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5:20 PM ET, February 21, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Richard Ziade / Readability Blog:
An Open Letter to Apple  —  Dear Apple: It's your friends from Readability.  Remember us?  You put our technology into your Safari browser last year.  We're writing this open letter because - well - we're a little upset right now.
RELATED:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Apple Smacks Readability In The Face With Subscription Rules; All SaaS In Trouble  —  We've already been over (and over and over and over and over) Apple's new iOS subscription rules.  And the initial backlash has seemingly cooled down as everyone has moved on to the next hot topic of the hour.
Discussion: App Advice, Technologizer, TiPb and TeleRead
Matt Mullenweg:
Blogging Drift  —  The New York Times has a pretty prominent article today called Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter.  The title was probably written by an editor, not the author, because as soon as the article gets past the two token teenagers who tumble and Facebook instead of blogging …
RELATED:
Verne G. Kopytoff / New York Times:
Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Like any aspiring filmmaker, Michael McDonald, a high school senior, used a blog to show off his videos.  But discouraged by how few people bothered to visit, he instead started posting his clips on Facebook …
Steve Clayton / TechNet Blogs:
Kinect for Windows SDK to Arrive Spring 2011  —  Every year about this time, Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, holds an intimate gathering to discuss the company's vision for the future: just Craig, a handful of Microsoft thinkers and select media convening …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: Kno Student Tablet Start-Up in Talks to Sell Off Tablet Part of Its Business  —  Kno-the much-funded and high-profile Silicon Valley start-up aimed at making tablet computers focused at students-is considering selling off the entire hardware part of the business and is in talks …
RELATED:
Vlad Savov / Engadget:   Kno looking to sell off ambitious tablet hardware business, focus on software instead
Vlad Savov / Engadget:
Motorola Xoom will ship without Flash support on February 24th, expects it in ‘Spring 2011’?  —  Verizon's webpage dedicated to the Xoom has just gone up and one of our eagle-eyed readers has already spotted a disquieting bit of small print: “Adobe Flash expected Spring 2011.”
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
iPad 2 incoming: iPad sold out/on sale at some European retailers  —  The second-generation iPad is approaching and will most likely hit sometime next month.  Usually, a good hint at an upcoming refresh for an Apple product is when the respective item becomes sold out or on sale at some retailers.
Arn / MacRumors:
Could the iPad 2 Be Getting Light Peak?  —  After reading the report that Apple is planning to introduce its new Light Peak-based high speed interconnect technology “soon”, it struck us that Light Peak could help explain some particularly incongruous rumors we've been hearing about the iPad 2 over the past few months.
RELATED:
John Brownlee / Cult of Mac:   Is The iPad 2 “Mystery Port” For Light Peak? We Doubt It.
Mark Lee / Bloomberg:
Alibaba Says CEO Wei Quits After Probe Finds Fraud Committed by Suppliers  —  Alibaba.com Ltd., operator of China's biggest electronic-commerce website, said Chief Executive Officer David Wei resigned after a company probe found more than 2,000 subscribers engaged in fraudulent sales.
RELATED:
Jim Erickson / Alizila:
Alibaba.com CEO and COO Step Down
Discussion: BoomTown
Dick Craddock / The Windows Blog:
Facebook chat in Hotmail now available everywhere  —  Today, Facebook chat is available to Hotmail customers worldwide, wherever Facebook is available.  —  When we first announced the ability to chat with Facebook friends from Hotmail, we were only able to offer this to customers in six regions.
Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac:
BGR: New MacBooks will have bigger Trackpad, OS on SSD, half pound lighter  —  Some interesting MacBook Pro possibilities coming out of BGR this afternoon.  Here are the Cliff's Notes:  — The trackpads will be bigger than before.  Looking down at my MacBook Pro, I'm not sure that's possible …
RELATED:
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft starts rolling out a pre-'NoDo' update for Windows Phone 7  —  On February 21, Microsoft officials told Windows Phone 7 (WP7) users that the company had started rolling out the first update for Windows Phone 7.  —  Before you copy-and-paste-happy WP7 fans begin salivating …
Jon Stokes / Ars Technica:
Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore  —  I've realized recently that I'm just not very excited about tablets—anybody's tablets, no matter the OS or maker.  I first realized I felt this way when I was only mildly disappointed (as opposed to heartbroken) to find myself too sick …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
DST About To Lead Huge Spotify Funding  —  European streaming music startup Spotify is in the process of closing a very large financing, say multiple sources.  DST, the venture firm that has backed Facebook, Groupon and Zynga, is said to be leading the deal, which values Spotify at around $1 billion.
 
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 More Items: 
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
US Paid Millions For Bogus (Patented) Intelligence Software; Now Trying To Cover It Up Claiming ‘National Security’
Discussion: New York Times
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Zagat.com Relaunches With More Free Content Including Maps, Lists, Third-Party Reviews
Discussion: Screenwerk
Henry Blodget / SAI:
Flash-Sale Leader Gilt Groupe Raising $80-$100 Million At A ~$1 Billion Valuation
Discussion: MediaPost and VentureBeat
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Google Gets Involved in BitTorrent Search Engine Lawsuit
Discussion: Techie Buzz
Wall Street Journal:
Huawei Drops U.S. Deal Amid Opposition
Discussion: BBC and Associated Press
 Earlier Items: 
Agence France Presse:
China's Huawei ‘in London Underground phones bid’
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
After iPad's Head Start, Rival Tablets Are Poised to Flood Offices
Discussion: MacDailyNews and Internet2Go
David Carnoy / Crave: The gadget blog:
Kindle e-book piracy accelerates
Discussion: TechFlash and TeleRead
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
TV Industry Taps Social Media to Keep Viewers' Attention
Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac:
Steve Jobs gave Russian President an AT&T iPhone, still locked
Discussion: Examiner, SAI, Pulse2 and MobileWhack