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Headlines for December 9th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:00:16 +0000

Google debuts news story experiment " – Google has often been seen as a competitor to traditional newspapers, but the search giant is now teaming up with two major papers for a new experiment in presenting news online.
Google announced on Wednesday "Living Stories," an experimental new feature designed to deliver news stories, updates, editorials, and multimedia focusing on specific topics, all on one single Web page."
Verizon updates Droid software; users hope it fixes echo problem – "An over-the-air software update to the Droid smartphone started yesterday, but it wasn't clear whether the 14 enhancements address a voice echo problem that hundreds of users complained about in online forums."
AT&T: Tighter control of cell data usage ahead – "Wireless data hogs who jam the airwaves by watching video on their iPhones will be put on tighter leashes, an AT&T Inc. executive said Wednesday.
The carrier has had trouble keeping up with wireless data usage, leading to dropped connections and long waits for users trying to run programs on their devices. AT&T is upgrading its network to cope, but its head of consumer services, Ralph de la Vega, told investors at a UBS conference in New York that it will also give high-bandwidth users incentives to "reduce or modify their usage.""
Google Chrome for Mac: First Impressions – "Google finally released the beta version of its Chrome browser for Mac on Tuesday. As expected, the new browser is lacking some features that its Windows counterpart has, such as bookmark sync, a bookmark manager, and offline capability."
DHS takes action in bungled posting of airport security secrets – washingtonpost.com – "The Department of Homeland Security has initiated unspecified personnel actions against individuals involved in the bungled online posting this spring of a government document that revealed airport screening secrets, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told senators Wednesday morning."
Facebook Privacy Changes Go Live, Beware of "Everyone" – "As promised, Facebook has begun rolling out new privacy options to its 350 million users.Watch out for the "Everyone" setting."

Headlines for November 12th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:46 +0000

Full Streams Ahead: Clicker’s TV Search Engine Is Now Open To The Public – "Clicker, the startup that looks to be a comprehensive video search engine for television content on the web, has launched to the public. The site made its public debut at TechCrunch50, where it generated quite a bit of positive buzz, and has gradually ramped up its private beta over the last couple months."
Facebook message frees NYC robbery suspect – "A 19-year-old New York City man arrested on robbery charges has been exonerated thanks to his Facebook page.
Rodney Bradford was held for 12 days on suspicion of robbing two people on Oct. 17 in the Brooklyn public housing complex where he lives."
Mozilla hits FF button with second Firefox 3.6 beta – "Mozilla has hastily released a second beta of Firefox 3.6 just over a week after pushing out the first test preview of its popular browser.
The update contains over 190 bug fixes, many of which the open source outfit said would improve the browser for web developers, add-on coders and users.

Of course the decision to bombard testers with a second beta so soon was probably also made following reports from users experiencing sporadic crashes with the first beta."
Thanks Google, But Airport Wi-Fi Should Always Be Free – "Google's getting more than the usual amount of attention this week for sponsoring free airport Wi-Fi during the holiday season. And rightfully so: During a long layover, no one wants to fire up their laptop and Web browser only to see a Web page demanding money for Internet access."
MS exec gets shot down after ‘inaccurate’ Windows 7 spiel – “Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7. I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed,” he said.

Headlines for November 2nd, 2009

[modern media mom] — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:00:17 +0000

Net Neutrality: You own the Internet – make sure it becomes Law – "For the first time in the world, there’s a service that has a unique platform, allowing all free people to interact, demonstrate, express and bind together to resolve issues. The internet is the vehicle which has and will continue to drive change, innovation, and create an entirely new political landscape that does not have limitations. Could turn out to be a bad or good thing. But internet users will be decision makers on this point, not corporations."
Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 – "Mozilla made Firefox 3.6 beta 1 available for download late on Friday. Mozilla has requested that Web sites link to the announcement page, rather than the actual download link, so we'll accede to their wishes."
Microsoft: Worms Are Most Prevalent Security Problem – "The Conficker worm continues to be one of the most prevalent threats facing PCs running Windows, according to a new security report published by Microsoft."
Droid Faces Uphill Battle Against iPhone – "Analysis: Despite all Verizon's ads, iDon’t think the Droid’s iPhone attack will work."
iPhone as an eBook Reader Threatens Kindle, Says Report – "Apple's iPhone is quickly becoming the ebook reader of choice for many, and could steal market share from Amazon's Kindle, according to a report from market research firm Flurry."

