Internet World

May 9, 2008

Update: Mowser Assets Find a home at dotMobi

Friday, May 09, 2008 7:56 AM

Mobile internet service It’s always a good idea to kill your startup in public. Russell Beattie did that last month with Mowser, a service that converts regular Web addresses into mobile-friendly ones, because he said didn’t “believe in the ‘Mobile Web’ anymore.” Luckily for him, some people disagreed with him (and not just [...]
Source: TechCrunch
Categories: Web 2.0

Introducing Easy File Sharing With Drop.io

Friday, May 09, 2008 7:56 AM

Following in the great web 2.0 tradition of having a cute name and throwing some awesome launch parties, New York based Drop.Io has started to make a splash on the scene after receiving their second round of funding in March and opening themselves up to the public. The question remains however, what exactly is the site and why should we sign up for yet another 2.0 service?

Source: CMS Wire
Categories: Content Management Systems

Tips For Dealing With Information Overload (Philipp Lenssen/Google Blogoscoped)

Friday, May 09, 2008 7:40 AM

Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
Tips For Dealing With Information Overload  —  I sent a couple of people the following question: “What are your top tips for dealing with information overflow?”  Here are some of their answers (with formatting partly adjusted, omissions within quotes indicated with dots).

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

BlackBerry 9000 to be announced May 12th at WES 2008 (The Boy Genius Report)

Friday, May 09, 2008 7:35 AM

The Boy Genius Report:
BlackBerry 9000 to be announced May 12th at WES 2008  —  You heard it here first, people!  The much-awaited BlackBerry 9000 will be announced on May 12th, the first day of WES 2008 in Orlando, FL.  There will even be booths setup so y'all can demo the device to your heart's delight.

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

US Lawmakers Propose New Net Neutrality Bill

Friday, May 09, 2008 6:21 AM

An anonymous reader brings news that Net Neutrality legislation is making another comeback. A new bill, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), would make ISPs who fail to provide service in a non-discriminatory manner subject to anti-trust violations. From the NYTimes: "'The bill squarely addresses the issue of the enormous market power of the telephone and cable companies as the providers of 98 percent of the broadband service in the country,' said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. But broadband providers and some congressional Republicans have argued that net neutrality legislation isn't necessary. The broadband market is becoming more competitive and net neutrality regulations could hamper investment in broadband networks, some Republicans said during a hearing this week."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot

Doko: Tween Social Networking With A Twist

Friday, May 09, 2008 6:01 AM

Today sees the launch of Doko, a social networking game aimed at the tween market which claims to be “The World’s First Global Trading Game”. The game revolves around metal discs about the size of poker chips that are emblazoned with unique identifying tags. Friends are encouraged to trade discs with each other, [...]
Source: TechCrunch
Categories: Web 2.0

Does The GPL Still Matter? (Tom Lee/Techdirt)

Friday, May 09, 2008 4:55 AM

Tom Lee / Techdirt:
Does The GPL Still Matter?  —  from the expired-license?  dept  —  The GNU General Public License heads to court again today, as Skype attempts to defend its distribution of Linux-enabled SMC hardware handsets that appear to be in violation of the operating system's open source license.

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

Facebook Agrees To User Safety Plan

Friday, May 09, 2008 3:18 AM

Facebook has reached an agreement with the attorneys general of 49 states and the District of Columbia to develop and enhance controls to protect minors from inappropriate content. This follows a similar commitment from MySpace several months ago. The lone holdout in each case was Texas. News.com notes: "In the deal, the social network has agreed to develop age verification technology, send warning messages when an under-18 user may be giving personal information to an unknown adult, restrict the ability for people to change their ages on the site, and keep abreast of inappropriate content and harassment on the site. While the agreement is with U.S. state authorities, Kelly said that the tools deployed will apply to Facebook's international users as well. More than half of the site's 70 million users are outside the U.S."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot

Xbox 360 "Jasper" 65nm GPU in Production (Marcus Yam/DailyTech)

Friday, May 09, 2008 2:55 AM

Marcus Yam / DailyTech:
Xbox 360 “Jasper” 65nm GPU in Production  —  Microsoft preps 65nm GPU for cooler Xbox 360s  —  Chip process evolution is a usual thing in a console's lifecycle, but rarely has it been as important as in the case of the Xbox 360.  —  Known for its relatively hardware fragility …

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

ID Theft Monitoring Services: What You Need To Know

Friday, May 09, 2008 2:00 AM

Fee-based services say they'll protect your identity, privacy, credit, name, and more. Find out what they can and can not do -- and learn what you can do to defend yourself.
Source: Information Week

House overwhelmingly passes controversial PRO-IP Act (Ryan Paul/Ars Technica)

Friday, May 09, 2008 1:30 AM

Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
House overwhelmingly passes controversial PRO-IP Act  —  The House of Representatives has approved the Pro-IP Act, a controversial legislative proposal that aims to impose stricter penalties for copyright infringement.  The bill, which has strong support from the content industry, passed by a vote of 410 to 10.

