TechLifeWeb

What I’m reading and finding for December 29th 2011 through December 31st 2011:

• From Twitter – Josh Sullivan Css3 progress bars http://t.co/SwY79m7G
• From Twitter – Dropbox Automator Is Like IFTTT For Dropbox | TechCrunch http://t.co/tV4rbQh7
• From Twitter – http://t.co/6EqRQcqO Facebook Releases Messenger for Windows
• BBC News – Hackers plan space satellites to combat censorship-
  bbc.co.uk
  

  Hackers unveil plans to build space satellites and a ground network of tracking stations to combat censorship of the internet.
• Presidential Candidate Ron Paul Slams SOPA | TorrentFreak-
  torrentfreak.com
  A few days before the election circus in the US will start with the Iowa’s caucus, presidential candidate Ron Paul made a comment on the pending SOPA bill “They want to take over the Internet,” he said. “Can you imagine how much we’re going to be curtailed in the spreading of out information if we [...]
• From Twitter – http://t.co/XsSd9D81 Massive solar storm ‘could knock out radio signals’ over next three days
• From Twitter – Cool RT @scienceNew island forms in the Red Sea http://t.co/kZYziCu6

What I’m reading and finding for December 14th 2011 through December 17th 2011:

• Why Heather Matters « Uncrunched-
  uncrunched.com
  - Michael Arrington
  

  TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde announced her departure today.
  I’m so angry.
  Drift back to the end of 2006. TechCrunch was a year and a half old. My hobby had turned into a business. Federated Media was selling our standard ads and sent a small check every month. Nik Cubrilovic had “invented” the notion of a 125 pixel square ad that we’d sell for a flat rate, which was an unqualified success and was quickly copied by everyone else. We had enough money to have a staff, and things were looking pretty  show all text
• Stop Online Piracy Act Vote Delayed | Threat Level | Wired.com-
  wired.com
  - David Kravets
  

  Rep. Jason Chaffetz. Photo J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
  (This post was updated at 2:55 p.m. EST to reflect new hearing date set for Wednesday.)
  The House Judiciary Committee considering whether to send the Stop Online Piracy Act to the House floor abruptly adjourned Friday with no new vote date set — a surprise given that the bill looked certain to pass out of committee.
  The committee’s chairman and chief sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), agreed to further explore a  show all text
• From Twitter – RT @sggrcLATEST TWEETDECK AIR version http://t.co/EARyzVrb Thanks to @rmdarcherfor tracking it down for us all who need to go back!
• Fox News Live – Video – Fox News-
  live.foxnews.com
  

  FoxNews.com LIVE streaming every weekday from 9am ET -3pm ET. Breaking news from our Fox correspondents – in-depth coverage on our panel discussions. A powerful newscast exclusively online. Log on, stay in the loop and be a part of it all.
• The Real Story Behind Apple’s ‘Think Different’ Campaign – Forbes-
  forbes.com
  

  VideoImage via Wikipedia This post was written by Rob Siltanen, chairman and chief creative officer at Siltanen & Partners. Apple’s remarkable rise, coupled with Steve Jobs’ recent death, has prompted quite a few people to reflect on the historical impact of the “Think Different” ad campaign and the “To the crazy ones” commercial [...]
• SAY Media Acquires Tech Blog ReadWriteWeb | Adweek-
  adweek.com
  SAY Media has acquired popular tech blog ReadWriteWeb. Founded in 2003 by Richard MacManus, ReadWriteWeb became one of the most-respected news sites in the tech world, establishing a voice that’s often more serious and in-depth than its competitors.
• Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater-
  buy.louisck.net
  

What I’m reading and finding for December 6th 2011 through December 10th 2011:

• Apple Made A Deal With The Devil (No, Worse: A Patent Troll) | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Jason Kincaid
  

  Over the last two years, Apple has been engaged in vicious legal battles over smartphone patents, many of which are aimed at squelching (or squeezing money out of) manufacturers of devices running Android. And now, for some reason, it has given valuable patents to a patent troll — which is using them to sue many of the top technology companies in the world.
  Meet Digitude Innovations, a firm based in Virginia that recently filed suit with the International Trade Commission alleging patent infrin…  show all text
• The diagnosis – Boing Boing-
  boingboing.net
  - Xeni Jardin
  

