Top Items:
AppleInsider:
Apple's ‘Bliss’ e-textbook project inspired by Al Gore's ‘Our Choice’ — Apple on Thursday will unveil a new digital textbook project internally code-named “Bliss” that was inspired by Al Gore's “Our Choice” iOS e-book, AppleInsider has learned. — The details come from a tip sent earlier in the week by an anonymous source.
Discussion:
The Apple Core Blog, 9to5Mac, PandoDaily, PhoneArena, Softpedia News, Computerworld, O'Grady's PowerPage and BGR
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Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Apple's Education Announcement, Live From New York — Greetings! We're here at New York's iconic Guggenheim Museum, awaiting the start of Apple's “Education Announcement”. The expectation is that we'll hear about new publishing tools that allow educators and others to create …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, VentureBeat, GigaOM, Engadget, Digits, Business Insider, TUAW, Mashable!, Techland, Macworld, iPhone Hacks and CNET
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Regarding the Scope of Apple's Education Initiative — Philip Elmer-DeWitt, in a piece headlined “Apple's Education Event Is Getting Seriously Over-Hyped”: … I don't get the logic here. What about Apple's success in the music industry does Apple regret?
Discussion:
AllThingsD, msnbc.com and Guardian
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
PIPA support collapses, with 13 new Senators opposed — Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet's unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Social Media, Business Insider, Fast Company, Reuters, Ars Technica, Washington Post, Ars Technica, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Dice Blog Network, TorrentFreak, WBRZ-TV Channel 2 Baton …, KTNA Talkeetna, Alaska, Quora, The Hill, PandoDaily, AllThingsD, CNET, Techdirt, Mashable!, Threat Level, VatorNews, Security, Digital Trends and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »
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Jenna Wortham / New York Times:
A Political Coming of Age for the Tech Industry — With a Web-wide protest on Wednesday that includes a 24-hour shutdown of the English-language Wikipedia, the legislative battle over two Internet piracy bills has reached an extraordinary moment — a political coming of age for a relatively young …
Discussion:
nytm.org, CNET, GigaOM, @jack, The Atlantic Online, TechCrunch, @twitter, Social Media Collective, Valley Fever, F-Secure Antivirus …, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Slate, @dickc, Bits, HBR.org, @dannysullivan, Search Engine Watch, paidContent, eCampus News, BostInno, Threat Level, @mchammer and SC Magazine
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Web blackouts. Is this the new face of American activism? — Countless websites — including Google, Wikipedia, Scribd, O'Reilly Media, WordPress (see disclosure) — have put up some kind of message today asking users to take action against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.
Discussion:
Mashable!, Inquirer, Techdirt, MediaPost, GeekWire, WebProNews, Ars Technica and TechCrunch
Deborah Netburn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Google says 4.5 million people signed anti-SOPA petition today — When Google speaks, the world listens. — And today, when Google asked its users to sign a petition protesting two anti-piracy laws circulating in Congress, millions responded. — A spokeswoman for Google confirmed …
Matt Flegenheimer / Bits:
After Protest, Wikipedia Says 'We're Not Done Yet'
After Protest, Wikipedia Says 'We're Not Done Yet'
Discussion:
BBC, Computerworld, Inquirer, Forbes, Techdirt, Pocket-lint, GigaOM and Security
Brian X. Chen / Bits:
How Wikipedia Turned Off the Lights
How Wikipedia Turned Off the Lights
Discussion:
New York Times and Silicon Valley Watcher, Thanks:bxchen
Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:
25 senators come out against PIPA anti-piracy bill
25 senators come out against PIPA anti-piracy bill
Discussion:
Betabeat, Techland, Facebook, Billboard.Biz, Lincoln Journal Star, WPRI.com Blogs, Wall Street Journal, AllThingsD and DailyTech
Carl Sjogreen / Facebook Blog:
Introducing New Apps for Timeline — New timeline apps are now available from Foodspotting, Foodily, Ticketmaster, Pinterest, Rotten Tomatoes, Pose, Kobo, Gogobot, TripAdvisor, and others. You can now enhance your timeline with apps that help you tell your story, whether you love to cook, eat, travel, run, or review movies.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Telegraph, AllThingsD, The Register, Ubergizmo, Forbes, Softpedia News, Social Markets, TechCrunch, The Verge, Gizmodo, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Search Engine Roundtable, The Equity Kicker, Forbes, the Econsultancy blog, Business Insider, Search Engine Watch, New Media Age, memeburn, Fast Company, Engadget, Gizmodo UK, Inside Facebook, Between the Lines Blog, Pocket-lint and Friending Facebook Blog, Thanks:malliegator
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Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
The Most Interesting Uses of Facebook's New Open Graph — As I told you yesterday would happen, and as had been expected for a while, Facebook tonight added tools to help more than 60 food, fashion, fitness, travel and other applications share users' activity to Facebook more smoothly, precisely and automatically.
Discussion:
CNET, Lifestream Blog and Social Business Blog
Jon Russell / The Next Web:
This is the full list of apps included in Facebook's massive new Open Graph update
This is the full list of apps included in Facebook's massive new Open Graph update
Discussion:
Fusible.com, blog.chron.com, PandoDaily, USA Today, ITProPortal and Electronista
Jolie O'Dell / VentureBeat:
Facebook's biggest change yet: Actions are here
Facebook's biggest change yet: Actions are here
Discussion:
BGR, Friending Facebook Blog, Facebook Developer Blog, CNN, Mashable!, The New Persuaders, Bits, GigaOM and PC World
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Not a Kodak Moment: Legendary Camera Maker Files for Bankruptcy Protection — Struggling camera maker Kodak said on Wednesday night that it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. — The move, which had been expected, follows years of struggle by the film giant to transition to a digital imaging company.
