Top Items:
Matt Cutts / Gadgets, Google, and SEO:
My thoughts on this week's debate — Earlier this week I was on a search panel with Harry Shum of Bing and Rich Skrenta of Blekko (and moderated by Vivek Wadhwa) and the video now live. It's forty minutes long, but it covers a lot of ground: — One big point of discussion is whether Bing copies Google's search results.
Discussion:
LiveSide.net, the Econsultancy blog, Electricpig.co.uk, Machine Learning, InformationWeek, WinRumors, The Next Web, Technologizer, ReadWriteWeb, Google Watch, PC Magazine, Telegraph, PlagiarismToday, The Register, puremango.co.uk, Inquirer, Search Engine Land, Microsoft Watch, Slashdot and PC Pro
RELATED:
Vivek Wadhwa / TechCrunch:
How Google Ambushed Microsoft and Changed the Subject — In previous posts, I wrote about the epic battles that are brewing between spammers and content farms—which are turning the web into a massive garbage dump—and search providers, which have to choose between profit and customer satisfaction.
Discussion:
Fortune, TechCrunch, Search Engine Land, TDW Geeks, Fast Company, WebProNews and TechFlash
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Google's Bing Attack Has Larry Page Written All Over It — Please see this disclosure related to me and Google. — While he won't officially take over as CEO of Google until April, the recent full frontal slapfest on Microsoft's Bing search engine for shoplifting results from the search giant …
Discussion:
Geeking with Greg and PE Hub Blog
Google Chrome Blog:
A dash of speed, 3D and apps — Today, we're excited to bring several new features from Chrome's beta channel to the stable build, including WebGL, Chrome Instant, and the Chrome Web Store. — WebGL is a new technology which brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser.
RELATED:
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
Verizon iPhone 4 pre-orders sold out — Apple and Verizon have officially sold out of iPhone 4 pre-orders. If you didn't snatch one today, you'll still be able to grab the CDMA iPhone model online at 3:01 AM on February 9th and when stores up on the 10th. Did you manage to get one?
Discussion:
Mashable!, Edible Apple, Mobile Marketing Watch, TUAW, Engadget, ThinkMobile, BGR, MacRumors, Macworld, AppleInsider, Phones Review, Digital Daily and Gizmodo
RELATED:
Ross Miller / Engadget:
Verizon iPhone now shipping to select customers: ‘it begins’
Discussion:
The Next Web
Josh Lowensohn / CNET News:
Hotmail launches accounts you can throw away — Microsoft knows you're making throwaway e-mail accounts, and wants to make that process easier. — Today, Hotmail is getting a new feature aimed at “e-mail enthusiasts,” which lets anyone create multiple e-mail accounts that can be read …
Ryan Singel / Epicenter:
‘Dating’ Site Imports 250,000 Facebook Profiles, Without Permission — How does a unknown dating site, with the absurd intention of destroying Facebook, launch with 250,000 member profiles on the first day? — Simple. — You scrape data from Facebook.
Discussion:
All Facebook, GeekSugar, Gawker, Online Dating Insider, PSFK and Switched
Brian Womack / Bloomberg:
Google Gets 75,000 Job Applications in One Week, Topping Record Set in '07 — Google Inc., the world's biggest Internet-search service, received more than 75,000 job applications worldwide last week, setting a record for the company as it embarks on a hiring spree.
Discussion:
Softpedia News, Hillicon Valley, SAI, WebProNews and Search Engine Watch
Dan Frommer / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
LEAKED: All Of Ron Conway's Investments Since 2005 — We knew Ron Conway and his “SV Angel” were prolific angel investors. But we didn't know he was this prolific. — An Excel file, purportedly of SV Angel's entire portfolio, has made its way into our inbox, and we have reproduced it here.
Discussion:
@ajoybhambani and Gizable
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Piper: Apple's $3.9B component deal more evidence of Apple television — Apple's recent investment of $3.9 billion in components is likely for device displays ranging from the iPhone to the 27-inch iMac, and could signal Apple's intention to build a television set up to 50 inches in size, investment firm Piper Jaffray believes.
Discussion:
SlashGear, Tech Trader Daily, TG Daily and MacDailyNews
Henry Blodget / SAI:
Apple Shareholder Demands The Company Establish A CEO Succession Plan — In the wake of Steve Jobs' latest medical leave, an Apple shareholder has demanded that the company establish a CEO succession plan. — This proposal has now been seconded by a major institutional advisory firm called ISS, the FT reports.
