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8:20 AM ET, December 4, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Prem Ramaswami / The Official Google Blog:
Introducing Google Public DNS  —  When you type www.wikipedia.org into your browser's address bar, you expect nothing less than to be taken to Wikipedia.  Chances are you're not giving much thought to the work being done in the background by the Domain Name System, or DNS.
RELATED:
David Ulevitch / OpenDNS Blog:
Some thoughts on Google DNS  —  Google launched a DNS service today, almost exactly four years after I started OpenDNS.  This comes as no surprise as it was only a matter of time before one of the Internet giants realized the strategic importance of DNS.  I've received a lot of questions from bloggers …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google Gets Into The DNS Business.  Here's What That Means  —  Google just announced Google Public DNS, a new service that lets consumers use Google as their DNS service provider.  The benefits to users are a theoretically faster and more stable browsing experience, and some additional security against malware type sites.
Mark Milian / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Google quietly rolls out Dictionary [Updated]  —  What does “googling” mean?  Google can tell you.  —  The search giant has quietly rolled out Google Dictionary, which presents definitions and synonyms.  Exactly what you'd expect from a dictionary.  —  In addition to Google's own database …
RELATED:
Zee / The Next Web:
Google Search has just made it much easier to find information in any language.  —  Google has just introduced a wonderful way to use Google Search to find information in other regions and languages.  —  The tool has been available for some time, but today it becomes a fully integrated …
Leland / Twitter Blog:
Takeout dogfood  —  Hi all, this is @leland, user experience lead on the @twittermobile team.  I wanted to share a little bit of what we've been working on and thinking about.  —  It's probably no secret that Twitter has an active developer community, using our APIs to create fantastically innovative apps.
RELATED:
Search Blog:
A note about today's outage  —  Bing.com was down between about 6:30 and 7:00 PM Pacific Time on Dec 3, 2009.  During this time, users were either unable to get to the site, or their queries were returning incomplete results page.  —  The cause of the outage was a configuration change during …
RELATED:
Chris Matyszczyk / CNET News:
New Droid ad: iPhone is ‘digitally clueless’  —  Perhaps you have already become used to Verizon's Droid tossing names at the iPhone like an 8-year-old boy behind his teacher's back.  —  However, the latest ill feelings directed at Apple's little cutey seem beyond even anything heard in an elementary school.
Patrick Hoge / bizjournals:
CrunchPad partner plans media event  —  The man whom TechCrunch blog network founder and editor Michael Arrington blamed for killing his CrunchPad hardware project has scheduled a video call with reporters and industry analysts for Monday, according to a Silicon Valley public relations firm.
Discussion: Gizmodo and GottaBeMobile.com, Thanks:arulprasad
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Apple announces free iTunes Christmas give-aways for Europe  —  Apple UK has announced the ‘iTunes 12 Days of Christmas’ promotion, offering free songs, music videos, apps, TV episodes and films on a daily basis during the promotion.  —  The promotion run from December 26 to January 6.
David Kaplan / paidContent:
With Redesign, Reuters.com Goes After Consumer Audience  —  With the general business magazines that are still in existence trying to keep their heads above water, Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) believes this is a good time for a major overhaul of its consumer-facing website.
Discussion: Beet.TV, Reuters and the Econsultancy blog, Thanks:atul
Chromium Blog:
Technically speaking, what makes Google Chrome fast?  —  Earlier this year, we heard from many of you on how important speed is to your daily activities on the web.  We kicked off a series of discussions with the Internet community on ways to make the web faster: from Internet protocols …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Yes, We Can Write Our Opinions Without Contacting The Company We're Writing About First  —  This happens all too frequently.  I recently wrote a short post about something that was apparently happening with YouTube and soon after received an angry email from a PR person at the company …
iSuppli:
Acer Takes No.-2 PC Rank in Q3; Market Returns to Annual Growth  —  Marking a major milestone in the history of the computer industry, an Asian OEM has captured the No.-2 position in the global PC market on a quarterly basis for the first time, according to iSuppli Corp.
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Vendors to launch Atom N450-based netbooks on January 11, 2010  —  Asustek Computer, Acer, Lenovo and even Micro-Star International (MSI), which originally planned to launch in December, are all set to launch their Atom N450-based netbooks on January 11, 2010, complying with their agreement …
Discussion: Engadget, SlashGear and Netbooked
Saul Hansell / Bits:
Seeking a Symbol for ‘This Ad Knows About You’  —  A proposed symbol, the asterisk with a head, is meant to tell people that Internet ads collect and use information about them.  It is shown here with the text that appears when users move the mouse over the logo.
