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1:25 PM ET, November 17, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
The Pirate Bay Tracker Shuts Down for Good  —  In the fall of 2003, a group of friends from Sweden decided to launch a BitTorrent tracker named ‘The Pirate Bay’.  It soon became one of the largest BitTorrent trackers on the Internet, coordinating the downloads of more than 25 million peers at its height.
RELATED:
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Verizon responds to AT&T's Map For That lawsuit: ‘the truth hurts’  —  Sure, Verizon's doubled down on the 3G map ads in response to AT&T's false advertising lawsuit, but eventually the company's lawyers had to file a response and, well, ain't nobody backing down in this one.  Here's the freaking introduction:
AT&T:
AT&T Invests Nearly $65 Million Through 2009 to Strengthen 3G …
Discussion: PR Newswire
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Online Petition Demands Apple Approve iPhone Apps  —  Three iPhone application developers are cited in an online petition which asks Apple to approve their apps, all of which have been sitting in limbo for months on end.  The developers are awaiting word about their new DJ applications …
Discussion: Sonorasaurus and iLounge
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
MySpace Close To Acquiring iMeem  —  MySpace is in late stage negotiations to acquire music streaming service iMeem, we've confirmed from multiple sources.  MySpace is on a bit of an acquisition spree - they acquired iLike, another music service, three months ago.
RELATED:
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:   Will MySpace save Imeem with acquisition?
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Adobe Releases Flash Player 10.1 And AIR 2.0 - Both Include Multi-touch Support  —  A mere week after Adobe Systems reported that it would be shedding nearly 700 employees or 9% of its total worldwide workforce, the company is releasing two highly anticipated new products that have been in the works …
RELATED:
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
See Adobe AIR 2's Best New Features Demoed in 9 Sample Apps
Matt Peckham / PC World:
360 Facebook and Twitter Today, PS3 Integration Incoming  —  Fire up your Xbox 360 later today and you'll discover your social network just broadened by a factor of two.  Microsoft teased Xbox 360 Facebook and Twitter integration at E3 this summer and rolled it out to beta testers several weeks ago …
RELATED:
Kevinthau / Twitter Blog:
Another First in the UK  —  The UK has had an outsized cultural impact on the world.  From music to sports to literature... and now - MMS with Twitter.  —  Today, not only has Orange UK turned on Twitter SMS, but it has added a first-of-its-kind special enhancement.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Brainstorm Tech:
The great Belgian iPhone robbery  —  Burglars in Antwerp make off with $3 million worth of smartphones  —  Over the weekend, someone used a fire ladder to climb to the roof of a huge warehouse in Willebroek, a Dutch-speaking municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp, cut a hole in the roof …
Vladislav Savov / Engadget:
Motorola Droid camera autofocus fixed in secrecy?  —  While we were busy looking into external speaker problems on the Droid, it would seem Moto was itself hard at work remedying a separate issue with the device.  A number of users on support forums have complained of the Droid's camera failing …
Chris Tryhorn / Guardian:
Times editor outlines plans for online charging  —  Micro-payments dismissed in favour of charging for 24-hour access to day's edition of the paper  —  James Harding, the editor of the Times, today gave the clearest indication yet of how News International is going to start charging for its journalism online.
Anurag Acharya / The Official Google Blog:
Finding the laws that govern us  —  As many of us recall from our civics lessons in school, the United States is a common law country.  That means when judges issue opinions in legal cases, they often establish precedents that will guide the rulings of other judges in similar cases and jurisdictions.
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
Awaneesh Verma / The Official Google Blog:
A new look for Google Translate  —  Today, we've launched three new features as well as a new look and feel for Google Translate — a service that helps people access information throughout the world by enabling them to automatically translate text and and web pages into their own language.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
RockYou Raises A Whopper - $50 Million In Venture Capital  —  Social Network application developer and advertising platform RockYou has raised a whopping $50 million in a Series D round of financing from existing investor Softbank, we've confirmed with the company.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Google's Sample Chrome Extensions Are Already Working  —  As we noted last night, Google looks to be on the verge of unleashing Chrome extension support in a major way.  Not only does the home tab page on the new builds of Chromium (and the dev builds of Chrome) feature not-yet-turned-on links …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google Backs Out Of NewsHour Debate With Open Book Alliance, And I Don't Blame Them  —  There was lots of news late last week about a proposed modification to the Google Books settlement agreement.  Today there was going to be more news - a televised debate about Google Books on Jim Lehrer's NewsHour.
Discussion: internetnews.com and TeleRead
Bloomberg:
Apple IPhone Will Outsell Rivals in China, Unicom's Chang Says  —  Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) — China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. Chairman Chang Xiaobing said he expects Apple Inc.'s iPhone to become China's best-selling smart phone, countering skepticism by analysts who say the handset is too expensive.
Marc Flores / Boy Genius Report:
BlackBerry Internet Service hit with data outages worldwide  —  We've been receiving multiple reports that BlackBerry Internet Service, or BIS, is down for many people — possibly worldwide.  Initially, we thought the outages were only affecting certain carriers, but users from multiple carriers …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Seesmic Launches Native Twitter Client For Windows  —  Today brings good news for PC users everywhere.  Seesmic is launching a native desktop client for Windows.  Seesmic's founder and CEO Loic Le Meur made the announcement today at Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles.
Lance Whitney / CNET News:
AdMob brings interactive video ads to iPhone  —  While it's waiting to be gobbled up by Google, AdMob isn't sitting still.  —  The mobile ad company announced Tuesday that it will deliver interactive video ads to the iPhone and iPod Touch devices.  The ads, set to run this week …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Zynga raises more venture capital for social gaming expansion  —  Zynga has become the hottest social gaming company with more than 196 million users on Facebook alone.  Today, the San Francisco company has raised $15.18 million in an extension to its second round of funding, according to a regulatory filing.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Lost My Phone, Give Me Your Number!!  Groups On Facebook Are A Spammer's Paradise  —  “LOST MY PHONE!!!  GIVE ME YOUR DIGITS!”  —  Sound familiar?  For years, many people who have recently lost their phones have turned to Facebook to reunite with their friends.
Discussion: The Web Life
IPTV News:
AT&T intros two new TV apps  —  AT&T has launched two new TV applications for customers of its IPTV service ‘U-verse TV’: ‘Offers On Demand’ and ‘Caller ID on TV’.  —  The new ‘Offers On Demand’ application allows users to redeem a coupon code on-screen for discounts on movie rentals …
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Online Maps: Everyman Offers New Directions  —  SAN FRANCISCO — They don't know it, but people who use Google's online maps may be getting directions from Richard Hintz.  —  Mr. Hintz, a 62-year-old engineer who lives in Berkeley, Calif., has tweaked the locations of more than 200 business listings …
Discussion: CNET News and ReadWriteWeb
 
