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9:20 AM ET, November 14, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
John Markoff / New York Times:
Google Is Taking Questions (Spoken, via iPhone)  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Pushing ahead in the decades-long effort to get computers to understand human speech, Google researchers have added sophisticated voice recognition technology to the company's search software for the Apple iPhone.
Trevin Chow:
Introducing the Microsoft Store US  —  We previously launched Microso ft Store internationally in the UK, Germany and Korea.  I'm now happy to announce that we have officially launched Microsoft Store for the U.S!  —  With this launch, our customers in the U.S. are able to buy …
RELATED:
Brandon LeBlanc / The Windows Blog:
Introducing the Microsoft Store  —  This is something I think is pretty exciting - especially if you're looking to score some Microsoft product.  We are announcing the Microsoft Store - the first online store where you can purchase Microsoft products straight from the source!
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Google Finally Starts Firing Slackers?  —  Times are changing at Google: You can't slack off and expect to keep your job anymore, reports a reader who says he's an employee:  —  Recent change in behavior here at Google... it used to be nearly impossible to get fired for general underperformance …
Discussion: A VC and Beyond Search
BBC:
$100 laptop to be sold in Europe  —  Europeans will soon be able to buy their own XO laptop.  —  The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organisation is planning to sell the devices via online store Amazon's European outlets from 17 November.  —  The machines will be sold under the Give One …
Discussion: Liliputing, Guardian and Engadget
David Kaplan / paidContent.org:
Invest Like It's 1998: Microsoft Stock Hits 10-Year Low; 30 Percent Decline From First Yahoo Offer  —  Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) stock hit its lowest point in 10 years on Thursday— $18.74—when the tech sector took hits from Cisco (NSDQ: CSCO) and Intel (NSDQ: INTC), before coming back to close at $21.25.
Discussion: Associated Press
Paul Boutin / Valleywag:
What just happened at Valleywag?  The FAQ  —  I love Owen, but he has trouble writing in English during a crisis.  So here's the basics on what's happening at Valleywag:  — Some guy named Denton can't figure out how to sell ads on Valleywag.  — So he's going to sneak Valleywag …
RELATED:
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Cell phone boarding passes coming to an airline near you  —  The next time you head over to the security line at the airport, you may not have to fish around for your boarding pass in order to get past the TSA agents.  Instead, you'll be able to flash your phone or PDA …
Discussion: Crave, Chicago Tribune and Gizmodo
Business Wire:
Sun Microsystems Aligns Business with Global Economic Climate and Amplifies Growth Opportunities Across Open Source Platforms  —  SANTA CLARA, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA - News) today announced a series of changes designed to align its cost model …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Very Curious Microsoft-Facebook User Data Relationship  —  Facebook's ties to Microsoft go back to 2006 when they first signed an advertising deal.  A year later they took a $240 million investment, and the advertising relationship was extended this year.
Discussion: MSN and The Social Times
kottke.org:
High quality YouTube video hack  —  You may have noticed that the video of Burn-E I embedded looked a bit better than a normal YouTube video.  YouTube has been quietly offering high-quality versions of some of their videos for quite some time via a “watch in high quality” link just underneath the player.
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
“Fred” is the star of the NewTeeVee Live conference  —  The star of the NewTeeVee Live conference in San Francisco: Fred.  —  Lucas Cruikshank, the hyper, screeching 15-year-old Internet sensation from Omaha who created the “Fred” series on YouTube, won over the adult audience at a conference …
RELATED:
Kate Greene / Technology Review:
The Coming Wireless Revolution  —  Gadgets that operate over television frequencies promise to transform the wireless landscape.  —  If you believe some radio researchers and engineers, within the next couple of years, high-bandwidth, far-reaching wireless Internet signals will soon blanket the nation.
Discussion: The Pondering Primate
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Entrepreneurs Ask VCs for Cash Back  —  This week's $250 million funding for vacation home rental listing company HomeAway Inc. was the largest web-related venture capital investment since the bubble days at the turn of the millennium.  But it also contained a provision that signals how the lack …
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
