Top Items:
Rory Cellan-Jones / BBC NEWS | dot.life:
Facebook - back to the kids? — Facebook - it's so over. That's been the tenor of most of the commentary since Thursday's figures showing a slight dip in Facebook's UK users. The general feeling is that the kids, with their minute attention spans, have already tired of the social networking site …
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BBC:
Facebook ‘sees decline in users’ — Social networking site Facebook has seen its first drop in UK users in January, new industry data indicates. — Users fell 5% to 8.5 million in January from 8.9 million in December, according to data from Nielsen Online.
Discussion:
mathewingram.com/work, Digital Daily, Download Squad, WinExtra, LEWIS 360° and HipMojo.com
Bernard Lunn / ReadWriteWeb:
Why Google Apps is a Serious Threat to Microsoft Office — This is the perspective of a “skeptical, later early adopter”; the sort of person who Microsoft needs to retain and should have been able to retain easily. I don't spend time on productivity tools that may at some date make me more productive …
Discussion:
Google Blogoscoped
Associated Press:
Google's Brin spooked by Microsoft's Yahoo bid — Speaking after a Google press event, Sergey Brin calls the possibility of a Yahoo takeover ‘unnerving.’ — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin called Microsoft Corp.'s takeover bid for Yahoo Inc. an “unnerving” …
Brier Dudley / Brier Dudley's blog:
Maritz joins EMC, to battle Microsoft in the cloud — Microsoft's cloud computing efforts have a formidable and familiar new competitor. — Paul Maritz, the former Microsoft platform boss, is becoming president of EMC's cloud computing initiative, which competes directly with Microsoft.
Discussion:
InfoWorld, eWeek, p2pnet, The Register, Inquirer, Bits, Alec Saunders .LOG, All about Microsoft and Virtualization.com
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John Markoff / New York Times:
A Method for Critical Data Theft — SAN FRANCISCO — A group led by a Princeton University computer security researcher has developed a simple method to steal encrypted information stored on computer hard disks. — The technique, which could undermine security software protecting critical data …
Discussion:
Guardian Unlimited, Zero Day, Apple, Computerworld, Ars Technica, Engadget and CNET News.com
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com:
Firefox crosses 500 million download mark — Sometime last night, Firefox downloads crossed the 500 million threshold. — It's an arbitrary but interesting milestone for the open-source Web browser, whose development is overseen by Mozilla but that's also developed and extended by a large number of outside programmers.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Microsoft Fishes in Silicon Valley For New Yahoo Board Members — According to a source with knowledge of the situation, as part of the preparation for a possible proxy fight it is preparing to wage against Yahoo, Microsoft has been angling in Silicon Valley for prominent techies to serve on a board it must nominate.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
Erica Sadun / The Unofficial Apple Weblog:
TUAW Responds: iPhone LoJack — Way back, one of our readers begged for an iPhone LoJack solution. He wanted his iPhone to “call home” regularly in case of loss or, let's be more realistic, theft. Over the past week, I finally had a chance to give this request some time, and I put together findme.
John Leyden / The Register:
HMRC data debacle used to bait phishing lure — Poetic justice restricts success of feeble ruse — A phishing attack targeting victims of the HMRC data loss debacle has been spotted on the net. The bogus emails offering recipient the false opportunity to claim a tax refund of £215 …
Discussion:
Liquidmatrix Security Digest
Tech-On! : tech news:
[MacBook Air Teardown] ‘No Waste Outside, Nothing but Waste Inside’ [Part 5] — “Can we say that the MacBook Air has a perfect, sophisticated external appearance, but its insides are full of waste?” asked Mayuko Uno, a squad member, as if speaking for the engineers that had finished the teardown process.
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Ryan Kairer / PalmInfocenter.com:
Buy a Palm TX, Get a Free Z22 Handheld — Palm's online store is running an interesting new promotion. From now until the end of February, anyone who purchases a new Palm TX gets a free Palm Z22 handheld (a $99 value). The Palm.com store is also offering free ground shipping on all orders as well.
BBC:
ISPs could face piracy sanctions — Internet service providers must take concrete steps to curb illegal downloads or face legal sanctions. — That is one of the proposals expected to be outlined by the government in an attempt to curb internet piracy. — Culture secretary Andy Burnham told …
Discussion:
DSLreports
David Chartier / Ars Technica:
Apple patent seeks to marry TiVo, podcasts, and iTunes Store — A new patent filed by Apple is raising speculation over what may be in store for the future of podcasting. Podcasting began maturing quickly on its own a few years ago, but Apple's embracing of the grassroots movement by giving …
Discussion:
The Unofficial Apple Weblog
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J. Nicholas Hoover / InformationWeek:
Black Hat Conference: Security Researchers Claim To Hack GSM Calls — The creators of the in-development technology say they'll be able to crack GSM encryption with only about $1,000 worth of equipment. — Security researchers presenting Wednesday at the Black Hat D.C. conference in Washington …
Sean Ryan / SharkJumping:
Macrovision Sellling TryMedia Games Group — Continuing its dismal track record in M&A and new business initiatives (remember DRM'ed music CDs?), Macrovision (NASDAQ: MVSN) today announced that they're selling their TryMedia casual games group so that they can focus on their pending purchase of Gemstar …
