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12:55 PM ET, August 21, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
What Wolfram Alpha Really Did This Summer: Struck A Deal With Bing.  —  Computer scientist Stephen Wolfram gave a report today listing what the team at Wolfram Alpha, his new search engine, did this summer.  They added new knowledge domains and over 2 million lines of code …
RELATED:
Stephen Wolfram / Wolfram:
What We've Been Doing This Summer  —  So what's been happening with Wolfram|Alpha this summer?  A lot!  —  At a first glance, the website looks pretty much as it did when it first launched—with the straightforward input field.  But inside that simple exterior an incredible amount has happened.
Biz / Twitter Blog:
Location, Location, Location  —  Twitter platform developers have been doing innovative work with location for some time despite having access to only a rudimentary level of API support.  Most of the location-based projects we see are built using the simple, account-level location field folks can fill out as part of their profile.
RELATED:
Michael Gummelt / Facebook Blog:
Publishing to Twitter from Facebook Pages  —  Many people have asked us to make Facebook and Twitter work better together for those times when they want to share their content as widely as possible.  We agree.  Over the next few days, we will be releasing a feature that allows administrators …
VentureBeat:
Twitter to roll out commercial accounts this year  —  Yes, Twitter will start earning some income this year.  —  Co-founder Biz Stone said the company is in the first phase of rolling out commercial accounts that will entice business users to pay for premium services like detailed analytics.
Wall Street Journal:
Internet Archive to Form Coalition to Challenge Google Books Settlement  —  Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc., Yahoo Inc., and a number of other library associations are joining a coalition being created by the Internet Archive to challenge Google Inc.'s settlement with authors and publishers …
RELATED:
Maggie Shiels / BBC:
Tech giants unite against Google  —  Three technology heavyweights are joining a coalition to fight Google's attempt to create what could be the world's largest virtual library.  —  Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo will sign up to the Open Book Alliance being spearheaded by the Internet Archive.
Discussion: Engadget and Electricpig
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Flickr v. Free Speech.  Where Is Their Courage?  —  One thing I've learned over the years is this - screwing over your users while yelling “the lawyers made me do it!” rarely ends well.  Particularly when the lawyers are just being lazy, and free speech rights are at stake.
RELATED:
Mark Milian / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Flickr says ‘Obama Joker’ image removal complied with takedown request
The JobsBloggers / Microsoft JobsBlog:
Microsoft Retail Stores: We're hiring!  —  You may have heard about our plans to open Microsoft retail stores in cities around the world.  Well, I know a lot of you have heard because the JobsBloggers have been getting peppered with questions. :)  —  We've recently announced our first two stores …
Mark Milian / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Telecoms chase after Google Voice's innovative calling features  —  Google engineers show off the Voice Web app.  Credit: Septillion via Flickr  —  Google's pickup of Grand Central, a little Web startup with big ideas for revolutionizing phone use, is starting to look pretty smart two years later.
RELATED:
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple's UK Online Store Lists August 28th Ship Date for Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Program [Updated]  —  Apple's UK online store is now listing a shipping date for the OS X Snow Leopard “Up-to-Date” program of “by August 28th”.  The listing comes on the heels of reports from several sources …
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
FCC to vote on wireless industry competition inquiry; Watch out Verizon and AT&T  —  The Federal Communication Commission will vote Aug. 27 on a broad inquiry into wireless industry competition.  The FCC move is likely to put AT&T and Verizon under the regulatory microscope.
RELATED:
Dana Oshiro / ReadWriteWeb:
Google Labs Launches Listen Podcast App  —  Google Labs just launched Listen - an “audio magazine” that allows Android users to subscribe to programs and search terms to queue up their podcasts for easy listening.  While Listen only offers English audio podcasts for now …
Economist:
Snap it, click it, use it  —  A new way to deliver information to mobile phones is spreading around the world  —  NEGOTIATING his way across a crowded concourse at a busy railway station, a traveller removes his phone from his pocket and, using its camera, photographs a bar code printed on a poster.
Nick Halstead / TweetMeme Blog:
TweetMeme Retweet Button Growth  —  I wanted to share a few numbers about the growth of TweetMeme and explain why so many users are using our service.  In the last 30 days we have served 1.6 billion retweet buttons, and we seeing an average growth of 20% week-on-week.
