Top Items:
The Official Google Blog:
Introducing Measurement Lab — When an Internet application doesn't work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else? It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Epicenter, Technologizer, eWeek, Techdirt, DSLreports, Ars Technica, Tech Daily Dose, Josh Bancroft's …, BetaNews, Electronic Frontier Foundation, TechSpot, InformationWeek, Network World and SitePoint, Thanks:fredericl
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Kim Dixon / Reuters:
Google begins effort to find Internet blockers — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google Inc on Wednesday unveiled a plan aimed at eventually letting computer users determine whether providers like Comcast Corp are inappropriately blocking or slowing their work online.
Cox Communications:
Congestion Management FAQs — In February, Cox will begin testing a new method of managing traffic on our high-speed Internet network in our Kansas and Arkansas markets. During the occasional times the network is congested, this new technology automatically ensures that all time-sensitive Internet traffic …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, PC World, CNET News, The Register, Digits, TorrentFreak, Electronista, DSLreports, Technologizer, The Precursor Blog, Public Knowledge, Lifehacker, Geek News Central, Associated Press, FierceVoIP, Slyck, Light Reading, Zeropaid File Sharing …, Obsessable, Broadband Politics and Free Press
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
AOL CEO Randy Falco's Entire Memo to the Troops on Layoffs — Here is the letter AOL CEO Randy Falco (pictured here) has penned to the entire staff about layoffs of 10 percent of its workforce-or 700 people-and other cost cuts, which the online service is announcing today.
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: AOL to Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff, Cutting 700, Due to Ad Meltdown and a Refocusing on New Structure — Time Warner online unit AOL is cutting 700 employees due to the weak economy and the ensuing falloff in advertising revenue, but also because of recent structural changes made to refocus the once-mighty service.
Discussion:
GigaOM, ReadWriteWeb, CNET News, Computerworld, Silicon Alley Insider, Tech Confidential, Digits, paidContent.org and VentureBeat
Peter Gumbel / Fortune:
Putin-Dell slapdown at Davos — The Russian prime minister tells the Dell CEO: 'We don't need help. We are not invalids.' — DAVOS, Switzerland (Fortune) — Ever since Vladimir Putin rose to power in 2000, his political opponents and entire countries have learned to their cost that he has a tough, demeaning streak.
Discussion:
CNET News, Bits, Engadget, Silicon Alley Insider, techblog.dallasnews.com, Gizmodo and Gawker
Paul Carr / Guardian:
Not safe for work: If you can't say anything nice, kill yourself, says Paul Carr — Yesterday, as Techcrunch's Michael Arrington was leaving the DLD conference venue in Munich, one of the conference attendees walked up to him and spat in his face. — I'll say that again. One of the attendees.
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Some Things Need To Change — Yesterday as I was leaving the DLD Conference in Munich, Germany someone walked up to me and quite deliberately spat in my face. Before I even understood what was happening, he veered off into the crowd, just another dark head in a dark suit.
Discussion:
Digits, Guardian, Gawker, Scobleizer, L.A. Times Tech Blog, TechFlash, BetaNews, The Post Money Value, Webmetricsguru, Industry Standard, CloudAve, deal architect and Communications …
Kim Dixon / Reuters:
House fails to pass digital TV delay bill — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An effort to delay the February 17 deadline for a nationwide switch to digital television failed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday after Republicans blocked the move. — The legislation is backed …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Post, Silicon Alley Insider, Gear Live, Between the Lines, Obsessable, Technologizer and InformationWeek
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Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Why AT&T loves the iPhone (again) — For much of last year, AT&T (T) Mobility's websites seemed to be promoting every cell phone in their arsenal except for the iPhone — as if the company wasn't sure the revenue coming in from iPhone users was worth the steep bounty it was paying Apple (AAPL) for each sale.
Gabe Rivera / Techmeme News:
New way to get on Techmeme: send tips to Techmeme via Twitter — Have you ever wanted to suggest news stories to Techmeme? Often there are Techmeme readers aware of great stories that have fallen through the cracks, or are taking too long to appear on Techmeme.
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Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:Uh Oh. Now You Can Suggest Stories To Techmeme Via Twitter
Thanks:erickschonfeld
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Apple vs. Palm: the in-depth analysis — Apple and Palm kicked a lot of dirt at each other last week — acting Apple CEO Tim Cook flatly told analysts that “We will not stand for people ripping off our IP” when asked specifically about competition like the Palm Pre, and Palm responded …
Times of London:
Danger online: Perils of revealing every intimate moment — Anything goes on the web. We find out why we share personal details online and explain our obsession with social networking — So Chelsy Davy announced the end of her five-year relationship with Prince Harry via Facebook alongside a cutesy icon of a broken red heart.
