getting ready to release a new mouse, probably with some kind of multi-touch capabilities, that is probably attached to some new iMacs. No one is happier about that than me, as I hate the current Mighty Mouse.
Rosa Golijan / Gizmodo:
Iomega's StorCenter ix2-200 NAS Has Bluetooth, Time Machine, Chubby Exterior — Iomega's on to something with the StorCenter ix2-200: built-in torrent and Time Machine support, Bluetooth-based uploads from phones, remote access, and lotsa spiffy features wrapped up in an earth-friendly green gadget.
Wall Street Journal:
Dell to Build Android Phone for AT&T — Dell Inc. expects to launch a smart phone on AT&T Inc.'s cellular network as soon as early 2010, said people briefed on the plans. — The Dell phone uses Google Inc.'s Android mobile-operating system, said the people briefed on the matter.
Discussion:
The Register, CNET News, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Boy Genius Report, PC World, AndroidGuys, Pulse2, Android Phone Fans, jkOnTheRun, MediaPost, DailyFinance, FierceWireless, Maximum PC, The Mac Observer, VentureBeat, 9 to 5 Mac, Digital Daily, paidContent, Electronista, Engadget Mobile, TechSpot, I4U News, TheStreet.com, Pocket-lint.com, Tech Trader Daily, InformationWeek, Gearlog, Silicon Alley Insider, Between the Lines, Phone Scoop, Telecompetitor and Android Central
Reza Ziaei / Google Mobile Blog:
Introducing Search Options for mobile — Finding the exact information you need sometimes requires filtering and refining your search results. Earlier in the year, we launched a collection of tools called Search Options which enable you to easily and quickly do this from a computer.
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
What A $3.65 Billion Mistake Looks Like — In 1999, Yahoo (YHOO) paid $3.65 billion for GeoCities. Today it sent out a “final notice” warning GeoCities users that its pulling the plug. — Yahoo is shutting down or selling a lot of businesses lately. (Find out what's for sale here.)
Andrew Lookingbill / Google LatLong:
Your world, your map — One of the exciting challenges of working on the Geo team at Google is that the physical world is constantly changing, and keeping on top of these changes is a never-ending endeavor. For example, 15,000 miles of roadway are built in the United States each year.
Jennifer Vilaga / Fast Company:
FTC Responds to Blogger Fears: “That $11,000 Fine is Not True” — As you've likely heard by now, the Federal Trade Commission is trying to reign in freebie-grabbing bloggers and graft-happy social media users masquerading as unbiased critics. The agency announced an update to the FTC Act of 1980 …
Steven Levy / Gadget Lab:
Kindle Goes International — With a Little Help From AT&T — Although Amazon's Kindle e-reader has become the first major hit in its category — and the best-selling product in Amazon's entire store this year — it does have its drawbacks. One of the biggest is that its wireless connection to the Kindle store works only in the U.S.
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Adam Ostrow / Mashable!:
Drew Carey Raises Bid to $1 Million for @Drew on Twitter — Over the weekend, we reported on Drew Carey's bid of up to $100,000 (if he reaches 100,000 followers by Nov. 9th) for the Twitter name @drew. The name is currently up for auction by Drew Olanoff, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year …
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Buffalo ships world's first USB 3.0 hard disk drives this month — It's fine to announce USB 3.0 gear, but it's another thing entirely to actually put it up for retail. Buffalo's making the boast today that its HD-HU3 series of USB 3.0 hard disks will be the “world's first!!” to ship.
Christine Herron / Christine.net:
What's the Secret Success of MINT.com? The Real Numbers Behind Aaron Patzer's Growth Strategy — Aaron Patzer, CEO of MINT.com, dropped by The Funded and Vator.tv's Juice Pitcher tonight to share some secrets of the company's success. (Just in case you don't plug the TechCrunch feed directly …
Wall Street Journal:
EU to Settle Microsoft Case by Year End — BRUSSELS—The European Union signaled it would accept a settlement proposal outlined this summer by Microsoft Corp. that would end the bloc's pursuit of antitrust charges over the Internet Explorer Web browser, drawing the software giant closer …
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Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Spotify leaves Napster gasping — Only when you put the numbers in perspective does the remarkable nature of Spotify's offering becomes clear. If you're a premium user - paying £10 a month - you can store more than 3,000 tracks offline, to listen to as and when you want …
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Samsung Moment slider coming to Sprint, packing Android (update: official, $179) — Samsung just accidentally leaked a Sprint-bound Android QWERTY slider called the Moment in an otherwise totally boring press release about its OLED handset lineup — it'll have an 800MHz processor …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, MobileContentToday, MobileCrunch, IntoMobile, Android Phone Fans, Smartphones and Cell Phones, Mashable!, PC World, Pulse2, I4U News, Obsessable, Gadgetell and Electronista
Tameka Kee / paidContent:
Personal Web Systems Raises $1.2 Million For Web-to-TV Browser — Ready for WebTV 2.0? Personal Web Systems, a tech firm that's developing a web-to-TV browser add-on, has raised $1.2 million worth of a proposed $1.8 million round of funding, per an SEC filing.
Tony Dokoupil / Newsweek:
Striking It Rich: Is There An App For That? — Seeking fortune and fame, entrepreneurs rushed to create programs for Apple's App Store. That's not always what they found.
Skipper / Skipscreen Blog:
MediaFire tells Mozilla to ban SkipScreen from addons.mozilla.org — Mozilla has told us they received a takedown from Mediafire, demanding they pull SkipScreen from addons.mozilla.org. — Mozilla gave us about 24 hours (until the end of the west-coast business day today) …
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Boing Boing, Download Squad, The Shout and Jennifer Granick's blog
