Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
4:55 AM ET, December 29, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Mark Davies / IBTimes.co.uk:
Google Chrome OS-based netbook tech specs are out  —  London - Believe it or not - the tech specs of the rumoured Google Chrome OS-based netbook are already out and by the sound of it, the netbook looks to me like a high performance machine.  —  Even as rumours grow that Google …
RELATED:
Ian Paul / PC World:
Chrome Netbook Specs Stretch Believability
Discussion: PMP Today
Kevin J. O'Brien / New York Times:
Cellphone Encryption Code Is Divulged  —  BERLIN — A German computer engineer said Monday that he had deciphered and published the secret code used to encrypt most of the world's digital mobile phone calls, saying it was his attempt to expose weaknesses in the security of global wireless systems.
Gary Merson / HDGURU.Com:
DirecTV To Launch A 3D Channel-HD Guru Exclusive  —  (December 28, 2009) DirecTV intends to launch the first US 3D HDTV channel early next year.  The satellite TV provider plans to make the announcement at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 7th.
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
The Speculative Prehistory of the iPhone  —  Remember the very first iPhone-the one that sold for $249, had an iconic click wheel, a cool slide-out keypad, and a unique two-battery design-and which ran on Apple's very own nationwide wireless network?  No, not the iPhone that Steve Jobs unveiled …
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Ford becomes first automaker to offer HD Radio with iTunes tagging  —  If you thought the automakers would be leaving CES to the TV and PMP makers, Ford would like to have a word with you.  A few words, actually.  Aside from announcing that in-car WiFi will be available next year …
Discussion: Newlaunches.com
Times of London:
Why we can never rest: a year in the life of Twitter  —  ON June 15, our technicians told me to add a note to our website, writes Biz Stone, a co-founder of Twitter.  —  The note warned users of a planned maintenance session that meant our service would be inaccessible while we carried out an overdue system upgrade.
Discussion: VentureBeat, Twitter Blog and WebProNews, Thanks:atul
Jeff Barnard / Associated Press:
Couple stranded 3 days after GPS leads them astray  —  Buzz up!  —  KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - A Nevada couple letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road.
Discussion: GPS Obsessed and Gizmodo Australia
SophosLabs blog:
Twitter banned passwords  —  As you may have heard in the last few days, Twitter has banned 370 passwords (actually only 369, ‘password’ appears twice in the list) as ‘too obvious’ to be safe for their users.  A good move in theory but why are so few words banned?  And what are they?
Discussion: Spyware Sucks and Gawker
Trevor Johnston / Google LatLong:
Plan a trip in one click  —  Why should trip planning be any more complicated than opening your browser and entering the name of your favourite city?  Six months ago we launched City Tours on Google Labs with the goal of making vacation planning as easy as searching the web.
Discussion: Softpedia News and TechCrunch
Aaron Ricadela / Business Week:
Google's Chrome OS Cited as Likely Hacker Vehicle  —  The HTML 5 technology intended to power Google's forthcoming computer operating system can access a PC online or off, warns security vendor McAfee  —  Google's computer operating system, due to be released next year …
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
NYC iPhone Fraud Epidemic Solved!  AT&T Web Site Selling iPhones to New Yorkers Again.  —  Looks like AT&T has gone and “modified its promotion and distribution channels” again.  Either that or the carrier has a better handle on the “online fraudulent activity” that prevented it from selling Apple's …
New York Times:
Ex-Employee Says Seagate Violated Law  —  A decade-long lawsuit pitting a tiny company called Convolve against Seagate Technology has taken an unexpected turn after a whistle-blower claimed that Seagate had appropriated Convolve technology and later destroyed evidence in the case.
Liz Shannon Miller / NewTeeVee:
Will Hulu Become a Blockbuster?  —  Hulu has grown a huge audience this year, but what happens when you compare its business to the feature film world?  The social media marketing firm Buzzpoint sent us a well-designed yet daunting infographic they made while wondering when Hulu might finally become a …
Discussion: WebProNews
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Students power BlackBerry growth  —  Young people are becoming one of the largest sources of growth for BlackBerry, as students turn to the traditionally corporate devices to feed their instant messaging and texting needs.  —  BlackBerry's sudden popularity on university campuses has taken many by surprise …
Discussion: MobileContentToday and Fone Arena, Thanks:tim
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Leaked: Homeland Security's Post Underwear Bomb Airplane Rules  —  You saw our unofficial advice guide to flying after the crotchbomb.  Here are the new Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration's official security rules.  Read on to get all the hairy details. … Great.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn Polishes Its iPhone App Into A More Facebook-Like Gem  —  Following a bit of planned iTunes Connect downtime for the holidays, LinkedIn came out with the latest version of their iPhone app today.  As you might expect from a 3.0 release, the app has been much improved, namely in its user experience.