Discussion:
BGR, DealBook, Reuters, PC World, Macworld, Techland, The Verge, VentureBeat, @felixsalmon, Deal Journal, CNET, PalmAddicts, IntoMobile, @reuterstech, Reuters, Electronista, Jon Burg's Future Visions and The Tech Trade
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Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
eBay's John Donahoe Literally Starts Hammering Out the Plan for Mobile Payments — John Donahoe has a hammer, and he's not afraid to use it. — The yellow hammer, which the eBay CEO purchased at Home Depot using PayPal, signals that the company's plans for entering the mobile payments business has entered the construction phase.
Discussion:
TechCrunch
Austin Carr / Fast Company:
Could Instagram Come To Windows Phone Before Android? — Instagram is one of the most popular apps on the iPhone. The photo-sharing service, which lets users snap pictures and spruce them up with one-click filters, has rocketed to 15 million users, and was recently named iPhone app of the year by Apple.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, The Next Web, Phones Review, SlashGear and GadgeTell
Electronista:
New fast Fourier math could give image compression 10X boost — MIT develops new Fourier algorithm for image tech — MIT researchers have put forward a paper for a new approach to fast Fourier transform math that could provide a major lift to image compression and other signal processing technology.
Discussion:
PhysOrg.com and SlashGear
Michael Hastings / Rolling Stone:
Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview — Under house arrest in England, the WikiLeaks founder opens up about his battle with the ‘Times,’ his stint in solitary and the future of journalism — It's a few days before Christmas, and Julian Assange has just finished moving to a new hide-out deep in the English countryside.
Liana B. Baker / Reuters:
Zynga buys four mobile gaming companies — (Reuters) - Zynga Inc said it bought four small mobile game companies for an undisclosed sum as the top maker of Facebook games seeks to expand its lineup on smartphones and tablets. — The company's top mobile executive David Ko told Reuters …
Discussion:
Digital Trends, SlashGear, Mobile Entertainment, VentureBeat, PandoDaily, tinyComb and MediaFile
TechFlash:
Amazon tops in customer service; toppling Zappos subsidiary — National Retail Federation Foundation | Amazon.com is tops for providing customer service, according to rankings for the top 10 retailers for customer service in 2011. — In the seventh annual National Retail Federation …
Charlie Sorrel / Gadget Lab:
Whited00r Puts iOS 5 on iPhone 2G, iPod Touch 1G — Give new life to your aging iOS devices with Whited00r — Still using a first-gen iPod Touch or a second-generation iPhone? Sick of all the multi-tasking, home-screen folders and faster performance of all those iOS versions you can't run on your …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Softpedia News, TeleRead, iPhone and 9to5Mac
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft confirms Dave Cutler, father of Windows NT, now working on Xbox — Summary: Dave Cutler, the father of Windows NT, is now working on helping Microsoft evolve Xbox beyond a game-centric console. — Four years ago, Microsoft assembled a team, many with killer Windows pedigrees …
Discussion:
The Register, The Verge, Softpedia News, VG247, LiveSide.net, Electronista and Neowin.net
Basil Katz / Reuters:
Man charged with stealing software from NY Fed — (Reuters) - Prosecutors charged a computer programmer with stealing software code valued at nearly $10 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. — They charged Bo Zhang, who worked as a contract programmer at the bank …
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Oops - Sony Ericsson Swings To A 207 Million Euro Net Loss In Q4 2011 — Smartphone maker Sony Ericsson this morning posted a pre-tax loss of 247 million euros ($318 million) in the fourth quarter of 2011, after reporting a profit of 31 million euros in Q3 2011.
Josh Ong / AppleInsider:
Wolfram unveils interactive education portal on eve of Apple NYC event — On the eve of Apple's education-related event in New York City, Wolfram has launched an education portal that features an interactive textbook, dynamic teaching tools and lesson plans.
Discussion:
MacNN, Thanks:beijingdou
Chris Ziegler / The Verge:
AT&T retools data plans: 300MB for $20, 3GB for $30, 5GB with tethering for $50 — Following a recent rumor that we broke right here on The Verge, AT&T is nudging all three of its smartphone data plans starting this Sunday, January 22nd. Currently you can get 200MB for $15, 2GB for $25 …
Discussion:
AT&T, TechCrunch, FierceWireless, ATT Blogs, Fudzilla, LAPTOP Magazine, GigaOM, iPhone-Developers, SlashGear, blog.chron.com, Gadget Lab, IntoMobile, Android Authority, TUAW, Gotta Be Mobile, BGR, The Next Web, MacRumors, 9to5Mac and Engadget
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Grooveshark Fights a Copyright Lawsuit by Chasing After Anonymous Commenters — A media company is using subpoenas to demand the names and addresses of anonymous Web users. That's a story we've seen before. — But this one has a twist or two. The media company is Grooveshark …
Discussion:
Business Insider and Media Decoder
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Handset maker: Windows Phone OS costs $23-plus per copy? — Summary: Is Microsoft charging some of its phone OEMs between $23 and $31 per copy to license its Windows Phone OS? — There's a report on TrustedReviews.com that quotes an official with Windows Phone OEM ZTE as saying the company …
Discussion:
The Verge, Trusted Reviews, IntoMobile, MobileBurn.com, Electronista, WMPoweruser, T3 News and PhoneArena