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Sorry, no Apple for you: Microsoft's bid fruitless — SAN FRANCISCO — It's not every day that Microsoft Corp. asks to put a competitor's logo on one of its own products. And the kicker is, the answer was "No." — In a first for Microsoft's hardware group, the company is developing a keyboard designed just for the Mac.
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I'm not a Guy kind of Evangelist — You know, my title (technical evangelist) bugs me. It bugs others too (especially in Europe, where people give me very strange looks when they see my business card). Why? Cause of its religious connotations. I didn't realize why it bugged me until …

The Art of Evangelism — Out of curiosity, I went to SimplyHired …
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HorsePigCow

Eyeing the iTunes MiniStore — (Update, 1/11/06, 10:30 ET: After this story was posted, an Apple official told Macworld that the iTunes MiniStore feature does not collect any information from users. This story has been updated to make that clear, while still covering larger privacy and transparency concerns.
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Google Tests Local Ads on Maps — Google is experimenting with plotting local advertisers' locations on its Maps product, giving marketers a visual and spatial accompaniment to their locally targeted ads. — A search on "hotels" in New York City returns an organic list of local hotels …
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Google Looks to Patent Mobile Click-to-call Ads — Google appears to be setting its sights on the mobile advertising market, given its latest patent application. The company is seeking protection for a kind of ad that would trigger a phone call instead of rendering a new page when clicked.

Google Tests New Local Ads On Maps
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InsideGoogle, Daily Wireless, Google Blogoscoped, Search Engine Roundtable and All Points Blog

Digg vs. Slashdot (or, traffic vs. influence) — There's been lots of talk on the web lately about Digg being the new Slashdot. Two months ago, a Digg reader noted that according to Alexa, Digg's traffic was catching up to that of Slashdot, even though Slashdot has been around for several years and Digg is just over a year old.

Sun and Apple almost merged three times - Bill Joy — Your iPod is an answering machine - McNealy — Sun Microsystems tried to acquire Apple once and then almost merged with Apple on two other occasions, according to Sun co-founder Bill Joy. Beyond these deals, the two companies almost teamed …
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Sun's McNealy: The iPod is doomed — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Sun Microsystems Chief Executive Scott McNealy consistently credits Apple Computer for good marketing—to the point where he listed what he believes will be his own company's glorious iPod moments.

Sprint Refuses To Reveal Location Of Cell Phone In Carjacked SUV — EASTVALE, Calif. — A stolen car that had a kidnapped baby and a cell phone inside has become the center of a new controversy. — The parents of the kidnapped baby are outraged that the phone that could have been used to find the baby was not.
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textually.org
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Google Personalized Goes Mobile — Today, your Google personalized home page has gone mobile. The new service reformats your personalized page for your phone or mobile device. The service is available for any phone or device that has an XHTML capable browser and SSL (for login/security purposes).
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textually.org
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BlackBerry Users to Gain Mobile Access to Google Talk and Google Local — New Mobile Services Will Enable BlackBerry users to Stay Connected with Google Talk instant messaging and Google Local information and maps — Waterloo, Ontario - Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) …
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Interview Exclusive: Revolution Report Talks with ATI about Hollywood — Following the Consumer Electronics Show 2006 held in Las Vegas, Nevada last week, Revolution Report had the opportunity to discuss Nintendo and its next-generation console, code-named the Nintendo Revolution …

No XP on Intel Macs, but Vista is good to go — If you've been counting on being able to run Windows on those new Intel-based Macs, Apple's not about tomake it easy for you — at least not if you're attached to Windows XP. According to Apple SVP Phil Schiller, the newMacs announced yesterday …
Discussion:
Andre, The Blackfriars Blog, Slashdot, Alice Hill's Real Tech News, Microsoft Watch and Clickety Clack
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What? No Google on Vista? Google Strikes Back on IE 7!
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InsideGoogle

Yahoo Exec Exits For Automattic CEO Gig — Exclusive: Start-ups are once again cool, enough for senior executives to leave the safe confines of large companies to take a flier on tiny tots. A couple of days I had reported that Jeff Graham, former CEO of Peribit and a senior executive …
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AdSense Party Trick #1 - Name that Company — So, what do you do in the contextual advertising world to amuse yourself and (freak out) your friends? The AdSense Party Trick #1, that's what. — First, you find an AdSense site belonging to a friend of yours. The <ahem> higher quality </ahem> the better.
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Silos Are For Grain, Not VoIP — Wall Street Journal has a long piece about new VoIP phones, but misses the point about lack of interoperability between various issues. I wrote about this last week, here and also for CNN Money. Its appropriate that we address the issue one more time …