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2:50 PM ET, April 21, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Update on Yahoo-Microsoft Talks: “Hot and Heavy”  —  Microsoft and Yahoo have been busily ferreting away on talks about search and advertising partnership possibilities in what one person close to the situation described as “hot and heavy.”  —  But exactly how hot and how heavy depends …
RELATED:
Brian Womack / Bloomberg:
Yahoo's Bartz Picks Balogh to Tear Down ‘Wall of Shame’ of Failed Products  —  Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz said last month that she created a “wall of shame” for products she isn't happy with.  She's counting on her top technology executive to fix them.
Discussion: Beyond Search
Dina Bass / Bloomberg:
Microsoft Said to Step Up Talks With Yahoo on Partnership to Fight Google  —  Microsoft Corp. has stepped up discussions with Yahoo! Inc. about a partnership designed to challenge Google Inc. in the Internet-search market, people familiar with the matter said.
Business Wire:
The New York Times Company Reports 2009 First-Quarter Results  —  NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The New York Times Company announced today a first-quarter 2009 operating loss of $61.6 million compared with operating profit of $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2008.
RELATED:
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
New York Times Ad Sales Plummet 28.4%
Discussion: paidContent.org and MediaMemo
Maggie Shiels / BBC:
Google rolls out search changes  —  Google has launched two experimental products it hopes will change the way users search for pictures and news.  —  A feature known as Similar Images uses a picture rather than text to find other matching images.  —  Timeline presents information already available …
Discussion: TECH.BLORGE.com
Scott Rosenberg / Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard:
Mark Penn's fuzzy pro-blogging stats  —  I did a lot of digging around in the numbers around blogging for my book, so I'm on alert when I read a piece like Mark Penn's look at pro blogging in the Wall Street Journal, which is getting lots of attention this morning.  A little skepticism is definitely in order.
RELATED:
Chris Foresman / Ars Technica:
iPhone OS 3.0 to feature voice control and feedback  —  Various voice-related features, under the codename “Jibbler,” have been discovered in the version of SpringBoard set to ship with the next update to Apple's mobile operating system.  —  Sources speaking to Ars have discovered evidence …
Sunshine / LiveSide:
Web IM In Hotmail  —  Web IM is coming to Hotmail.  It became available to users in France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the UK last month and starting today it will roll out to Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and the USA.  If your country is not in this list yet, don't fret!
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Study: pirates biggest music buyers.  Labels: yeah, right  —  Those who download illegal copies of music over P2P networks are the biggest consumers of legal music options, according to a new study by the BI Norwegian School of Management.  Researchers examined the music downloading habits …
Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report:
Living with the limits of Windows 7 Starter Edition  —  If you've read anything about Windows 7 Starter Edition, your first reaction was probably the same as mine: Is Microsoft nuts?  This ultra-cheap edition is intended for use on netbooks, but its biggest restriction sounds like a complete deal-breaker …
Karl Bode / DSLreports:
Comcast Expands DOCSIS 3.0 In Bay Area - New community launches include Palo Alto and San Mateo  —  Comcast gave us a nudge this morning to note that the nation's largest cable company is continuing their expansion of faster DOCSIS 3.0 technology into the Bay Area.
Discussion: GigaOM
PC Pro:
BT blocks off Pirate Bay  —  Updated at 1.10pm: BT and other mobile broadband providers are blocking access to The Pirate Bay, as part of a “self-regulation” scheme.  —  BT Mobile Broadband users who attempt to access the notorious BitTorrent tracker site are met with a “content blocked” message.
RELATED:
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Mayo Clinic, Microsoft deepen health record ties  —  The Mayo Clinic on Tuesday said it will build a personal health record service based on Microsoft's HealthVault technology.  —  The product, Mayo Clinic Health Manager, will initially focus on general pediatric and adult health issues, immunization records, pregnancy, and asthma.
Saul Hansell / Bits:
The Cost of Downloading All Those Videos  —  In an article in today's New York Times, I wrote about the controversy over the now-abandoned plan by Time Warner Cable to impose additional fees on customers who upload and download more than a set quota.  —  AT&T continues to test a similar plan …
Discussion: DSLreports and NewTeeVee, Thanks:mrinaldesai
New Zealand Herald:
MSN website hacked  —  Visitors to the msn.co.nz website are being re-directed to a site that includes a photograph of Microsoft boss Bill Gates with pie on his face.  —  The site usually carries news stories.  —  However hackers have changed the name servers which means that visitors …
Discussion: Zero Day and AppScout
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Sharp's Mebius PC-NJ70A packs LCD trackpad for the whiz-bang crowd  —  And you thought Apple's button-less “glass trackpad” was hot stuff.  Sharp has just let loose details on its thoroughly Japanese Mebius PC-NJ70A, which sadly packs an exceptionally boring list of internal components …
Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent.org:
Yet Another Microsoft Search Brand—This Time For Phones?  —  Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has grabbed headlines for trademarking two possible new names for Live Search—Bing and Kumo.  But paidContent found that the company has quietly trademarked a third search brand name too—Sift.
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Facebook Considers Building An Ad Network  —  As its been speculated, but never confirmed, Facebook is considering building an ad network on the back of Facebook Connect — but not for at least another six months, an advertising industry source who's discussed the issue with Facebook tells us.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Interview With Digg's Kevin Rose: The State of The Union  —  Last week I sat down with Digg founder Kevin Rose to get the Digg “State of the Union.”  The company, now more than four years old, has continued to grow incredibly since launching in late 2004 and regularly innovates with new products.
Wall Street Journal:
Computer Spies Breach Fighter-Jet Project  —  WASHINGTON — Computer spies have broken into the Pentagon's $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project — the Defense Department's costliest weapons program ever — according to current and former government officials familiar with the attacks.
Discussion: PC World and Beyond Search, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Scott Duke Harris / Mercury News:
With Oracle's acquisition of Sun, Larry Ellison's empire grows  —  This time, there were no jokes about Larry Ellison wanting to kill a rival's dog — or the rival.  This time, unlike Oracle's bids for PeopleSoft and BEA Systems, there was no hint of hostility.
Owen Fletcher / PC World:
China Mobile to Launch App Store This Year  —  China Mobile hopes to launch an application service like the iPhone's App Store by the end of this year as it unrolls a next-generation mobile network, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.  —  Independent developers and firms will be allowed …
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
CNBC Is Ridiculous: Macs Come With Photoshop, PCs Need $600 Extra to ‘Perform As Well As a Mac’  —  Regular people are probably confused by the re-inflamed Mac vs. PC ad war, which now focuses on price.  Never fear, CNBC's Jim Goldman breaks down the true cost of PCs.  Wait, Macs come with Photoshop?
Discussion: BusinessWeek, Gawker, MacNN and digg.com
Michael Bettiol / Boy Genius Report:
We've got the goods on BlackBerry OS 5.0  —  With WES 2009 set to kick off two weeks from today, we thought now would be the perfect time to dish out some goods on OS 5.0 that we've been sitting on for a while.  In short, this post covers a lot of the stuff that will be found in OS 5 …
Discussion: IntoMobile, SlashGear and Ubergizmo
Mel Martin / TUAW:
SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone.  What's the deal?  —  Rarely has an iPhone/iPod touch app seen so many ups and downs.  —  People have expected Sling Media to provide a version of their streaming video player for Apple since the iPhone first launched, but it has yet to materialize.
Discussion: The iPhone Blog and Switched
 
