• Facebook Dumps Microsoft Ads, Keeps Sleazy Advertisers – "Facebook says it has dumped Microsoft banner ads, but what the social network really needs are fewer sleazy advertisers, not less Microsoft."
• Nook back on sale – "Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader, which sold out over the winter holidays, is available online once again, the company said Monday.

  The Nook is also expected to show up in most B&N stores by midweek."

• Macmillan books coming back to Amazon – "After a week-long absence, new copies of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and other books published by Macmillan are available for purchase on Amazon.com.

  Since last Friday, Amazon had limited the availability of Macmillan releases in a dispute over e-books, with Macmillan calling for a new pricing system that would end the $9.99 rate Amazon had been setting for best-sellers on its Kindle e-reader. Macmillan and other publishers believe $9.99 is too low and threatens the value of books overall."

• Consumers lose interest in iPad after Apple’s unveiling – survey – "Despite a highly publicized public debut, potential customers lost a great deal of interest in Apple's new touchscreen iPad after it was unveiled, a new study has found."
• Google Ads Level the Playing Field – "While the annual Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet offers an enticing alternative to the Super Bowl for those who aren't football fans, almost everyone loves to watch the NFL championship game just for the $2 million per 30-second spot advertising spectacles. Super Bowl ads get as much, or more, attention and analysis as the game itself."
• China Closes Hacker Training Site, Arrests Three Members – "Chinese police have shut down what they called the country's biggest hacker training Web site and arrested three people linked to the site, local media said Saturday."

• Microsoft Discontinuing Xbox LIVE for Xbox Gamers – On April 15, 2010, Microsoft plans to pull the plug on Xbox LIVE services for its original Xbox as well as online services for Xbox games playable on the Xbox 360. Microsoft's Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb broke the news on his blog and said the shutdown will commence with immediate discontinuation of auto-renewals for gamers still subscribed to the service through an original Xbox.
• Sun CEO Tweets Resignation: And 9 More Notable News-Making Tweets – Forget press releases and interviews — today's headline-makers make the news by using Twitter.
• Sling: We didn’t ‘work’ with AT&T for 3G streaming to iPhone – "AT&T made headlines Thursday by announcing that it had decided to allow SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone to stream video from a Slingbox over its 3G network. AT&T's CEO claimed in the announcement that Sling Media modified the app to be more efficient on its network, but Sling has responded, saying it didn't have to change a thing."
• Google’s alleged tie-up with NSA raises concerns – "Google has declined comment on a Washington Post report that it has asked the National Security Agency to help track down the cyberattackers who recently breached its databases."
• Third Major Publisher Dumps Amazon $9.99 E-books Model – "The future of the $9.99 e-book is in danger. A third major publisher, Hachette, is going for Apple's agency model in order to sell e-books for up to $14.99 apiece, the company revealed in a memo to agents."

• Microsoft IE Emergency Patch Due Thursday – "Microsoft said it plans on Thursday to release an emergency, or out-of-band, patch to address the zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer that was used to attack Google and some 33 other companies last month.

  The vulnerability affects Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, and Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2."

• Study: Young people’s screen time exceeds 7.5 hours a day – "Young people are spending more time with nearly every form of media than ever, according to a report released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. They spend more hours on the computer, in front of television, playing video games, texting and listening to music than an adult spends full-time at work.

  The only media they aren't soaking up, the study says, are newspapers, magazines and other print publications.

  Kids ages 8 to 18 spend more than 7 1/2 hours a day using electronic media, or more than 53 hours a week, the 10-year study says. "And because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those 7 hours."

• Bill Gates shares his notes – "Now you have a chance to compare notes with Bill Gates.

  The Microsoft chairman is launching a Web site on Wednesday designed to to share his thoughts on everything from his foundation work to musings on other topics including energy and the environment."

• The White House releases news, streaming app – "In a world where we have iPhone apps for just about everything, there is now an app for keeping up (officially) with the White House."
• Can Amazon’s New Kindle Royalty Model Make Authors Smile? – "Amazon's decision to offer a 70 percent royalty option on digital book sold through its Kindle store is an important step and, perhaps, an acknowledgment that the powerful online bookstore may have painted itself into a corner."

• 2009 in review: The year in home entertainment – "2009 was a busy year for the iPod, iTunes, and Apple TV. Here’s a quick wrap-up of some of the big events of the past 12 months in the world of home entertainment."
• Amazon: Kindle Is Most Gifted Item Ever – "Amazon's Kindle e-book reader hit a watershed moment on Christmas Day, when, for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books. The company also claims the Kindle is the most gifted item in Amazon's history. These two facts were part of the online retailer's recently announced holiday sales activity."
• Xbox Thief Nabbed By Playing Online – "A man in the Bronx played a stolen Xbox 360 over Xbox Live and the cops traced the IP address back to his grandmother's house."
• Mozilla pushes back Firefox 3.6, 4.0 deadlines – "Mozilla won't make a 2009 deadline for releasing Firefox 3.6 and is giving itself more time to complete a major update, version 4.0.

