• New Facebook Privacy Controls Take On Twitter – "In a move that may actually pass without a huge uproar, Facebook has begun testing new privacy options that will make the service pretty much just like Twitter, but only if you want it to be. Or so they say."
• Ariane takes giant comms satellite into space – "US company Terrestar used an Ariane rocket to blast the world's biggest commercial satellite into space.

  The satellite is intended to give phone coverage to areas in North America that can't get service otherwise."

• A Gidget, A Gadget, Another Cool Tool Site Hits The Web – "Call it Gadget 2.0. A new site, Gadget, was launched Thursday that provides community reviews of the latest and greatest gadgets instead of relying on professional assessments."
• Jackson’s death sparks wave of spam – "Spam scams relating to Michael Jackson's death are spreading like wildfire across the internet."
• Bing Adds Twitter Searches – Microsoft has added a feature to Bing that allows the search engine to query the Internet for so-called real-time data, including postings from Twitter users.

• New Facebook Privacy Controls Take On Twitter – "In a move that may actually pass without a huge uproar, Facebook has begun testing new privacy options that will make the service pretty much just like Twitter, but only if you want it to be. Or so they say."
• Ariane takes giant comms satellite into space – "US company Terrestar used an Ariane rocket to blast the world's biggest commercial satellite into space.

  The satellite is intended to give phone coverage to areas in North America that can't get service otherwise."

• A Gidget, A Gadget, Another Cool Tool Site Hits The Web – "Call it Gadget 2.0. A new site, Gadget, was launched Thursday that provides community reviews of the latest and greatest gadgets instead of relying on professional assessments."
• Jackson’s death sparks wave of spam – "Spam scams relating to Michael Jackson's death are spreading like wildfire across the internet."
• Bing Adds Twitter Searches – Microsoft has added a feature to Bing that allows the search engine to query the Internet for so-called real-time data, including postings from Twitter users.

• It’s No Myth: Adam Savage Taps Twitter to Fight $11000 AT&T Bill – "The rumor started over the weekend: Mythbuster Adam Savage was hit with an $11,000 bill from AT&T for using data services in Canada. And then, it was confirmed and myth no more:"
• Google News, YouTube Invite News Groups to Share Video Content – "Search engine Google and its YouTube video-sharing Website look for more ad revenue dollars by inviting news organizations to partner with them."
• 5 Reasons Skype Should Fear Google Voice – "Google late last week began sending out invitations for Google Voice, its new VoIP service built on technology it acquired through GrandCentral in 2007. Google Voice will be rolled out slowly, according to Google, but as of last Thursday, the service is now available to anyone who had requested to try the beta version."
• Sony May Finally be Revving up a PlayStation Phone – "The Sony rumor that just won't die has reared its potentially beautiful head again: a PSP phone may be in the works."
• Defending Wikipedia (and the NYT) – "Richard Perez-Pena reports today that his employer, the New York Times, successfully pressured Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales to delete information about reporter David Rohde's November 2008 kidnapping. The Times argued that publicizing Rohde's abduction would increase his value to his Afghan captors and lessen his chances of survival."

• Advertising – The Online Ad That Knows Where Your Friends Shop – "IF a marketer asked people to hand over a list of all their friends so it could show them ads, few would comply. On social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, though, friendships are obvious, and advertisers are beginning to examine those connections."
• MediaPost Publications Bing Gaining in Name Recognition – "Microsoft's marketing investment — which reports have suggested will top $100 million — in its new search engine, Bing, seems to be paying off in terms of name recognition."
• Michael Jackson’s Death Slows The Net – "As news of Michael Jackson's heart attack and death spread online, interest was so high that Twitter ground to a halt and many connections became slow."
• Pirate Bay Judge Not Biased, Appeals Court Rules – 'The Swedish judge who handed down jail time and a multi-million-dollar fine to four men who ran the infamous filesharing site Pirate Bay was not biased, an appellate court ruled on Thursday."
• Gen-X childhood icons go boom, take the Internet with them – "TMZ crashed for a while on its big day. And uber-aggregator Google News was hit so hard the servers thought they were under DDoS attack: Some would-be visitors on Thursday reported getting an interrupt page saying that their query 'looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application.' The visitor was presented with a CAPTCHA before he or she could proceed."
• Microsoft to Vista Owners: You’ll Pay for Our Mistake – "Microsoft is currently holding a two-week pre-sale "sale" on Windows 7, with Windows 7 Home Premium selling for as low as $50 a copy. If you miss the July 11 cut-off and wait until the official October 22 release, you'll pay full price, Microsoft says (for now, anyway)."