Discussion: The LinkedIn Blog and MacNN
Marc Flores / Boy Genius Report:
LG LS680 with Android pops up on Sprint's system  —  Shortly after the rumors surrounding the Sprint and LG event at CES just days away, we were greeted with this little screen shot in our inbox this morning.  It looks like Sprint will be getting a LG Android handset pretty soon …
Liz Gannes / GigaOM:
Imeem Fined $1.77M — More Than Its Sale Price  —  A U.S. district court judge has fined Imeem, the music site, $1.77 million after it failed to appear in court to respond to a copyright infringement lawsuit.  The suit, filed Oct. 21 by The Orchard Enterprises, an independent music distributor …
Discussion: Pulse2
Glyn Moody / Linux Journal:
Happy Birthday, Linus  —  Today is the birthday of Linus.  Although that's essentially a private event for him, there's an interesting historical link to the creation of the Linux kernel, too.  As is well known, before he started writing Linux, Linus coded on a Sinclair QL …
Erik Larkin / PC World:
Good Guys Bring Down the Mega-D Botnet  —  Chalk up one for the defenders.  Here's how a trio of security researchers used a three-step attack to defeat a 250,000-pronged botnet.  —  Recommends  —  For two years as a researcher with security company FireEye, Atif Mushtaq worked …
Brad / HP Fansite:
Alert: HP Envy 17, Envy 14, Elitebook 2540p and 2740p in the pipeline … Spotlight: One of our readers, Dana, has tipped us off about Elitebook 2540p and Elitebook 2740p in the works after spotting a new 9-cell battery available for a “2540p” model on a HP Korea website (Update …
Discussion: Engadget and Gizmodo Australia
Jay Adelson / Digg Blog:
Digging into the Top Stories of 2009  —  As 2009 winds down, I'm looking back at quite a year for us at Digg.  As I sit and reflect on everything that we've accomplished within these walls at Digg HQ, I want everyone to know that it wouldn't have been possible without our awesome, devoted Digg community.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Consumer Groups Lobby FTC To Block Google's Acquisition Of AdMob  —  Google recently revealed that the Federal Trade Commission was intensely reviewing the search giant's recent $750 million acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob.  Last week, Google said the FTC has made a second request for further information about the deal.
Ryan Lawler / NewTeeVee:
Roku's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Porn Policy  —  A new channel popped up on Roku yesterday called EroticVision.TV that makes adult content available on the broadband set-top box for the first time.  But the new “adult entertainment” channel hasn't actually been approved by Roku …
Discussion: Podcasting News and CrunchGear
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
IGN comes out on top among biggest game news sites  —  Video game sales are hurting because of the recession, but gamers are still consuming an awful lot of news about video games.  —  Traffic at the top 50 gaming sites grew to 20.2 million unique visitors, up 23 percent year over year in November …
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple seen selling 1.4 million $600 “Kindle Killer” tablets in 2010  —  Even before it's been validated with a formal introduction, Apple's eagerly-awaited tablet device is being positioned by some members of the investment community as a device that could sell 1.4 million units in its first 9 months …
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 4:55 AM ET, December 29, 2009.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
5 common accounting mistakes  —  This is a guest post by Yaali Bizappln Solutions.  A lot of businesses manage their customers and finances on separate platforms.  This disconnect often leads to missed invoices …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Judie Lipsett / Gear Diary:
The Camangi Webstation Unboxed
Discussion: jkOnTheRun, The Gadgeteer and SlashGear
Kathy Shwiff / Dow Jones Newswires:
Retailers, Electronics, Toys Sites Up In November -comScore
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Fun: FirstFollower Identifies Any Twitter User's First Follower
Discussion: Mashable! and Twittercism
Tricia Duryee / mocoNews:
Korea Telecom Cuts 6,000 Jobs Amid Mobile Content Investment In China
Discussion: The Korea Times and Bloomberg
Lance Whitney / CNET News:
Smart-grid spending to hit $200 billion by 2015
Discussion: Pike Research and VentureBeat
 Earlier Items: 
Karl Bode / DSLreports:
ISPs Won't Give You Broadband, Won't let Anyone Else, Either …
Discussion: Techdirt
Zee / The Next Web:
133,000 Member Facebook Group is One Big Scam
Discussion: Gadgetell, Thanks:mgcreed
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google Is About To Get Caffeinated With A Faster Search Index
Discussion: Seeking Alpha and ResourceShelf