Facebook Gets a Hold on Phones with Facebook Home - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD

Excerpt from a Walt Mossberg Facebook Home review

"I found Facebook Home to be easy to use, elegantly designed and addictive. Although I’m a regular Facebook user, I found that, with Home, I paid more attention than ever to my news feed, Liked items more often and used Facebook’s Messenger service more often. So, if you are a big Facebook fan, Facebook Home can be a big win.
But I found some downsides. Facebook Home blocks the one-step camera icon some Android phone makers place on their lock screen to allow you to take pictures without first unlocking the phone. It also overlays other lock-screen features some Android phone makers include, such as weather information or favorite app icons. And if you do go to the icon-filled home screen, you’ll find that Facebook Home has taken that over as well, topping the screen with a bar that makes posting to Facebook easier and eliminating the bottom bar of heavily used apps."

Facebook Gets a Hold on Phones with Facebook Home - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD

Yahoo, Apple Discuss Deeper iPhone Partnership - WSJ.com

A tangled-Web case study

"Apple, meanwhile, has been looking to partner with companies to help reduce its reliance on Google's mobile services. Apple's desire to extract itself from Google runs deep. Apple, which last year ended partnerships with Google over maps and video, has explored breaking up on search for many years and its representatives recently met with companies that have search expertise, people familiar with the matter said.
But Apple executives including Eddy Cue, a senior vice president in charge of Internet software and services, have said the company isn't willing to sacrifice the quality of search results and that Google's remain the best, these people said."

Yahoo, Apple Discuss Deeper iPhone Partnership - WSJ.com

Facebook’s Grab for Your Phone. What Gives? - NYTimes.com

David Pogue: not a Facebook Home fan; for a more cynical (and satirical) take, see Facebook Unveils New Waste of Time (The New Yorker)

"If it sounds confusing, that’s because it is. In removing the app-launching function from the Home screen, Facebook has wound up having to reinvent the way you open programs on your phone, and the result feels like a hack. The black-background screen to the left lists all of your apps, and scrolls vertically; the nearly identical gray-background screen lists only your favorites, and scrolls horizontally. Got it?"

Facebook’s Grab for Your Phone. What Gives? - NYTimes.com

Be wary of “data scientists” who… well, aren’t | SecurityCurve

Excerpt from a timely data science reality check

"Point #1: it’s about the model.  Point #2: the model is contingent on exploration of the data and bringing in information from external sources.  Which begs the question, if you’re not doing this, are you doing “data science”?  I happen to think the answer is “no”.
Meaning, if you hire a bunch of consultants to come in and “work their magic” on your data set, that is a non-starter if you accept the original premise by which the term (and some might argue, the discipline) came about.  Namely, because you’re ignoring the “complex” part — the “salient part of the analysis”.  Can you do that?  Sure.  Is it a good idea?  I don’t think it is."

Be wary of “data scientists” who… well, aren’t | SecurityCurve

Hey, Tim Cook: We found an executive to run Apple Retail for you — Tech News and Analysis [GigaOM]

Small world

"Ron Johnson is out as CEO of J.C. Penney. After less than two years on the job, it’s not quite clear what the next step would be for him. Luckily for him, it just so happens that Johnson’s former employer, Apple, has an opening for someone with his qualifications: SVP of Retail.
Yes, that’s Johnson’s old job, the one that he held for more than 10 years. And he was really, really good at it. The establishment of Apple Stores in 2001, which he helped implement, ushered in Apple’s greatest era of prosperity. With the physical stores’ minimalist design that perfectly reflected Apple’s ethos and aesthetic appeal, and a tightly curated range of products for sale, Johnson’s Apple Store concept has attracted millions of visitors each year and inspired many imitators, even among the company’s most direct competitors."

Hey, Tim Cook: We found an executive to run Apple Retail for you — Tech News and Analysis

One on One: Jason Merkoski and the View of E-Books From the Inside - NYTimes.com

Excerpt from an interview with a member of the original Kindle team who has written a new (Kindle first...) book about the ebook industry

"Q. Physical books were convenient, cheap, easy to use, attractive, practically indestructible. What will the great advantages of e-books be?
A. In 20 years, the space of one generation, print books will be as rare as vinyl LPs. You’ll still be able to find them in artsy hipster stores, but that’s about it. So the great advantage of e-books is also their curse; e-books will be the only game in town if you want to read a book. It’s sobering, and a bit sad. That said, e-books can do what print books can’t. They’ll allow you to fit an entire library into the space of one book. They’ll allow you to search for anything in an instant, save your thoughts forever, share them with the world, and connect with other readers right there, inside the book. The book of the future will live and breathe."

One on One: Jason Merkoski and the View of E-Books From the Inside - NYTimes.com

Margaret Thatcher Hashtag Confuses Cher Fans - Speakeasy - WSJ

#signofthetimes

"One of the first hashtags to spring up on Twitter on Monday was #nowthatchersdead, created by a website critical of Thatcher.
This spurred confusion among Cher fans, mostly Americans, who read it as “Now that Cher’s dead.” Soon other Twitter users, including comedian Ricky Gervais, started mocking these panicked fans."

Margaret Thatcher Hashtag Confuses Cher Fans - Speakeasy - WSJ

CourseSmart E-Textbooks Track Students’ Progress for Teachers - NYTimes.com

You're reading it wrong...

"Major publishers in higher education have already been collecting data from millions of students who use their digital materials. But CourseSmart goes further by individually packaging for each professor information on all the students in a class — a bold effort that is already beginning to affect how teachers present material and how students respond to it, even as critics question how well it measures learning. The plan is to introduce the program broadly this fall."

CourseSmart E-Textbooks Track Students’ Progress for Teachers - NYTimes.com

Study: tablets become preferred e-reading devices [Ebook Friendly]

Works for me; I retired a Kindle 2 for a Nexus 7 (with the Kindle app) last summer

"The results from a first installment for 2013 report are shocking. For the first time tablets have become consumers’ preferred e-reading devices, overtaking dedicated e-readers. Now, 44% of e-book readers prefer a tablet. It’s 7% up, from 37% last August. At the same time, e-readers are a preferred device for 42% of respondents. In August 2012 it was as much as 49%. "

Study: tablets become preferred e-reading devices [chart]

Chat Multi-Tasking Is How Facebook Home Could Rattle Apple And Google | TechCrunch

Robust multitasking as the killer feature -- with some clever user interface design

"The feature is a true game-changer because I believe we’ll see similar functionality emulated and improved upon in other apps and operating systems. I would be extremely surprised and disappointed if the next version of Apple’s iMessage didn’t have some kind of chat multi-tasking. The same goes for the Google’s rumored unified messaging system that’s supposed to launch at some point in the near future. Hopefully they’ll offer true, simultaneous messaging and other app usage."

Chat Multi-Tasking Is How Facebook Home Could Rattle Apple And Google | TechCrunch

Rip-Off of Windows Phone’s People-Centric Interface was Inevitable | Windows Phone content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

tbd if Microsoft also patented the color blue...

"And now we have Facebook Home. And even Microsoft is (finally) complaining about the idea theft.
“I tuned into the coverage of the Facebook Home event yesterday and actually had to check my calendar a few times,” Microsoft communications chief Frank Shaw wrote in a post to the firm’s official blog. “Not to see if it was still April Fools Day, but to see if it was somehow still [2010]. Because the content of the presentation was remarkably similar to the launch event we did for Windows Phone two [and a half] years ago.”"

