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12:05 PM ET, September 20, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
HP Cutting 500 Jobs at webOS Division (Updated)  —  The layoffs have begun at Hewlett-Packard's Palm division.  —  The company, which announced plans to shutter its webOS hardware business back in August, is sacking hundreds of employees as a result.  —  Sources close to HP say the company plans …
Dan Reimold / MediaShift:
Google+: Social Media Upstart ‘Worse Than a Ghost Town’  —  I wanted to log on to Google+.  I swear I did.  But the thought of it made me tired.  —  I recently wrote a piece for MediaShift on the perils of tweeting interview requests.  Like I've done for past pieces and many of the posts …
RELATED:
Loic Le Meur:
The Influencers Verdict: the Google+ example  —  One of the top challenges of any service launching it to pass the influencers verdict.  Look at Dan Reimold's post (that I am discovering tonight because his post is on Techmeme) about the failure of Google+ “Worse than a Ghost town”.
Osama Bedier / The Official Google Blog:
Launching Google Wallet on Sprint and working with Visa, American Express and Discover  —  In May we announced Google Wallet—an app that makes your phone your wallet—with Citi, MasterCard, Sprint and First Data.  With Google Wallet, you can tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC).
RELATED:
Chris Ziegler / This is my next:
Google Wallet review: photos, videos, and availability
Discussion: Macworld and TechCrunch
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Source: Facebook To Launch Read, Listened, Watched, And Want Buttons  —  The cat is out of the bag that Facebook is going to launch something big at its developer conference f8 this week.  We've heard about the social music services that could be debuting in a few days …
RELATED:
Eric Mack / CNET News:
Facebook hides ‘Poke’ button ahead of rumored redesign
Discussion: @r
Sean Hollister / This is my next:
Logitech Harmony Link: a $100 wireless IR blaster for your iPad or smartphone (video)  —  Fighting over the remote control may be a thing of the past, if Logitech has its way — today, it's introducing the Harmony Link, a shiny black puck that promises to give every iOS and Android device …
Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
WSJ Social, For a World Where Facebook Is the New Internet  —  Is Facebook a friend of news companies, or is it a rival?  No matter how much success publishers have piggybacking off its traffic, they can't escape the cruel math: The more of their time consumers spend on Facebook …
Joanna Stern / This is my next:
HTC Rhyme: Verizon's female-targeted Android device with a bizarre charm indicator coming September 22nd for $199.99  —  And just like that, the long rumored HTC Bliss — herein known as the Rhyme — is official.  Yep, after months of following the “lady phone” (our internal name for the handset) …
Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:
Microsoft paid out ‘more than £1 million’ to female executive  —  Microsoft paid out “more than £1 million” to silence a female executive who was unfairly overlooked to become managing director of its business in Britain.  —  Natalie Ayres worked at the computer software company …
Dan Goodin / The Register:
Hackers break SSL encryption used by millions of sites  —  Beware of BEAST decrypting secret PayPal cookies  —  Researchers have discovered a serious weakness in virtually all websites protected by the secure sockets layer protocol that allows attackers to silently decrypt data that's passing between …
Discussion: Gizmodo, Softpedia News and CNET News
Martin Bryant / The Next Web:
Google Voice currently being tested in Europe ahead of international launch  —  Google is currently ‘dogfooding’ its telephony service Google Voice in Europe ahead of a planned launch outside the US, the company's European Director of Business Development, Jens Redmer has just told The Next Web.
Discussion: Softpedia News and SlashGear, Thanks:m4tt
Bloomberg:
Google, Oracle Ordered to Meet Again Tomorrow in Android Dispute Mediation  —  Google Inc. and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) are scheduled to meet again tomorrow after a daylong session yesterday in an attempt to resolve a lawsuit alleging the search engine company's Android technology infringed Oracle's patents.
Matthew Lasar / Ars Technica:
AT&T to smaller carriers: buy our spectrum (and save our T-Mobile merger)  —  It appears that AT&T's $39 billion bid to purchase T-Mobile may have moved into the desperation phase of the transaction.  Bloomberg reports that AT&T is now asking MetroPCS and Leap Wireless whether they'd like to buy any of the larger company's spectrum.
Discussion: paidContent and mocoNews
RELATED:
Don Reisinger / CNET News:
Cellular South joins DOJ to block AT&T's T-Mobile merger
Discussion: DSLreports
Jennifer Van Grove / Mashable!:
Foursquare Now Keeps Home Addresses Private  —  Foursquare has rolled out a new privacy option to help prevent users from unwittingly sharing home addresses with strangers.  —  The update, first spotted by About Foursquare, enables the user to designate a Foursquare locale as a private residence …
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
T-Mobile CMO: ‘We are not getting the iPhone 5 this year’  —  T-Mobile's Chief Marketing Officer Cole Broadman claims the carrier will not “get the iPhone 5 this year”.  This according to what appears to be a leaked internal document (via Tmo News) including a transcript from a recent Town Hall at Field Service Center.