  I have breast cancer. A week ago, I had breast cancer, and the week before that, and the week before that. Maybe five, eight, even ten years ago, the first bad cell split inside me, secretly. But I didn’t know. This is how I arrived at knowing.
  Two friends of mine were recently diagnosed. When news of the first came, I felt sadness. When news of the second came a few weeks ago, I felt a different kind of shock. I’d never had a mammogram. Even though I was ten years younger than the time they say  show all text
• A Twitter for My Sister – NYTimes.com-
  bits.blogs.nytimes.com
  - By NICK BILTON
  Non-techies find the @ and # symbols on Twitter don’t make much sense. So the company had to figure out a way to keep the site running for people who are more technologically adept and rely on these symbols but also work seamlessly for those who think these characters are substitutes for swear words in comics.
• Air France 447 Flight-Data Recorder Transcript – What Really Happened Aboard Air France 447 – Popular Mechanics-
  popularmechanics.com
  

  Two years after the Airbus 330 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, Air France 447′s flight-data recorders finally turned up. The revelations from the pilot transcript paint a surprising picture of chaos in the cockpit that led to the crash.
• From Twitter – Science Exchange provides a way to outsource and manage experiments. http://t.co/xbHmbCw6
• From Twitter – Amazon retail stores? Interesting read from +Jason Calacanis http://t.co/D2Wcxrq8
• From Twitter – Cores reveal when Dead Sea ‘died’ http://t.co/aona1pSG

What I’m reading and finding for December 1st 2011 through December 3rd 2011:

• Facebook acquires Gowalla to boost Timeline team – Dec. 2, 2011-
  money.cnn.com
  
• From Twitter – I never used Gowalla but here is how to delete your account if you don’t want Facebook to have it. http://t.co/1tM4bhX5
• You’re Not As Busy As You Think-
  chrisbrogan.com
  - ceb
  

  In many ways, I’m writing this post to myself. I had a very interesting conversation with my shrink the other day, wherein which he was calling me out on some of my less-attractive behaviors. He said to me, “Maybe you don’t do those things because you think you’re too busy and too needed elsewhere to do them.” (In this instance, the “things” were all the tasks I can’t seem to master in life, like paying bills on time.)
  What’s interesting is that the conversation resonated with a few others I’d …  show all text
• From Twitter – Cleaning Carrier IQ off your iPhone or Android. http://t.co/IlXEAGM2
• YouTube’s New Homepage Goes Social With Algorithmic Feed, Emphasis On Google+ And Facebook | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Eric Eldon
  

  YouTube is launching what the company calls the biggest redesign in its history today, including sweeping changes to its homepage and channel pages. The goal is better personalized video discovery and viewing, with a notable emphasis on social features. Think of the changes as the latest example of Google’s campaign to create a unified social layer for all of its products.
  The new homepage looks a lot like Facebook, or Google+ for that matter. An activity feed view dominates the middle of the p…  show all text
• From Twitter – How to turn off Carrier IQ on your iPhone – Computerworld http://t.co/6U6DwvKR
• From Twitter – Nat. Geographic picks the best space pictures of 2011. http://t.co/Kt3Wzknw

What I’m reading and finding for November 18th 2011 through November 20th 2011:

• From Twitter – How Facebook is ruining sharing | Molly Rants – CNET News http://t.co/FGhDpslT
• Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi | UCDavis Bicycle Barricade-
  bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com
  - crank
  18 November 2011
  Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi
  Linda P.B. Katehi,
  I am a junior faculty member at UC Davis. I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, and I teach in the Program in Critical Theory and in Science & Technology Studies. I have a strong record of research, teaching, and service. I am currently a Board Member of the Davis Faculty Association. I have also taken an active role in supporting the student movement to defend public education on our campus and …  show all text
• From Twitter – Here’s Why 200+ Record Labels Just Vanished From Spotify – Summify http://t.co/BgUoVyOI
• From Twitter – I only recently learned about Marcel the Shell. Video 2 is out and it is even better than the first. http://t.co/CA0QluiJ
• Police officer pepper-sprays seated, non-violent students at UC Davis – Boing Boing-
  boingboing.net
  - Xeni Jardin
  

