Top Items:
David Kravets / Wired News:
DRM Is Dead, But Watermarks Rise From Its Ashes — With all of the Big Four record labels now jettisoning digital rights management, music fans have every reason to rejoice. But consumer advocates are singing a note of caution, as the music industry experiments with digital-watermarking technology as a DRM substitute.
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
Striking Writers to Launch Online Video Co., Seeking $30M+ — Out of work and newly wise to the state of content being distributed online, a group of professional writers is looking to start their own production and distribution company. Aaron Mendelsohn, writer of the Disney film Air Bud …
Arn / MacRumors Macworld San Francisco Blog:
“MacBook Air” Whispers... I've heard various whispers about the new thin MacBook. Here are a few additional tidbits and confirmations about what might be coming from Apple on Tuesday. — A slim notebook, but not a “sub notebook" — 13.3" screen — Not a “Pro” machine
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Jordan Golson / Valleywag:
Can Apple save WiMax? — Our sources tell us that Apple may include WiMax, the high-speed, long-range wireless broadband technology, in an ultraportable 13" notebook computer, and possibly across the entire MacBook Pro line. Just part of the rumor mill flying in preparation …
Discussion:
The Apple Core, Wi-Fi Networking News, 9 to 5 Mac, IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband, Digital Daily and Digg
Adrian Covert / Gizmodo:
Macworld Rumor: Mac Tablet Not Coming This Year, First Macworld Spyshots Appear — Apple Insider has sources who say the Newton-esque tablets Apple are working on will not be announced at Macworld 2008. The unnamed tipsters say there are challenges in the development stages similar to problems which arose with the iPhone last year.
Allen Salkin / New York Times:
Has Gawker Jumped the Snark? — “THE ideal Gawker item,” Nick Denton, the owner of Gawker Media, wrote in an instant message last month to a prospective hire, “is something triggered by a quote at a party, or an incident, or a story somewhere else and serves to expose hypocrisy, or turn conventional wisdom on its head.
GigaOM:
5 Who Won't Appreciate Google Android — Written by Thomas Howe, co-founder and CEO of The Thomas Howe Company, winners of the 2007 O'Reilly Emerging Communications Mashup Competition. His blog is about voice mashups and communication-enhanced business processes.
Discussion:
DSLreports
Jens Alfke / Thought Palace:
Gone Indie — OK, by popular complaint I've cracked open the stylesheet and (a) darkened both comments and body text; and (b) fixed the problem with magnified text. — My apologies. I actually do like web design, but my patience with it is more limited than at regular programming …
Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:
Big Think, the “Intellectual YouTube” backed by ex-Harvard Prez Lawrence Summers, Launches with Style and Starpower — Launched earlier this week, Big Think is a site with short video clips of leading thinkers in business and society. — The New York based start-up, founded …
Discussion:
broadstuff
Ryan Kairer / PalmInfocenter.com:
Palm's Next Generation OS is Code-named Nova — Recently the question of what to call Palm's next generation OS has been a source of confusion and commotion around the boards here at PIC. Members have so far been referring to it by a multitude of names and acronyms such as: Palm OS 2 …
Paul McDougall / InformationWeek:
Windows Vista, Office 2007 Expelled From British Schools — A British educational report suggests the upgrade would increase costs and create software compatibility problems while providing little benefit. — The agency that governs educational technology in the United Kingdom has advised schools …
Economist:
From major to minor — Last year was terrible for the recorded-music majors. The next few years are likely to be even worse — IN 2006 EMI, the world's fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits.
Discussion:
Smalltalk Tidbits …, mathewingram.com/work, Silicon Alley Insider, Digital Daily and hypebot
Rafe Needleman / Webware.com:
CEA'S TAKE ON CES GIZMODO PRANK: BANNED! — In reaction to “Gizmodogate,” the gadget blog's prank of shutting down flat-screen displays on the show floor and during demos at CES (see Bloggers behaving badly), the conference's organizer, the Consumer Electronics Association, sent me this statement:
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Grant Robertson / Globe and Mail:
Controversial ‘iPod tax’ struck down on appeal — A proposed levy on digital music players that became known this summer as the “iPod tax” has been struck down after opponents argued it was unfair to Canadians. — The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that the Canadian Copyright Board …
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Allen Stern / CenterNetworks:
Screw Winning The Lottery - Just Make a Facebook App and Get Your Millions Now! — How many times have we heard, “all it takes is a dollar and a dream"? This phrase seems to always follow a commercial for the lottery. Of course the odds are that there's no chance in hell of you winning …
AOL Beta Central:
AIM® 6.8 Beta — Our first AIM 6.8 Beta build is now available for download! — Welcome AIM Beta testers. The next version of AIM is ready for your feedback, AIM 6.8. This version includes our new Real-Time IM feature. Please note: To test this feature, you will need to IM …