Rip-Off of Windows Phone’s People-Centric Interface was Inevitable | Windows Phone content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

Why Zuckerberg Beamed as He Announced Facebook Home for Android [Techonomy]

From David Kirkpatrick's Facebook Home perspective

"Make no mistake—this is an epochal shift. Facebook is shedding its past as a system for PCs and wholly embracing a new role for a new era—a provider of information and experiences for people moving throughout the world, not sitting still. Zuckerberg and the Facebook executives who spoke today were emphatic about the importance of what they were announcing. Cory Ondrejka, the company’s VP of mobile engineering, said it bluntly at the announcement: “With Home it’s not just mobile first, but mobile best. We want mobile to be the best, the fastest, the highest-quality way to experience Facebook.”"

Why Zuckerberg Beamed as He Announced Facebook Home for Android

Microsoft threatened as smartphones and tablets rise, Gartner warns | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Check the full article for more details on the research

“In a new forecast published on Thursday morning, Gartner says that by 2015 shipments of tablets will outstrip those of conventional PCs such as desktops and notebooks, as Android and Apple's iOS become increasingly dominant in the overall operating system picture. Android in particular will be installed on more than a billion devices shipped in 2014, says Carolina Milanesi, the analyst who led the research.

Operating system shares forecast from 2012-2017. Source: Gartner, April 2013”

Microsoft threatened as smartphones and tablets rise, Gartner warns | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook Home, Money, and the Future of Communication | Wired Magazine | Wired.com

Excerpt from a Steven Levy interview

"Why education [for charitable contributions]?
It’s not a coincidence—my wife, Priscilla, was a teacher when she graduated from Harvard. And I teach a middle school class over in East Menlo Park.
You’re teaching a class?
Yeah, every week. It’s on how to build a business. Every Tuesday we go over one skill, and each group has a side project. When the class ends, they’ll come to Facebook and sell the products they’ve made, like they’re marketing them."

Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook Home, Money, and the Future of Communication | Wired Magazine | Wired.com

The Girl Scouts’ New Cookie App: Will the Scouts Finally Embrace the Internet? : The New Yorker

Sign of the times

"As of two years ago, an eleven-year-old member of the Girl Scouts who has sent E-mails, studied the art of online commenting, and been schooled in “oops! moments” on the Internet may be eligible to earn a badge in “Netiquette.” The patch is diamond-shaped, with four colored stripes, and stitched with two opposing faces that look like this ; ) and this \ -:, as if the patch were a Web-ified comedy-tragedy mask. That dual impression has guided the Girl Scouts as they inch toward the Internet with timid steps. Now the organization is expanding its digital presence with the release of a new Girl Scout Cookie Locator mobile app, which uses G.P.S. to track down nearby Thin Mints. So far, more than eighty-eight thousand people have signed up."

The Girl Scouts’ New Cookie App: Will the Scouts Finally Embrace the Internet? : The New Yorker

Data Leak Reveals Big Secret Trove of Global Wealth - NYTimes.com

Accounts offshore but not offline

"But the enormous size of the data dump obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a Washington-based group that, along with affiliated news media organizations, announced its coup on Thursday, has punched a big hole in the secrecy that surrounds what the Tax Justice Network estimates are assets worth at least $21 trillion held in offshore havens. “This could be a game-changer,” said Mr. Murphy, the author of a book about offshore tax shelters. “Secrecy is the key product these places sell. Whether you are a criminal laundering money or just someone trying to evade or avoid taxes, secrecy is the one thing you want.” Once this is gone, he added, “it creates an enormous fear factor” and has a “massive deterrent effect.”"

Data Leak Reveals Big Secret Trove of Global Wealth - NYTimes.com

Mark Zuckerberg: Why we don't want to build a phone - Fortune Tech

Excerpt from an extensive interview

"Fortune: I have to imagine that when Google (GOOG) developed Android as an open platform, they didn't mean for Facebook to do this.
Zuckerberg: I'm not sure how they're going to react. We're building this as software that you can download on to phones. One of the nits about Android is that the software [on each phone model] is a little different, so it took some work to make it work on every given phone. So to start, we are only going to support downloads on five or six phones. I think that Google has this opportunity in the next year or two to start doing the things that are way better than what can be done on iPhone through the openness of their platform. We'd love to offer this on iPhone, and we just can't today, and we will work with Apple to do the best experience that we can within what they want, but I think that a lot of people who really like Facebook -- and just judging from the numbers, people are spending a fifth of their time in phones on Facebook, that's a lot of people. This could really tip things in that direction. We'll have to see how it plays out."

Mark Zuckerberg: Why we don't want to build a phone - Fortune Tech

Facebook Home: Android takeover and Google punch to the head | ZDNet

A new Home for Facebook

"Facebook said it isn't going to "massively fork Android" and it will respect the open nature of it. Rest assured that Google can't be happy. Samsung isn't happy.
From a business perspective, Facebook Home is a work of art. Every Android phone can become a Facebook phone now. Facebook has grabbed mobile share, possibly ad share and knocked Google in one swoop."

Facebook Home: Android takeover and Google punch to the head | ZDNet

Big Data's Promise and Limitations : The New Yorker

A timely big data reality check

"Most of what’s written about Big Data is enthusiastic, like Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schonberger’s gushing ode “Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think,” which is currently selling briskly on Amazon, or the recent Times article on Mayor Bloomberg’s geek squad, and how “Big Data’s moment, especially in the management of cities, has powerfully and irreversibly arrived.” But despite the sense of excitement and promise surrounding the industry, Big Data isn’t nearly the boundless miracle that many people seem to think it is."

Big Data's Promise and Limitations : The New Yorker

Google parts ways with Apple over WebKit, launches Blink | Internet & Media - CNET News

Google project naming insights

"The Blink name is a reference to the despised and now extinct blink tag of early HTML that made text blink off and on. It follows the pattern of Google naming projects after what it deems relics from the past: Chrome is designed to minimize user-interface "chrome" that surrounds Web pages; the Chromebook Pixel's high-resolution screen is designed to make pixels disappear; and Blink is designed to do away with browser engine irritations."

Google parts ways with Apple over WebKit, launches Blink | Internet & Media - CNET News

Anonymous Is Cyberattacking North Korea For Making Stark Threats - Business Insider

Sign of the times

"Hackers aligned with Anonymous claim to be carrying out numerous cyberattacks against North Korean websites, urging North Korean citizens to rise up against their "oppressive" government."
[...]
“So you feel the need to create large nukes and threaten half the world with them? So you're into demonstrations of power?, here is ours:
- We are inside your local intranets (Kwangmyong and others)
- We are inside your mailservers
- We are inside your webservers,” read the statement."

Anonymous Is Cyberattacking North Korea For Making Stark Threats - Business Insider

Samsung Teams Up With Mozilla on New Android Browser Tech - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

In other browser news, Google Forks WebKit And Launches Blink, A New Rendering Engine That Will Soon Power Chrome And Chrome OS (TechCrunch)

"The two companies said today that together they are developing a new browser engine for Android and the ARM architecture. Called Servo, the engine will be written in Mozilla’s new Rust programming language, optimized for multi-core computing and, in the words of Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich, designed to cast aside “old assumptions” about how a browser engine should work."

Samsung Teams Up With Mozilla on New Android Browser Tech - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

SAP Accused of Inflating HANA Hardware Numbers - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Big data doubts

"“If we take management at its word and believe that HANA’s two-year license growth [rate] through FY13 is about 120 percent, then this means that the other 90 percent of SAP’s license business, Apps and BI, is growing at … roughly 2 percent, materially below category growth rates,” Goldmacher wrote. “Our research and experience lead us to believe that SAP is allocating product revenue subjectively and that this is resulting in an inflated HANA growth rate. This could give the appearance of market momentum that doesn’t yet exist.”"