Jonathan Zdziarski / Jonathan Zdziarski's Domain:
OnStar Begins Spying On Customers' GPS Location For Profit  —  I canceled the OnStar subscription on my new GMC vehicle today after receiving an email from the company about their new terms and conditions.  While most people, I imagine, would hit the delete button when receiving something …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Former Intuit CEO Bill Harris Launches Personal Capital  —  Bill Harris has spent his entire career at the nexus of the financial and technology industries, first as the CEO of Intuit, then PayPal, and then as an investor over the past decade.  Now he is bringing all of his experiences together …
Discussion: Social Markets, VatorNews and CNET News, Thanks:mcalderone
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft adds Casio to its Linux patent-protection list  —  Summary: Microsoft and Casio Computer have signed a patent-protection deal, resulting in Casio paying Microsoft an undisclosed amount for IP coverage for Linux-based devices.  —  After issuing press release after press release touting …
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft: Desktop apps will run on Windows 8 on ARM  —  Summary: Windows 8 Metro-style apps and Desktop apps are going to offer two different experiences.  But both kinds of apps are going to be available on both x86/x64 and ARM PCs and tablets.  —  I've heard numerous folks who attended Build …
Discussion: Softpedia News, LiveSide.net and eWeek
Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:
The Guy Behind The Qwikster Twitter Account Realizes What He Has, Wants A Mountain Of Cash  —  Last night, Jason went to bed a normal man, with a normal Twitter account (albeit one with a weed-smoking Elmo as the avatar), and a few dozen followers.  —  This morning, Jason woke up to an inbox full …
Josh Lowensohn / CNET News:
Final Cut Pro X gets first big update, and a free trial  —  Apple today is releasing its first major update to Final Cut Pro X with new features it says professional customers have been asking for, along with a new trial version users can try out for free.  —  Among the biggest new feature …
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
Magisto raises $5.5M to magically edit your videos  —  Cloud video editing startup Magisto is coming to market with a new service that will take raw video files and make them worth sharing with friends and posting on Facebook, with no manual editing involved.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Hi5 Confirms “Significant” Layoffs, Wraps Them In Mumbo Jumbo Speak  —  Earlier today, we heard social network Hi5 was laying off a large number of their remaining employees.  When we pinged them about this, we expected the usual “no comment” or simply no response.  Instead, here's what we got from President/CTO Alex St. John:
Discussion: Softpedia News and Develop
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
After Pets, Diapers And Soap; Amazon's Quidsi Tackles Toys With Retail Site YoYo  —  After conquering online retail in diapers, soaps, beauty products, most recently pet supplies, Amazon-owned Quidsi is moving into its next vertical—toys.  Quidsi is debuting YoYo.com, a toy e-commerce site …
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Hardware 2.0 Blog:
Apple tops customer satisfaction index once again  —  Summary: What is it about Apple that makes its customers more satisfied than those of other computer makers?  —  A poll of 70,000 consumers by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows that Apple continues to hold …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Tapjoy says it can offer more effective mobile video ads that don't tick off users  —  Mobile ad monetization firm Tapjoy is launching Tapjoy Videos today as part of a new way for game developers to make money and advertisers to reach a smartphone audience more effectively.
Facts About Google and Competition:
A Guide to the Senate Judiciary Hearing  —  Here's a viewer's guide to the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee's Google hearing on September 21:  — When you hear, “Google is a gateway to the web and controls what people see,” remember...  - Using Google is a choice.
Discussion: eWeek and Search Engine Land
 
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 More Items: 
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
American Express Buys Virtual Currency Monetization Platform Sometrics For $30M
Ben Popper / Betabeat:
New Patent Law Only Makes Life Harder for Startups and Universities
Discussion: Gizmodo
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Samsung taking Bada open source in 2012?
Spencer Soper / Morning Call:
Allentown: Inside Amazon.com warehouse workers complain of brutal conditions
Discussion: Bits, AllThingsD, TechFlash and Gizmodo
 Earlier Items: 
Chris Smith / AppleInsider:
Qantas Airways to test iPad 2 as in-flight entertainment solution
Discussion: Techie Buzz
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Apple closes trading at all-time high of $411.63, up 10.1% since Jobs stepped down
Topher Kessler / CNET News:
OS X Lion passwords can be changed by any local user
Telegraph:
Animal rights group PETA to launch pornography website