  [Video Link, by terrydatiger].
  At the University of California at Davis this afternoon, police tore down down the tents of students inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, and arrested those who stood in their way. Others peacefully demanded that police release the arrested.
  In the video above, you see a police officer [Update: UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike] walk down a line of those young people seated quietly on the ground in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, and spray them all wi…  show all text
• The Rumors Are True. I Am Leaving TechCrunch. | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Sarah Lacy
  

  This won’t come as a surprise to a lot of people, but I am leaving TechCrunch.
  My departure is something people have speculated about since Michael Arrington’s ouster two months ago, but it wasn’t an easy decision for me. This isn’t a knee-jerk reaction out of loyalty for my friend, nor is it about making a big “F-you, AOL!” statement. I’ve spent the bulk of my maternity leave agonizing about whether to stay or go– the first half of it trying to find a way to stay and feel good about it, and the  show all text
• From Twitter – The end of an era The Yahoo! billboard comes down. – The San Francisco Egotist http://t.co/aoxazke5

What I’m reading and finding for November 11th 2011 through November 13th 2011:

• Diaspora Co-Founder Ilya Zhitomirskiy Passes Away At 21 | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Greg Kumparak
  

  Late last night, word began to spread around the tech community that one of Diaspora‘s four co-founders, Ilya Zhitomirskiy, had passed away. With much sadness, we’ve now confirmed this terrible news with the Diaspora team.
  The news is incredibly jarring, to the point that much else I could say escapes me. Ilya was just 21. To see any member of our community pass is sad, but for one so young to go is absolutely crushing. The cause of death is currently unconfirmed.
  Our sincerest condolences to I…  show all text
• From Twitter – Kindle Fire vs Nook Tablet. Fight!!! – gdgt http://t.co/VFH2rSaL
• The OccupyUSA Blog: Special Weekend Edition! | The Nation-
  thenation.com
  
• Clarifications on Flash Player for Mobile Browsers, the Flash Platform, and the Future of Flash at Mike Chambers-
  mikechambers.com
  - mikechambers
  I have worked with Flash and been part of the Flash community for about 12 or 13 years (over 10 of those with Macromedia and Adobe). Over that time there have been a lot of ups and down, but I think that the past couple of days have been some of the most difficult of my career. I wanted to make a post which will hopefully clarify some of the news from the past couple of days, and provide some more context around what is going on. First, and foremost, a couple of days ago Adobe announced the fo…  show all text
• Marshall Kirkpatrick’s Blog » After Four Years as ReadWriteWeb’s Lead Writer, Here’s My Next Adventure-
  marshallk.com
  - Marshall Kirkpatrick
  

  It’s with both excitement and sadness that today I announce I am stepping back from my full time position at ReadWriteWeb to build a product and a company. I’ll be continuing to post at RWW regularly, but I’ve got some big new things up my sleeve as well.
  After years of writing about startup companies, I’m now building one myself. Specifically, I’m building a company that’s developing a technology based on some of my favorite consulting projects I’ve done for clients over the years: an app and …  show all text
• From Twitter – RT @windleyJeff Jarvis | Public Parts podcast http://t.co/aIjzYFtg @ITConversations/
• Romenesko resigns after 12 years at Poynter | Poynter.-
  poynter.org
  - Julie Moos
  After twelve years of blogging at Poynter, Jim Romenesko has submitted his resignation and I have accepted it. Jim has decided he’s ready for a fresh start now — seven weeks before he was scheduled to become a part-time employee… Read more

What I’m reading and finding for August 28th 2011 through August 31st 2011:

• “Respect Explorer’s Heritage” | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - MG Siegler
  