• Microsoft rebuffs Twitter protest over Outlook’s rendering of HTML e-mails – "Showing again the power of Twitter for quick social organizing, Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday was forced to defend itself against complaints that its market-leading Outlook e-mail program wreaks havoc on rich-HTML e-mails."
• Retailer Apologizes For Iran Tweets – "If you’re searching Twitter for the latest news out of Iran, you really don’t expect to find ads for a furniture store among them. But they’ve been there, from British retailer Habitat, which has used the keywords (aka hashtags) Iran and Mousavi to push its products, according to the BBC.

  Habitat has apologized and removed them, stating the postings were “not authorized,” but not saying who was responsible for them."

• Facebook: Want To Keep That Update Private? Go Ahead – "Writing in a Facebook blog post yesterday, Olaoluwa Okelola, an employee of Facebook, laid out the changes that are coming to the Publisher feature. Publisher is the page on the social network where users add photos, updates and information."
• Could Devices Like Hohm Increase Your Energy Bill? – "Microsoft's announcement that it would join Google and some other players in the home energy management market with its Hohm monitoring offering could be the foundation for utilities to begin budgeting electricity."
• More on the Windows 7 upgrade program – "Although Microsoft is on track to deliver Windows 7 for the holidays, the new operating system will miss the back-to-school buying season.

  For that reason–and to prevent the stall in sales that can precede any new operating-system release–Microsoft has been working for months on the free-upgrade program it announced earlier Thursday."

I usually feel like an oddball when it comes to this topic, because I am one of the few people who doesn’t seem to have unlimited text and calls on my cell phone. I have a really basic phone (It does take photos) and a prepaid calling plan. It helps us stick to our budget.

But if you are have to have something other than a prepaid plan but also need to fit it into your budget, I would suggest trying out the following sites and tools to see if you can bring down your cell phone bill.

Bill Shrink: Find the out if you are getting the best price on cell phone plans, but also check on gas prices and credit cards. (free)

Over My Minutes: Want to make sure you don’t go over your minutes, but are too busy to keep track? Sign up at Over My Minutes and you will receive an alert on your phone when you are getting close. (free)

Or, you can go all crazy like me, and just use a prepaid card. Frankly, I can’t stand being on the phone all of the time, so it suits me fine. Maybe it will work for you too.

Sound off: How do you save money on your cell phone bill?

• Supposed Craigslist Killer Gives Not Guilty Plea – "Philip Markoff, the so-called ‘Craigslist Killer,' has given a not guilty plea in the murder of a woman he supposedly met through the site."
• European regulators eye privacy at Facebook, Twitter – "Regulators in Europe want better privacy protection by Facebook Inc., Twitter and similar social networks, fearing information about people could be misused."
• Richard Marx (!) attacks RIAA after $1.92M Thomas verdict – "Jammie Thomas-Rasset was held liable to sharing 24 songs, including one by pop crooner Richard Marx. But the lawsuit wasn't done in Marx's name—this week, he called out the recording industry's 'greedy actions.'"
• Apple MacBook Pro Users Complain Of Distorted Displays – "Apple MacBook Pro users are steaming over an issue related to distortion on their external large-screen displays and their perception that Apple is ignoring the issue."
• Steve Jobs nearly died and lied about it –

One of the neatest and most useful sites to debut recently is Alice.com, a product planning site that helps you track your shopping, reminds you when you might be getting low on an item and has FREE SHIPPING. Do you get the implications of that?? No trips to the store for necessities! Have them brought right to you.