SAP Accused of Inflating HANA Hardware Numbers - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Samsung Will Open Mini-Stores Inside 1,400 Best Buys - NYTimes.com

The WSJ view: "Best Buy has figured out what to do with some of the empty space in its cavernous stores: Turn it over to Samsung."

"Samsung on Thursday said it would open 1,400 of the stores by the end of June. Called a Samsung Experience Shop, each store will be an entire section at Best Buy devoted to showcasing Samsung smartphones, tablets, cameras, laptops, televisions and accessories. It will also include customer support for Samsung products, similar to the Genius Bar at Apple stores."

Samsung Will Open Mini-Stores Inside 1,400 Best Buys - NYTimes.com

As Web Search Goes Mobile, Competitors Chip at Google’s Lead - NYTimes.com

Excerpt from a search market snapshot

"People are overwhelmed at how crowded the Internet has become — Google says there are 30 trillion Web addresses, up from 1 trillion five years ago — and users expect their computers and phones to be smarter and do more for them. Many of the new efforts are services that people do not even think of as search engines.
Amazon, for example, has a larger share than Google of shopping searches, the most lucrative kind because people are in the mood to buy something. On sites like Pinterest and Polyvore, users have curated their favorite things from around the Web to produce results when you search for, say, “lace dress.”"

As Web Search Goes Mobile, Competitors Chip at Google’s Lead - NYTimes.com

Amazon cuts S3 storage prices AGAIN • The Register

Playing for keeps

"Cloud titan Amazon Web Services has cut the cost of getting data out of its storage service, putting pressure on rivals Google and Microsoft.
Request pricing for S3 GET operations across the company's nine globe-spanning data center hubs have been reduced by 60 per cent, and prices for PUT, LIST, COPY, and POST requests have been cut by 50 percent."

Amazon cuts S3 storage prices AGAIN • The Register

4 ways to add content to Feedly [Ebook Friendly]

Check the full post for some useful Feedly tips

"Feedly is a top replacement for Google Reader. It’s my service of choice for several months, mainly because it does more than other RSS feed apps. Surely, it delivers content only via valid RSS feeds, but the way it syndicates it makes it a very useful discovery tool.
Actually, the moment of adding content to Feedly is already the beginning of content discovery."

4 ways to add content to Feedly

Dropbox vs Amazon: Nobody can compete with Jeff Bezos [Slate]

From a dire Dropbox reality check

"I like Dropbox. I like it so much that on Monday I upgraded from the 2GB free version to the one where you get 100GB of storage. It costs $99 a year. Then today I looked at the pricing for Amazon's competing service. They'll sell you 100GB for $50 a year. Plus they'll give you 5GB for free. And unlike Dropbox, Amazon offers intermediate options. You could get a 50GB account for $25 a year. As I say, I like Dropbox. And I'm already paid up for a year, so I won't be switching any time soon. But it's hard to see how the company can compete with Amazon rushing in, offering a superior free product, and cutting Dropbox's prices in half. Apple tried and failed in an effort to purchase Dropbox several years ago, but I think in the long term the founders will end up wishing they'd sold."

Dropbox vs Amazon: Nobody can compete with Jeff Bezos

Safari Still Winning the Mobile Browser War - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

tbd if people using Chrome on iOS appear as Safari users (since iOS Chrome is forced to use Apple’s version of WebKit), but impressive results for Apple either way

“Apple’s mobile Safari browser is beset on all sides by eager challengers, but it continues to hold its own, as the latest market share data from Net Applications shows.

Safari for iOS captured 61.79 percent of all mobile browser Web traffic in March according to Net Applications*. That was a nice jump from the 55.41 percent it grabbed in February — enough to reaffirm Apple’s dominance of the space for the time being.”

Safari Still Winning the Mobile Browser War - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

An Interview with Computing Pioneer Alan Kay | TIME.com

Excerpt from an extensive Alan Kay interview

"What do you think about the trend that these devices are becoming purely communication and social tools? What do you see as good or bad about that? Is current technology improving or harming the social skills of children and especially teens? How about adults?
Social thinking requires very exacting thresholds to be powerful. For example, we’ve had social thinking for 200,000 years and hardly anything happened that could be considered progress over most of that time. This is because what is most pervasive about social thinking is “how to get along and mutually cope.” Modern science was only invented 400 years ago, and it is a good example of what social thinking can do with a high threshold. Science requires a society because even people who are trying to be good thinkers love their own thoughts and theories — much of the debugging has to be done by others. But the whole system has to rise above our genetic approaches to being social to much more principled methods in order to make social thinking work.
By contrast, it is not a huge exaggeration to point out that electronic media over the last 100+ years have actually removed some of day to day needs for reading and writing, and have allowed much of the civilized world to lapse back into oral societal forms (and this is not a good thing at all for systems that require most of the citizenry to think in modern forms).
For most people, what is going on is quite harmful."

An Interview with Computing Pioneer Alan Kay | TIME.com

Following iPad release, Google rolls out free Android and iPhone versions of Quickoffice for Apps customers - The Next Web

Another perk for Google Apps for Business customers; tbd if/when Mac OS and Windows versions of Quickoffice may appear

"Google has said before that these free apps are part of its plan to make converting Office files to Google documents, or making quick edits without converting, easy on any mobile device. They let you open and edit any Office files you’ve stored in Google Drive while you’re on the go. Furthermore, you can now find and use your Drive files from within the Quickoffice app (just sign in with your Google Apps for Business account and your Drive folders view will include Shared With Me, Starred, Recent, and any subfolders)."

Following iPad release, Google rolls out free Android and iPhone versions of Quickoffice for Apps customers - The Next Web

Tableau Files For IPO As Strong Run For Business Software Companies Continues - Forbes

Visualizing a ~$150M IPO

"Tableau Software is set to hold its initial public offering, according to an S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, continuing a strong period of market debuts for enterprise software companies. The data visualization company is the latest business software firm to test the waters of the public market, following the likes of Splunk, which debuted last April, and Workday, whose stock has more than doubled its $28 October IPO price.
Tableau plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DATA.” Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters for the deal."

Tableau Files For IPO As Strong Run For Business Software Companies Continues - Forbes

Nebula Builds a Cloud Computer for the Masses - Businessweek

An OpenStack appliance

"Though it doesn’t look like much, (about the size of a four-inch-tall pizza box) Nebula One is the product of dozens of engineers working for two years in secrecy in Mountain View, Calif. It has attracted the attention of some of Silicon Valley’s top investors. The three billionaires who made the first investment in Google—Andy Bechtolsheim, David Cheriton, and Ram Shriram—joined forces again to back Nebula One, betting that its technology will invite a dramatic shift in corporate computing that outflanks the titans of the industry. “This is an example of where traditional technology companies have failed the market,” says Bechtolsheim, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems (ORCL) and famed hardware engineer. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Comcast Ventures, and Highland Capital Partners have also backed Kemp’s startup, itself called Nebula, which has raised more than $30 million."

Nebula Builds a Cloud Computer for the Masses - Businessweek

Review of Dell XPS 12: Dell Laptop Does Flips to Try to Be a Thick Tablet - WSJ.com

The search for the ideal toaster-fridge continues

"Dell deserves credit for a clever flip screen design in the XPS 12. But it's very hard to make a computer that's both a great laptop and a great tablet, even if the operating system contains elements of both."

Review of Dell XPS 12: Dell Laptop Does Flips to Try to Be a Thick Tablet - WSJ.com

SEC Says Companies Can Use Social Media to Alert Investors - WSJ.com

Another Netflix-initiated innovation (see the full article for context)

"Executives with itchy Twitter fingers can rest easier after federal securities regulators blessed the use of social-media sites to broadcast market-moving corporate news.
In a ruling that portends changes to how companies communicate with investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that postings on sites such as Facebook and Twitter are just as good as news releases and company websites as long as the companies have told investors which outlets they intend to use."

