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12:15 PM ET, December 15, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Slater Tow / Facebook Blog:
Timeline: Now Available Worldwide  —  We recently announced our plans to introduce Facebook Timeline, an entirely new kind of profile.  —  Timeline gives you an easy way to rediscover the things you shared, and collect your most important moments.  It also lets you share new experiences …
RELATED:
Zack Whittaker / Between the Lines Blog:
Facebook Timeline goes live: Gives users seven-day grace
Todd Wasserman / Mashable!:   No Timeline Pages for Brands Yet, Facebook Says
Ryan Gavin / The Windows Blog:
IE to Start Automatic Upgrades across Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7  —  Everyone benefits from an up-to-date browser.  —  Today we are sharing our plan to automatically upgrade Windows customers to the latest version of Internet Explorer available for their PC.
RELATED:
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Internet Explorer to start automatically updating itself in January
Discussion: The Windows Blog
Amit Singhal / The Official Google Blog:
Zeitgeist 2011: How the world searched  —  This year marks our 11th annual look back at the searches that compose the year's Zeitgeist—the spirit of the time.  With Zeitgeist, we look at the most popular and the fastest rising terms—the terms with the highest growth in 2011—in many categories across many countries around the world.
Sydney Morning Herald:
Bill Gates Confirms He Won't Return To Microsoft  —  Bill Gates refutes a full-time return to Microsoft, the company he founded, to spend the rest of his life working for his foundation.  —  Bill Gates today ruled out ever returning to the helm of Microsoft and dismissed harsh barbs by his former arch-rival Steve Jobs.
Ryan Tate / Gawker:
Source Reveals Facebook Is Gushing Cash  —  A well-placed mole has forwarded us the Silicon Valley equivalent of hard-core pornography: an explicit look at Facebook's finances.  They're even more staggering than we expected.  A gusher of profits has left the social network with a cash hoard …
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
An Open Letter From Internet Engineers to the U.S. Congress  —  An Open Letter From Internet Engineers to the U.S. Congress  —  Today, a group of 83 prominent Internet inventors and engineers sent an open letter to members of the United States Congress, stating their opposition to the SOPA …
RELATED:
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Tons Of Amendments Proposed For SOPA
Katitza Rodriguez / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
SOPA undermines the U.S. in its negotiations for a free, open Internet
Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Galaxy Nexus now on sale from Verizon for $299.99 with next day shipping  —  It's December 15th in parts of the US which means that the Galaxy Nexus is now available to purchase from Verizon.  It'll cost you $299 plus a two-year contract but you already knew that.
RELATED:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
An iPhone Lover's Take On The Galaxy Nexus
Marc Chacksfield / TechRadar.com:
Google granted driverless car patent  —  Kind of like auto-complete for journeys  —  Google has been granted a patent for driverless car technology, which can fully take over the control of a vehicle from a human driver.  —  This full-fat version of cruise control uses web functionality …
Daniel Eran Dilger / AppleInsider:
US iPhone, iPad demand more than 40% stronger than expected  —  An Alphawise survey of American purchasing intentions indicates that US iPhone and iPad demand are stronger than expected; sales will continue to outperform expectations into 2012 and should enable Apple to beat estimates next year.
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
French President's Residence ‘Busted’ For BitTorrent Piracy  —  Located near the Champs-Élysées in the French capital, Paris, the Élysée Palace is the official residence of President Sarkozy.  As husband of ‘first lady’ and musician Carla Bruni …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Accel Leads $14M Round In Cloud-Based, Visual Presentation Software Prezi  —  Cloud-based presentation software Prezi has raised $14 million in Series B financing led by Accel Partners with Sunstone Capital participating in the round.  Accel's Andrew Braccia will be joining Prezi's board of directors.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Samsung's snarky TV ads have harshed the iPhone's vibe  —  Samsung's “buzz score” has overtaken Apple's in a key demographic, says YouGov  —  Click to enlarge.  —  The chart at right says it all.  —  Starting around Nov. 28 — six days after Samsung began airing its Galaxy Nexus ads mocking Apple's …
Ellis Hamburger / Business Insider:
Meet The Genius Behind Tweetbot, The Twitter App For iPhone Everyone's Going Nuts About  —  On Monday we spoke with Paul Haddad, the programmer behind Tweetbot, the best Twitter app in the App Store.  —  We asked Paul about what makes Tweetbot so good, and why tech fanatics are in a frenzy about it.