Thanks:noahkagan
Hiptop3.com:
Sidekick LX 2009 — We got the above image in our inbox. danielle says she was taking a survey about smart phones on QuizPoints and was presented with this one. Here are the specs it lists in the photo: — Social Networking Suite of Apps — Facebook — MySpace w/ video upload
Discussion:
Engadget, Obsessable, Unwired View, TmoNews, Gizmodo, MobileCrunch, Mobilewhack.com and Electronista
Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb:
Google Announces Measurement Lab: New Initiative to Expose Traffic Shaping and Throttling by ISPs — A number of ISPs have lately started to clamp down on peer-to-peer networks and are actively restricting heavy usage of ‘unlimited’ connections. For users, however, there is very little transparency …
Dan Rayburn / The Business Of Online Video:
Apple Moves To Dual CDN Vendor Strategy: Now Using Limelight With Akamai — For many years, Apple has relied on Akamai to deliver the vast majority, if not all, of Apple's content. But in the fourth quarter of 2008, it appears that Apple moved to a dual-vendor strategy and started using Limelight Networks …
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
Share MP3s as tweets with Songly — If you're looking to share an MP3 with a friend, or with a bunch of other folks on Twitter, worth checking out is Songly. The service takes the URL of any MP3 that's hosted on the Web and will both shorten it for micropublishing tools like Twitter …
Discussion:
/Message
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
The Canary At The New York Times Grows Larger As Internet Advertising Keeps Dropping — The advertising situation at the New York Times is not getting any better. Today, the company released its fourth quarter earnings. Total advertising revenues were down 13.1 percent in the quarter to $1.8 billion.
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Stephanie Condon / CNET News:
Vista marketing draws antitrust complaints — A correction was made to this story. Read below for details. — WASHINGTON—Government antitrust attorneys said on Wednesday that they continue to receive complaints from hardware makers and other companies about Microsoft's business practices …
Prince McLean / AppleInsider:
iDVD hung out to dry as Apple pushes movies online — One of the original pillars of Apple's iLife suite, iDVD, has increasingly been given the cold shoulder to the point where it is not even depicted on the retail package anymore. How much longer will the app stick around now that the company …
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Sources: AT&T, Comcast may help RIAA foil piracy — CNET staff writer Marguerite Reardon co-authored this report. — AT&T and Comcast, two of the nation's largest Internet service providers, are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry …
Amy-Mae Elliott / Pocket-lint.co.uk:
Acer smartphone launch confirmed … “Are you ready to join Acer's launch into the world of mobile communications?” — So asks an invite that's just dropped into Pocket-lint's inbox this morning, confirming rumours the company are to launch a smartphone. — Due to be unveiled on February 16 …
Discussion:
SlashGear, Engadget, PC World, Boy Genius Report, Computerworld, VentureBeat, Local Mobile Search, GPS Obsessed and Electronista
Alexis Madrigal / Wired Science:
Autonomous Robots Invade Retail Warehouses — Next time you order a new pair of skinny jeans from Gap.com, you should know that you are helping welcome in the hive-mind robot overlords of retail. — Warehouses run by Gap, as well as Zappos and Staples now use autonomous robots to pluck products …
Discussion:
Brad Ideas
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Find Images that Have a Certain Size — Most image search engines offers an option to filter the results by size, but you can only choose between small, medium and large images. Google Image Search has an undocumented parameter that lets you specify the exact dimension of the results:
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Ctrl-Z: a return to the Supreme Court's software patent ban? — Few topics have roiled the normally staid field of patent law more than the expansion of patents into the software industry. As we've documented in some depth here at Ars, the last decade has seen the Patent Office grant …
Discussion:
Freedom to Tinker
Dan Moren / Macworld:
iPhone push notifications: dead and buried, or waiting in the wings? — Apple's no stranger to missing a deadline or two, nor is the company averse to pushing back products a few weeks or months when they need more time. But less common are products that disappear entirely into the world-devouring maw …
Ted Rheingold / Dogster Inc. Company Blog:
Yahoo Quietly Shutters Yahoo Pets [grin] — With no notice Yahoo quietly started directing pets.yahoo.com users to a subsection of their women's vertical Shine. — [Excuse me while I have a David vs. Goliath moment.] — The demise of pets.yahoo.com comes as no surprise …
Discussion:
The Technology Chronicles
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
Revision3 Views Up 140% Despite Self-Imposed Standards — Online video studio Revision3 said today its program views are up 140 percent, with 46 million views in 2008 as compared to 19 million views in 2007. — Last year Revision3 reported it had delivered 25 million videos (and 103 million “clips").
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
Intel releases Linux-based Moblin 2 Alpha for Netbooks — The first alpha release of Intel's Linux-based Moblin 2 platform is now available for download. It's designed to work on Atom-based netbook devices and it offers fast boot times and a unique Internet connection manager.
Discussion:
GottaBeMobile.com
Don Clark / Digits:
Nvidia Recruits Stanford Computing Guru — At a dinner Monday night in San Francisco, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was having trouble containing himself about a new hire his chip company would soon be announcing. Now it can be told: William Dally, one of the really big thinkers in computer design …
Dan Goodin / The Register:
DDoS attack boots Kyrgyzstan from net — Russian bears blamed — The central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan was effectively knocked offline for more than a week by a Russian cybermilitia that continues to flood the country's internet providers with crippling data attacks, a security expert said.