SEC Says Companies Can Use Social Media to Alert Investors - WSJ.com

The National Digital Public Library Is Launched! by Robert Darnton | The New York Review of Books

An overview of the soon-to-launch DPLA

"The Digital Public Library of America, to be launched on April 18, is a project to make the holdings of America’s research libraries, archives, and museums available to all Americans—and eventually to everyone in the world—online and free of charge. How is that possible? In order to answer that question, I would like to describe the first steps and immediate future of the DPLA. But before going into detail, I think it important to stand back and take a broad view of how such an ambitious undertaking fits into the development of what we commonly call an information society."

The National Digital Public Library Is Launched! by Robert Darnton | The New York Review of Books

Amazon's Cloud Drive adds file syncing, moves closer to a viable Dropbox replacement | The Verge

Especially attractive for Amazon Cloud music customers; e.g., for $25/year, you get space for 250,000 imported songs and an additional 50 GB for non-music files (if you're planning to have more than a quarter-million songs, note that your Amazon MP3 purchases don't count against the limit...)

"When Amazon launched its Cloud Drive app for Mac and Windows back in May, we noted that a lack of proper file syncing prevented the service from becoming a full-blown Dropbox and SkyDrive replacement. The company has today addressed that shortcoming with the introduction of a file synchronization folder that will let you access your documents, music, and photos across multiple computers."

Amazon's Cloud Drive adds file syncing, moves closer to a viable Dropbox replacement | The Verge

The problem with Twitter [Washington Post]

Another vote for XML syndication clients such as Feedly

"If I neglect my RSS feed today, the posts will still be there tomorrow. The same is true for the books I’m reading, the magazines piled on my nightstand, the tabs open in my browser, the long-form I’ve saved to Pocket, the e-mails I’ve filed away to read later, the think tank papers saved to my desktop, and pretty much every other sort of information I consume. The backlog nags at me, but I’ll get to it.
Twitter elicits a more poisonous information anxiety. It moves so fast that if I’m not continuously checking in, I completely lose track of the conversation — and it’s almost impossible to figure out what happened three hours ago, much less two days ago."

The problem with Twitter

Windows Phone Gaining a Toehold in Some Markets - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

Looking like a solid (albeit distant) #3 in some markets

"Also worth noting: Windows Phone’s growth seems to be coming at the expense of BlackBerry and Nokia’s Symbian OS, which both lost significant market share during the period. In Great Britain, for example, BlackBerry’s share fell to 5.1 percent from 16.8 percent, an 11.7 percentage point decline (and that’s in one of BlackBerry’s strongest markets). In the United States, it fell to 0.7 percent from 3.6 percent. Meanwhile, Symbian’s share fell to 0.6 percent from 2.4 percent in Great Britain; to 0.1 percent from 0.5 in the United States; and to 3.7 percent from 17.6 percent in Italy — a staggering 13.9 percentage point drop."

Windows Phone Gaining a Toehold in Some Markets - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

ReDigi Loses Suit Over Reselling of Digital Music - NYTimes.com

A secondary sale set-back

"In sometimes wry language — one footnote mentions that ReDigi compared its system to the “Star Trek” transporter and “Willy Wonka’s teleportation device, Wonkavision” — Judge Sullivan ruled that ReDigi’s system infringed on Capitol’s reproduction rights because it transmitted an unauthorized copy of the file over the Internet.
In a statement, ReDigi said it was “disappointed” by the ruling and would appeal it, but noted that the decision applied to its original technology, not its updated version, ReDigi 2.0."

ReDigi Loses Suit Over Reselling of Digital Music - NYTimes.com

EMC's Amazon Challenger Comes Out - NYTimes.com

A Pivotal moment for EMC

"A well-financed competitor to Amazon Web Services became official Monday.
Pivotal, a company spun out of assets of EMC and VMware, two tech companies each with billions in revenue, became an independent firm, ahead of a formal introduction on April 29."

EMC's Amazon Challenger Comes Out - NYTimes.com

Feedly Adds 3 Million Users in 19 Days, Takes Aim At Pulse, Flipboard, And Other Reading Apps - The Digital Reader

Feedly also appears to have added unobtrusive Amazon recommendations, at least on its Mac OS/Chrome client (either that I didn't notice them before...). I remain very pleased with Feedly, in any case, and expect there will be a fee-based version soon that makes advertising optional...

"It’s been not quite 3 weeks since Google announced the end of Google Reader, and many are already crowning Feedly as the heir apparent. This service has added over 3 million users in 19 days (500k in the first 48 hours), setting a new record with over 7 million users. In addition to releasing a new browser plug-in last week, today Feedly announced a major redesign of their mobile apps."

Feedly Adds 3 Million Users in 19 Days, Takes Aim At Pulse, Flipboard, And Other Reading Apps - The Digital Reader

Twitter Blog: Annncng: Twttr

Some of these jokes would be funnier if they were less plausible

"Starting today, we are shifting to a two-tiered service: Everyone can use our basic service, Twttr, but you only get consonants. For five dollars a month, you can use our premium “Twitter” service which also includes vowels.
We’re doing this because we believe that by eliminating vowels, we’ll encourage a more efficient and “dense” form of communication. We also see an opportunity to diversify our revenue stream. "

Twitter Blog: Annncng: Twttr

Amazon set to launch prior-day delivery | ROUGH TYPE

More April Fool's fun

"RT: You mentioned neurological data. How exactly does SuperPrime work?
J: As the name suggests, we’re introducing a new premium level to Amazon Prime. When a customer signs up — we haven’t set the pricing yet, but I can guarantee that it’ll be affordable for most households — we send them an Amazon SuperPrime Hoodie that’s outfitted with an array of sensors. We ask them to wear the hoodie for two hours, with the hood up, while they go about their business. They then plug the hoodie into their smartphone or their Kindle, and it automatically uploads some scans and other neurological readings to what we’re calling Amazon Brain Cloud, or ABC. We combine the brain data with the behavioral data we’ve collected on the customer, and that enables us to make the purchasing predictions with something like 99.99% accuracy."

Amazon set to launch prior-day delivery | ROUGH TYPE

Round Up: All of Google’s jokes for April Fools 2013 - The Next Web

Another overview/index of Google's latest pranks

"Every year, Google goes all out for April Fools’ Day. The company not only pulls together more jokes than all the other tech giants, but the company makes a point to outdo itself too. It honestly gets difficult to keep track of everything Google thinks up, so like last year we’re putting together a roundup."

Round Up: All of Google’s jokes for April Fools 2013 - The Next Web

Newt Gingrich among those who will get Google Glass | Technically Incorrect - CNET News

tbd if this is another Google April Fool's joke

"You might wonder whether Google, aware of the publicity this might bring, overlooked Gingrich's rather pedestrian reason to use Glass on his application: "#ifihadglass i would take it on tours of zoos and museums to share the animals and fossils -- @projectglass http://t.co/N788oo0ALB."
On the other hand, it is possible that the animals and fossils he was referring to currently spend their days in Congress. In which case, his humor is both self-deprecatory and unimpeachable."

Newt Gingrich among those who will get Google Glass | Technically Incorrect - CNET News

What's Dell's Bidding Process Really About? (It's Not About Fixing It) - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

No doubt they'd get around to optimizing what's left of Dell ... eventually

"But also buried within the 274-page filing are lots of clues that the bidding process has less to do with any concrete plans to turn around a deeply troubled tech company and more to do with making a few private equity firms look powerful and, of course, make money in the process.
And, more to the point, not much yet has to do with what it will take to fix Dell and transform it to face the challenges of the new era of computing. In its document, the company outlined its troubles in detail via a variety of voices — including Dell’s CFO — essentially describing a troubled company in a declining market."

