Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
10:05 AM ET, December 4, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Mark Milian / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Google quietly rolls out Dictionary [Updated]  —  What does “googling” mean?  Google can tell you.  —  The search giant has quietly rolled out Google Dictionary, which presents definitions and synonyms.  Exactly what you'd expect from a dictionary.  —  In addition to Google's own database …
RELATED:
Zee / The Next Web:
Google Search has just made it much easier to find information in any language.  —  Google has just introduced a wonderful way to use Google Search to find information in other regions and languages.  —  The tool has been available for some time, but today it becomes a fully integrated …
Leland / Twitter Blog:
Takeout dogfood  —  Hi all, this is @leland, user experience lead on the @twittermobile team.  I wanted to share a little bit of what we've been working on and thinking about.  —  It's probably no secret that Twitter has an active developer community, using our APIs to create fantastically innovative apps.
RELATED:
John Leyden / The Register:
Spyware threat haunts squeaky-clean iPhones  —  Research finds rogue app privacy risks to regulation models  —  Apple's line that iPhone users who toe the line and resist any temptation to jailbreak, unlock or otherwise desecrate their smartphone are protected from threats has been called into question by new research.
Discussion: The Next Web
David Ulevitch / OpenDNS Blog:
Some thoughts on Google DNS  —  Google launched a DNS service today, almost exactly four years after I started OpenDNS.  This comes as no surprise as it was only a matter of time before one of the Internet giants realized the strategic importance of DNS.  I've received a lot of questions from bloggers …
RELATED:
Prem Ramaswami / The Official Google Blog:
Introducing Google Public DNS
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Apple announces free iTunes Christmas give-aways for Europe  —  Apple UK has announced the ‘iTunes 12 Days of Christmas’ promotion, offering free songs, music videos, apps, TV episodes and films on a daily basis during the promotion.  —  The promotion run from December 26 to January 6.
Patrick Hoge / bizjournals:
CrunchPad partner plans media event  —  The man whom TechCrunch blog network founder and editor Michael Arrington blamed for killing his CrunchPad hardware project has scheduled a video call with reporters and industry analysts for Monday, according to a Silicon Valley public relations firm.
Search Blog:
A note about today's outage  —  Bing.com was down between about 6:30 and 7:00 PM Pacific Time on Dec 3, 2009.  During this time, users were either unable to get to the site, or their queries were returning incomplete results page.  —  The cause of the outage was a configuration change during …
RELATED:
Chris Matyszczyk / CNET News:
New Droid ad: iPhone is ‘digitally clueless’  —  Perhaps you have already become used to Verizon's Droid tossing names at the iPhone like an 8-year-old boy behind his teacher's back.  —  However, the latest ill feelings directed at Apple's little cutey seem beyond even anything heard in an elementary school.
Matt Wilson / L.A. Daily News:
Apple clears first hurdle in bid for new Cupertino campus  —  Apple Inc. is one step closer to building a second campus in Cupertino after waiting eight months for city planners to rezone its 7.78-acre property on Pruneridge Avenue to allow office use.  —  The planning commission …
Discussion: AppleInsider and 9 to 5 Mac
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Vendors to launch Atom N450-based netbooks on January 11, 2010  —  Asustek Computer, Acer, Lenovo and even Micro-Star International (MSI), which originally planned to launch in December, are all set to launch their Atom N450-based netbooks on January 11, 2010, complying with their agreement …
David Kaplan / paidContent:
With Redesign, Reuters.com Goes After Consumer Audience  —  With the general business magazines that are still in existence trying to keep their heads above water, Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) believes this is a good time for a major overhaul of its consumer-facing website.
Business Wire:
Skiff E-Reading Service to Launch in 2010  —  Skiff Will Deliver Premium Newspaper & Magazine Content Optimized for Multiple Devices; Sprint and Marvell Among Key Partners  —  NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Skiff, LLC today announced plans to launch a new consumer e-reading service platform …
Discussion: TechStartups.com and Engadget
RELATED:
Chromium Blog:
Technically speaking, what makes Google Chrome fast?  —  Earlier this year, we heard from many of you on how important speed is to your daily activities on the web.  We kicked off a series of discussions with the Internet community on ways to make the web faster: from Internet protocols …
iSuppli:
Acer Takes No.-2 PC Rank in Q3; Market Returns to Annual Growth  —  Marking a major milestone in the history of the computer industry, an Asian OEM has captured the No.-2 position in the global PC market on a quarterly basis for the first time, according to iSuppli Corp.