  When photos started circulating yesterday of the new interface for Windows Explorer in Windows 8, I was sure they were a joke. Surely, this was an Onion mock-up. Or maybe they were from some Apple fan making fun of Microsoft’s design aesthetic in which more is quite often… more. I mean, there’s no way that this is something Microsoft could actually release — let alone in 2012, right?
  Wrong.
  As Windows chief Steven Sinofsky and Windows management team member Alex Simons detail in length on the B…  show all text
• From Twitter – http://t.co/44nTwUd Streaming Services Compared Amazon, Hulu Plus, iTunes, Netflix and VUDU
• The Memory Buyer’s Guide: What’s the Best RAM for My System? – How much do you need? How fast should it be? Are latencies important? Today, we’ll be covering everything you need to know to get the right RAM for your system.
• Death Threats and Hate Crimes, Attacks On Women Bloggers Escalating | IttyBiz-
  ittybiz.com
  - Naomi Dunford
  I’m going to tell you a story and it’s very, very important. Please read it, all the way through. Women’s lives are at stake.
  Once upon a time, there was a website. We’ll call it Mean Website 1. The owner of this website didn’t seem to like me very much. As a successful woman on the internet, this is hardly surprising.
  The comments on Mean Website 1 got a little out of control, and people said some Not Very Nice Things. Because I am a woman, naturally these Not Very Nice Things quickly degenera…  show all text
• Seesmic Focuses On The Social Enterprise; Debuts Android, iPad Apps For Salesforce CRM | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Leena Rao
  

  Social application developer Seesmic is making a big move into the social enterprise and is debuting a dedicated Android app and iPad app for Salesforce’s CRM product (Windows Phone 7 will also be added soon), called Seesmic CRM. The Android app will be launched tomorrow morning at Salesforce’s annual conference, Dreamforce, and Seesmic will launch the iPad app in a few weeks.
  For background, Seesmic, which was founded by French entrepreneur Loic Le Meur, helps you monitor and track the social …  show all text
• H-P’s One-Year Plan – WSJ.com-
  online.wsj.com
  
• Hurricane Irene Hype: How the Media Went Overboard – The Daily Beast-
  thedailybeast.com
  

What I’m reading and finding for August 22nd 2011 through August 24th 2011:

• Steve Jobs Resigns As CEO Of Apple | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - MG Siegler
  

  Title says it all. More to come. For now, the letter from Steve Jobs himself:
  To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:
  I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
  I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
  As far as my successor goes, I strongly rec…  show all text
• Russia plans $65bn tunnel to America – Times Online-
  timesonline.co.uk
  Russia has unveiled an ambitious plan to build the world’s longest tunnel under the Bering Strait as part of a transport corridor linking Europe and America via Siberia and Alaska.
• One Year Later, Facebook Killing Off Places …To Put Location Everywhere | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - MG Siegler
  

  It was almost exactly one year ago that Facebook launched Places, their location-based offering. Reading the press at the time, you would have thought it was going to be the Foursquare-killer, the Gowalla-strangler, the Loopt-beheader, etc. Nevermind that Facebook partnered with all of them for the launch — those guys were done.
  Fast forward to today: Foursquare recently raised a large round of funding valuing them at $600 million. And Facebook is killing off Places.
  To be clear, Facebook is not  show all text
• Magnitude 5.8 – VIRGINIA-
  earthquake.usgs.gov
  USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, responsible for monitoring, reporting, and researching earthquakes and earthquake hazards
• Web Surfing Makes You Work Better, Study Says – WSJ.com-
  online.wsj.com
  

  Don’t feel guilty about browsing the Internet at work—turns out it may actually improve your performance, a new study says.
• SimpleGeo Cofounder Matt Galligan Steps Down; Will Focus On Helping TechStars And A Non-Profit | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - MG Siegler
  

  Last November, location startup SimpleGeo brought in former Digg CEO Jay Adelson to replace co-founder Matt Galligan as CEO. At the time, Galligan slid into the role of Chief Strategy Officer and became more of a public face for the company. Now he’s leaving the company entirely.
  You can read the news on SimpleGeo’s blog here, as well as Galligan’s own thoughts here. But essentially this is something that has been in the works ever since Adelson took over those many months ago, Galligan tells u…  show all text
• International Wireless Trip Planner – Figure out what you need for wireless communications while on your trip.