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

NASA Planning Mission To 40-Meter-Wide Asteroid

Friday, May 09, 2008 12:15 AM

FudRucker points out a story from The Guardian about NASA's plans to visit 2000SG344, an asteroid 40 meters wide and weighing roughly 71 million kilograms. The manned mission would take three to six months, and it would make use of the Orion spacecraft, which will be replacing to retiring space shuttle fleet. "A report seen by the Guardian notes that by sending astronauts on a three-month journey to the hurtling asteroid, scientists believe they would learn more about the psychological effects of long-term missions and the risks of working in deep space, and it would allow astronauts to test kits to convert subsurface ice into drinking water, breathable oxygen and even hydrogen to top up rocket fuel. All of which would be invaluable before embarking on a two-year expedition to Mars. As well as giving space officials a taste of more complex missions, samples taken from the rock could help scientists understand more about the birth of the solar system and how best to defend against asteroids that veer into Earth's path."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot

May 8, 2008

Yahoo’s Answer to Google’s Universal Search is Glue (Coming Soon to America)

Thursday, May 08, 2008 11:36 PM

Sometimes the only way to get new products out the door at a big company like Yahoo is to launch it far away from HQ. That’s what happened with Yahoo Glue, a new way to present search results more visually that Yahoo is experimenting with on its Yahoo India site. Much like Google’s [...]
Source: TechCrunch
Categories: Web 2.0

Infringement 'Detrimental To the Public Health, Safety'

Thursday, May 08, 2008 10:14 PM

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has declared that copyright infringement 'substantially interferes with the interest of the public in the quality of life and community peace, lawful commerce in the county, property values, and is detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare of the county's citizens, its businesses and its visitors.' You might laugh, but that means they can close up a property for up to one year for violations of the anti-infringement ordinance [PDF] and the owner can be fined $1,000 for each infringing work produced on site. Not to mention the penalties in the PRO-IP Act, which just sailed through the House."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot

Share Your Links With Mento; We’ve Got 500 Invites

Thursday, May 08, 2008 10:04 PM

The tagging and link-sharing market has no shortage of competition, but that doesn’t seem to be deterring many developers. Mento, which has just launched in an invite-only beta, is the latest to arrive on the scene, sporting a very well designed site and a number of options that make sharing links a breeze. Beyond the [...]
Source: TechCrunch
Categories: Web 2.0

AT&T yanks iPhone free Wi-Fi info from site (Gregg Keizer/Computerworld)

Thursday, May 08, 2008 10:00 PM

Gregg Keizer / Computerworld:
AT&T yanks iPhone free Wi-Fi info from site  —  On-again free hotspot access now off-again  —  Computerworld) Only hours after posting information that indicated iPhone owners would receive free access to AT&T's public wireless hotspots, the company pulled all references to the service from its Web site.

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

Shawn Fanning Finally Gets A Real Payday: Electronic Arts Buys Rupture ... (Erick Schonfeld/TechCrunch)

Thursday, May 08, 2008 9:15 PM

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Shawn Fanning Finally Gets A Real Payday: Electronic Arts Buys Rupture For $30 Million  —  Shawn Fanning, best known for founding Napster, has a new job.  He will be working at Electronic Arts, which is about to buy his social-network-gaming startup Rupture for $30 million, according to sources with knowledge of the deal.

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

AT&T Officially Lists Wi-Fi Hotspot Access with iPhone Plans [Updated] (Arn/MacRumors)

Thursday, May 08, 2008 9:00 PM

Arn / MacRumors:
AT&T Officially Lists Wi-Fi Hotspot Access with iPhone Plans [Updated]  —  AT&T's iPhone website (under ‘Plans’ tab) has been updated to reveal that each iPhone plan now includes access to their “more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, including Starbucks all for use in the U.S.”

Source: Techmeme
Categories: Web 2.0

Schonfeld Talks About Clearwire/Sprint On Fox Business

Thursday, May 08, 2008 8:25 PM

Erick appeared on Fox Business last night to talk about the recent $3.2 billion WiMax deal between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire that’s expected to go through. He tries to discuss the questionableness of the deal from a business standpoint despite the promises of WiMax as a technology. However, there’s clearly some frustration that Cavuto would rather [...]
Source: TechCrunch
Categories: Web 2.0

Have You Changed Your Opinion On eBook Readers?

Thursday, May 08, 2008 8:11 PM

An anonymous reader writes "The Kindle made waves when it came out, but they've now had the chance to calm. How many of you have been using your eBook readers since you've received them? How many of you forgot you had one, and how many of you swear by your reader? I like my single-purpose (well, dual — music player) Sony Reader because I actually use it to read, rather than multitasking myself to death. Is this technology as convenient and useful as you expected?" If not, what refinements or improvements would reKindle your interest?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot