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Google Steps Up to Defend Android Developers From Patent Lawsuit — Google has intervened in an ongoing intellectual property dispute between smartphone application developers and a patent-holding firm, Wired.com has learned, marking the Mountain View company's first public move …
Discussion:
TiPb, CNET News, Electronista and The Next Web, Thanks:mj_isaac
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Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Google's reexamination requests against two Lodsys patents don't stand on their own
Google's reexamination requests against two Lodsys patents don't stand on their own
Discussion:
The Next Web

Your Phone Numbers and Facebook: What You Should Actually Worry About — If you're on Facebook, you've likely seen the panicky message that's been circulating, warning that the social networking behemoth has started publishing all your phone contacts for everybody to see:
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
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Zach Epstein / maramine blog:
The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled Was... Disclaimer: The Devil Doesn't Pull Tricks
The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled Was... Disclaimer: The Devil Doesn't Pull Tricks
Discussion:
App Advice, Gizmodo, InfoWorld, TiPb and Android and Me

City of Cupertino posts further details, renders of Apple mega-campus — The City of Cupertino has revealed more details and renderings regarding Apple's plans to build a 2.8 million square-foot spaceship-like circular office building in the city. — The city is currently in the midst of its review process of Apple's plans.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, AllThingsD, CNET News, cupertino.org, The Business Insider, 9to5Mac, TreeHugger, Fortune, TUAW, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors, Electronista and The Next Web

Windows Laptop Makers Can't Catch Up to the MacBook Air — The PC world is buzzing lately about how laptop manufacturers are struggling to compete with Apple's MacBook Air, which has exploded in popularity since the introduction of the third-gen model in 2010.
Discussion:
ZDNet

Flickr is Dead — Poll: — Which one of these two albums looks better? — Flickr (the same view since 2004) — or — Google+ (with added infinite scrolling this week) — You know what? It doesn't matter. It's totally irrelevant. The Google one looks far better, but that's so beside the point at this point.

Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion — We've been tracking the twists and turns of the Dropbox mega funding round feeding frenzy for over a month now. In July Sarah Lacy wrote that they'd be raising $200 million to $300 million at a $5 billion or higher valuation.
Discussion:
The Business Insider

Mozilla Brings The Sign In Button To The Browser Level — If you're on a website that uses accounts, the sign in button can be anywhere. Sure, there are some common best practices, but I can think of dozens of sites that put them all over the place. Mozilla is looking to fix that, by bringing the sign in to the browser level.
Discussion:
Identity at Mozilla

Hacker Mitnick Duped Corporate Cyber-Cops, Cracked Wiretaps — Genius comes in many forms. Kevin Mitnick has at least two, neither particularly admirable. — As he portrays himself in “Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker,” Mitnick possesses a rare ability to penetrate sophisticated computer systems.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, SC Magazine Australia, New York Times and Laughing Squid

Roku grabs $8M, weeks after releasing Roku 2 — Roku, a device that streams web content to televisions, has collected $8 million in funding, according to a form D filed with the SEC today. Roku confirmed the round and its lead investors Globespan Capital Partners and Menlo Ventures.
Discussion:
GigaOM

Google+ Public Posts Coming To Google's Social Search Results — Google has added another source to its social search results: public posts from Google Plus. — Social search has been adding annotations to search results when content from your social connections (not to be confused …
Discussion:
Google+
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Sagar Kamdar / Inside Search:
The latest update to Google Social Search: Public Google+ Posts
The latest update to Google Social Search: Public Google+ Posts
Discussion:
9to5Google, PC World, Softpedia News, TechCrunch, SlashGear, ReadWriteWeb, The Business Insider, Search Engine Journal, CNET News and SiliconFilter
Eva Galperin / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
BART Pulls a Mubarak in San Francisco — This week, EFF has seen censorship stories move closer and closer to home — first Iran, then the UK, and now San Francisco, an early locus of the modern free speech movement. Operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) …
Discussion:
Softpedia News, AllThingsD, ZeroPaid.com, PhoneArena, Examiner and Boing Boing
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Eve Batey / SF Appeal:
BART Defends Decision To Cut Off Cell Service After Civil Rights, FCC Concerns Raised
BART Defends Decision To Cut Off Cell Service After Civil Rights, FCC Concerns Raised
Discussion:
PC Magazine, SFGate, Marvin Ammori &, TechCrunch, Washington Post, @jilliancyork, PC World, @eff, Marvin Ammori &, Digital Trends, @ioerror, @evanchill, Bits, Hillicon Valley, GigaOM, SFGate, Your Anon News, Crave, textually.org, Gawker, SFGate, Electronista, IntoMobile, CNET News, The Snitch and BART, Thanks:violetblue

UK riots: teenager charged with BlackBerry incitement — A teenager from Essex has been charged with using the instant messaging service BlackBerry Messenger to encourage others to take part in riots. — The 18-year-old, from Clacton, was accused of intentionally encouraging or assisting …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Guardian, CrackBerry.com blogs, Engadget, Electronista, Inquirer and The Next Web

Jonathan's Card: Starbucks Shuts Down Social Experiment Over Fraud Concerns — Jonathan Stark's community-giving Starbucks Card is no more. At 7 p.m. PT Friday, Starbucks reluctantly pulled the plug on Stark's pay-it-forward social experiment following allegations of fraud or misuse.
Discussion:
@jonathanscard, TechCrunch, Gizmodo and PE Hub Blog