Top Items:
New York Times:
AOL to Add Free Phone to Instant Messaging Feature — AOL is preparing to offer the 41 million users of its instant messaging system a free phone number that will allow people to call them from regular phones while they are online. — The move is part of a broad effort by AOL …
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USA Today:
AOL's 'AIM Phoneline' offers free local phone number — DULLES, Va. — AOL is close to unveiling a voice-over-Internet service, based on its AIM instant messenger, that would give any AIM user a local phone number for free. — Dubbed AIM Phoneline, the free number would only allow for incoming calls from any phone.
Discussion:
A VC, Alec Saunders .LOG, michael parekh on IT, IP Democracy, Digital Inspiration, Download Squad, billsdue and Rex Hammock's Weblog
Matt Marshall / SiliconBeat:
CIA in Silicon Valley invests in — shocker — a tiny photo lens — The CIA's venture arm, In-Q-Tel, may have lost its lead Silicon Valley operator, Gilman Louie, but the group is still working away on deals here. — Gilman has since launched a venture capital firm, and has gone quiet for now.
Discussion:
Reiter's Camera Phone Report
Microsoft:
Microsoft to Acquire In-Game Advertising Pioneer Massive Inc. — Massive's technology for weaving dynamic, relevant ads into video games will extend next-generation advertising across Microsoft properties and beyond. — REDMOND, Wash. — May 4, 2006 — Today at the seventh annual MSN® …
Mihai Parparita / Official Google Reader Blog:
There's some Reader in my Homepage! — Reader and the Google Personalized Homepage have always been kindred spirits, seeing as both deal with feeds (and the teams sit 10 feet apart). We're therefore very happy to announce that your Reader reading list (or any label of your choosing) can now be added as a module to the homepage.
Globe Investor / Globe and Mail:
INGRAM: Apple wins, but who loses? — Steve Jobs, benign dictator: It's funny how our view of what is right changes depending on whether we like the person who is making the rules. Take Apple and iTunes for example. After months of negotiations — and months before that filled with sniping …
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Yahoo! Publisher Network:
Maintaining a Quality Network — As noted on certain message boards, some publisher accounts have been recently closed. These account closures were based solely on traffic quality issues. — Yahoo! Publisher Network is still an invite-only beta program.
Terry Heaton / Terry Heaton's Weblog:
"Innertube" leaves local affiliates in a rip tide — So CBS has launched a broadband channel (innertube). This should surprise no one, since Viacom owns CBS and Viacom channels MTV (overdrive) and Comedy Central (motherload) have similar broadband channels. It's a smart move by CBS, but once again, what about the affiliates?
Annalee Newitz / Wired News:
The RFID Hacking Underground … James Van Bokkelen is about to be robbed. A wealthy software entrepreneur, Van Bokkelen will be the latest victim of some punk with a laptop. But this won't be an email scam or bank account hack. A skinny 23-year-old named Jonathan Westhues plans to use a cheap …
Houston Chronicle:
(PZ) Nassau County Legislator Sues Google for Promoting and Profiting from Child Pornography — Suit Charges Google as World's Largest Facilitator and Distributor of Child Pornography — WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 4, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) — Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz, P.C. …
Richard Querin / Renaissance Man:
Ahh, it's linked to Attention © — Some follow-on discussion about the linking question by Justin Peterson who makes a very good point in that while I want the viewpoint of the writer on a given subject, it's likely not the only view I want. Moreover, I prefer to own my own judgements on things.
T3:
Transform PSP into a mobile! — Vonage rumoured to be working on software that will turn your PSP or DS into a VoIP phone. — Not content with playing games, watching telly and listening to music on your handheld console? Never fear - you could soon be using it as a mobile phone too.
Joanna Glasner / Wired News:
Spam War Knocks Out Blogs — An Israeli antispam company said Thursday that a junk e-mailer's vendetta is behind attacks this week that took down its site, five hosting providers and one of the internet's largest blog networks. — The website of Blue Security, a service that sends automated opt …
Discussion:
Things That
Marc Orchant / Office Evolution:
Free Vista (and Office) for holiday shoppers? — Jupiter's Michael Gartneberg has a great suggestion for Microsoft: give holiday season PC purchasers a free copy of Vista. And Office. It's a terrific idea that would spur a lot of fence-sitting potential PC purchasers to spend their holiday bucks …
Mark Ward / BBC:
Net censorship spreads worldwide — Technology Correspondent, BBC News website — Repressive regimes are taking full advantage of the net's ability to censor and stifle reform and debate, reveals a report. — Written by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) pressure group the report highlights …
Discussion:
Bleeding Edge
Bink / Bink.nu:
Microsoft pictures a 10-gigapixel photo — Forget megapixels, where the resolution of digital images is counted in millions of pixels. Michael Cohen, a scientist at Microsoft Research, is trying to create a photo this summer that will contain 10 billion pixels. — He's already done 4-gigapixel shots of downtown Seattle.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Cingular Vs AT&T: The Name Game — The changing pieces on the great telecom chess board has brought the grand old name, AT&T, into the lime light again. SBC, which had acquired AT&T quickly renamed itself AT&T. Now post BellSouth merger, even Cingular is going to go with AT&T brand name.
Valleywag:
MySpace blocks Buzznet — MySpace is at it again. The site blocked embedded YouTube videos last year (but then, saying it was a "misunderstanding," fixed it). But Buzznet is a direct competitor, with similar photo-sharing, friend-linking, and other social features.
