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1:35 AM ET, March 20, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Michael Leggett / Gmail Blog:
New in Labs: Undo Send  —  Sometimes I regret sending a message the morning after.  Other times I send a message and then immediately notice a mistake.  I forget to attach a file or email the birthday girl that I can't make her surprise party.  I can rush to close my browser or unplug the Internet …
RELATED:
Zoli Erdos / Zoli's Blog:   Gmail's Undo Send Isn't Really Undo, Just Like Multiple Inboxes …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Flip Video: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong And Then So, So Right.  —  Pure Digital Technologies, the creator of the Flip Video line of digital video recorders, got their payday today: $590 million in Cisco stock, a deal we first reported may be happening a couple of weeks ago.
Discussion: CNN and Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks:mrinaldesai
RELATED:
Lawrence Aragon / PE Hub Blog:
Since When Is 3x a Good VC Return?  —  Maybe the VC model is broken after all.  —  The VCs who backed hot digital video recorder maker Flip Digital have agreed to sell the company to Cisco Systems for $590 million in stock.  At first, it sounds like a pretty good deal …
Discussion: Ars Technica and Digits, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
Why Cisco's Flipping Into Consumer Video
Discussion: Technologizer, Out of the Box and eWeek
Cisco:
Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Pure Digital Technologies, Makers of Flip VideoTM
Apple:
Movie Fans Can Buy & Rent Films in High Definition on the iTunes Store  —  Box Office Favorites Including “Quantum of Solace” & “Twilight” Available in Stunning HD  —  Apple® today announced that iTunes® customers can purchase and rent box office favorites including “Quantum of Solace” …
RELATED:
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
Evidence of new iPhones, new iPod Touch?  —  We got this information from one of our awesome Apple ninjas, (yes, that one) and here's the deal... Basically when poking around in the iPhone OS 3.0 restore ramdisk, our guy found evidence of Apple's upcoming hardware revisions.  This includes new iPhones and iPod Touches.
RELATED:
Chris Foresman / Ars Technica:
More evidence arises for future iPhone models in latest beta  —  Yet another plist file in the iPhone OS 3.0 beta references four different unknown products.  They could be new iPhones, new iPod touches, or even crazier things like a Mac tablet or an iPhone nano.
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
Nielsen: Twitter's growing really, really, really, really fast  —  A small new survey from Nielsen about the five fastest growing “member community destinations” in the U.S. reveals what we all kind of knew already: Twitter is at the top.  From February 2008 to February 2009, it clocked in at a whopping 1,382 percent growth rate.
Discussion: Traffick
RELATED:
Nielsen Wire:
Twitter's Tweet Smell Of Success
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb and TomsTechBlog.com, Thanks:atul
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook Poll: 94% Of Users Don't Like Redesign  —  A Facebook application is polling users on the the new site layout .  So far, just over 5% of the nearly 800,000 respondents give it a thumbs up.  The rest go the other way.  —  Users can also leave comments with their thoughts.
RELATED:
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Half a percent of Facebook users hate the new redesign — Facebook should (mostly) ignore them  —  Sometimes when Facebook tries something new, people hate it, and it fails (like the Beacon ads that show you friends activity on other sites).  But sometimes when it tries something new and people hate it …
Discussion: All Facebook, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Alexei Oreskovic / MediaFile:
Android co-founder in Google Ventures?  —  Is Android co-founder Rich Miner Google's new in-house venture capitalist?  To judge by one intriguing clue, it appears so.  Miner's name was recently spotted on a nametag at a Silicon Valley event for start-up firms to present their ideas and pitch VCs for funding.
Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
TomTom fires back at Microsoft with lawsuit over Streets & Trips  —  Portable navigation company TomTom, recently sued by Microsoft for patent infringement, has countered with its own lawsuit alleging that Microsoft's Streets & Trips product infringes on TomTom's patents.
RELATED:
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
March Madness!  YouTube Gets Live Video Via Silverlight  —  So live video has finally, finally come to YouTube this morning.  CBS has embedded its Silverlight March Madness bracket and live game coverage directly onto a YouTube channel.  Go to http://www.youtube.com/marchmadness to check it out.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
With IE8, Microsoft Ignores One Third Of The Market  —  With today's release of Internet Explorer 8, everyone who use Microsoft's browser will be getting some much-needed improvements: color-coded related tabs, “Accelerator” add-ons, search and site suggestions, toolbar favorites …
RELATED:
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
IE 8 Web Slices: Great Idea! Mediocre Execution!
Discussion: PC World and ReadWriteWeb, Thanks:marieadomingo
John Markoff / New York Times:
Computer Experts Unite to Hunt Worm  —  An extraordinary behind-the-scenes struggle is taking place between computer security groups around the world and the brazen author of a malicious software program called Conficker.  —  The program grabbed global attention when it began spreading late …
Discussion: Wikinomics and ZDNet Government
RELATED:
John Markoff / Bits:   The Conficker Worm: April Fool's Joke or Unthinkable Disaster?
Economist:
The end of the free lunch—again  —  The demise of a popular but unsustainable business model now seems inevitable  —  “IN RECENT years, consumers have become used to feasting on online freebies of all sorts: news, share quotes, music, e-mail and even speedy internet access.
Thanks:atul
RELATED:
Economist:   Six years in the Valley
Dan Primack / PE Hub Blog:
The VC Walking Dead  —  A few years back, I created a Word document called “The Walking Dead.”  These were venture capital firms that were officially in business — lights on, working websites, cash to support existing investments — but which no longer had enough cash to add new portfolio companies.
Discussion: VentureBeat, TechFlash and broadstuff
Jason Calacanis / The Jason Calacanis Weblog:
Why Twitter's ‘Suggested Users’ is the Next Superbowl Ad (or “Calacanis offers $500k for three years")  —  Title: Why Twitter's ‘Suggested Users’ is the Next Superbowl Ad (or  —  “Calacanis offers $500k for three years")  —  Subscribers: Does it really matter?  It's just a number (13,159)
Georg Szalai / Mediaweek:
YouTube Exec: Google ‘Not Good at Content’  —  Buying a media company or content producer such as NBC or the New York Times wouldn't make sense for Google, an executive from the Internet bellwether said Wednesday.  —  “Those are very different businesses from what Google is,” said Kevin Yen …
Discussion: paidContent.org and NewTeeVee
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Palm CEO: WebOS bigger than just the Pre base  —  Updated: Amid weak fiscal third quarter results, Palm CEO Edward Colligan said that the company is well positioned to launch the Pre and promised a roadmap of smartphones and an application ecosystem built on the company's new WebOS.
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Requiem for a frog: SpiralFrog shuts down  —  SpiralFrog, the pioneering ad-supported music service, quietly closed down on Thursday.  —  A source close to the company told CNET News that SpiralFrog has ceased operations and assets have been surrendered to the company's senior secured note holders.
Discussion: MacDailyNews
Venture Capital Dispatch:
525,600 Minutes ... And Just One IPO  —  It's hard to believe, but only one venture-backed company has held an initial public offering since medical device maker CardioNet Inc. went public a year ago today.  That honor goes to computing hosting services provider Rackspace Hosting Inc. …
Grant Gross / Computerworld:
Expert: Hackers penetrating industrial control systems  —  IDG News Service) The networks powering industrial control systems have been breached more than 125 times in the past decade, with one resulting in U.S. deaths, a control systems expert said Thursday.
Discussion: CNET News
Garrick Schmitt / AdAge:
Data Visualization Is Reinventing Online Storytelling  —  And Building Brands in Bits and Bytes  —  Today's consumer seems to have an insatiable appetite for information, but until recently making sense of all of that raw data was too daunting for most.  Enter the new “visual scientists” …
Thanks:atul
 
