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12:40 AM ET, October 15, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
The Anti LumberJack / Gizmodo:
Barnes and Noble's E-Reader Like a Kindle/iPhone Chimera: First Photos and Details  —  Barnes and Noble's late to e-books.  But the company's new gadget—first seen here—should address the weaknesses of all other readers with multiple screens, each playing to tech strengths.
Walter S. Mossberg / Personal Technology:
The CLIQ, Storm2 Join Long Parade of iPhone Threats  —  (See Correction & Amplification below.)  —  It's raining smart phones.  No, make that super-smart phones, the type of hand-held computer, like Apple's iPhone or the models powered by Google's Android software, that browse the Web well …
Mark Wilson / Gizmodo:
Walmart Offering $45 Unlimited Cellphone Plan Nationwide  —  Walmart has been beta testing their exclusive Straight Talk no-contract wireless service for months, but now the retailer will offer two low-cost wireless plans nationwide starting October 18th, including an unlimited plan for just $45.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Want That Early Chrome OS Build?  You Got It.  —  The hits keep on coming from Jonathan Frederickson, the TechCrunch reader who turned our initial revelation of a “chromeos” folder on the Chromium build site into a full-on walk through.  Today, he's doing what Google won't: Making the early Chrome OS build available for download.
Olga Kharif / Business Week:
Wi-Fi Is About to Get a Whole Lot Easier  —  A consortium that includes Intel, Cisco, and Apple is set to release new technology called Wi-Fi Direct that will turn a slew of gadgets into hotspots  —  Going Wi-Fi is about to get a lot easier.  For many consumers, setting up an in-home Wi-Fi connection point is something of a hassle.
RELATED:
Wi-Fi Alliance:
Wi-Fi Alliance® announces groundbreaking specification …
Tim Danton / PC Pro:
Acer 3D laptop review: first look  —  dual-booting Android and Windows 7 netbook at today's global press conference: it also revealed the world's first mainstream 3D laptop, the Acer Aspire 5738PG (at this point, I should point out to Acer that if Apple launched a 3D laptop it probably wouldn't give it a terrible name like 5738PG).
Discussion: Pocket-lint.com, Engadget and Gizmodo
RELATED:
Zachary M. Seward / Nieman Journalism Lab:
How The Huffington Post uses real-time testing to write better headlines  —  From direct mail to web design, A/B testing is considered a gold standard of user research: Show one version to half your audience and another version to the other half; compare results, and adjust accordingly.
Jenna Wortham / Bits:
UrbanSpoon Makes It Easier to ‘Scope’ Out Restaurants  —  Most people using the UrbanSpoon iPhone application give their phones a vigorous shake to serve up a list of restaurants in the immediate vicinity.  —  But now they have a new way to find a place to get a bite: Aim the iPhone …
AppleInsider:
Mac sales grow 11.8% as Apple takes 9.4% U.S. market share  —  Mac sales saw double-digit growth in the third quarter of 2009, maintaining Apple's position as the fourth-largest U.S. PC manufacturer, according to new data released Wednesday from IDC.  —  Overall, Apple came in fourth for U.S. vendors …
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Applause For Finland: First Country To Make Broadband Access A Legal Right  —  Kudos to the Finnish government, which has just introduced laws guaranteeing broadband access to every person living in Finland (5.5 million people, give or take).  —  This is reportedly a first worldwide.
Laura June / Engadget:
Acer: we'll overtake Dell as world's number two PC maker... soon  —  Acer's President Gianfranco Lanci is talking some big talk these days, but not completely without reason.  The Taiwan-based computer manufacturer says it does not expect to see a decline in revenue this year over last …
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Lawsuits filed over Sidekick outages  —  It was only a matter of time, but the T-Mobile Sidekick issue has now spilled over to the courthouse.  —  A number of lawsuits have been filed, including two filed in federal court in Northern California on Wednesday that allege both negligence …
Ellen McGirt / Fast Company:
Intel Risks It All (Again)  —  How Sean Maloney and brand guru Deborah Conrad are helping Intel's first carpet-dweller CEO reengineer the company once known as Chipzilla — and free the bong.  —  When Paul Otellini, Intel's famously reserved CEO first heard the news, he got quiet.
Blogger / Dial-a-Phone:
Motorola Comeback Plan Revealed  —  With all that talk about the Motorola Sholes, Tao, A855 going on, we decided it was time for a little bit of digging.  And look what we've stumbled across, only Motorola's Q4 2009 and Q1 2010 Roadmap!  —  The Roadmap shows Motorola's Medium and Higher Tier Social Smartphones.
Dan Nosowitz / Gizmodo:
Next-Generation Flip MinoHD: Sleeker Design, Double the Memory  —  The newest Flip MinoHD was just announced, and it's a lot like the first-gen, but with upgrades all around.  You've got double the memory, a much sleeker aluminum design, bigger screen and HDMI port.  Sweet!