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 More Items: 
Jason Pontin / Technology Review:
The Silver Lining  —  Entrepreneurialism and innovation during a recession.
Michael Learmonth / AdAge:
Search Giant Google Makes Its Case for Display Advertising
David Kaplan / paidContent.org:
Wenda Harris Millard Steps Down as MSLO's Media Head and Co-CEO …
Los Angeles Times:
Ignore Twitter? Major brands learn they'd better respond — and quick
Discussion: Brier Dudley's blog
Jeff Atwood / Coding Horror:
How Not to Conduct an Online Poll
Paul Meller / Computerworld:
Microsoft gains familiar ally in IE antitrust battle in Europe
 Earlier Items: 
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Omniture adds viral video analytics, targets startup rivals
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Amazon Wants To Bully Amazee Into Changing Its Name
Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent.org:
Korean Officials Angered By Google's Decision To Bypass Law
Discussion: Search Engine Land and NewTeeVee
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Authentic Brands licenses Sports Illustrated's publishing rights to The Players' Tribune owner Minute Media for 10 years, with plans to keep the print edition

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Ofcom rules that five GB News programs presented by Conservative politicians have broken its due impartiality rules and puts the channel “on notice”

Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTuber MrBeast announces a deal with Prime Video for Beast Games, a reality-competition show with 1,000 contestants, promising the winner a $5M cash prize

 
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