What's Dell's Bidding Process Really About? (It's Not About Fixing It) - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Google's April Fools' Day 2013 Joke-A-Thon Begins With YouTube Shutdown, Treasure Hunt Maps [Search Engine Land]

Check the link below for a round-up of this year's Google April Fool's activities

"It may still be March 31st for me, and maybe for many of you reading this, but it’s already April 1st in Australia and the Google jokes are well underway. Here’s a look at what we’ve found so far (and we’ll be updating this article through the day with more)"

Google's April Fools' Day 2013 Joke-A-Thon Begins With YouTube Shutdown, Treasure Hunt Maps

There's A Reason That No One in Publishing Bought Goodreads - The Digital Reader

A supply-side social reading community snapshot

"Goodreads was launched to encourage readers to show up and be bookish. The community formed around them.
Bookish, on the other hand, was launched in order to provide Hachette, S&S, and Penguin with “direct digital customer relationships”. The publishers got to build it from the ground up, and the manner in which it functions says a lot about the type of ”direct digital customer relationships” these publishers want
to have.
The thing is, they don’t actually want a relationship – not the relationship that James McQuivey (and I) think that publishers could benefit from."

There's A Reason That No One in Publishing Bought Goodreads - The Digital Reader

IBM: How Much Longer Do the Good Times Last? | Platformonomics

From the introduction of an extensive and timely IBM reality check

"This recent quote from a “former IBM exec who spoke on the condition of anonymity” prompted revisiting the company and again asking some questions about their business model and future prospects:
“Realizing this, IBM’s become a holding company of sorts, buying assets, integrating them and reselling them as an IBM brand.”
“IBM does not want to fund its own development because past history shows we’re not very good at it.”"

IBM: How Much Longer Do the Good Times Last? | Platformonomics

Apple’s Cloud Conundrum | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Curious that Amazon didn't appear in this article

"The fact is that both Microsoft and Google are far ahead of Apple in cloud services. Microsoft has built on its years of experience with SharePoint and Exchange, plus such commercially unsuccessful but technically important projects as Groove and Live Mesh, to build SkyDrive and its associated services. Google has always lived in the cloud and has put its expertise behind Google Drive. Smaller vendors, such as DropBox and SugarSync, also offer solutions far superior to Apple’s. But all of these companies have taken years to get where they are in large part because this stuff is really, really hard. None of them offers a complete multiplatform, multidevice, multi-application solution, but they are getting there."

Apple’s Cloud Conundrum | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Devices Like Cable Boxes Figured in Internet Attack - NYTimes.com

We are all systems administrators

"“There is a big possibility that you are part of the problem without even knowing it,” said Paul Vixie, chairman of the Internet Software Consortium, a nonprofit company responsible for the software used by many of the servers that power the Internet.
The servers the attackers used — what the Internet community calls open recursive servers or, more commonly, open resolvers — are simply home Internet devices, corporate servers, or virtual machines in the cloud that have been sloppily configured to accept messages from any device around the globe. [...]

But there is a silver lining. “I’ve been waiting for this attack for a long time,” Dr. Vixie said, “so that we could tell the earth’s population to do something about it.”"

Devices Like Cable Boxes Figured in Internet Attack - NYTimes.com

New Phone by Facebook to Showcase Its Network - NYTimes.com

So ... integrating Facebook services in app scenarios for which it can be useful to share, sort of like Apple did with iOS last year?...

"The software is designed so that some of the core features of the phone, like the camera, will be built around Facebook’s services, according to one of the people, who is a Facebook employee. Both people briefed on Facebook’s plans spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the product before the formal announcement."

New Phone by Facebook to Showcase Its Network - NYTimes.com

E-mail gets a cold shoulder - Business - The Boston Globe

Another iteration of "the death of e-mail"

"With billions of e-mails shooting around the world every day, clogging Gmail and Yahoo accounts everywhere, many are recoiling from the torrent. It’s either too much of a chore, or just uncool. The young set has bypassed it altogether, seizing on social media tools such as Twitter, or texting, as their primary means of electronic chatter. Some big companies find e-mail outdated, and instead are using more sophisticated internal messaging networks that filter out outside noise. And some busy professionals say it isn’t convenient anymore — a time-waster, in fact."

E-mail gets a cold shoulder - Business - The Boston Globe

Actually, Amazon Paid About $150 Million for Goodreads - Kara Swisher - Media - AllThingsD

Maybe not $1B, but still an impressive ROI (since last night, BusinessWeek has changed its related article title from "Amazon Likely Paid $1 Billion for Goodreads" to "Rampant Speculation: How Much Did Amazon Pay for Goodreads?")

"According to sources, Amazon paid about $150 million for Goodreads, the popular books recommendation service. But that number could close in on $200 million, if certain performance metrics are met."

Actually, Amazon Paid About $150 Million for Goodreads - Kara Swisher - Media - AllThingsD

Amazon Likely Paid $1 Billion for Goodreads - Businessweek

Likely not a bad ROI...

"If Amazon bought into those points, the deal could have easily jumped into the 10-figure range. After all, the company had an $8.1 billion cash pile sitting around at year-end.
Either way, yesterday was likely a big payday for Goodreads founders Otis and Elizabeth Khuri Chandler. In true Silicon Valley fashion, the company bootstrapped solely on an angel round in 2007 and a venture round two years later, according to the firm. Its financing haul to date: about $2 million."

Amazon Likely Paid $1 Billion for Goodreads - Businessweek

Find My Friends update allows fine tuning | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

User discretion advised…

“Find My Friends has received a small, but important update. Version 2.1 of Apple's friend-location software introduces a new UI to search and set location-based notifications. Paranoid that your child is skipping school? Use the UI to look for your child's school and get alerted if he leaves before he should.”

Find My Friends update allows fine tuning | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Feedly may be the savior Google Reader users need | Computerworld Blogs

I'm very pleased with Feedly -- check the link below for more details on its rapid evolution

"Here's what's really interesting: I'm actually finding that Feedly is moving beyond the point of merely catching up with Reader. It's starting to surpass it.
The new Feedly Web app is a joy to use. It's like a sleeker, more polished version of Reader with several new bells and whistles thrown in. (One such example: If your browser window is small, the left-side navigation panel automatically transforms into a floating menu that appears only when you mouse over it, thereby leaving more space for the actual content of your feeds.) It feels like what Reader could have been if Google hadn't given up on it years ago."

Feedly may be the savior Google Reader users need | Computerworld Blogs

Taking a stand on open source and patents | Google Open Source Blog

A happy occasion for many NoSQL/big data start-ups

“Today, we’re taking another step towards that goal by announcing the Open Patent Non-Assertion (OPN) Pledge: we pledge not to sue any user, distributor or developer of open-source software on specified patents, unless first attacked.
We’ve begun by identifying 10 patents relating to MapReduce, a computing model for processing large data sets first developed at Google—open-source versions of which are now widely used. Over time, we intend to expand the set of Google’s patents covered by the pledge to other technologies.
We hope the OPN Pledge will serve as a model for the industry, and we’re encouraging other patent holders to adopt the pledge or a similar initiative.”