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 More Items: 
David Kaplan / paidContent.org:
TheStreet.com Cuts 18 Staffers; Layoffs Part Of $2.4M Cost-Cutting Plan
David Kravets / Threat Level:
Feds: Hacker Disabled Offshore Oil Platforms' Leak-Detection System
Discussion: Switched
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Two Current TV Journalists Detained in N. Korea
Kevin Maney / Portfolio:
His Space  —  MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe talks about why he thinks …
Saul Hansell / Bits:
An Icon That Says They're Watching You  —  I have an open question …
Discussion: ClickZ, Thanks:atul
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
RentBits Launches At-A-Glance View Of Housing Rental Market
 Earlier Items: 
Roy Mark / eWeek:
Silicon Valley Lawmaker Seeks Wireless Tax Ban
Discussion: Electronista and Ars Technica
Dawn Kawamoto / CNET News:
Buzznet gets $12.5 million round, changes name
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Bloomberg:
Sources: AT&T is exploring options for its 70% stake in DirecTV, including selling the stake and exiting the venture as early as August 2024

Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Over 50 media and civil rights groups write US AG Merrick Garland, demanding transparency over the FBI's raid of Tim Burke's house and seizing his equipment

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Wall Street and music industry analysts see Spotify's move into audiobooks as an opportunity for the company to increase its profit margins and value for users

 
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