Jason Goldberg / betashop:
Behind the Scenes: How Fab Raised $40 million with a lot of data and not much pain  —  Let's face it, fundraising can be a real pain in the ass for the entrepreneur.  —  It takes up a ton of time that can be otherwise spent managing the business.  —  Sure, it's a necessary evil, but it's also typically a big distraction.
Discussion: Betabeat
Emil Protalinski / ZDNet:
Obama doesn't let his daughters on Facebook  —  Summary: Facebook may be the world's largest social network, but it's not allowed at the White House.  US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama don't let their daughters use the service.  —  US President Barack Obama …
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Stolen iPhone?  Your iMessages may still be going to the wrong place  —  Those who have had a phone lost or stolen are familiar with the horrors that follow: the thief (or the person he sold your phone to) starts to send texts as you to your family and friends, leaving you scrambling to de-activate the device as soon as possible.
Pew Internet:
Where people get information about restaurants and other local businesses  —  People looking for information about local restaurants and other businesses say they rely on the internet, especially search engines, ahead of any other source.  Newspapers, both printed copies and the websites …
Jay Greene / CNET News:
Microsoft replaces veteran Xbox design boss  —  The Xbox team, in 2000, with the chrome Xbox concept prototype.  Don Coyner, who led marketing for the console, is wearing the patterned shirt in the middle row, far right.  —  As Microsoft's Xbox group moves toward launching a successor to the Xbox 360 …
Angus Loten / Wall Street Journal:
Chasing the New Angel Investors  —  Entrepreneurs Find They Need More Than a ‘Great Idea’ When Pitching to Potential Backers  —  Budding entrepreneur Eric Bolden had never met an angel investor until he tried pitching a business idea to a few of them.  —  Last week, the retired prison guard showed …
Darrell Etherington / GigaOM:
ITunes Match international rollout premature; refunds being issued  —  If it seemed on late Wednesday like Apple's rollout of iTunes Match to basically every international market where the iTunes music store is available was too good to be true, that's because it was; Apple is telling customers …
Discussion: MacStories
Joe Wilcox / BetaNews:
One password to bring them all and on Windows 8 bind them  —  Microsoft has long looked lovingly at identity, and providing the “one” that binds consumers and businesses to Windows.  Users benefit by being freed from managing multiple identities and passwords across the web and, presumably, by improved privacy and security as a result.
Chester Wisniewski / Naked Security:
Google and EFF propose improvements to HTTPS as GlobalSign releases CA breach report  —  Certificate authority GlobalSign, who was implicated as having suffered a security breach by the infamous “ComodoHacker”, have released their final report on the incident.
Shane McGlaun / SlashGear:
Acer trims 2012 range by two-thirds, predicts Wintel besting Apple  —  Acer's chairman has announced some big changes for the Acer line up in 2012.  The company will be cutting its product line back significantly with a reduction of its line by two-thirds.  That reduction will come …
 
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 More Items: 
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Sony and Warner Are Said to Join Suit Against Grooveshark
Discussion: CNET News, GigaOM and Plagiarism Today
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Apps vs. the web: Are they enemies or allies?
Consumer Reports News:
Consumer protections lacking for mobile payments
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
At Least The Stock Market Is Liking Google Lately
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
First Android Dedicated GPS Unit Actually Looks Pretty Decent
Discussion: Gizmag Emerging …
Glenn Fleishman / Boing Boing:
Font swap in iBooks
Adrianne Jeffries / Betabeat:
As Banks Start Nosing Around Facebook and Twitter, the Wrong Friends Might Just Sink Your Credit
 Earlier Items: 
Delicious Blog:
New Look on Delicious  —  We've received a lot of helpful suggestions …
Discussion: The Next Web
Zal Bilimoria / The Official Netflix Blog:
Netflix Unveils a New iPad App
 

 
From Mediagazer:

The New York Times Company:
The New York Times names Dick Stevenson as Washington bureau chief; Stevenson has been at the paper for nearly 40 years and Washington editor since 2021

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”

Ayodeji Rotinwa / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the Agora Center for Research, a Ugandan newsroom sitting between activism and investigative reporting, posting its work on various social media sites
 
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