Taking a stand on open source and patents | Google Open Source Blog

Facebook To Reveal “Home On Android” Sources Say Is A Modified OS On HTC At 4/4 Event | TechCrunch

A big Android ecosystem milestone next week, consistent with Facebook's earlier announcements about mobile device services

"One source recently told us to be on the look out for a Facebook mobile press event in early April where the social network would reveal an altered Android OS running on HTC. It’s said not to be a full-on rewrite of Android, but rather a “flavor” that will have all sorts of extra Facebook functionality built in. We’ve also heard it referred to as an “application layer”. Imagine Facebook’s integration with iOS 6, but on steroids, and built by Facebook itself. It could have a heavy reliance on Facebook’s native apps like Messenger, easy social sharing from anywhere on the phone, and more. [...]

This announcement might not be a Facebook Phone, but rather a Facebook phone — one where everything the user sees is social by design, even if the handset’s innards are made by someone else."

Facebook To Reveal “Home On Android” Sources Say Is A Modified OS On HTC At 4/4 Event | TechCrunch

Amazon to Buy Goodreads - NYTimes.com

Check this Wired article for more on the "Wool" phenomenon

"The deal is made more significant because Amazon already owned part or all of Goodreads’ competitors, Shelfari and LibraryThing. It bought Shelfari in 2008. It also owns a portion of LibraryThing as a result of buying companies that already owned a stake in the site. Both are much smaller and have grown much more slowly than Goodreads.
[...]
The deal did get some support from Hugh Howey, whose book “Wool” was originally self-published on Amazon and promoted through Goodreads and became a best seller. “The best place to discuss books is joining up with the best place to buy books — to-be-read piles everywhere must be groaning in anticipation,” he said in the companies’ news release."

Amazon to Buy Goodreads - NYTimes.com

Amazon Adds a Piece to Its Growing E-book Empire - Businessweek

Another take on Amazon + Goodreads [+ MobiPocket + BookSurge + Book Depository + Shelfari + ...]; check this post for a handy chart of Amazon acquisitions and investments (through 2009)

"Mike Shatzkin, a book industry consultant at Idea Logical, sees all this as a huge missed opportunity for Amazon’s competitors. “If a year ago, someone had come to me, and said, ‘We want to compete with Amazon on books, what should we acquire?’ the two companies I would have suggested are the Book Depository and Goodreads. And Amazon got ‘em both, as far as I can tell, without anyone else firing a shot,” Shatzkin said. “Shame on Barnes & Noble (BKS), shame on the big publishers, and shame on everyone else for letting this happen.”"

Amazon Adds a Piece to Its Growing E-book Empire - Businessweek

Charlie Rose Talks to Yahoo! Teen Tycoon Nick D'Aloisio - Businessweek

What's next for Summly

"You’ll be working for her now. What’s your job?
I’m going to be working out of their London office, and they’re developing a mobile hub. My role will be trying to integrate this summarization technology into different facets of the mobile organization. What Yahoo is doing—and this is why I’m so excited—is they have these assets, these verticals. They call them daily habits: So it’s weather, stocks, fantasy football. The idea is that they want to create these personalized experiences for mobile phones, an app for each of these verticals."

Charlie Rose Talks to Yahoo! Teen Tycoon Nick D'Aloisio - Businessweek

Google Begins Public Test of Same-Day Delivery Service - Digits - WSJ

But will the service employ self-driving cars?...

"On Thursday Google, which began work on the initiative in 2011, announced a casting call for people who can sign up to test its Google Shopping Express service, which it said is available to a small number of people in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Google said it able to deliver goods to those testers from retailers including Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle and Toys “R” Us, along with “locally distinct” retailers such as San Francisco’s Blue Bottle Coffee."

Google Begins Public Test of Same-Day Delivery Service - Digits - WSJ

Review: Google Keep Takes on Evernote, with No Clear Winner | MIT Technology Review

Excerpt from another Keep/Evernote comparison

"Keep is well-designed, and it’s already snagging fans of its own (in the Google Play store it has nearly 11,000 reviews, averaging four-and-a-half stars). Yet after comparing Keep to Evernote, I doubt that Google’s new arrival is actually a bad thing for the incumbent—it’s not nearly as advanced, and it actually looks to be boosting its predecessor’s popularity."

Review: Google Keep Takes on Evernote, with No Clear Winner | MIT Technology Review

Amazon.com to Acquire Goodreads - Yahoo! Finance

Another social reading acquisition for Amazon (tbd what it will do with Shelfari now)

"Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Goodreads, a leading site for readers and book recommendations that helps people find and share books they love.
“Amazon and Goodreads share a passion for reinventing reading,” said Russ Grandinetti, Amazon Vice President, Kindle Content. “Goodreads has helped change how we discover and discuss books and, with Kindle, Amazon has helped expand reading around the world. In addition, both Amazon and Goodreads have helped thousands of authors reach a wider audience and make a better living at their craft. Together we intend to build many new ways to delight readers and authors alike.”"

Amazon.com to Acquire Goodreads - Yahoo! Finance

Paypal struggles free of VMware lock-in, goes with OpenStack • The Register

Open (source + standards) infrastructure as a service; also see PayPal to stick with VMware, at least in part, says VMware

"OpenStack, a kind of Linux-for-the-cloud, contains APIs for compute, storage, networking and management all under an Apache license.
PayPal’s rolling out OpenStack using a set of pre-integrated and polished APIs called FUEL from Mirantis, which claims 40 successful OpenStack deployments. FUEL wraps the basic OpenStack APIs with deployment scripts and other APIs and code from Mirantis to make it easier to install, manage and scale than the basic OpenStack code."

Paypal struggles free of VMware lock-in, goes with OpenStack • The Register

Google's Knowledge Graph expands into movies on Android tablets thanks to facial recognition | The Verge

Knowledge Graph enhanced for your viewing pleasure

"Not content to let Amazon hold the limelight with its new X-Ray for TV feature unveiled this morning, Google is unveiling a similar feature for movies in the Google Play store. On an Android tablet (and sadly, only on Android tablets), when you hit pause on a movie it will automatically fill the screen with relevant info cards for the actors and music from what you're watching. The information comes from Google's Knowledge Graph, but interestingly Google isn't figuring out which cards to display based solely on the movie's metadata. Instead, it's using facial recognition on the actors and Sound Search on the music to automatically figure out what to display."

Google's Knowledge Graph expands into movies on Android tablets thanks to facial recognition | The Verge

That Internet War Apocalypse Is a Lie [Gizmodo]

A timely information responsibility reality check

"What's not OK is a company trying to scare the internet's residents thinking they're the residents of Dresden in order to drum up business. There are plenty of scary things, people, and plots online. There are plenty of bad guys. There are plenty of attacks. There will be plenty more. If you're in the anti-hacker business, business has no signs of slowing down. So if your product is worth a damn, you shouldn't have to lie to the internet to sell it. Don't believe the hype."

That Internet War Apocalypse Is a Lie

Google Street View Captures Ghost Town in Fukushima's Evacuation Zone - NYTimes.com

tbd if the mapping was done by an unattended self-driving car; more details here

“Another 90,000 people remain unable to return to their homes in the exclusion zone. Both experts and government officials have said that some of the most heavily contaminated areas in the exclusion zone may be uninhabitable for years, or even decades.
Invited by Mayor Tamotsu Baba to document the town’s deserted streets, Google began mapping Namie earlier this month. It used a car fitted with a special camera that captures a 360-degree view of its journey.”

Google Street View Captures Ghost Town in Fukushima's Evacuation Zone - NYTimes.com

Where in the World Are Windows Phones Outselling iPhones? - NYTimes.com

tbd if Microsoft employee phones were included in the country-level counts...