  The organization behind the open-source Web browser had predicted a final release of Firefox 3.6 in December 2009, but the Mozilla Web site now includes "ship Firefox 3.6" as a goal for the first quarter of 2010.

  In addition, Firefox 4.0, which had been due in 2010, now is "aimed at late 2010 or early 2011," with a beta due in the summer of 2010, according to Mozilla."

• Google Netbook Specs Reportedly ‘Leaked’ – "The rumored Google Netbook, which Google has not confirmed it is working on, will reportedly feature Google’s Chrome OS, a 10.1-inch multi-touch display, a beefy ARM processor and 2GB of RAM, according to the U.K.’s IBTimes, which says it has received specs for the netbook."
• AT&T halts sales of iPhone in New York City – "AT&T has stopped Web-based sales of the iPhone in the New York City area, although the company is saying little about the reasons behind it.

  "We periodically modify our promotions and distribution channels," said Mark Siegel, executive director of media relations for AT&T Mobility on Monday. He declined to elaborate on why and which areas specifically the company's online iPhone sales are being halted."

• NORAD to track Santa for 54th year – "The North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, is once again making preparations to track Santa Claus for the 54th year as he makes his 'round the world trip on Christmas Eve, and during the early hours of Christmas morning."
• Amazon’s Kindle has copyright protection hacked – "An Israeli hacker claims to have broken the copyright protection on Amazon's Kindle e-reader, reports say.

  The hack will allow the ebooks stored on the reader to be transferred as pdf files to any other device."

• HP Computer Technology On Motion-Tracking Web Cams Do Not Recognize Wide Range Of Skin Tones – "In a video now posted on YouTube, two co-workers ask the question: Can Hewlett-Packard's motion-tracking webcams see black people? The company is investigating the issue.

  In the video, two co-workers go back and forth in front of the camera to test the facial recognition feature. The camera followed Wanda Zamen, a white female and she sways from side to side, but the camera stands still for Desi Cryer, a black male, as he moves in front of the camera."

• Google’s Nexus One compared to Apple’s iPhone, Motorola Droid – "New photos and a hands-on description have compared Google's custom-built Nexus One handset, rumored to be for sale to the public next month, with Apple's iPhone."
• Microsoft Word Gets Facelift – "Microsoft has issued a patch for its Office 2007 product that brings the desktop suite into compliance with a court edict.

  The 2007 Microsoft Office OPK Master Kit Download, available on Microsoft's OEM Partner Center, strips Word and other Office programs of custom XML editing capabilities."

• Blackberry Outage: RIM Should Compensate Users – "For the second time in a week, a Blackberry outage has left North American users without access to e-mail on their handsets.

  Bloomberg reports that two recent versions of Blackberry's Messenger program could be to blame, and that Research in Motion, which makes the handsets, has released software to fix the glitches. Customers are encouraged to download the latest version if their last upgrade was after December 14."

With this integration, you will be able to link relevant text to products sold on Amazon directly within Blogger, while crafting your posts. No need to open a separate tab to hunt around for products.

To add links to your site:

1) Open an Amazon Associates and Blogger account, if you don’t already have one. If you already have a Blogger account but not an Associates account, you can create your Associates account directly within Blogger (so create your Blogger account first)

2) You will need to create a gadget associated with your account. Blogger provides simple steps for doing so.

(click images for more detail)

2) Once the gadget is created, your post area will now look like this:

Write your post as you normally would, including any text regarding a product.

3) Highlight the relevant text and the Product Finder will recommend the ones most closely associated with the text.

4) Choose to either insert the product link or an image of the product. The link will automatically include your Associate number.

Amazon wants to hear what you think about this, so they’ve created a hashtag (#AMZN4BLGR) to use on Twitter. Or you may contact them via the contact form.

• 5 Reasons eBook Shoppers Should Wait For The Nook – "Amazon's Kindle caught a big break when its main e-reader competitor, Barnes & Noble, said it will unlikely be able to fulfill holiday demand for its Nook e-reader.

  But buying an e-reader is a long-term investment. Here are five reasons why shoppers would be wise to pass up the Kindle and wait until after the holiday selling season to get their own Nook."

