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4:05 PM ET, May 18, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Jim / craigslist blog:
An Apology Is In Order  —  Dear South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster,  —  Two days ago you accused craigslist, and me personally, of engaging in criminal acts, reiterating your previous threat to file unwarranted and unconstitutional charges against us that are clearly barred by federal law.
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Stand Firm Craig (and Jim)  —  South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster is giving even the normally sleazy Attorney General title a bad name.  This is an office that has little to do with protecting the public and everything to do with making high profile attacks on targets that will generate a lot of positive press.
Olga Kharif / Business Week:
Cheaper iPhone Plans from AT&T?  —  AT&T may offer lower-cost data plans for iPhones, which would attract new subscribers and force smartphone rivals to cut prices, too  —  Victor Lin wants an iPhone, but he's put off by the price.  The smartphone costs at least $199 up front …
RELATED:
Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Repeat: AT&T may introduce $20 limited iPhone data plan  —  With next-generation iPhone hardware and software around the corner, a new report is adding to claims that AT&T is mulling changes to its iPhone monthly service and data plans that could reduce the cost of owning an iPhone and help Apple grow its share of the smartphone market.
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Search Engine Wolfram Alpha Launches With Big Dreams And No Chance  —  Another next-generation search engine launches.  It looks more differentiated than the much-ado-about-nothing known as Cuil, but that's not saying much.  —  Our prediction: Wolfram Alpha (terrible name) …
RELATED:
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Napster relaunching, again: $5 per month streaming plus five free downloads  —  Like subscription music services?  You know, like Microsoft's Zune Pass where you pay $14.99 monthly and keep up to 10 tracks each month forever.  Sure, renting music at $180 per year can be a drag for those stuck …
Mark Guim / The Nokia Blog:
Nokia N97 For North America Arriving June 2nd  —  I told you a couple days ago the Nokia N97 NAM was coming soon, but I wasn't sure of the exact date.  Well, Nokia just notified one of their major North American distributors of the estimated shipping date: June 2nd, 2009!  How accurate are we?
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Eric Schmidt's Commencement Address At Carnegie Mellon (Video)  —  Here's Google CEO Eric Schmidt's commencement address at Carnegie Mellon's 112th commencement ceremony, held yesterday.  (Via @CarnegieMellon)  —  Schmidt's talk to the audience, which he refers to as the ‘Facebook and Google generation’ …
Matt Richtel / New York Times:
Cellphone Makers Hope for a Blockbuster Summer  —  The hype machine started months ago.  Opening weekends are upon us.  High up in executive suites, the hope is that this summer's new releases will cause lines to snake around the block.  —  The cellphone industry looks a lot like the movie industry nowadays.
RELATED:
Phil Goldstein / FierceWireless:   Report: Palm Pre launching first week of June
Abbey Klaassen / AdAge:
Twitter Proves Its Worth as a Killer App for Local Businesses  —  New Orleans Pizza Joint, Chicago Yogurt Chain See Results From Promos on Microblogging Service  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — All those brands trying to figure the ROI of Twitter?  They might do well to follow the lead of the local pizza joint.
Eric Lai / Computerworld:
Buy an app via Windows Marketplace, share with four friends or family members  —  Microsoft readies challenge to rivals in mobile apps market  —  Computerworld - In a potentially market-changing move, Microsoft Corp. plans to let customers of its upcoming Windows Marketplace …
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Site Lets Writers Sell Digital Copies  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Turning itself into a kind of electronic vanity publisher, Scribd, an Internet start-up here, will introduce on Monday a way for anyone to upload a document to the Web and charge for it.  —  The Scribd Web site is the most popular …
Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:
Peter Thiel On Valleywag; It's the “Silicon Valley Equivalent of Al Qaeda”  —  Peter Thiel is known for many things, from his hedge fund, Clarium Capital, to his venture capital firm, Founders Fund, to his role as the original CEO of PayPal — whose 2002 sale to eBay famously netted Thiel, then 34, roughly $60 million.
Discussion: Gawker and Venture Capital Dispatch, Thanks:atul
Joseph Galante / Bloomberg:
Mint.com May Begin Selling Access to Anonymous Consumer Data  —  Mint Software Inc., an online service that helps consumers track every dime they spend, has a goal for its own pocketbook: boosting sales as much as 10-fold this year.  —  To fuel revenue, the company may start charging …
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
Reuters:
McAfee, Symantec eye iPhone products  —  BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - McAfee Inc said its business improved in May from April and, like larger rival Symantec Corp, the security software maker is developing products for Apple Inc's popular iPhone.  —  McAfee Chief Executive Dave DeWalt …
Teddy Wayne / New York Times:
Social Networks Eclipse E-Mail  —  Alongside the explosive growth of online video over the last six years, time spent on social networks surpassed that for e-mail for the first time in February, signaling a paradigm shift in consumer engagement with the Internet.
Discussion: Internet Evolution
CNET News:
HTC Magic vs. Samsung I7500  —  Here're the HTC Magic (left) and the Samsung I7500 (right) side by side.  The I7500 looks slightly larger than the Magic, but that's because my hand was slightly closer to the camera.  Also, the screen on the I7500 appears dimmer due to an early firmware issue …
Discussion: Android Phone Fans and SlashGear
Dan Ackerman / Crave: The gadget blog:
Acer's next-gen Aspire One Netbooks available now  —  We've already seen them previewed with the rest of Acer's upcoming lineup back in April, but the official release of the next generation of Aspire One Netbooks is finally here.  Most notable is the inclusion of a new, bigger 11.6-inch model …
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Apple's Mac Decline Could Be Worse This Quarter  —  Updated with NPD Group estimates for Apple's April Mac shipments.  —  Apple (AAPL) could face its second straight quarter of year-over-year declines in its Mac business.  (And only its second negative quarter since 2003.)
Discussion: Apple 2.0
Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac:
Exclusive: Apple Is Building a New Helpdesk Operation: New Product, Or Growing Popularity?  —  Apple appears to be building a large, distributed helpdesk operation, either in anticipation of a major new product, or simply to sustain the company's growing popularity.
Discussion: TheAppleBlog and Softpedia News
Ian Deitch / Associated Press:
Israeli intelligence issues Facebook warning  —  Israel's internal intelligence service urged the public Monday to exercise caution when using Facebook, saying Arabs are trying to recruit spies on the popular social networking site.  —  The Shin Bet security agency warned Israelis …
Matt Holliday / Inside Facebook:
Newsweek Interviewing Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner Live on Facebook Today  —  Newsweek will host a live Q&A with Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner on Facebook this afternoon.  Jon Meacham will be conducting the interview from the National Press Club in Washington …
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Harvard prof tells judge that P2P filesharing is “fair use”  —  Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson is headed to federal court this summer to defend an accused file-swapper, and he plans to mount a novel defense: P2P sharing is simply “fair use.”  —  Wholesale copying of music on P2P networks is fair use.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Will OpenTable Be Just What Silicon Valley Ordered This Week?  —  One of the first Silicon Valley start-ups to go public in a long while-OpenTable-is expected to come to market this week, with venture firms hoping it will prove a tasty treat for Wall Street.
Discussion: Dealscape
Dave McClure / Facebook Developers:
fbFund 2.0: It Takes a Village (of Geeks)... announcing our first 25 of 50 Finalists  —  Guest post by Founders Fund startup investor and geek blogger Dave McClure, who will be running the fbFund 2009 Incubator Program.  —  Alright folks, the votes are in!
 
