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6:45 PM ET, January 16, 2012

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Sarah Lacy / PandoDaily:
Why I Started PandoDaily  —  Several months ago I became obsessed with a colony of trees in Utah called Pando Trees.  Measuring 43 hectares and weighing 6,000 tons, they're pretty impressive above ground.  But what really matters is what is happening below.  The interconnected root system is the oldest living organism in the world.
RELATED:
Ryan Tate / Gawker:
Tech Industry Buys Itself a Mouthpiece  —  How did Silicon Valleys bigwigs react when their favorite trade publication adopted strict new conflicts of interest policies?  They banded together to pay someone else to cover them.  —  Former TechCrunch reporter Sarah Lacy today launched PandoDaily …
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Sarah Lacy's PandoDaily launches with $2.5 million in funding  —  Sarah Lacy, an author and veteran journalist (most recently with TechCrunch) is launching PandoDaily, a daily technology news blog focused on startups and the startup ecosystem.  The name for the site comes from a colony of trees in Utah called, Pando Trees.
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Twitter's Dick Costolo calls Wikipedia's SOPA blackout ‘foolish’  —  We've already reported on Wikipedia's founder Jimmy Wales announcing that the site will be going dark, effectively closing up for business, for 24 hours on Wednesday in protest of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).
RELATED:
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Wikipedia's anti-SOPA blackout will go ahead on Wednesday  —  Wikipedia is planning an online “blackout” on Wednesday, in protest against proposed US legislation intended to stem web piracy.  —  The free, user-written encyclopaedia is one of the world's top five most popular websites …
Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
A TV Debate on Antipiracy
Ian Paul / PC World:
Log into Gmail on a PC via Your Smartphone  —  Google recently introduced a fun (and more secure) way to log into your Google account from a public terminal without entering your password into the PC, and instead using your smartphone and a QR code.  —  The method is similar to how Google sets …
Dan Lyons / The Daily Beast:
Even Woz Thinks the Android Bests the iPhone  —  Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak still loves his iPhone, but says in some ways, Android has leapt ahead.  Wow.  —  Apple CEO Steve Jobs hated the Android smartphone operating system so much that he vowed he would spend his last dying breath …
Stuart Miles / Pocket-lint:
Samsung and Apple looking at new waterproof smartphone tech  —  A new technology that could save your phone from getting water damaged could be included the next wave of smartphones about to be made by Samsung and Apple.  —  Called HZO, the technology creates a nano-scale film barrier …
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Wintel tablet PCs may be priced from US$599-899  —  Wintel-based tablet PCs may see their prices go as high as US$599-899 due to Intel and Microsoft both being unwilling to drop their related hardware and software quotes, and as a result, it could push consumers from wanting to purchase the devices …
Electronista:
91% of business pros use iPads for work, 83% loyal to Apple  —  IDG finds iPad replacing PCs at work  —  Nearly every business pro with an iPad is using it primarily to get work done, IDG determined in a study on Monday.  About 91 percent worldwide who have iPads use it for work first …
John P. Mello Jr. / PC World:
Maker of Steve Jobs Action Figure Kills Project  —  The maker of a controversial Steve Jobs action figure is stopping production and sale of the 12-inch doll following threats of legal action by Apple and Jobs' family.  —  “Though we still believe that we have not overstepped any legal boundaries …
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Is Facebook IPO on Track for Late May?  —  According to multiple sources, the long anticipated public offering of Facebook is now likely to come in the third week of May.  —  That means that the company must file its IPO documents within the next month, given the review by the Securities …
Steve Clayton / TechNet Blogs:
Surface 2.0 now shipping  —  I spent a lot of time with Surface 2.0 last week and from this morning onwards, other can begin to have the same pleasure - the SUR 40 is now shipping and available through Samsung channel and reseller partners.  Samsung announced the news this morning …
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Why the video pros are moving away from Apple  —  Six months after the launch of Final Cut Pro X (FCPX), Apple's major overhaul to its professional video editing software Final Cut Pro, video pros find themselves increasingly looking at other software options.
Discussion: WebProNews
