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5:00 PM ET, March 16, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Nick Cooper / Docs Blog:
Introducing discussions in Google Docs  —  When we launched the new Google Docs last April, one of the big changes was moving comments to the sidebar and letting people reply to comments.  Today, we're updating comments in Google Docs to facilitate rapid and seamless discussions and integrate with email in an intuitive way.
RELATED:
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Apple rethinks inventory management for iPad 2  —  Apple has changed its inventory management policy for iPad 2 deliveries, having its retail stores hold on to new shipments until the next day in an effort to ease the sales process for both customers and employees, AppleInsider has learned.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
San Francisco Controller Publishes Candid Report On How Badly They Need Twitter  —  San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos hates the idea of businesses not paying a 1.5% tax on payroll and employee stock option gains (see his brilliantly stupid quote here).  The fact that San Francisco …
Discussion: SAI, @arrington, @arrington and @r0bl0rd, Thanks:sidharthdassani
RELATED:
Yung-Hui Lim / GreyReview:
Quora engineers accused of vandalizing a clone's website  —  It started with a question, Is Qato a serious Quora clone attempt?  Wait, what is Qato?  On its Twitter profile, Qato is described as enterprise Q&A system, developed by DZone.  It allows users to switch effortlessly between Quora, OSQA and StackOverflow themes.
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
Why I switched back to an AT&T iPhone  —  Look, I have been dreaming about a Verizon iPhone since the original announcement was made in 2007.  I've always admired Verizon's insanely solid and reliable wireless network, even before it was Verizon (someone tell James Earl Jones I said what's up).
Discussion: Mercury News and MacDailyNews
RELATED:
Andrew Munchbach / BGR:
Verizon grabs 12% of U.S. iPhone market in just one month
Ryan Gavin / The Windows Blog:
2.3 Million Downloads of IE9 in the first 24 hours  —  Internet Explorer 9 has now been downloaded 2.35 million times in the first 24 hours since its Monday night release.  That is over 27 downloads every second, or over 240 downloads every 9 seconds.  Wow.
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft, RIM expected to unveil new, free hosted Blackberry service  —  Microsoft and RIM are set to unveil a new offering, possibly as soon as March 16 — a Hosted Blackberry Enterprise Service for customers using Exchange 2010 Online, Microsoft's hosted Exchange e-mail service, according to my sources.
Dana Franklin / TUAW:
Fox affiliate in Texas shoots news story on iPad  —  With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, Fox affiliate KBTV's Mike McNeill stopped by Spec's Liquor Store in Beaumont, Texas, to discuss the various alcoholic options available for properly (and responsibly) celebrating the holiday.
Kindle Post US:
Kindle's Real Page Numbers  —  We've seen a lot of interest from customers about our new real page numbers feature for latest generation Kindles and what makes them “real”, so we wanted to tell you a little more about this feature and how we did it.  —  An e-book, like a print book, is at its core a stream of text.
Discussion: TechFlash, GeekWire, PWxyz and paidContent
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Deceleration in Foxconn manufacturing seen as a concern for Apple  —  A “notable” slowdown in manufacturing at Apple's overseas partner Foxconn has been viewed as a potential issue for the iPad maker, and may result in less availability of products.  —  JMP Securities downgraded its outlook …
CNN:
U.S. military blocks websites to help Japan recovery efforts  —  Washington (CNN) — The U.S. military has blocked access to a range of popular commercial websites in order to free up bandwidth for use in Japan recovery efforts, according to an e-mail obtained by CNN and confirmed by a spokesman for U.S. Strategic Command.
Jared Newman / Technologizer:
Zediva: Streaming New Movies for Cheap Through a Sneaky Workaround  —  Movie studios are skittish about giving their new releases to bargain rental services like Netflix and Redbox, but that's not a concern for streaming video startup Zediva.  —  The service, which moves out of beta today …
Andrew Munchbach / BGR:
Motorola's Wi-Fi XOOM coming to U.S. March 27th, $599  —  In a press release just moments ago, Motorola Mobility announced the release of the its Wi-Fi only XOOM tablet in the United States.  Available beginning March 27th for $599, the 32GB device will be available at Amazon.com, Best Buy …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Visa Unveils PayPal-Like Personal Payments Service For U.S. Consumers  —  Giant retail electronic payments network operator Visa is giving PayPal a run for its money today, announcing a new service that will allows U.S. consumers to receive and send funds to any eligible Visa credit, debit or prepaid account.
