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9:05 PM ET, December 21, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Barb Darrow / GigaOM:
Mystery: Who killed the Microsoft CES keynote?  —  So, just who nixed future Microsoft keynotes at the big Consumer Electronics Show?  It's a sticky question.  —  Microsoft said Wednesday that Steve Ballmer's keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show next month will be the company's …
RELATED:
Frank X. Shaw / TechNet Blogs:
2012 Marks Final CES Keynote for Microsoft  —  Our industry moves fast and changes faster.  And so the way we communicate with our customers must change in equally speedy ways.  To ensure it does, we constantly challenge our assumptions.  For example:  —  · What's the right time and place to make announcements?
Sam Biddle / Gizmodo:
All the Companies Supporting SOPA, the Awful Internet Censorship Law—and How to Contact Them  —  Who's officially on the record backing what could be the worst thing to ever happen to the internet?  All of these companies listed below.  Don't take our word for it—this list comes straight from Congress.
Discussion: Neowin.net and CNET News
RELATED:
Adam Savage / Popular Mechanics:
MythBuster Adam Savage: SOPA Could Destroy the Internet as We Know It  —  Soon the U.S. Congress will reconvene to consider the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).  Mythbuster and PM contributing editor Adam Savage says that if these sweeping pieces of legislation pass …
Adam Clark Estes / The Atlantic Wire:
Coders Are Already Finding Ways Around SOPA Censorship  —  A developer who calls himself T Rizk doesn't have much faith in Congress making the right decision on anti-piracy legislation, so he's built a work around for the impending censorship measures being considered: DeSOPA.
DealBook:
Yahoo to Consider Sale of Asian Assets  —  Yahoo's board will consider a deal to sell its holdings in Alibaba Group and its Japanese affiliate back to their majority owners in a complicated tax-free deal valued at about $17 billion, according to people briefed on the matter.
RELATED:
Dan Primack / Fortune:
Yahoo is only worth $1 billion?
Discussion: WebProNews
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
45 Privacy Changes Facebook Will Make To Comply With Data Protection Law  —  In 2012, Facebook will be making 45 privacy-related changes to comply with the recommendations of an audit by Ireland's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) released today.
Discussion: paidContent and PC Magazine, Thanks:grg
RELATED:
Richard Allan / Facebook:
Facebook and the Irish Data Protection Commission
Brittany Darwell / Inside Facebook:
Facebook Educating Users About Ads
Discussion: All Facebook, MediaPost and TechCrunch
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
RIAA: Someone Else Is Pirating Through Our IP-Addresses  —  Over the past week we've had fun looking up what governments, Fortune 500 companies, and even the most dedicated anti-piracy groups download on BitTorrent.  All we had to do is put their IP-addresses into the search form on YouHaveDownloaded and hit after hit appeared.
Tom Simonite / Technology Review:
Intel Shows Off Its Smart Phone and Tablet for 2012  —  Prototype devices show Intel chips running devices that could challenge the iPhone and iPad early next year.  —  The era of the personal computer dawned thanks in no small part to the chip maker Intel.
Shayndi Raice / Wall Street Journal:
Facebook's Goal: To Be a Blue Chip  —  As Company Readies 2012 IPO, It's Getting All Grown Up: Zuckerberg Swaps Flip-Flops for Real Shoes  —  Mark Zuckerberg spent Facebook Inc.'s early years trying to keep it cool.  But the founder and CEO of the social-networking giant has spent …
RELATED:
Matt Rosoff / Business Insider:   Facebook Is Scripting Pretend Earnings Calls As It Prepares To Go Public
Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:
How hackers gave Subway a $3 million lesson in point-of-sale security  —  Update: this story has been corrected and amended based on information received from Richard James of sendpace.com  —  For thousands of customers of Subway restaurants around the US over the past few years …
Discussion: Gizmodo
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Surprise — The Most Popular Facebook Game of 2011 Wasn't Made by Zynga  —  Facebook has released its list of the 10 most popular social games for 2011, and while the chart was dominated by Zynga titles, other companies received the top two slots.  —  The list revealed some other surprises, too.
Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:
Here's The Damning Letter A Massive AOL Shareholder Just Sent Tim Armstrong  —  Investment firm Starboard Value LP, which owns 4.5% of AOL, just sent a remarkably polite letter to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong telling him he is blowing it and that he needs Starboard's help.
Cade Metz / Wired Enterprise:
Ex-Google Man Sells Search Genius to Rest of World  —  M.C. Srivas is amazed by Google's search engine.  And he helped build Google's search engine.  He's amazed that if you search for “2005 Accord,” Google seems to understand you're looking for a family sedan, giving you links …
Hayley Tsukayama / Washington Post:
Carrier IQ: Motorola, T-Mobile detail use  —  Motorola and T-Mobile responded Tuesday to requests from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn) for more details on how they use Carrier IQ software.  In its letter to Franken, T-Mobile revealed that it uses the device on some of its premium smartphones including …
Discussion: BGR, The Verge, Engadget, GigaOM and Electronista
RELATED:
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
The Verge Interview: Senator Al Franken on privacy, location tracking, and Carrier IQ
Discussion: Electronista
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Here's the World's First Steve Jobs Statue  —  Here is a tutorial for public relations professionals: Some of you think that sending pitches with the subject line IN ALL CAPS is a good idea.  Others send out mass emails that begin “Item?”  Most of you send pitches about things I will never, ever care about.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Another $40 million for Jawbone from Kleiner Perkins, Deutsche Telekom  —  Jawbone, a San Francisco-based company that makes mobile lifestyle accessories such as Jambox and Up, a personal health device, has raised another $40 million in new funds from Deutsche Telekom, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers …
Dr. Raymond M. Soneira / DisplayMate:
IPS Tablet Display Technology Shoot-Out Amazon Kindle Fire - Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet - Apple iPad 2  —  Introduction A new wave of Tablets has arrived just in time for Christmas... But as we have seen many times before, most new Tablets are poorly thought out contenders that just wash away with the next wave.
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Google Voice for iPhone updated; adds multi-recipient texting, Sprint support and more  —  Google has pushed live a new update for its Google Voice iPhone application, bringing iPhone users up to speed with features that have been present in its Android equivalent.
Liz Ahlberg / News Bureau:
Self-healing electronics could work longer and reduce waste  —  Self-healing electronics.  Microcapsules full of liquid metal sit atop a gold circuit.  When the circuit is broken, the microcapsules rupture, filling in the crack and restoring the circuit.  —  « Click photo to enlarge
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Meet Circa, The Stealthy ‘News Experience’ Startup From Ben Huh And SimpleGeo Founder Matt Galligan  —  As we heard in August, SimpleGeo founder Matt Galligan left the company to pursue other interests.  SimpleGeo was then bought by UrbanAirship in November, and fellow co-founder Joe Stump left …
Discussion: GeekWire
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Kindle iOS app updated with new iPad UI for magazines, Send-to-Kindle cloud storage and more  —  The Kindle iPhone and iPad app were given a significant update, bringing it up to version 2.9 and introducing many new and highly requested features.  —  First up are a few iPad specific changes …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Lingering Android security flaw lets apps do things without permission  —  Last week, ViaForensics pointed out that Google Wallet wrote transaction histories to unencrypted database files, and this week the security firm's demonstrating another Android flaw, namely that apps can do things …
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
ComScore's 2011 Social Report: Facebook Leading, Microblogging Growing, World Connecting  —  You already know that social networking sites have been getting huge around the world, but an annual report out today from comScore shows what exactly is going at a wonderful new level of detail …
Discussion: comScore, Inc.
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Dear Congress: It's Not OK Not To Know How Search Engines Work, Either  —  Did watching elected representatives debate SOPA last week without understanding some fundamentals of the internet rattle your nerves?  Welcome to my world of watching the same thing happen about Google and search.
Discussion: Techdirt and The Huffington Post
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple's ‘Complete My Album’ Feature Drops 180-Day Deadline for Upgrading  —  Yesterday, we noted that Apple had launched a new “Complete My Season Pass” feature for TV shows purchased through the iTunes Store, offering users who purchased individual episodes of a TV show season the ability …
 
