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7:25 PM ET, February 16, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook Blog:
On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information  —  A couple of weeks ago, we updated our terms of use to clarify a few points for our users.  A number of people have raised questions about our changes, so I'd like to address those here.  I'll also take the opportunity to explain how we think about people's information.
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Zuckerberg On Who Owns User Data On Facebook: It's Complicated  —  When Facebook recently changed its terms of service to no longer allow users to delete their data when they leave the service, it justifiably created an uproar.  Just what is Facebook planning to do with this data, and isn't it mine to delete if I wish.
Discussion: SiliconBeat and WebProNews
Microsoft:
Microsoft Reveals New Windows® Phones With Marketplace and My Phone Services  —  Microsoft mobile partners fly the Windows flag: HTC, LG and Orange preview first Windows® phones.  —  Today at Mobile World Congress 2009, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer along with key mobile partners …
RELATED:
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Windows Mobile 6.5 Hands On: The New Interface Rocks  —  I like the new Windows Mobile 6.5 interface, specially the new home screen, which is brilliantly executed.  Running on the new HTC Touch Diamond 2, everything looked smoother, cleaner, and matched the iPhone's lick factor.
Discussion: Engadget, Edible Apple and PMP Today, Thanks:kevendones
Matt Rosoff / Digital Noise:
Microsoft still has no iPhone answer
Discussion: OpsanBlog, TechFlash and TweakTown News, Thanks:sampad
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
The Pirate Bay Trial - First Day in Court  —  The day started this morning at 08:30, with Pirate Bay founders Gottfrid Svartholm Warg (aka Anakata), Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi (aka Brokep) and Fredrik Neij (TiAMO) arriving at the court with the S23K bus.  The bus will operate as their press-center in the weeks to come.
Discussion: Rick Falkvinge, Hack a Day, BBC and p2pnet
RELATED:
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Labels want $13 million from Pirate Bay as trial starts
Rory Cellan-Jones / dot.life blog:
Game-changers - Google or Apple?  —  Two years ago all the talk at the Mobile World Congress was of the imminent arrival of the Apple iPhone, and how it was going to change the industry.  One year ago, all the talk was of Google's open-source Android operating system, and what a radical impact that might have.
Discussion: TECH.BLORGE.com and broadstuff
RELATED:
Eric Zeman / InformationWeek:
MWC 2009: Android Forgets To Join The Party  —  We're only halfway through the first day at Mobile World Congress and already things are looking bleak for Android.  Many of the major manufacturers have already announced their new products at the show, and not one Android handset has been seen.
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Associated Press:
Casinos are warned about card-counting iPhone app  —  LAS VEGAS - Nevada gambling regulators have warned casinos in the state about a card-counting program that works on Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod Touch that illegally helps players beat the house in blackjack.
Michael Bettiol / Boy Genius Report:
Meet the HTC Magic, the Android-powered Vodafone exclusive formerly known as the G2  —  Y'all might know the next Android phone from HTC as the G2, but around these here parts we know it as the HTC Magic.  An exclusive to Vodafone in Europe, the Magic is of debatable sexyness when compared to the T-Mobile G1 …
Derek Perez / NVIDIA Press Room:
NVIDIA Enables The World's First $99 HD Mobile Internet Device  —  NVIDIA Tegra Brings Full Internet Experience to Always On, Always-Connected Devices  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  —  MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 09—BARCELONA, SPAIN— FEBRUARY 16, 2009— Today's users want an always-connected device …
RELATED:
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Nvidia enables $99 Android/Windows CE mobile internet devices
Prince McLean / AppleInsider:
Netbooks killing off sickly Windows PC sales  —  PC sales are in free fall as the weak demand for Windows desktops and full-size notebooks in a poorly performing global economy is being compounded by an influx of low cost netbooks, which are gobbling up the remains of profitability in the PC industry.
Discussion: Ars Technica and Open Source
Paul Carr:
Can you guess what my column's going to be about this week?  —  Backstory: I decided to email Andrew Orlowski from The Register to make sure he knew that his hatchet job on Twestival was misleading.  The following is the email thread.  Normally I wouldn't re-publish emails sent …
Chris Messina / FactoryCity:
What really happened at Ma.gnolia and lessons learned  —  Larry (@lhalff) and I have been recording a podcast for the past year called Citizen Garden that covers various topics related to the web, technology, and social networking.  —  Well, given Ma.gnolia's recent catastrophe …
Ross Miller / Engadget:
Acer unveils Tempo smartphone series, forgets Windows Mobile 6.5  —  Not long after we spotted four new Acer phones in Barcelona has the company officially unveiled the Tempo X960, F900, M900, and DX900 smartphones, albeit with a few typo-laden spec sheets.  Interestingly, all of them are …
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Nokia Unveils Ovi Store, Application Sales To Debut In May  —  At the Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, Nokia has unveiled its initiative to try and repeat the runaway succes of Apple's App Store with its own mobile storefront dubbed Ovi Store.  This was an expected move as the rumors …
RELATED:
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Bill Introduced In Pennsylvania To Ban All Portable Gadgets In School  —  from the seems-a-bit-extreme,-right?  dept  —  We've seen various schools or school teachers/administrators try to ban bringing mobile devices into schools, and the whole concept seems backwards.