"According to Kevin Restivo, an analyst at IDC, the countries where Windows Phone shipments exceeded those of iPhone during the fourth quarter were: Argentina, India, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine. A seventh “country” where Windows Phone shipments beat iPhone is actually a group of smaller countries, including Croatia, that IDC lumps together in a category called “rest of central and eastern Europe.”
Mr. Restivo provided some context, though, that slightly diminishes the scale of Microsoft’s success in those countries. Three of the markets — Ukraine, South Africa and “rest of central and eastern Europe” — are small enough that there were fewer than 100,000 Windows Phone unit shipments in the fourth quarter in each of them."

Where in the World Are Windows Phones Outselling iPhones? - NYTimes.com

Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven - Businessweek

First and last paragraphs of a Bitcoin perspective

"One of the oddest bits of news to emerge from the economic collapse of Cyprus is a corresponding rise in the value of Bitcoin, the Internet’s favorite, media-friendly, anarchist crypto-currency. In Spain, Google (GOOG) searches for “Bitcoin” and downloads of Bitcoin apps soared. The value of a Bitcoin went up to $78. Someone put out a press release promising a Bitcoin ATM in Cyprus. Far away, in Canada, a man said he’d sell his house for BTC5,362.
[...]
Bitcoin isn’t tied to any commodity—besides trust. As a statement on the global economy, Bitcoin is hilarious. As a currency for the disenfranchised and distrustful, it’s as serious as can be."

Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven - Businessweek

The Messaging Apps Taking on Facebook, Apple - WSJ.com

From a mobile messaging market map

"Texting apps are especially costing wireless carriers, which for years relied on the services for the bulk of their revenue.
By some estimates a single text, which may cost as much as 20 cents to send or receive, costs the carriers themselves just one-hundredth of a cent. The rise of texting apps has taken away $23 billion in revenue from carriers as of the end of 2012, according to market research firm Ovum."

The Messaging Apps Taking on Facebook, Apple - WSJ.com

Google Keep, a Note Pad, Lets You Hold All Thoughts - NYTimes.com

Google Keep 1.0: the most effective Evernote advertising campaign to date...

"The most important thing to grasp about Keep is how simple it is. Fast and simple and limited, especially compared with Evernote.
That, of course, is its best and worst feature, depending on what kind of personality you have. You won’t have trouble fumbling to find a feature; there aren’t any to find."

Google Keep, a Note Pad, Lets You Hold All Thoughts - NYTimes.com

The power of the RSS reader – Marco.org

Excerpt from an insightful RSS reality check

"The true power of the RSS inbox is keeping you informed of new posts that you probably won’t see linked elsewhere, or that you really don’t want to miss if you scroll past a few hours of your Twitter timeline.
If you can’t think of any sites you read that fit that description, you should consider broadening your horizons. (Sorry, I can’t think of a nicer way to put that.)"

The power of the RSS reader – Marco.org

Beware of the High Cost of 'Free' Online Courses - NYTimes.com

Educational upheaval ahead

"Mr. Cusumano’s concerns grow out of his study of the software and media industries in the face of price pressure from free, open-source software and digital distribution over the Internet. Two-thirds of the public companies in the software industry disappeared between 1998 and 2006, as companies failed or were acquired. In the media world, Mr. Cusumano contends that newspaper and magazine companies — including The New York Times Company — made a strategic mistake by giving away their publications free on the Web. The online pay walls that publications have since put up, he said, seem to be helping to stabilize things, but only after a precipitous decline.
Give-away pricing in education, Mr. Cusumano warns, may well be a comparable misstep. The damage would occur, he writes in the article, “if increasing numbers of universities and colleges joined the free online education movement and set a new threshold price for the industry — zero — which becomes commonly accepted and difficult to undo.”

"Beware of the High Cost of 'Free' Online Courses - NYTimes.com

Oracle Unveils 'World's Fastest Chip' in Bid to Save Sun Biz - Businessweek

Another perspective on Oracle's latest Sun hardware launch; note that Oracle also competes in the category described in the final sentence below, with its Exadata product family

"Rather than trying to woo customers away from competitors, Oracle is mostly trying to convince its existing customers to upgrade their Sun hardware. At its peak, Sun sold about $3.5 billion of computing hardware per quarter. Now Oracle sells about $670 million of hardware per quarter. Where Sun once dominated the market for high-end (Unix) servers, it now accounts for only 17 percent of the market, tying HP and trailing IBM’s 63 percent market share. Most companies looking to build fast, large computers cobble together lots of smaller servers based on Intel’s Xeon server chip."

Oracle Unveils 'World's Fastest Chip' in Bid to Save Sun Biz - Businessweek

One in Five BlackBerry 10 Apps Is Really an Android App - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD

tbd if BlackBerry will have to pay Microsoft an Android royalty...

"But, knowing that not all developers are ready to bet on a native app, the company has offered some shortcuts designed to get programs running on devices like its Z10, which went on sale this week at AT&T.
One of those is an emulation engine that allows Android apps to run. Roughly 20 percent of the 100,000 BlackBerry 10 apps fall into this category, according to Martyn Mallick, BlackBerry’s vice president for global alliances and business development."

One in Five BlackBerry 10 Apps Is Really an Android App - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD

What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly :: Hacking, Distributed

Intro paragraphs of a skeptical Summly snapshot

"So, Yahoo is in the news for buying Summly. Summly is a company that extracts summaries of natural language text, a TL;DR of sorts.
Summly licensed its core technology from SRI, which, previously, spun out Siri and sold it to Apple. Summly had 5 engineers, only 2 of whom will be moving to Yahoo. Summly is reported to have 1M downloads of their app in mobile app stores.
I want to take a few minutes to process this, because it points to some trends that should cause any technologist to raise an eyebrow."

What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly :: Hacking, Distributed

Ellison aims his first Oracle 'mainframe' at Big Blue • The Register

Aiming high; see the link below for some Oracle launch event slides

"Oracle announced the new Sparc servers at an event in San Francisco today, and El Reg already gave you the feeds and speeds on the new T5 and M5 processors and their respective systems. At that event, Ellison touched on some of the salient characteristics of the new servers, but he spent most of his time explaining how Oracle would keep the pedal to the metal, pushing performance even further after taking the lead from Intel and IBM in terms of throughput-per-processor and bang-for-the-buck against IBM's Power Systems lineup."

Ellison aims his first Oracle 'mainframe' at Big Blue • The Register

A Review of New Flipboard: News and Posts Handpicked and Shared - WSJ.com

See this Flipboard post for more new release details

"I've been testing this new version of Flipboard, which has some other improved features, over the past week or so, on several iPads and an iPhone. My verdict is the new features make a great mobile app even better. There are some limitations to the new capabilities, but they make your mobile device more personal and more of a creative tool, rather than just a means of consumption. For now, the new version is only available for Apple's devices, but an Android edition is in the works."

A Review of New Flipboard: News and Posts Handpicked and Shared - WSJ.com

Why Summly Matters: Software Will Become Your Research Assistant [Techonomy]

More Summly analysis

"But look more closely at the technological ambition behind Summly, provided in part by D’Aloisio, who seems to be a uniquely adept programmer, and the company’s partner, the scientific research firm SRI International. The heart of Summly today is still-crude natural language processing technology that “reads” a news story and attempts to understand it the way a human might—and then generate a summary based on that understanding. This is not just extraction—which looks for key words as clues to topics and meanings—but an attempt at abstraction, which is harder. Abstraction uses software to first understand, then summarize."

Why Summly Matters: Software Will Become Your Research Assistant

Microsoft’s Secret Plan to Make You Hate Windows 8 Less | Windows 8 content from Windows IT Pro

Am I the only person who finds it weird that the Chrome OS user experience model is more like the Windows 7 UX than the Windows 8 UX is?

