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3:40 PM ET, February 12, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Thai Tran / YouTube Blog:
YouTube Goes Offline  —  We are always looking for ways to make it easier for you to find, watch, and share videos.  Many of you have told us that you wanted to take your favorite videos offline.  So we've started working with a few partners who want their videos shared universally and even enjoyed away from an Internet connection.
Discussion: NewTeeVee, ReadWriteWeb and Webware.com, Thanks:amanfirdaus
RELATED:
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Download and Buy Videos from YouTube  —  YouTube includes a new section for “My Videos”: a list of purchased videos.  A YouTube help page has more details about the new feature: … Videos are available to download in the MP4 format and some of them can be downloaded for free and they're …
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Doomed: why Wikipedia will fail  —  A cyberlaw professor argues that Wikipedia is doomed.  The online encyclopedia will need to choose between being “high quality” and “open,” but both choices are fraught with risk.  —  Law professor Eric Goldman loves Wikipedia, but he's also convinced …
Discussion: Between the Lines and p2pnet
Gary Allen / ifoAppleStore:
Apple Plans Major Store Space Reorganization  —  On the heels of an iPhone/iPod display table make-over, Apple plans to entirely reorganize and refocus space within the stores to emphasize customer education, and software over hardware.  The change would be the third major interior design for the stores …
Discussion: CNET News, MacRumors and MacBlogz
RELATED:
Zach Spear / AppleInsider:
Apple Stores shifting focus to software in bid for switchers
Discussion: ifoAppleStore and Macsimum News
Dylan Casey / The Official Google Blog:
Happy trails with My Tracks for Android-powered phones  —  Today I'm pleased to announce the new My Tracks application for Android-powered phones such as the T-Mobile G1.  My Tracks records tracks of outdoor activities using the phone's built-in GPS.  It shows these tracks on a map …
RELATED:
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Android Vulnerability So Dangerous, Users Warned Not to Use Phone's Web Browser  —  Over the weekend at the Schmoocon hacker conference in Washington D.C., security researcher Charlie Miller presented a new vulnerability in Google's mobile OS Android which allows hackers to remotely …
Wall Street Journal:
More Tech Start-Ups Call It Quits  —  As Funding Dries Up, Fledgling Silicon Valley Firms Are Shutting Down; Fears of Chill on Innovation  —  The deepening recession is speeding up the shakeout in Silicon Valley, forcing droves of start-ups to shut down or sell themselves at fire-sale prices.
Latest Adrian's Rojak Pot Updates:
The Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Program Rev. 2.1  —  The Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Program  —  Microsoft issued a draft of the Windows 7 Technical Guarantee Program to their OEM partners on December 10, giving them exactly one month to provide their feedback before Microsoft finalizes the program details.
RELATED:
Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb:
Don't Click!  No Really!  Don't Even Think About it!  —  Twitter is falling prey to a major security flaw right now.  The service is getting swamped with messages that say: “Don't Click” and a URL.  Apparently, this hack has been around for over two weeks, but it only really took off today.
Discussion: Microblink, Thanks:fredericl
RELATED:
Clay / Sunlight Labs:
What is this Don't Click business?
Discussion: CNET News
China.org.cn:
China Unicom in talks with Apple over iPhone  —  China Unicom, one of China's big three telecoms carriers, has started negotiations with Apple Inc. over the launch of iPhone in China, China Business News reported Wednesday.  —  “Yes, we are in talks with Apple Inc.,” a manager told the newspaper.
Discussion: Ars Technica, iLounge and MacDailyNews
RELATED:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:   New Chinese iPhone talks target May 17 — reports
Nokia Beta Labs blog:
Contacts on Ovi beta database failed - my deepest and most sincere apologies  —  Written by: Kristian Luoma, Product Manager, Contacts on Ovi.  —  Hey,  —  Something bad happened yesterday.  A cooler broke down in the hosting center that we run the Chat service in.
Wall Street Journal:
Facebook, Nokia Discuss Alliance  —  Battle Over Social-Networking Users Extends Into Cellphone Market  —  Facebook Inc. is stepping up its efforts to integrate its social network into an array of mobile phones, including those made by Nokia Corp., the world's largest handset maker.
Benjamin Grol / Gmail Blog:
Four changes to Gmail contacts  —  Over the past few days we've made a lot of small changes to Gmail's contact manager which, combined, should make it easier to organize the contacts you want and get rid of some of the cruft.  Here's a quick summary:  —  1. Contact merge (and an important caveat about auto-complete)
Susan Wojcicki / Traditional Media:
Google Exits Radio but Will Explore Online Streaming Audio  —  Labels: Announcements, Google Audio Ads  —  At Google we've never shied away from high-risk, high-reward projects.  We believe that making big bets is not only in the best interests of our users and partners, but also important for our long term success.