Lee Mathews / Download Squad:
Google Chrome Extension Gallery treads lightly on copyright issues  —  With its doors open to uploads and everyone buzzing about Google Chrome for one reason or another, the Extensions Gallery will be arriving soon.  And while there's usually open(source)ness involved when talking about Google and Chrome …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Yes, We Can Write Our Opinions Without Contacting The Company We're Writing About First  —  This happens all too frequently.  I recently wrote a short post about something that was apparently happening with YouTube and soon after received an angry email from a PR person at the company …
Saul Hansell / Bits:
Seeking a Symbol for ‘This Ad Knows About You’  —  A proposed symbol, the asterisk with a head, is meant to tell people that Internet ads collect and use information about them.  It is shown here with the text that appears when users move the mouse over the logo.
Frank Watson / Search Engine Watch:
It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas: Changes At Google to Increase Ad Spends  —  Google announced the launch of extensive changes to their ad formats last week.  Interestingly, some are like the methods AdSense publishers used to use to increase CTRs before Google banned them.
Alan Long / Hitwise Intelligence:
Facebook driving the Industry growth (NZ)  —  Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Bebo and Twitter make up 67.0% of the Social Networking and Forums industry, and receive substantial media coverage.  They each sit inside the top 50 websites visited by all New Zealand Internet users in November 2009:
Melanie Lee / Reuters:
Friendster to be sold by month's end -source  —  * To be sold to an Asian buyer end-Dec for at least $100 mln  —  * More than half of Friendster's 100 mln users from Asia  —  * Industry blog values Friendster at $210 million (Adds background, details)  —  Friendster, one of the world's …
Michael Learmonth / AdAge:
Online Ad Industry: Advertising Is ‘Creepy’  —  PSAs Play on Scary Vintage Imagery to Convince Otherwise  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — “Hey, This Banner Ad Can Tell Where You Live.  Mind If I Come Over and Sell You Some Stuff?”  —  That's some of the ad copy that will start popping …
Discussion: MediaPost and rbr.com
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Defense Dept. pulls software over privacy issues  —  The Department of Defense has pulled a parental control product from its online store serving military families after learning that the company collects childrens' data, according to documents the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) obtained from the government agency.
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:
Facebook notifies members about Beacon settlement  —  An e-mail was sent on Thursday to Facebook users who were members at the time that its controversial, now-defunct Beacon advertising program was operated: it's the official notice about the proposed settlement for the class-action lawsuit against Beacon.
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 10:05 AM ET, December 4, 2009.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Airtable:
3 bold predictions for the future of Product Management  —  Do you know how to set up your product organization for success as you embrace AI transformation to supercharge your operations?  Learn how to win with Airtable.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
ProTips: 5 strategies to enhance your customer engagement with an SMS extension  —  It's crucial for every business to stay connected with customers and leads in every medium.  Maximizing the potential …
Notion:
Get up to 6 months free of Notion with unlimited AI  —  Notion is trusted and loved by thousands of startups as their connected workspace—from building product roadmaps to tracking fundraising.  Build and scale your company with one tool!
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
ExactTarget Raises $75 Million More, Up To $145 Million In Venture Capital
Discussion: Pulse2
Dan Macsai / Fast Company:
G-Railed: Why Did Google Bury the Web's Oldest Entertainment Publication?
Discussion: IMDb and digiday:DAILY
Sean / Inside BlackBerry:
BlackBerry App World Test Center Launches
Alaska Miller / Silicon Alley Insider:
EBay Founder Invests $1.4 Million Into Emergency Alert System
CNN:
Cisco Controls Approximately 89 Percent of TANDBERG — 90 Percent Condition Waived
Discussion: eWeek and Reuters
Matt Asay / The Open Road:
Open source: The money is in the cloud
Discussion: SitePoint
John Cook / TechFlash:
Exclusive: Wetpaint cuts staff, changes focus to publishing
Discussion: Xconomy
 Earlier Items: 
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Nokia says halving smartphone portfolio
Kermit Pattison / New York Times:
A 20-Something Makes a Mint (and Sells It to Intuit)
Kelly Hodgkins / Boy Genius Report:
New Motorola Android handset spotted, photographed