A scientific formula for popularity on Digg, YouTube  —  Bernardo Huberman, Hewlett-Packard's director of the HP Social Computing lab, and fellow researcher Gabor Szabo have published a highly detailed report (PDF) on “predicting the popularity of online content.”
Discussion: Digital Inspiration
Paul Boutin / Valleywag:
Federated Media slashes rates to $5 CPM  —  John Battelle has his own plan for riding out the holiday ad-buying slump.  The founder of online-advertising network Federated Media, which brokers ads for sites like Boing Boing, GigaOm, and Dooce, can't fire writers, but he can cut the price of their ads.
Discussion: The Blog Herald
Tech-On! : tech news:
Non-contact Charging System Simultaneously Charges Multiple Mobile Devices  —  Mojo Mobility Inc, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm, developed a technology to simultaneously charge multiple mobile devices using a piece of sheet and started seeking collaboration with device manufacturers.
Discussion: Gearlog, Unwired View and Engadget
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
GirlInYourShirt: $75 Buys Your Startup Marketing For A Day  —  I imagine more than a few startups will take Jenaé up on her offer to wear your startup shirt and talk about your company for a day.  It's $75, and she posts videos on her site, YouTube, Seesmic and Viddler, posts pictures on Flickr and tweets about it all as well.
Discussion: The Drama 2.0 Show
Vivek Wadhwa / Business Week:
Engineering: Suddenly Sexy for College Grads  —  As the financial crisis deepens, science and math grads who once flocked to investment banking are now considering jobs in engineering  —  Early in his college career, Tyler Bosmeny assumed that after graduating, he would do what hundreds …
Eric Engleman / TechFlash:
Q&A: Ian Freed of Amazon Kindle on ebooks, blogs, and Jeff Bezos  —  Amazon.com is putting a lot of marketing muscle behind its electronic book reader, the Kindle, ahead of this year's holiday season (the company recently secured a coveted endorsement from Oprah).
Discussion: TeleRead
Electronista:
Alienware intros $1K Area-51 750i  —  Alienware on Thursday veered away from its normal high-end audience to unveil the Area-51 750i.  The system is the company's least expensive gaming tower but comes with the same lightable casing, wiring and stronger power supplies as more expensive Area-51 models …
Discussion: SlashGear and Gizmodo
Khettiya Jittapong / Reuters:
Thai True Move to sell 3G iPhone, AIS still in talks  —  Thailand's third-largest mobile phone firm, True Move, said on Thursday it had signed a deal with Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to sell the 3G iPhone in Thailand.  —  The deal could make True Move …
Joey Sanders / BlackBerryNews.com:
BlackBerry Curve 8900 Simulator Available For Download  —  RIM has released for download the 4.6.1 software simulator for the 8900 Curve2.  While you're waiting for the device, this might be fun to play with and get used to the OS.  —  Click here do access and download the 8900 simulator.
IntenseDebate:
IntenseDebate is Back!  —  The wait is over!  We're pleased to announce that IntenseDebate has emerged from temporary invite mode and is now available for the taking.  —  Since joining Automattic, we have been hard at work scaling our infrastructure and preparing IntenseDebate to deliver super-charged comments across the web.
Miguel Helft / Bits:
Is There a Privacy Risk in Google Flu Trends?  —  When Google released its Flu Trends service earlier this week, the Drudge Report flashed a headline that read: “SICK SURVEILLANCE: GOOGLE REPORTS FLU SEARCHES, LOCATIONS TO FEDS.”  —  Google sought to avoid this kind of reaction by talking …
Discussion: PolicyBeta
 
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 More Items: 
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
IM Coming to Popular Mechanics, Seventeen - Can Chat Save Old Media?
Discussion: VentureBeat
Iljitsch van Beijnum / Ars Technica:
Google: more Macs mean higher IPv6 usage in US
Discussion: CircleID
Benjamin J. Romano / Microsoft Pri0:
Unsealed docs from Vista Capable class-action suit detail exchanges …
 Earlier Items: 
Jonathan Schwartz / Jonathan Schwartz's Blog:
The Inside Story (Java, Microsoft and MySQL)
Mike / Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search:
Google Maps + TeleAtlas + TomTom = Powerful map update strategy
Brian Krebs / Security Fix:
A Closer Look at McColo
John Cook / TechFlash:
Jobster slashes staff by 38 percent
Discussion: Guardian and PE Hub Blog
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Liam Scott / Voice of America:
RSF says 23 journalists were jailed in Syria and 10 others were missing as of December 9; press freedom groups call for accountability for Assad's government

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Warner Bros. Discovery has decided not to renew its deal for new episodes of Sesame Street, though it will continue licensing library episodes through 2027

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway seek up to eight figures from new partners, possibly CNN, for Pivot and other podcasts; their Vox deal ends in 2025

 
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