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6:40 PM ET, December 5, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Matthew Garrahan / Financial Times:
The rise and fall of MySpace  —  In summer 2005, having spent the best part of four decades ­building a newspaper, film and television empire, Rupert Murdoch decided that the time had come to get serious about the internet.  As founder and chairman of News Corporation …
Discussion: Beyond Search
Matthew Rivera / Digits:
Spot 10 Balloons, Win $40,000  —  If you look up and see red weather balloons this weekend, take note.  You've unwittingly entered into a social experiment. … The Defense Department's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, launched 10 balloons, each eight feet wide …
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Mininova Traffic Plummets After Going ‘Legal’  —  After nearly five years of loyal service, Mininova deleted over a million torrent files when it partly shut down its website a week ago.  What remains are a few thousand torrents that were uploaded though its content distribution platform, which only lists uploads by approved users.
Discussion: ZDNET.com.au
Ross Miller / Engadget:
Barnes & Noble's Nook gets a brief and early hands-on  —  Thanks to a very generous anonymous tipster, we've gotten a number of hands-on pics of Barnes & Noble's soon to be released (for some) Nook e-reader.  The impressions we've been given, however, weave a tale of a laggy Android interface …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Google Officially Launching Chrome Extensions Next Week  —  A couple weeks ago, Google unveiled its Chrome Extensions site after clues began popping up that a full-on push for extension support in their browser was imminent.  Unfortunately, that site was only meant for extension developers …
Thanks:atul
Stephen Baker / Business Week:
Beware Social Media Snake Oil  —  Hordes of marketing “experts” are promoting the value of wikis, social networks, and blogs.  All the hype may obscure the real potential of these online tools  —  For business, the rising popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media Web sites presents a tantalizing opportunity.
Discussion: broadstuff and Glass House, Thanks:atul
CW31:
‘Accidental’ Download Sending Man To Prison  —  SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― A local man is likely to go to prison for years after he says he accidentally downloaded child pornography onto his computer.  —  Matthew White, 22, said he was surfing for pornography two years ago on Limewire …
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Apple Strikes Deal to Buy the Music Start-Up Lala  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In the most recent sign that Apple is looking at alternative ways for people to store and play their digital music, the company has agreed to buy Lala, a four-year-old start-up based in Palo Alto, Calif., a person with knowledge of the deal said Friday.
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Confirmed: Apple Buys Music Service Lala, at a Fire Sale Price
David Sasaki / MediaShift Idea Lab:
Democratizing the Geography of Information  —  As little as a year ago Google Maps had no geographic information about San Javier La Loma, a small working class neighborhood on the outskirts of Medellín where the ConVerGentes group of the HiperBarrio citizen journalism project is based.
Google Public Policy Blog:
When sources disagree: borders and place names in Google Earth and Maps  —  Collecting and sharing the most accurate information about place names and borders is a tough task that every map maker faces.  The first sources are the nations themselves, but when neighboring countries claim overlapping territories …
Rita Chang / AdAge:
Don't Create an IPhone App for the Online Buzz Factor  —  App Chatter Doesn't Build Brands, Long-term Engagement Does  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — For all the love that marketers show iPhone apps, these micro-utilities and tools actually generate surprisingly little buzz in return.
David / TmoNews:
Google Phone To T-Mobile?  —  Let me just preface this post with a total rumor disclaimer, to be read only with serious grains of salt.  —  That being said, information has been passed along to me in a very James Bond type way from a trusty ninja who has yet to lead me astray.
 
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 More Items: 
Kevin Kelleher / GigaOM:
Does Google Even Understand What News Is?
Thanks:atul
Chris Kanaracus / Computerworld:
Study: MySQL use to drop under Oracle ownership
Discussion: The Register and New York Post
Aaron / YouTube Biz Blog:
Hit the mark with Video Targeting
Discussion: WebProNews and Mashable!
 Earlier Items: 
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
CrunchPad Litigation Imminent
Jared Newman / PC World:
Experts Not Surprised By iPhone Malicious App Report
Discussion: New York Times, Thanks:thepimpofsound
Seth Rosenblatt / The Download Blog:
Google Chrome now bundled with Avast
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”; earlier CBS aired the Kennedy Center Honors, hosted by Trump

Lorcan Lovett / Nieman Reports:
A look at the state of independent media in Myanmar, which lost US and Swedish funding this year and where subscriptions aren't a dependable source of revenue

 
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