Discussion: Obsessable
RELATED:
New York Times:
Industry Makes Pitch That Smartphones Belong in Classroom
Discussion: mocoNews.net
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Lenovo to launch 12-inch Atom netbook  —  Lenovo reportedly plans to launch an Atom N280-based IdeaPad S20 netbook featuring a 12-inch panel.  The specification would break Intel's restrictions for netbook products that state devices cannot offer panel sizes larger than the 10-inch category, according to sources at notebook makers.
Datamation:
Bruce Perens: How Many Open Source Licenses Do You Need?  —  About the Author: Bruce Perens is the creator of the Open Source Definition, the manifesto of Open Source and the criterion for Open Source software licensing.  Perens represented Open Source at the United Nations World Summit …
Discussion: Labnotes
Paulo Winterstein / Bloomberg:
Positivo Jumps on Speculation Lenovo Boosted Offer  —  Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Positivo Informatica SA, Brazil's biggest computer maker, surged the most ever in Sao Paulo trading on speculation Lenovo Group Ltd. increased its buyout offer.  —  Positivo jumped 79 percent to 9.30 reais …
Matt Asay / The Open Road:
Microsoft, Red Hat team up on patent-free interoperability  —  For years, Microsoft has insisted that open-source vendors acknowledge that its patent portfolio is a precursor to interoperability discussions.  Monday, Microsoft shed that charade and announced an interoperability alliance with Red Hat for virtualization.
Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb:
Twe2: Free Twitter SMS Updates For Europe and the Rest of the World  —  In August 2008, Twitter killed SMS updates for everybody outside of the U.S., Canada, and India.  Users in the U.K. can now only send messages from their phones, but can't receive them anymore.
Discussion: TheNextWeb.com, Thanks:atul
John Cook / TechFlash:
I Can Has Cheezburger buys Twittypic, plans Digg-like service  —  When I last caught up with Ben Huh of I Can Has Cheezburger fame, the Internet entrepreneur was overseeing an expanding empire of off-the-wall entertainment Web sites.  That unusual collection of cat photos …
Discussion: Mashable! and Pulse2
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Venture Capitalist Explains How Patents Can Be A Tax On Innovation  —  Whenever we get into discussions on the massive downsides associated with patents, someone has to chime in with some ridiculousness about how “venture capitalists won't invest in companies without patents.”
Thanks:atul
Financial Times:
Liberty Media close to deal for Sirius XM  —  John Malone's Liberty Media is expected to offer about $250m in a senior secured loan on Tuesday as the first step in a “multi-stage” deal to rescue Sirius XM from an imminent debt deadline, a person familiar with the satellite radio group's discussions said.
Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Orbitcast
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
What Went Wrong with Fennec, a.k.a. Firefox Mobile?  —  Only last week, the Mozilla Project proudly announced a “milestone release” of Fennec, the web browser also known as “Firefox Mobile.”  The much anticipated software was made available for download in a pre-alpha version for the HTC Touch Pro, a Windows Mobile smartphone.
Thanks:blogfisher
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Social Atoms and the Twitter Ecosystem  —  When Twitter first hit my radar screen sometime back in 2007, I (like many others) immediately dismissed it as a gimmicky little time-waster with no real value.  I mean, a message limit of 140 characters?  Lame.  And what was it for?  Nothing, apparently.
 
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 More Items: 
Joel Hruska / Ars Technica:
EU commissioner calls for unified mobile cable standard
Colleen Barry / Associated Press:
Product launches are muted at wireless show
Tina Kelleher / adCenter Blog for Advertisers:
Now Available for Qualified Advertisers: Microsoft adCenter Desktop (Beta)
Discussion: Search Engine Watch
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Samsung Beat DJ hands-on
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
Sun targets Flash, brings JavaFX to mobile devices
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
EU, not content to double music copyrights, now looks to video
Thanks:sampad
 Earlier Items: 
Jay Yarow / Silicon Alley Insider:
Bloomberg And Reuters Clobbered
Thanks:sampad
Ed Felten / Freedom to Tinker blogs:
New Internet?  No Thanks.  —  Yesterday's New York Times ran a piece …
Discussion: Techdirt
GamesIndustry.biz:
Xbox 360 definitely leads PS3 in Europe, says Microsoft
Discussion: VG247 and Joystiq
Lidija Davis / ReadWriteWeb:
Vint Cerf: Despite Its Age, The Internet is Still Filled with Problems
Discussion: Beyond Search, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Ted Dziuba / The Register:
Dear Obama: Please consider open-source a waste of your time
Discussion: CrunchGear