tech.memeorandum

Tech Web, page A1 … for 1:50 PM ET, December 23, 2005
Current Tech Page     Also:   Politics

Top Items:

Varun Dubey / cooltechzone.com:
Microsoft Buys Out Opera  —  (Insider Report) - Here comes a surprise.  In a recent conversation with one of our insiders at Microsoft, the source revealed that Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, has acquired Opera Software, makers of the Opera browser.
RELATED ITEMS:
Matt Loney / ZDNet:
Opera denies Microsoft takeover rumours … As the phones ring off the hook at Opera, the browser vendor insists rumours that Microsoft is buying it out are unfounded  —  Opera on Friday denied the latest takeover rumour spreading round the Internet, saying that it has not had any approaches from Microsoft or anyone else.
Michael Gartenberg:
Microsoft buys Opera - Here's Why (it would have made sense)  —  Update - The Opera folks are saying this isn't correct and there's no deal.  I should have been more skeptical, it's something we would likely have been briefed on if it were true.  —  Thought it was going to be a quiet day, but it doesn't seem that way at all.
Discussion: Microsoft Monitor
John C. Dvorak / MarketWatch:   Microsoft could listen to Opera's tune
Jason McCabe Calacanis / The Jason Calacanis Weblog:
My Predictions for 2006  —  1. Someone will do the Wikipedia version of Weblogs, Inc. and and it will fail because it never reaches critical mass.  —  2. 30 of the 50 blog networks will fizzle out and/or die.  Only one or two (other than Gawker) will break 20M pages a month.
RELATED ITEM:
Steve Rubel / Micro Persuasion:
2006 Trends Part I: Comment Search  —  There's a ton of bloggers making 2006 predictions in the blogosphere this week.  Two notable ones were opined by Jason Calacanis and John Battelle.  I am not here to predict, more to observe.  So over the next 10 days (by now you know I like that number) …
PR Newswire:
What Do President Bush, Lindsay Lohan and Star Wars Have in Common?  They Topped Ask Jeeves Search Categories in 2005  —  Current Events and Celebrities Dominate User Searches Overall  —  OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Ask Jeeves, Inc. today released the list of 2005's …
Discussion: InsideGoogle
RELATED ITEM:
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Watch Blog:   Top Searches At Ask Jeeves For 2005
Raf Casert / Associated Press:
EU threatens Microsoft with penalties  —  DEC. 22 9:26 A.M. ET The European Union has threatened to fine Microsoft up to 2 million euros ($2.37 million) a day, saying Thursday the software company is not fully complying with the EU's 2004 antitrust ruling.  —  Microsoft immediately retorted …
Discussion: InsideMicrosoft, OpsanBlog and Techdirt
RELATED ITEM:
Reuters:
Microsoft to contest "unjustified" EU move
Discussion: Neowin.net and OSNews.com
Pete Wright / The secret life of an MS Author:
A festive poem  —  Today was the last day at work before the Holidays for me, so I'm in a bit of a festive mood.  So, with a Vista beta downloaded I thought a tablet poem was in order...  'Twas the year before Vista, and all of the slates,  —  Were quietly whirring, not noticing the date.
Brian Morrissey / Adweek:
One in Five Blogs Is Spam  —  NEW YORK While 80,000 blogs may be created every day, about one in five is spam, according to new research.  —  Umbria Communications, a Boulder, Colo.-based consumer-generated media monitor, found that 2.7 million out of 20.3 million blogs are spam, or splogs as they are sometimes known.
David Berlind / Between the Lines:
Mashup Camp: the unconference about the uncomputer  —  Under the questionable rubric of "Web 2.0" (see my treatise on the uncomputer), there have been a lot of events that, if you ask me, run incredibly counter to this new culture of open API provision and mashup development.
steampowered.com:
VALVE UNVEILS 64-BIT SOURCE™ GAMING TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED IN CONJUNCTION WITH AMD  —  Available Now: 64-Bit Half-Life® 2 and Lost Coast™  —  Bellevue, WA.  - December 22, 2005 - Valve, a leading entertainment and technology studio, unveiled a 64-bit version of its Source game engine technology today.
Joris Evers / CNET News.com:
Watch out with metadata in Vista, analysts warn  —  Windows Vista will improve search functionality on a PC by letting users tag files with metadata, but those tags could cause unwanted and embarrassing information disclosure, Gartner analysts have warned.  —  Search and organization capabilities …
biosmagazine.co.uk:
eDimensional Force Feedback Gaming Headset  —  Sound should be more than just heard.  It should be felt, pulsing through your body like a grenade exploding at your six or the rumble of heavy turbulence.  Your doctor will probably disagree, but what does he/she know about gaming anyway!
Discussion: Gizmodo and Guardian Unlimited
Alorie Gilbert / silicon.com:
Customers vent spleen at Salesforce.com outage  —  "We're losing sales.  It's a busy time of the year"  —  A Salesforce.com outage lasting nearly a day cut off access to critical business data for many of the company's customers on Tuesday in what appears to be Salesforce's most severe service disruption to date.

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Tim Harford / Slate:
Xbox Economics, Part 2
Dave Pollard / How to Save the World:
THE PHISHING MENACE  —  Like everyone else, I find spam annoying …

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The Register:
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Jennifer LeClaire / linuxinsider.com:
Nessus 3.0: The End of the Age of Open-Source Innocence?
Discussion: Open Resource
Reuters:
Jews for Jesus sues Google over blog
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Surveillance UK: why this revolution is only the start
Jonathan Krim / Washington Post:
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Discussion: David Card
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Revenue Science pulls in $24 million from investors
David Cowan / Who Has Time For This?:
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Discussion: Popgadget
 
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