Erik Sherman / Wired In Blog| BNET:
New Facebook Patent: the Huge Implications of Curated Search  —  For some time, Facebook has been interested in semantic search — using its social graph and immense amount of information about its users to deliver search results.  Some have dismissed the effort, but that's premature …
Brian X. Chen / Gadget Lab:
Study: iPad 2 Screen Is as Good as iPhone's, Despite Lower Specs  —  Apple's new iPad 2 is thinner, lighter and faster than its predecessor.  Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com  —  The iPad 2 doesn't pack a higher-resolution “retina” display yet, but the quality of the screen is just as good as the iPhone 4's, according to a display expert.
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Plaxo Goes Back To Being A Smart Address Book, Launches Virtual Assistant  —  Plaxo has had its fair share of ups and downs.  Back in 2006, the company famously wrestled with spamming allegations and was later the subject of controversy over the screen scraping techniques it used to pull contacts from Facebook.
Karl Bode / DSLreports:
Sprint Details iDen Push To Talk Replacement - CDMA-Based Push To Talk Launches Q4 This Year  —  Sprint Details iDen Push To Talk Replacement  —  CDMA-Based Push To Talk Launches Q4 This Year  —  When Sprint recently announced they'd be spending between four and five billion dollars …
Joanna Stern / Engadget:
Samsung Galaxy Player 4 and 5 to arrive in the US this spring  —  Remember the Galaxy Player (or Galaxy S WiFi) we saw back at MWC?  Sure you do, it basically strips out the 3G and calling functionality of a Galaxy S phone and leaves you with a Android 2.2 media player or shrunken tablet.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
100 Percent Fresh Exclusive!:  Flixster/Rotten Tomatoes in Acquisition Talks With Yahoo and Others  —  Flixster-the popular social movie site whose brands include the Rotten Tomatoes premium reviews site, as well as BuddyTV-is in early acquisition talks with several suitors, including Yahoo, said sources close to the situation.
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Skype security weaknesses could endanger ‘vulnerable users’  —  Users of free internet phone service ‘exposed to interception, impersonation and surveillance’, warns Privacy International  —  The free messaging and internet phone service Skype carries a number of worrying security concerns …
Discussion: TechEye and Inquirer
Tim Stevens / Engadget:
TomTom puts its HD Traffic service data in a browser, lets everyone use it for free  —  We've gotten lost and found our way home again courtesy of many a navigation system over the years, but if ever we're battling not just confusing roadways but also unpredictable traffic patterns it's TomTom we want on our side.
Bryan Wolfe / App Advice:
Murdoch's iPad Gamble: The Daily's Pay Wall About To Go Up  —  Rupert Murdoch will begin charging for The Daily in the U.S. beginning next week, according to Jonathan Miller, the chief digital officer at News Corp. Mr. Miller made the announcement at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Media Summit.
Discussion: The Register, Telegraph and MacStories
Matt LeMay / bit.ly blog:
In Which We Welcome Matthew Rothenberg to the bit.ly Team  —  The last couple months have been exceptionally busy for us here at bit.ly.  We've been rolling out a bunch of new features, and we have a ton more new stuff in the pipeline.  (We'll be showcasing some of the new awesomeness on this very blog.)
Martin Bryant / The Next Web:
Adobe updates Photoshop Express for iOS with ‘Camera Pack’ in-app purchase  —  Adobe's Photoshop Express didn't fare too well in our recent round-up of iOS image enhancement apps.  There are simply better options out there.  Now Adobe has made a push to make it a little more desirable …
 
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 More Items: 
Leigh Phillips / Guardian:
EU to force social network sites to enhance privacy
Discussion: iGeneration Blog and Tech Europe
Cecilia Kang / Washington Post:
FTC, White House urge Internet privacy measures
Irina Slutsky / AdAge:
Meet Silicon Valley's Unofficial Emissary to the Rest of the World
Mark Buchanan / New Scientist:
Happier people tweet together
Discussion: Fast Company
Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:
Source: Seed-Stage Rounds Up 50 Percent in New York; Valuations Up 30 Percent
Discussion: VatorNews
Alastair Sharp / Reuters:
Special report: A PlayBook for fighting Apple
Discussion: MediaFile and Tech Trader Daily
Kyle Thibaut / CrunchGear:
Netflix Gets Into The Original Content Game, Buys Upcoming Show For A Rumored $100m
 Earlier Items: 
Cory Doctorow / Guardian:
Beware the spyware model of technology - its flaws are built in
Bloomberg:
Zillow Is Said to Hire Citigroup to Manage Initial Share Sale
Bloomberg:
LivingSocial Is Said to Seek Funding Valuing Daily-Deal Site at $2 Billion
Discussion: Screenwerk, NBC Bay Area and SAI
Adam Feldman / Google Code Blog:
Improving the security of Google APIs with SSL
Derek Kessler / PreCentral.net:
TouchPad set for a June release, priced from $499; 7-inch coming in September?
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency
 
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