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 More Items: 
Martina Johansson / Sony Ericsson Product Blog:
Ice Cream Sandwich coming to 2011 Xperia™ smartphones from end March/early April 2012
Kevin Shalvey / Click:
Germany Privacy Agency OK With Google Facial Recognition
Dennis Hevesi / New York Times:
Norman Krim, Who Championed the Transistor, Dies at 98
Discussion: GMSV
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Digital Game Revenue Wasn't Enough to Offset Broader Industry Declines in Q3
Mat Smith / Engadget:
Sony PlayStation Vita review (Japanese edition)
Discussion: CNET News, The Verge and Joystiq
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Streamglider Takes On Flipboard And Pulse With Sleek Social Interest And News Reader For The iPad
Discussion: Nova Spivack
 Earlier Items: 
Rafe Needleman / CNET News:
What the heck is a ‘disposable’ iPhone camera?
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Google: AdMob Saw 8 Billion Tablet Ad Requests In November, Up 700 Percent From Last Year
Discussion: Electronista
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
TripAdvisor Dips Lower on First Day of Trading
Discussion: TechCrunch, GeekWire and Pulse2
Clare Jim / Reuters:
HTC testing new models after patent case; shares jump
The Mozilla Blog:
New Firefox for Android Experience Optimized for Tablets
DAVID ASCHER:
You knew the old Mozilla, meet the new Mozilla
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Ofcom rules that five GB News programs presented by Conservative politicians have broken its due impartiality rules and puts the channel “on notice”

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Authentic Brands licenses Sports Illustrated's publishing rights to The Players' Tribune owner Minute Media for 10 years, with plans to keep the print edition

Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTuber MrBeast announces a deal with Prime Video for Beast Games, a reality-competition show with 1,000 contestants, promising the winner a $5M cash prize

 
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