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 More Items: 
Lee Mathews / Download Squad:
Canonical working on an iTunes-like music store for Ubuntu?
Discussion: WorksWithU
Eric Eldon / Inside Facebook:
Hallmark Greets SocialCalendar with Funding, Co-Branding Deal
Yoni Heisler / Network World:
Palm gives up.  Latest WebOS update for the Palm Pre lacks iTunes support
The Official Google Blog:
New site hierarchies display in search results
Thanks:atul
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Spotify catching up to iTunes in UK as US launch delayed
Discussion: T3.com News and Pocket-lint.com
Alex Williams / ReadWriteEnterprise:
Rackspace Adds More Cloud-Based Services, Moves Down the Collaboration Path
Stephanie N. Mehta / Brainstorm Tech:
Smart phones. Smart networks. Smart packages?
 Earlier Items: 
Steve Myers / poynter.org:
Jimmy Wales: AP's ‘Landing Pages’ a Good, if Late, Idea
Kim-Mai Cutler / VentureBeat:
How about that new Twoffice?  (Photo slideshow of Twitter's new headquarters)
AdAge:
Why News Corp. and Murdoch Won't Quit Google
Discussion: Internet Evolution
Peter Birch / Google LatLong:
An update to Google Earth for the iPhone
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Meghnad Bose / Columbia Journalism Review:
A profile of the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year winner, an Afghan woman who works anonymously and covers the plight of women under Taliban rule

Asif Shahzad / Reuters:
Pakistani TV host Matiullah Jan was picked up off the street and charged with terrorism after investigating claims of casualties in a protest march in Islamabad

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney+, Hulu, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ offer steep discounts for Black Friday, despite streaming losses; Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV+ have no offers

 
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