Top Items:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Next Google Search Challenger: Blekko — Rich Skrenta, who created the first computer virus (Elk Cloner), co-founded the Open Directory Project, and co-founded online news site Topix, may have bitten off the biggest challenge of his career - taking on Google. In search. — Skrenta left Topix last June.
RELATED:
Skrentablog:
Why Search? — I've gone and founded a search startup... you can read it about it in this write-up in TechCrunch. But I get asked - why do search? — Simple - the idea that the current state-of-the-art in search is what we'll all be using, essentially unchanged, in 5 or 10 years, is absurd to me.
Discussion:
WebProNews
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Netflix Partners With LG to Bring Movies Straight to TV — SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix, the DVD-by-mail company with more than seven million customers, has a new strategy that may one day make those red envelopes obsolete. — The company wants to strike deals with electronics companies …
Discussion:
Between the Lines, Netflix, last100, Silicon Alley Insider, Associated Press, Hacking NetFlix, ParisLemon, Reel Pop, Gizmodo and NewTeeVee
RELATED:
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Facebook disabled my account — If you are trying to contact me on Facebook, please don't. My account has been “disabled” for breaking Facebook's Terms of Use. I was running a script that got them to keep me from accessing my account. I'm appealing. I'll tell you what I was doing …
MacScoop:
Next iPhone software update to allow copy-paste — Apple will release an iPhone software update during MacWorld Expo 2008, well informed sources confirmed MacScoop. But it appears that the unpolished iPhone sofware version recently leaked on the Internet doesn't include all the features of the final release.
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Plaxo's For Sale — Plaxo, the Sequoia-backed start that transformed itself from a hated spam monster into a mild mannered and interesting business social network, has started a sale process according to a source. They've hired an investment bank, Revolution Partners, who are spearheading the sale effort.
RELATED:
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
Social Net Site Is Said to Be for Sale — Plaxo, an early social networking site that helps people keep their address books updated, is up for auction, people briefed on the offering said Wednesday night. The company, which has not made a profit, is seeking as much as $100 million, these people said.
Discussion:
Valleywag
Megan McCarthy / Epicenter:
Facebook Ads Make You the Star — And You May Not Know It — Have you used Facebook to give a shout-out to businesses you like? Best make sure your profile picture catches your best side, because you might be an unwitting star in those businesses' next Facebook ad campaigns.
Discussion:
Consumer Passion
The Boy Genius Report:
Jay-Z launching record label with Apple — This one's been floating around like a hot air balloon, but we've just about confirmed it. For those that don't know, Jay-Z left Def Jam as President last month, and everyone's been talking about where he's heading.
Discussion:
Engadget, louisgray.com, CrunchGear, Cult of Mac, Gizmodo, ParisLemon, Insanely Great Mac, Mashable! and Digg
Glenn Derene / Popular Mechanics:
Macworld 2008 Prediction: Apple's MacBook Plus Tablet Laptop — In his biweekly trends column, PM's senior tech editor forecasts what he thinks Steve Jobs will show the computer world at this year's Apple developers conference: a touchscreen “MacBook Plus” to enter the growing tablet market.
Nick Carr / Guardian:
The big switch may turn off jobs — Computing is now a resource like electricity - but where the arrival of grid power expanded the middle classes, the internet is making fewer people richer, says Nick Carr — A hundred years ago, a new network - the electric grid - allowed people to abandon …
Discussion:
MediaVidea
Joseph Weisenthal / paidContent.org:
Free WSJ.com Would Need 12x Traffic To Offset Loss; DJ Buy To Shave A Penny From NWS: Analyst — Turning WSJ.com into a free site would require a 12x increase in traffic growth to offset the lost revenue, according to a new report from Bear Stearns analyst Spencer Wang.
Michael Kanellos / CNET News.com:
Coming soon: A notebook with a terabyte — It's the notebook for neurotics. — Asus, the Taiwanese computer maker, will come out with a notebook that sports two 500GB hard drives from Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Combined, this will give a fully configured Asus M70 notebook a terabyte of storage.
Ryan Block / Engadget:
LG.Philips announces 14.3-inch flexible e-paper display for CES — Try to contain yourself when we rattle off the following list of specs for LG.Philips's latest A4 sheet of flexible e-paper: 14.3-inches, 1280 x 800 pixels, 16.7m colors, 300 micrometers thick, full 180° viewing angle.
Discussion:
Gizmodo
