Top Items:
Ina Fried / ZDNet:
Microsoft shows off mobile phone-PC prototype … The software maker is looking at whether it can build a cheap PC for emerging markets by building it into a mobile phone — Microsoft on Thursday showed a prototype of a mobile phone-based computer that could one day find a use as a cheap PC for emerging markets.
Robert A. Guth / Wall Street Journal:
An Imprint All His Own — Now a Solo Act at Microsoft, — Ballmer Stresses Innovation, — On June 16, Steve Ballmer woke up and knew his life had radically changed. — For 26 years, the chief executive of Microsoft Corp. had worked hand in hand with Bill Gates to guide …
Yuki Noguchi / Washington Post:
Ad clicks add up to real money — Web site required, but not much work — For hundreds of thousands of people, the dream of making an Internet fortune works like this: Earn pennies at a time in exchange for allowing Google Inc. or Yahoo Inc. to place advertisements on a personal or small-business Web page.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Yahoo Launches Messenger 8 With 180 Plugins — Yahoo Messenger Version 8 for Windows, which can be downloaded here, launched out of beta today. Our previous writeup of the beta launch is here. — The key new feature of Messenger 8 is that it is open to third party developers to create widgets that work within the client.
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:Google Talk Swings Back
Discussion:
Googling Google, Gizmodo, 21talks, TechEffect, CyberNet Technology News and A View from the Isle
Tony Ruscoe / Tony Ruscoe's Blog:
What's in Google's Sandbox? — It's been a while since I've done any digging around Google's servers to try and find some new services, so I thought I'd have a quick go tonight. — I started by looking at one of the subdomains I found when I first ran my Google subdomains sniffing script last year:
Jbat / Federated Media Publishing Inc.:
FM Launches Parenting Federation, Site — FM/Parenting, a "metaweblog" representing FM's dozen or so parenting sites, is launching today. It's edited by Asha Dornfest and features excerpts from the best voices in parenting, including Amalah, Celebrity Baby Blog, Dooce, Finslippy, and Parent Hacks, among many others.
BBC:
Stolen mobiles 'will be blocked' — Around 80% of mobile phones will be blocked on all five UK networks within 48 hours of being reported stolen in future, industry leaders have pledged. — That pledge is part of a charter to reduce phone crime launched by the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum.
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com:
Torvalds critical of new GPL draft — The second draft of a revised General Public License has been released, but Linus Torvalds—founder and leader of the best-known software project governed by the GPL—remains unconvinced of its merits. — Torvalds' concern is with the clause …
Discussion:
Open Sources …, Good Morning Silicon Valley, IPcentral Weblog, GrokLaw, Slashdot and GigaLaw.com Daily News
Microsoft:
Q&A — Co-President, Platforms & Services Division — President, Entertainment & Devices Division — COLLEEN HEALY: We're going to set up for our first Q&A session of the day. We're going to keep that a little bit on the shorter side to get back on track here for lunch.
Discussion:
paidContent.org
Brian Krebs / Washington Post:
Warner Bros. To Cut Link With Adware Firm Zango — 'Inappropriate Material' Could Reach Children — Warner Bros. Studios, home to Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo and Harry Potter, said yesterday that it plans to terminate a business relationship with Zango Inc., an adware company that has been offering free games on the Warner Bros.
Thomas Crampton / New York Times:
Parts of French 'iPod Law' Struck Down — PARIS, July 28 — The French Constitutional Council has declared major aspects of the so-called iPod law unconstitutional, undermining some controversial aspects of the legislation. — " Apple's lawyers might want to drink a glass of French Champagne today …
Peter Rip / EarlyStageVC:
Business Model, Schmizness Model — The term "business model" has bothered me for a long time. I have always found it to be a glib method of characterizing a company's relationship with its various constituencies, e.g., customers, suppliers, competitors, etc. The problem isn't really the concept.
Katie Fehrenbacher / GigaOM:
A GoogleFi Speed Test & More Testers — Google is about to open up its Mountain View WiFi network to more than 500 more trusted testers, according to sources familiar with the company's plans. The expanded test indicates that the service is inching closer to its public debut.
Discussion:
Valleywag
Kim Zetter / Wired News:
Confessions of a Cybermule — John Dillinger was a bank robber whose tool of trade was a machine gun. But in today's cybercrime era, the weapon of choice for "John Dillinger" is an MSR206, a card-writing machine used for encoding bank account numbers and other data onto the magnetic stripe of bank credit and debit cards.