Steven Sinofsky / MSDN Blogs:
Building the next generation file system for Windows: ReFS … In this blog post I'd like to talk about a new file system for Windows.  This file system, which we call ReFS, has been designed from the ground up to meet a broad set of customer requirements, both today's and tomorrow's …
Charlie Kindel / cek.log:
Fragmentation Is Not The End of Android  —  The fragmentation of Android is very real and very problematic for end users, developers, mobile operators, device manufacturers, and Google.  However fragmentation does not mean Android is going to “die” or “fail” as some seem to think.
France Lamy / Google LatLong:
World Bank and Google join forces to empower mapping communities around the world  —  Today the World Bank and Google announced a collaborative agreement aimed at improving disaster preparedness and development efforts in countries around the world.  —  Under this agreement …
Yonhap News Agency:
Pantech in patent talks with Microsoft over smartphone  —  Pantech Co., South Korea's No. 3 handset maker, said Monday it is in talks with Microsoft Corp. over whether to pay royalties to the U.S. firm for its patent for Android smartphones.  —  Microsoft has been requesting Android handset makers …
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple jumps 9 spots to become 8th most valuable brand in the world  —  Apple was ranked the eighth most valuable brand of the world in 2011, with an estimated total value of $33.49 billion, making it bigger than Disney, Mercedes-Benz and Budweiser.  —  The 2011 rankings were released on Monday …
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
The Pirate Bay Launches Promo Platform For Artists  —  For many independent artists obscurity is a bigger problem than piracy, but it's a problem that The Pirate Bay hopes to solve.  —  Today the largest torrent site on the Internet rolled out a new promotion platform for filmmakers, musicians, writers and all other artists alike.
Discussion: WebProNews, Inquirer and The Next Web
Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:
Uh-oh, PC: Half of computing device sales are mobile  —  Last week, I pointed out some of the remote access solutions shown at CES that allow you to tap into the power of a full desktop computer from a mobile device.  I said it was another nail in the coffin for traditional personal computers …
Discussion: Appolicious Advisor
Christian Davenport / Washington Post:
As demand for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves  —  Kindles, Nooks and iPads can do many amazing things, but they can't bump you ahead in line at the Reston Regional Library.  In fact, if you want to borrow a book, it may be quicker to put down your sleek new device and head into the stacks.
Discussion: TeleRead
Ed Bott / The Ed Bott Report Blog:
Linux won't be locked out of Windows 8 PCs, but FUD continues  —  Summary: A new draft of Microsoft's Windows 8 hardware certification specs confirms what we already knew: the new Secure Boot feature won't lock out Linux on hundreds of millions of new PCs.  But Linux backers are demanding …
Barb Darrow / GigaOM:
AWS offers free Windows on EC2 (kind of)  —  Amazon will let customers run free micro-instances of Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 on its EC2 service starting now, according to a new post to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) blog.  —  Such try-before-you-buy tactics have helped Amazon win converts …
 
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 More Items: 
Nancy Messieh / The Next Web:
Twitter is adding 11 new accounts per second and could pass 500 million in February, says report
Discussion: The Wall Blog and PSFK
Bloomberg:
Samsung May Sell First Overseas Bonds Since 1997 to Finance Chip Factories
Daniel Edward Rosen / The New York Observer:
Exclusive: foursquare Celebrates New Office Space, Elbow Room
Stephen Shankland / CNET:
Ex-Firefox exec Shaver has plans for Facebook's Android app
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
IBM rolls out new social analytics tools
Discussion: Bits, eWeek and WebProNews
 Earlier Items: 
Melanie Lee / Reuters:
Microblogging use in China quadruples in 2011: report
Discussion: paidContent, WebProNews and BBC
Horace Dediu / @asymco:
A second view into the history of personal computing. http://twitpic.com/87nbjj
Discussion: The Next Web and parislemon
Robert Andrews / paidContent:
Lovefilm Adding ABC TV Show Archive In UK Netflix Fight
Mark Cuban / blog maverick:
The TV Business Keeps Getting Stronger !
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
Nick Bilton / Bits:
Design Sets Tone at Square, a Mobile Payments Start-Up
Discussion: Betabeat
 

 
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”

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

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

 
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