Michael Liedtke / Associated Press:
Facebook appraisal pegs company's value at $3.7B  —  Facebook Inc. quickly concluded it wasn't worth anywhere near the $15 billion market value implied in a 2007 investment made by Microsoft Corp., according to confidential information obtained Wednesday from court documents.
RELATED:
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
Facebook valuation ‘shocker’ another reason to be skeptical of media hype
Discussion: GMSV and TG Daily
Opera Press Room:
Opera unveils turbo-charged browsing at Mobile World Congress 2009  —  Just when you thought browsing couldn't get any faster, Opera unveils its latest innovation for better browsing, Opera Turbo.  This all-new, turbo-charged way to surf will make its exclusive appearance at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from February 16-19, 2009.
John Leyden / The Register:
MS puts up $250K bounty for Conficker author  —  Zombie masterminds wanted undead or alive  —  Microsoft is offering a $250,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the virus writers behind the infamous Conficker (Downadup) worm.
Wilson Rothman / Gizmodo:
Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M20: A Surprisingly Cute WinMo 6.1 GPS Phone  —  Garmin-Asus will launch the M20, a Windows Mobile 6.1 phone, sometime this year.  True to the name, this cute touchscreen handset comes with car dock and a full set of GPS maps for deep-country use.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Innovative iPhone Developer Smule Raises $3.9 Million  —  Smule is one of our favorite iPhone developers - besides putting together ridiculously addictive apps like Ocarina (iTunes Link), the team is also especially adept at tapping into the iPhone's network effect, even on something as basic as a virtual lighter.
Discussion: VentureBeat and Pulse2
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Google plans data centre at old Finnish paper mill  —  * Stora sells old paper plant to Google  —  * Google says plans to open data centre at site (Releads, adds Google comments)  —  Google (GOOG.O) said on Thursday it aimed to build a data centre at an old paper mill in southeastern Finland …
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
Skyfire integrates an activity stream with Twitter, Facebook and feed support  —  Skyfire, the mobile browser which touts itself as translating the desktop web browsing experience to mobile phones, has a useful new feature today: Activity streams.  The browser now has a default area which allows …
Robin Goad / Hitwise Intelligence:
The Telegraph: how to pick up traffic from Digg  —  The Telegraph recently ran an excellent story that included our recent Twitter data.  While reading the article I noticed the Digg widget illustrated in the picture below on the newspaper's homepage.  Launched last October it lists …
Discussion: WebProNews
InfoWorld:
New post-beta Windows 7 build leaks to Web  —  A post-beta version of Windows 7 that has leaked to Internet file-sharing sites includes an updated version of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), according to searches at several BitTorrent trackers.  —  With Microsoft halting new Windows 7 beta downloads on Tuesday …
Discussion: Hardware 2.0 and Technologizer
Dana Blankenhorn / Open Source:
How Mozilla can save Windows Mobile  —  A small team at the Mozilla Foundation is working on a new version of the Firefox browser, code-named Fennec, and a pre-alpha version is now online for trial.  All this was announced on Mozilla's development blog.  —  The new version, 3.1 …
Esteban Israel / Reuters:
Cuba launches own Linux variant to counter U.S.  —  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba launched its own variant of the Linux computer operating system this week in the latest front of the communist island's battle against what it views as U.S. hegemony.  —  The Cuban variant, called Nova …
Discussion: Engadget, CrunchGear, OSNews and DailyTech
 
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 More Items: 
Wendy Davis / MediaPost:
Judge Orders Topix To Reveal Users' ID Info
Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee:
Lost Finds 1.4 Million Viewers On ABC.com
Discussion: VatorNews
Arn / MacRumors:
Snow Leopard Adds Minor Often Requested Tweaks: Put Back, Stack Folder Navigation
Tim Mullaney / Bloomberg:
Redpoint Tells Startups to Cut Staff Up to 10% Amid Lack of IPOs, Mergers
Discussion: GigaOM and BloggingStocks
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
Nightlife Application Breaks Away From Facebook, Tries To Stand On Its Own Two Feet
PR Newswire:
Netflix Passes 10 Million Subscribers, With 600,000 Net Additions …
Discussion: NewTeeVee and GeekTonic
 Earlier Items: 
Dan Goodin / The Register:
New Windows virus attacks PHP, HTML, and ASP scripts
Discussion: TrendLabs
Lewis Page / The Register:
NSA offering ‘billions’ for Skype eavesdrop solution
Associated Press:
Free music download service signs last major label
Discussion: Ars Technica and last100
Duncan Graham-Rowe / Technology Review:
Sniffing Out Illicit BitTorrent Files
PC World:
Skype Growing by 380,000 Users a Day
Discussion: Maximum PC all