Discussion: TechCrunch
Chris Davies / SlashGear:
HTC Click video demo: entry-level Android Donut in wild [Updated]  —  Remember the HTC Click?  The company's entry-level Android smartphone is tipped to arrive in September or October this year, but until we have any official confirmation we've got leaked hands-on footage from Tinh Te.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Pirate Bay's Supposed Buyer Says Everything's Awesome.  So Why Are Its Allies Running?  —  The company that wants to buy the Pirate Bay and turn the filesharing haven legit says its plans are moving full steam ahead.  But it seems to be having a hard time convincing its own team.
Discussion: Music Ally and CNET News
Timothy Prickett Morgan / The Register:
Hewlett Foundation ponies up cash for Wikipedia  —  Someone has to pay for free content  —  The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which handles the cash donated to various charities and good causes by one of the co-founders of Hewlett-Packard and his wife, has given Wikimedia …
Discussion: Wikimedia Foundation
Stephen Shankland / The Download Blog:
Google's 64-bit Chrome starts emerging—on Linux  —  Google has begun work on a 64-bit version of Chrome for Linux, a move likely to whip Linux loyalists into a lather of excitement.  —  “The V8 team did some amazing work this quarter building a working 64-bit port.
Discussion: Techgeist and Lifehacker
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Hacker Mitnick may sue AT&T over data breach  —  After having his AT&T wireless account breached and his personal information posted on the Web, famed hacker Kevin Mitnick thought the least the cellular service provider could do was compensate him for his troubles.
Maha Atal / Brainstorm Tech:
You've got blogs: ex-AOLers build sites for writers, documentarians  —  New online platforms like True/Slant and SnagFilms are a home for original content.  Can they succeed?  —  Godfather: Leonsis backs AOL-bred online ventures.  Photo: SnagFilms  —  AOL is getting some good press …
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Los Angeles gets its Google Apps groove  —  On August 11, Randi Levin, the chief information officer of the city of Los Angeles, stood before City Council members at a hearing of the information technology committee and made her case for why the nation's second-largest city should adopt Google Apps.
Carlos Kirjner / blogband:
The Definition of Broadband  —  Today the FCC is releasing a Public Notice, or PN, on the best way to define broadband.  As the PN points out, much of the recent debate tends to center on throughput speeds.  Engineers know that these numbers by themselves are most often misleading.
James Hohmann / Washington Post:
In D.C. Region, Some Metro Tweets Run Too Long, Say Too Little  —  Metro is struggling with overruns again, but this time the problem isn't train operators overshooting platforms.  It's mysteriously incomplete tweets.  —  In March, Metro set up a Twitter account and configured software …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Apple Continues To Right App Store Wrongs.  Obama “Hope” App Is Go.  —  Last month, we wrote about an iPhone app getting rejected because it featured artwork of President Obama.  Specifically, it was Shepard Fairey's famous “HOPE” image of Obama that Apple found inappropriate stating that it “ridicules public figures”.
 
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 More Items: 
Jeremy Kirk / PC World:
U.K. Government Looks to Smart Ticketing for Transport
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Facebook disables 6 rogue phishing apps, but 5 more appear
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Computerworld:
Who writes Linux: Big Business
Analysys Mason:
As Clearwire investors write off billions of dollars, what is the future for WiMAX?
Discussion: GigaOM and dailywireless.org
Matthew Lasar / Ars Technica:
Rural broadband = more jobs, better salaries
John Collins / The Irish Times:
Eircom to block internet access to Pirate Bay as other firms refuse
Discussion: BetaNews, IrelandOn-line and p2pnet
Dawn C. Chmielewski / Los Angeles Times:
News Corp. pushing to create an online news consortium
Discussion: MediaMemo and paidContent
 Earlier Items: 
Eric Lai / Computerworld:
Windows 7: The OS that launches a thousand touch-screen PCs?
Discussion: WinBeta
Steve / The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs:
“Likely illegal”? Bitch, please
VentureBeat:
Twitter had been in talks to buy FriendFeed too, co-founder Stone says
Discussion: paidContent, Thanks:mgcreed