Frank Watson / Search Engine Watch:
It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas: Changes At Google to Increase Ad Spends  —  Google announced the launch of extensive changes to their ad formats last week.  Interestingly, some are like the methods AdSense publishers used to use to increase CTRs before Google banned them.
Alan Long / Hitwise Intelligence:
Facebook driving the Industry growth (NZ)  —  Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Bebo and Twitter make up 67.0% of the Social Networking and Forums industry, and receive substantial media coverage.  They each sit inside the top 50 websites visited by all New Zealand Internet users in November 2009:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Chrome For Mac Beta Launch Is Imminent  —  Sometime in the past few hours, the Mac Detailed Status page on Chromium's website has been changed to the “Mac OS X Roadmap.”  Why?  Because the team has wiped out the bugs that were blocking a beta release of Chrome for Mac, and it is on the verge of launching.
Kelly Hodgkins / Boy Genius Report:
New Motorola Android handset spotted, photographed  —  Posted up in our comments under our Motorola Sholes Tablet article is supposedly another never-yet-seen Motorola Android handset.  This is also apparently a full touchscreen device that features an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flash …
Alaska Miller / Silicon Alley Insider:
EBay Founder Invests $1.4 Million Into Emergency Alert System  —  Omidyar Network — run by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar — is investing $1.4 million in Ushahidi, an open-source emergency alert platform.  —  Ushahidi works by taking information submited via SMS texts, email, or the Internet …
Matt Asay / The Open Road:
Open source: The money is in the cloud  —  For those entrepreneurs looking to make a living from open-source software, Index Ventures general partner Bernard Dallé has some advice: get thee to a cloud strategy.  —  Why?  At a time when enterprises may be less willing to spend on software …
Discussion: SitePoint
Dan Macsai / Fast Company:
G-Railed: Why Did Google Bury the Web's Oldest Entertainment Publication?  [UPDATE]  —  UPDATE: Roughly two hours after this post went live, Google re-enabled Studio Briefing's ad serving, without explanation.  Irwin still wishes he knew, specifically, what he did wrong.  But for now, he says, “we're back in business.”
Discussion: IMDb and digiday:DAILY
Michael Learmonth / AdAge:
Online Ad Industry: Advertising Is ‘Creepy’  —  PSAs Play on Scary Vintage Imagery to Convince Otherwise  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — “Hey, This Banner Ad Can Tell Where You Live.  Mind If I Come Over and Sell You Some Stuff?”  —  That's some of the ad copy that will start popping …
Discussion: MediaPost and rbr.com
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:
Facebook notifies members about Beacon settlement  —  An e-mail was sent on Thursday to Facebook users who were members at the time that its controversial, now-defunct Beacon advertising program was operated: it's the official notice about the proposed settlement for the class-action lawsuit against Beacon.
Melanie Lee / Reuters:
Friendster to be sold by month's end -source  —  * To be sold to an Asian buyer end-Dec for at least $100 mln  —  * More than half of Friendster's 100 mln users from Asia  —  * Industry blog values Friendster at $210 million (Adds background, details)  —  Friendster, one of the world's …
Lee Mathews / Download Squad:
YouTube beta testing stripped down “Feather” design  —  They just put the Google homepage on a diet, and now they're looking at ways to trim the fat from YouTube as well.  —  Google has introduced an opt-in beta for Feather, a new layout which strips away a lot of the excess from the standard page layout.
 
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 More Items: 
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Defense Dept. pulls software over privacy issues
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
ExactTarget Raises $75 Million More, Up To $145 Million In Venture Capital
Discussion: Pulse2
Sean / Inside BlackBerry:
BlackBerry App World Test Center Launches
Discussion: CrackBerry.com blogs
Brian Garner / AppleInsider:
Publisher Hearst releases plans for digital magazine, newspaper service
CNN:
Cisco Controls Approximately 89 Percent of TANDBERG — 90 Percent Condition Waived
Discussion: eWeek and Reuters
Mike Cassidy / Mercury News:
More than business for Adobe's founders
John Cook / TechFlash:
Exclusive: Wetpaint cuts staff, changes focus to publishing
Discussion: Xconomy
 Earlier Items: 
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Nokia says halving smartphone portfolio
Kermit Pattison / New York Times:
A 20-Something Makes a Mint (and Sells It to Intuit)