What I’m reading and finding for August 20th 2011 through August 22nd 2011:

• From Twitter – http://t.co/bUV0vO5 Study Computer Science Online at Stanford for Free
• Watch Now – Al Jazeera English-
  english.aljazeera.net
• From Twitter – http://t.co/CiBwk6E Netflix HD on Atom Workaround
• Skype To Acquire Year-old Group Messaging Service GroupMe | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - Michael Arrington
  

  Skype will acquire group messaging service GroupMe, a service that was born at a hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York in 2010. GroupMe was founded by Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci.
  The terms of the deal, including price, aren’t being disclosed.
  Just a couple of months after TechCrunch Disrupt the company closed a $850,000 round of financing from Betaworks, SV Angel, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures and a number of prominent angels. Early this year the company raised $10.6 million more  show all text
• Twitter Just Got the Respect it Deserves-
  thenextweb.com
  - Zee
  

  If you’re one to check your analytics on a daily basis you may have noticed a pretty sharp increase in referrals from Twitter’s “t.co” domains. We noticed it almost immediately on Wednesday but naively didn’t pay much attention.
  A few days later and with the t.co domain suddenly our number no 1 domain source of referral traffic, it was time to pay some attention to exactly what had happened.
  What Happened
  In the simplest of terms, from last Wednesday, all links (longer than 20 characters) posted  show all text
• Twitter Just Got the Respect it Deserves-
  thenextweb.com
  

  If you’re one to check your analytics on a daily basis you may have noticed a pretty sharp increase in referrals from Twitter’s
• Marc Andreessen on Why Software Is Eating the World – WSJ.com-
  online.wsj.com
  

  Far from a bubble, we’re watching a new generation of tech start-ups realize the Web’s original potential, says Marc Andreessen.

What I’m reading and finding for August 16th 2011 through August 18th 2011:

• From Twitter – HP to Buy Software Company, Spin Off PCs – Bloomberg http://t.co/sQNR2ee via @BloombergNews
• The Greatest Customer Service Story Ever Told, Starring Morton’s Steakhouse | Peter Shankman-
  shankman.com
  - Peter Shankman
  

  The following story is entirely true. More importantly, I swear on my entire professional reputation and all I hold dear to me that the story below was in no way staged, planned in advance, or in any way faked. This is real. And most importantly: This is AMAZING.
  When my alarm clock went off at 3:30 this morning, I knew I was in for a long day. I was catching a 7am flight out of Newark to Tampa, Florida, for a lunch meeting in Clearwater, then heading back to Newark on a 5pm flight, getting me …  show all text
• Microsoft keeps the pressure on VMware around its latest virtualization licensing changes – Microsoft has no plans to follow VMware’s lead with new pricing/licensing changes in the virtualization space that have led to VMware customer outcry. In fact, with Windows 8, Microsoft is taking the opposite tack, officials said.
• From Twitter – The Ultimate Guide To “LinkedIn Today” & How To Optimize Your Presence On It http://j.mp/q5a1L4 cc @Comprendia@StacyZapar
• Jeremy, Call Your Mother — She’s Worried Sick | TechCrunch-
  techcrunch.com
  - MG Siegler
  

  When we switched to Facebook comments several months ago, we spun it as a way to combat the trolls. But you know, there was actually a secret agenda. We wanted to bring families closer together.
  And it’s with great pleasure that I can now announce that it’s working.
  Earlier today, we ran a post entitled, “German Court Suspends Galaxy Tab Injunction In The Apple-Samsung Case“. Apple, Android, courts, lawsuits, intrigue — fairly standard TechCrunch fare. But a comment on the story was easily bett…  show all text
• From Twitter – How to emerge victorious after the imminent Social Crash. http://t.co/WdlJhAJ via @spin
• Google’s Android Press Release Generator-
  android-press-release.com