• The iPhone On T-Mobile: Why Not? – "AT&T's exclusive hold on the iPhone is coming to an end, and speculation is bubbling as to which U.S. carrier will get Apple's smartphone next. Verizon has been hot tipped to take over the iPhone, but the latest iPhone-trashing campaign for the Motorola Droid could mean it's not going to happen. Now, a new carrier has emerged as a possible contender: T-Mobile. Yes, T-Mobile."
• Climate research e-mail controversy simmers – "The scientific conduct of climate researchers has come under increasing heat in a sprawling online debate over leaked e-mails that, critics say, raise questions about the arguments that global warming threatens the world."
• Windows Black Screen of Death: What You Need to Know – "Any Windows owner is familiar with the Blue Screen of Death, that much-dreaded white text on a blue background that essentially says you're through. But what you may not know is that there's a new contender in town: the Black Screen of Death. So what is this horrible-sounding thing, where did it come from, what's being done to fix it, and how bad is it? Here are five things you need to know about the Black Screen of Death."
• Michael Jackson, Twilight And WWE Top The 2009 Yahoo! Search Chart – "Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, Twilight, the red hot Vampire saga, and WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), the professional wrestling organization, were at the top of Yahoo!'s top 10 overall searched list for 2009."

• Next Gen iPhone Is On The Horizon – "Apple is set to up the ante in the intensely competitive smartphone wars with a souped-up next generation iPhone.

  The website MacRumors.com is reporting that iPhone developer Pandav has the next generation iPhone, referred to as iPhone 3.1, on their app analytics radar screen."

• PayPal says mobile payments exploded on Black Friday – "Mobile phone-based purchases surged on Black Friday 2009 according to industry data reviewed by Dow Jones. Mobile online payments through PayPal were up nearly 650 percent year-over-year, the eBay-owned payment solutions provider said, crediting retailer efforts to make it easier to shop and complete purchases via mobile devices as well as the growing proliferation of smartphones."
• Amazon’s Kindle Breaks Amazon’s Sales Record – "November isn't even technically over yet, but Amazon's Kindle has already hit a new monthly sales record.

  The retailer issued a statement today to that effect, but didn't actually release any specific sales number. It did add, however that the e-book reader is, "the most wished for, the most gifted, and the number one bestselling product across all product categories on Amazon."

• Nook e-book reader cooks in a week – "Barnes & Noble has apparently miscalculated demand for its Nook e-reader and now will delay its arrival into its stores by one week.

  The slated date for the company to satisfy its pre-orders is now December 7 – it already said it won't be able to fulfil new orders until January 4."

• Porn App Store Lands on Android Phones – Where there is no app for that on the iPhone, there now is for porn on the competing Android mobile operating system. A Seattle-based company named MiKandi (pronounced "my candy") has released an app store specifically geared towards porn. The application attempts to create a red light district for adult Android apps allowing adult content providers to set up shop within a MiKandi app.
• 20 Hot Cyber Monday Deals – "Just when you thought it was safe to put away that credit card, the National Retail Federation presents its annual Cyber Monday event. If you decided to forgo the maddening crowds on Black Friday, you can still snap up some great deals today from the comfort of your cubicle, home office, or kitchen table."

• App rejects of the world unite – "A WEBSITE has sprung up offering those Iphone developers who have been refused a place on the Apple App store an outlet for their frustrations.

  According to Adam White, who runs a British app developing company and set up the site, apprejections was set up as a place for disgruntled developers to gather together and whinge about Apple's apparent agenda in keeping them out."

• Black Friday deals from Amazon – "Why wait in line on Black Friday when you can click, buy, and ship at deep discounts on Amazon?

  Amazon's Black Friday page is the central point to find thousands of deals on products that are on sale for a limited time only."

• GoldStriker Makes World’s Most Expensive iPhone – "GoldStriker International, the manufacturer of highly exclusive (read: expensive) handsets, has managed to create the most expensive phone ever earlier this week. The modified iPhone 3G that they have managed to create will set you back by a cool 1.92 million pounds!"
• Dell Releases Customized Version of Chrome OS – "Dell has just released a customized version of Chromium OS, the open source code behind Google's new operating system called Chrome, in a build designed specifically for Dell Mini computers. According to a blog post on the Dell Community site, several company employees were inspired create this custom version after seeing Engadget's video showing Chrome OS running on a Vostro A860 netbook. After tinkering around with the code, they were able to create their own version of Chromium OS, complete with functional Wi-Fi drivers, and have made the build available for download as a USB key image file from the Direct2Dell blog."
• Black Friday Tech Deals: Latest and Greatest – "It's game on for bargain hunters. Black Friday is here, and so are the super sales. If you're wondering what the latest tech deals are Friday, you're in luck. While you've been sleeping off that food hangover, I've scoured the Web for the best and freshest deals."