Headlines for October 22nd, 2009

[modern media mom] — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:13:09 +0000

Windows 7 had 8 million testers, biggest beta ever – "Microsoft has revealed a bunch of numbers surrounding the development of Windows 7, and boy do they carry a lot of weight."
Internet Can Help Save Elderly From Senility – "With record numbers of Americans online — more than 80 percent — and businesses, media, and TV entrenching themselves deeper in the internet, debate over the medium's merits is at an all time high. Some accuse the internet of being an insidious source of addiction. Still others attack the internet by jumping on stories of cybercrime.
Despite all that negativity, some studies are actually showing that internet use throughout live can improve mental function. "
Twitter hits tweenhood – "It has 55 million users and no business model. But that's a touchy subject."
Disney’s Keychest unlocks movies for any platform – Disney is readying a technology that would let viewers pay a one-off fee for permanent access to a movie or TV show across multiple devices.
A fifth of Americans use Twitter, or something • The Register – "The Pew Internet and American Life Project handed Twitter either a massive PR coup or a trademark problem yesterday, by declaring 20 per cent of Americans were using the service – or something similar.
In a chart headed "Who Tweets", the researchers said that 19 per cent of US adults were Twittering – or using a similar status update service."
UPDATE 1-U.S. FCC staff recommends open Internet rule | Reuters – "Staff at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday recommended establishing an open Internet rule aimed at restricting network operators from favoring some content over others along landlines and wireless platforms."
Social Search from Google and Bing: My 8 Big Concerns – "The search engine wars took a dramatic turn yesterday, with Google and Microsoft both announcing real-time search deals with Twitter. Additionally, Microsoft struck a deal with Facebook to index status updates on its Bing search engine, and Google introduced Social Search, which integrates your friends' social networking information directly into search results."

Headlines for September 30th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:00:14 +0000

Man faces manslaughter trial in texting case – "A Southern California man accused of killing a pedestrian while driving and text messaging has been ordered to stand trial for gross vehicular manslaughter."
TiVo unveils BlackBerry app for show recording – "TV viewers can now TiVo using their BlackBerry.
TiVo Inc., the maker of digital video recorders that can pause and rewind live programming, unveiled a free application Wednesday for the BlackBerry that lets subscribers set up recording of TV shows from the phones. Subscribers also can search for details about their favorite shows."
FCC’s Genachowski Not Neutral on New Net Rules – "Federal Communications Commission More about Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski stirred up the Net neutrality pot last week with his speech at the Brookings Institution where he pledged to create new rules for governing the Internet Become an expert on SEO, consumer behavior, email marketing, web analytics and more Internet marketing fundamentals. While the chairman's comments were delivered eloquently, they were problematic for a number of reasons."
Microsoft finally gets anti-malware right – "Review: Farewell, old friend. After years of relying on the excellent AVG Free antivirus package, I’ve finally replaced it – with Microsoft’s new Security Essentials."
Google Wave: Testers line up for the love-in – "Google is inviting 100,000 testers to preview its hippie-on-stilts communications platform – Wave – from today.
Mountain View has extended its testing pool in preparation for pushing Wave out to many more users at some point soon. For now, though, Google isn’t revealing when the platform will be pumped out to the mainstream."

Headlines for September 17th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:00:10 +0000

Microsoft suggests free Web service as a way for classes to go on in event of flu epidemic – "Microsoft Corp. says it can help schools get through swine flu.
The company is promoting its free online service for storing files and collaborating on projects as a way for teachers to keep classes on track even if schools close because of a flu outbreak."
Google to reincarnate digital books as paperbacks – "Google Inc. is giving 2 million books in its digital library a chance to be reincarnated as paperbacks.
As part of a deal announced Thursday, Google is opening up part of its index to the maker of a high-speed publishing machine that can manufacture a paperback-bound book of about 300 pages in under five minutes."
Firefox use reaches critical mass; Skype reigns in IM – "Real-world usage data shows that most PCs now run Firefox, Skype displaces MSN Messenger, and Asia and Europe love OpenOffice"
Microsoft releases Project 2010 beta – V3.co.uk – formerly vnunet.com – "Microsoft Project 2010 is the most significant release of Microsoft Project for over a decade," said Chris Capossela, senior vice president of the vendor's information worker product management group.
"The fresh, simple and intuitive features of Microsoft Project 2010 will enable teams and organisations of all sizes to select and deliver the right projects on time and on budget."
The Skype Saga Continues: So Much for Option B – "When last we left the founders of Skype, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, they were trying to buy back their baby from eBay, to whom they had sold it in 2005 — and not having much success."