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Brainstorm Tech:
Is Steve Jobs more popular than Jesus?  —  Apple's CEO tops two polls in one week.  Will no one rid us of these meddlesome lists?  —  Photo: Apple Inc.  —  Last Thursday, Oct. 8, an Agenda Setters panel named Steve Jobs the most influential individual in the global technology industry …
Discussion: Geek.com, The Microsoft Blog and Time
Owen Van Natta / MySpace:
MySpace Adds Top Talent to Executive Ranks  —  Today MySpace is pleased to announce several new executive appointments that support our technology and partnership goals.  First, Nada Stirratt has joined MySpace in the role of Chief Revenue Officer, effective immediately.
Discussion: TechCrunch and paidContent
Gina Trapani / Lifehacker:
Google Wave's Best Use Cases  —  Last week we asked a simple question: How will you use Google Wave?  Over 600 responses later, we're sending Wave nominations to the people who had the best use cases.  Here are a few.  —  Education: Increasing Interactivity and Collaborative Learning
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Juan Carlos Perez / Computerworld:
Bugs hit Google Docs after recent upgrade  —  IDG News Service - Google Docs users are having problems printing, exporting and uploading certain files, the company acknowledged, as it is rolling out a set of upgrades to the hosted office productivity suite.  —  In two separate postings …
Discussion: The Next Web and Maximum PC
Don Reisinger / CNET News:
Samsung delivers Blockbuster, Amazon on-demand video  —  Samsung announced on Wednesday that on-demand video services from Blockbuster and Amazon are coming to some of its home entertainment products.  —  Blockbuster OnDemand, which allows people to rent or purchase video content on a one-off basis …
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Layar Brings Augmented Reality Browser To The iPhone (Screenshots)  —  Half an hour ago, I just had an iPhone 3GS.  Now, I have an iPhone 3GS with Layar installed.  —  It was one of the main questions I had for the Dutch company, which markets an augmented reality browser …
Motoko Rich / New York Times:
Libraries and Readers Wade Into Digital Lending  —  Kate Lambert recalls using her library card just once or twice throughout her childhood.  Now, she uses it several times a month.  —  The lure?  Electronic books she can download to her laptop.  Beginning earlier this year, Ms. Lambert …
Discussion: PersonaNonData and ResourceShelf, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
AT&T Attacks Google Voice Again — This Time With Nuns  —  Is this nun praying for Google Voice?  —  AT&T today countered Google's claims that it's blocking Google Voice calls to rural areas because they're directed to free conference call lines and sex hotlines engaged in the dubious practice …
Discussion: Post Tech and TechCrunch
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
What 5% Drop?  ComScore Says Bing Search Share Stayed Steady In September  —  Earlier this month, a couple reports came out suggesting that Bing's search market share took a hit in September.  Hitwise reported that Bing's share of U.S. searches was down 5 percent (in absolute terms, it was a half-point drop to 8.9 percent share).
Emil Protalinski / Ars Technica:
Sneak peek: Family Guy meets Windows 7  —  Microsoft has teamed up with Fox to deliver a 30-minute Family Guy comedy special on November 8.  Yes, you read that right: Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein have been tapped to market Windows 7, and we've got the sneak peek.
Kim-Mai Cutler / VentureBeat:
TheFind launches “buying engine,” product search from 500,000 stores  —  TheFind, a Mountain View, Calif-based startup that applies machine learning and semantic search to shopping, says comparison buying sites only skim the surface of all the millions of products out there on the web.
Chris O'Brien / Mercury News:
After 32 years, Ellison just getting started  —  I could trot out all sorts of metrics to make the case that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has reached a new pinnacle of power and influence.  —  But in truth, there's no better testament to Ellison's ascent than the 37,000 people …
 
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 More Items: 
Roger Thompson / AVG Blogs:
Hacked Facebook applications reach out to exploit sites in Russia
Discussion: Computerworld
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Recent Cloud Outages May Give Opera Unite a Second Chance
Discussion: Technologizer and PC Magazine
Jessica Ghastin / Facebook Blog:
Responding to Abuse Reports More Effectively
Discussion: AppScout and Search Engine Watch
Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac:
AT&T: Tethering is probably going to be a 2010 thing
Discussion: TUAW and MacRumors
Karl Bode / DSLreports:
Time Warner Cable Announces Wireless Broadband …
 Earlier Items: 
Jonathan Goldman / The Official Google Blog:
One-stop shop: Buy Promoted Videos in AdWords
Thanks:atul
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Dropbox Acquires The Domain Everyone Thought It Had: Dropbox.com
Max Colchester / Wall Street Journal:
The French Get Lost in the Clouds Over a New Term in the Internet Age
Discussion: Switched, Thanks:mrinaldesai