tech.memeorandum

Tech Web, page A1 … for 10:30 AM 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.
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.
Discussion: Bloggers Blog and ben barren
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) …
Discussion: Zoli's Blog
Marissa Mayer / Official Google Blog:
About the AOL announcement  —  The recent announcement of the AOL partnership has been the source of a lot of rumors and misconceptions.  We'd like to clear some of those up.  — Biased results?  No way.  Providing great search is the core of what we do.
Reuters:
Microsoft to contest "unjustified" EU move  —  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Microsoft said on Thursday it would contest what it called an unjustified European Commission decision to impose backdated daily fines if it fails to comply with European Union antitrust sanctions.
Discussion: Neowin.net and OSNews.com
RELATED ITEM:
Raf Casert / Associated Press:
EU threatens Microsoft with penalties
Discussion: InsideMicrosoft and Techdirt
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 …
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.
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
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.
Jonathan Krim / Washington Post:
Microsoft Is Losing Some Of Its Elbow Room  —  As Software King's Growth Slows, Rivals Stake Out Their Own Territory  —  Rob Enderle, a longtime Silicon Valley analyst and observer of Microsoft Corp., remembers what used to happen when a tech start-up sought funding for a business …
Discussion: David Card
David Pogue / New York Times:
Can't Find Little Johnny?  Ring His Cell  —  WHAT kind of cellphone does your 5-year-old have?  —  Some people, no doubt, are shocked by the very question.  Why on earth would an elementary schooler need a cellphone?  Whatever happened to responsible parental supervision …
Discussion: textually.org and Smart Mobs
Who da'Punk / Mini-Microsoft:
Comment Report - MarkL nee of Microsoft now of Google drops by  —  Google!  Google!  Google!  —  MarkL dropped by to share his point of view of post-Microsoft, in the thick-of-it Google.  This sort of kicked off a discussion around work-life balance, the wisdom of developers putting …
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.
Discussion: AccMan Pro and Scobleizer
Michael Tanne / Wink Blog:
Open Beta One (OB1)  —  We've been working away for the last few months, getting feedback from our beta users (thank you so much!) and refining the Wink experience.  As we got closer to a public beta we gave accounts to the rest of the people who'd requested them so they could try it out.
RELATED ITEM:
Matt Marshall / SiliconBeat:
Wink, a search engine that bets on tags, launches

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More Items:

Tim Harford / Slate:
Xbox Economics, Part 2
Dave Pollard / How to Save the World:
THE PHISHING MENACE  —  Like everyone else, I find spam annoying …
The Register:
Evesham/AOpen Mini PC Plus
Discussion: Engadget
Jennifer LeClaire / linuxinsider.com:
Nessus 3.0: The End of the Age of Open-Source Innocence?
Discussion: Open Resource
podleaders.com:
PodLeaders - Thought Leaders podcast
Steve Connor / Independent:
Surveillance UK: why this revolution is only the start
John Cook / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Revenue Science pulls in $24 million from investors
David Cowan / Who Has Time For This?:
The Truth Behind Visto's Lawsuit Against Microsoft

Earlier Picks:

Elizabeth Biddlecombe / BBC:
Women tempted by gadget gifts
Discussion: Popgadget
Neville / For Immediate Release:
Interview - Andy Abramson, CEO, Comunicano - December 21, 2005
Nick Wilson / Performancing.com:
Working with Technorati  —  After a couple of days talking …
Lee Gomes / Wall Street Journal:
The Men Who Came To Dinner, and What They Said About Email
Rustybrick / Search Engine Roundtable:
The Big Dogs Debate the Sandbox Theory
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work:
It's not Flock vs. Performancing
Duncan Riley / The Blog Herald:
OMG!  I'm a Problogger!  —  Duncan Riley> Oh My God!  I'm a Problogger.
Dave Winer / Scripting News:
Busted, explained  —  How many noodles can fit on the head of an angel?
 
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