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 More Items: 
Orlando Sentinel:
Who are top Tweeters? UCF grads' site tells
Discussion: Etan on Tech
Jim Finkle / Reuters:
AT&T to offer cloud-based storage as a service
Discussion: TechSpot
Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
Web Series Are Coming Into A Prime Time of Their Own
Discussion: The Progress & …
Priya Ganapati / Gadget Lab:
Why E-Books Look So Ugly
Discussion: TeleRead and digg.com
AdAge:
App Revenue Is Poised to Surpass Facebook Revenue
Discussion: CNET News
 Earlier Items: 
Ben Kuchera / Ars Technica:
Sims 3 leaked to torrent sites weeks before retail release
Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:
For Wired, a Revival Lacks Ads
Discussion: Gawker, Thanks:atul
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
The coming wireline business implosion (and how you'll wind up paying for it)
Robert Lemos / Technology Review:
Are Your “Secret Questions” Too Easily Answered?
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
CalMatters, a nonprofit focused on CA politics and policy, acquires tech news nonprofit The Markup; CalMatters has ~$12.5M in funding and The Markup has $5M

Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Erica Heilman, host of “Rumble Strip”, an independent podcast she created in 2013 that chronicles how Vermont changed over the years

Jessica Testa / New York Times:
A look at Highsnobiety, a creative consultancy and clothing line, as well as magazine and website led by EIC Willa Bennett covering fashion and youth culture

 
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