I was impressed with the ease of use of the site and the ability to track, budget and plan your shopping. Getting started and using the site are truly a snap.

To start, build your family. Here’s mine:

Choose the items that you use in your home:

Your account will be created and a nifty screen will give your some tips for getting started:

Here is where it gets really cool. Once you’ve created your account, you have access to coupon codes and a plethora of tools to help stay organized :

My products: keep track of the products you use

Budgeting: track how much you are spending on items

Advanced planning: plan out what you use when and when you will need a new product

Order History: see what you have purchased and when

Shop by room, Best Deals, Green Products: there are various ways to search and shop for items

See that little text box in the image above? I added that to show you the other beauty of this site: It shows you current deals that are available. Each deal only has a certain number offered, so once that number reaches zero, it is no longer available.

Conclusion: Alice.com  is such a neat, interactive site. Adding items to your cart is as simple as drag-and-drop. The prices seem reasonable, shipping is free, and selection is good – filled with brands you are familiar with.

Let me know if you use it and what you think of it.

*fyi: the link I used for the site includes a referral code. Feel free to delete it if you sign up, but if you keep it, it will give me 3% if you ever make a purchase. You can do the same with your friends and family too.

• Is Microsoft’s "Morro" Malware in Disguise? – "Here's the short version: Windows Security Essentials is like Windows Defender, but kicked up a notch. The free application–and I can't stress that enough, it's free–will give you nearly real-time protection for your system against malware and viruses. Ta-da."
• Consumers think netbooks are notebooks – "The confusion is causing frustration among many consumers who bought a netbook instead of a notebook, only to find it lacked the functionality they expected, according to an NPD Group report published yesterday."
• Dunkin’ unveils Web site, iPhone app – "Just enter certain contact information, pick the menu items you want and supply the e-mail addresses of other people for whom you're fetching coffee or other treats. The Dunkin' technology will combine the requests into one order that will be placed automatically at the outlet of your choosing."
• Notorious Spammer Faces Federal Prison – "A Michigan man in charge of a large spam operation has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. According to federal prosecutors, spammer Alan Ralsky was in charge of an international spam operation that tried to manipulate stock prices."
• HP Debuts "World’s First" Web-Connected Home Printer – "HP announced Tuesday what they are calling the world’s first Web-connected home printer: The HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web. The new Web-enabled printing platform is expected to be available this fall and cost an estimated $399."
• China Not Relenting On Internet Filter Mandate – "China isn't backing down from its requirement that all PCs sold in that country starting July 1 include controversial Web-filtering software."

I’ve mentioned here before that I have a love for Open Source (OS), whether it be software, design or development. Free doesn’t mean it’s cruddy when it comes to OS.

Burda Style is a sewing site that has adopted the Open Source philosophy:

While creating BurdaStyle, we were captivated by the open source philosophy: the sharing of intellectual property and allowing the public to adapt it to their specific needs. We assimilated the concept to BurdaStyle, removing the copyright from our patterns. Our open source sewing patterns are free to be used as a base for your own design. Whatever you sew, you can sell if you like. We believe that removing copyrights from our designs will inspire creativity and spawn multiple new designs – and that’s wonderful!

(Summer Dress with a Bow)

Not only is it a site for learning techniques and gathering ideas, but readers can contribute their own tutorials, tips and techniques. The “How-Tos” section is fabulous – with a plethora of instructions. There is even a category for Maternity Wear Alterations.

It is also a community with an active forum and a blog.

Whether you are a seasoned sewer, looking for new patterns, or a newbie wanting to learn some basic “how-tos” Burda Style has it covered.