Discussion:
Softpedia News, CNET News and BetaNews
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
Not Seeing Much Return on That Massive R&D Spend, Are You, Nokia? — Nokia spent scads of cash on research and development last year, but didn't see much return on it. Certainly, the investment did little to slow the continuing deterioration of its competitive position.
Discussion:
asymco, Tech Europe, IntoMobile and Engadget
Romesh Ratnesar / Business Week:
Peter Thiel: 21st Century Free Radical — Never mind enormous yachts: Peter Thiel is spending his billions on space travel, life extension, artificial intelligence, and paying top students not to go to college — On a chilly December night, a few hundred people gathered at San Francisco's Palace …
Marco.org:
Ode to the App Review team — I wasn't always a fan of Apple's requirement that all App Store submissions be reviewed by a fairly opaque process before release, which often led to confusing or unfair rejections. — But over the last year, I've grown to appreciate app review and the immense staff it must take to operate at its scale.
Discussion:
The Business Insider
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Creator of Instant Messaging Protocol to Launch App Platform for Your Life — Jeremie Miller is a revered figure among developers, best known for building XMPP, the open source protocol that powers most of the Instant Messaging apps in the world. Now Miller has raised funds and is building …
Discussion:
NetworkEffect
Andy Baio / Waxy:
The Daily: Indexed — Anybody else think it's weird that The Daily, News Corp's new iPad-only magazine, posts almost every article to their official website... but with no index of the articles to be found? They spent $30M on it, but apparently forgot a homepage! — So I went ahead and made one for them!
RELATED:
Joe Weisenthal / SAI:
Sorry Rupert, Everyone Can Now Read “The Daily” For Free
Discussion:
mocoNews and App Advice
Joe Mullin / paidContent:
Congress Grills Zuckerberg On Plans To Share User Addresses, Cell Numbers — Last month, Facebook told developers they'd be able to get users' current address and mobile-phone numbers. Even though the feature would have required getting explicit permission from users, apparently it didn't go over too well in some parts.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Reuters and L.A. Times Tech Blog
Peter Skomoroch / The LinkedIn Blog:
Introducing LinkedIn Skills — Today, knowledge is evolving at an increasingly rapid pace. To succeed in the talent economy, it is crucial to showcase your skills and build a rich network of connections who have the expertise you need to get the job done.
Discussion:
The Noisy Channel, TechCrunch, Pluggd.in, WebProNews, John Battelle's Searchblog and Pulse2
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
iPad App Store gets search filters — Apple has updated the iPad's App Store to include a new search filter feature. The new feature allows you to filter application searches by category, release date, customer ratings, price, and by device's that support each respective application.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, MacStories, Electricpig.co.uk, App Advice and TUAW
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
The Latest Verizon iPhone Commercial Strikes At AT&T: “Yes, I Can Hear You Now.” — We've made note of both the first Verizon-made iPhone commercial and then the first Apple-made Verizon iPhone commercial. Both are effective and interesting in different ways.
Discussion:
SlashPhone, SlashGear, 9 to 5 Mac, MacStories, Daring Fireball and Gizmodo
John Hendel / The Atlantic Online:
In Europe, a Right to Be Forgotten Trumps the Memory of the Internet — Why is it that two sprawling yet similar Western cultures — those on both sides of the Atlantic — respond so differently to Internet privacy? — A quarter-century after coming to the United States, Franz Werro still thinks like a European.
Spencer E. Ante / Wall Street Journal:
Billboards Join Wired Age — Wi-Fi Lets Once-Static Posters Interact With Smartphones and Their Owners — Billboards and posters are one of world's oldest forms of advertising. Now, some marketers and start-ups say wireless technology could revamp outdoor advertising by bringing interactivity and pay-for-performance models.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Foursquare Enables First “Promoted” Venue And Badge Redemption Codes For The Super Bowl — When it comes to making money, Twitter's approach right now is their group of Promoted Products. That is, the Promoted Tweets, Promoted Users, and Promoted Trending Topics that brands pay for in order to get more exposure.
Discussion:
About Foursquare and Pulse2
Austin Carr / Fast Company:
Google Instant Scores 98% Adoption Rate, 2% Opt-Out — When Google launched Instant back in September, users were confronted by one of the most radical makeovers of online search in years: a results-as-you-type search engine, which flashes answers to predicted queries with each key stroke—without having to hit return.
Discussion:
Search Engine Watch and Adotas
Paul Buchheit:
The two paths to success — The recent WSJ article on the supposedly Chinese style of parenting has generated a lot of interesting discussion. The most amusing commentary comes from The Last Psychiatrist, who also points out that Amy Chua, the “Chinese” mother, was actually born in America.