"A leaked build of the next version of Windows 8 made the rounds this week, along with news of related updates for Windows Phone 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows RT. And what I’ve learned from the leak won’t please anyone who already isn’t a fan of the Metro stuff. It appears that Microsoft’s secret plan for Windows 8 is . . . to pile on more of what you don’t like about Windows 8."

Microsoft’s Secret Plan to Make You Hate Windows 8 Less | Windows 8 content from Windows IT Pro

Facebook fixes comment threads for Pages and public figures | Internet & Media - CNET News

tbd if the "relevance to each viewer" includes personal purchase histories Facebook buys from others...

"The social network said that it's featuring the most active conversations atop posts, and re-odering the threads by relevance to each viewer. A Facebook member may find a particular conversation thread higher if they share connections to participants in a thread, for instance.
"After months of testing, we have seen how the new feature can improve conversations and be used to start open dialogues with the community," Vadim Lavrusik, Facebook journalism program manager, wrote in a note posted to the social network."

Facebook fixes comment threads for Pages and public figures | Internet & Media - CNET News

Yahoo Paid $30 Million in Cash for 18 Months of Summly Founder's Time - Kara Swisher - Media - AllThingsD

More on the Summly prince's princely sum

"Yahoo said it plans to close down the actual app and use the algorithmic summation technology that the 17-year-old D’Aloisio built with a small team of five, along with a major assist from Silicon Valley research institute SRI International, throughout its products.
While Yahoo did not disclose the price, several sources told me that the company paid $30 million — 90 percent in cash and 10 percent in stock — to buy the London-based Apple smartphone app."

Yahoo Paid $30 Million in Cash for 18 Months of Summly Founder's Time - Kara Swisher - Media - AllThingsD

Facebook Expands Targeted Advertising Through Outside Data Sources - NYTimes.com

A different type of Facebook over-sharing

"In shaping its targeted advertising strategy, it is no longer relying solely on what Facebook users reveal about themselves. Instead, it is tapping into outside sources of data to learn even more about them — and to sell ads that are more finely targeted to them. Facebook says that this way, marketers will be able to reach the right audience for the right products, and consumers will see advertisements that are, as the company calls it, “relevant” to them.
In late February, Facebook announced partnerships with four companies that collect lucrative behavioral data, from store loyalty card transactions and customer e-mail lists to divorce and Web browsing records."

Facebook Expands Targeted Advertising Through Outside Data Sources - NYTimes.com

Nick D’Aloisio, 17, Sells Summly App to Yahoo - NYTimes.com

I look forward to seeing what Yahoo does with the Summly technology

"“I’ve still got a year and a half left at my high school,” he said in a telephone interview on Monday. But he will make arrangements to test out of his classes and work from the Yahoo office in London, partly to abide by the company’s new and much-debated policy that prohibits working from home.
[...]
Summly’s other investors, improbably enough, included Wendi Murdoch, Ashton Kutcher and Yoko Ono. The most important one was Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong billionaire, whose investment fund supported Mr. D’Aloisio’s idea early on, before it was even called Summly.

Nick D’Aloisio, 17, Sells Summly App to Yahoo - NYTimes.com

Thanks Google Keep! EverNote sees uptick in downloads, usage — Tech News and Analysis

He should send a thank-you note to the Google employee who decided to terminate Google Reader

"When I called Phil Libin, Evernote CEO earlier this morning to chat about Keep, in his typical matter-of-fact manner he explained that Google’s Keep app is both good and bad for his company. Bad, because he now has more competition in the market. And good because now more people are going to be aware of the overall category, which means more attention for Evernote."

Thanks Google Keep! EverNote sees uptick in downloads, usage — Tech News and Analysis

Walmart Executive and Environmentalist Team Up to Create a Marketplace for the “Sharing Economy” | MIT Technology Review

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to bring some flowers you can share

"Their company, Yerdle, launched in San Francisco in November—on Black Friday—and in New York a month ago. A person logs in through Facebook and enters a well-designed marketplace populated by photos of items their friends and their friends’ friends would like to give away or loan them for free.
The idea is that people will check Yerdle before making a new purchase, and might pay Yerdle to get a shipment from a friend. The $200 billion figure is the pair’s own estimate of the percentage of the $1 trillion in durable retail goods purchased in the U.S. each year that might instead be sourced from an individual’s own extended online social network. When I signed in I saw things like a colander, a PlayStation, and a “giant litter box.”"

Walmart Executive and Environmentalist Team Up to Create a Marketplace for the “Sharing Economy” | MIT Technology Review

Schneier on Security: Our Internet Surveillance State

Closing paragraphs of a stark security reality check

“Fixing this requires strong government will, but they're just as punch-drunk on data as the corporations. Slap-on-the-wrist fines notwithstanding, no one is agitating for better privacy laws.

So, we're done. Welcome to a world where Google knows exactly what sort of porn you all like, and more about your interests than your spouse does. Welcome to a world where your cell phone company knows exactly where you are all the time. Welcome to the end of private conversations, because increasingly your conversations are conducted by e-mail, text, or social networking sites.

And welcome to a world where all of this, and everything else that you do or is done on a computer, is saved, correlated, studied, passed around from company to company without your knowledge or consent; and where the government accesses it at will without a warrant.

Welcome to an Internet without privacy, and we've ended up here with hardly a fight.”

Schneier on Security: Our Internet Surveillance State

Evernote Looks For International Growth, Inks Strategic Partnership With Deutsche Telekom, Starting With 1-Year Premium Accounts For DT Users In Germany | TechCrunch

Busy times for Evernote's business development team

"[...] the first part of the deal will mean that all DT customers in Germany will get one year of Evernote Premium service — a deal that usually costs €40 ($52) annually for additional storage space and other features. With DT claiming 37 million mobile and 22 million fixed line customers, the partnership potentially adds up to 60 million more users to Evernote’s platform.
To mark the new service, Evernote also said it is adding a new feature to the Premium account, available exclusively to DT users: now subscribers will be able to make document searches across Microsoft Office, iWork and OpenOffice documents that are attached to Evernote notes, bringing Premium a bit closer to Evernote’s Business product.
[...]
This is not the first carrier partnership signed by Evernote. Others include Taiwan Mobile, France Telecom, Docomo in Japan, and Korea Telecom, all also involving bundling Evernote’s premium product with subscriptions."

Evernote Looks For International Growth, Inks Strategic Partnership With Deutsche Telekom, Starting With 1-Year Premium Accounts For DT Users In Germany | TechCrunch

Revenge of the stylus: Samsung Note 10.1 makes digital notebook a reality | ExtremeTech

tbd if this will be the next Nexus 10 device (the current Nexus 10 is a Samsung tablet)

“Multiple windows? What a radical concept

Three decades after windows were introduced to desktop computers, they’re finally re-appearing on our mobile devices. Samsung has done an excellent job of providing a multi-window system on its Note product line. It is much more flexible and powerful than Microsoft’s klunky screen-splitting capability in Windows 8. (See: Windows 8: The disastrous result of Microsoft’s gutless equivocation.) You can easily put just about any application in half the screen, with a second application in the other half. You can change the amount of real estate for each application simply by moving a slider, or switch the applications around by dragging them. Screen rotation still works flawlessly. I found it easy to have a video or webpage in one window while I took notes in the other.”

Revenge of the stylus: Samsung Note 10.1 makes digital notebook a reality | ExtremeTech

What If The Google Reader Readers Just Don’t Come Back? | TechCrunch

Check the full post for some TechCrunch Reader traffic stats and projections

"And all of that just speaks to the traffic that Reader sends to sites. The key element of Reader, of course, is that it allows readers to consume content without visiting a site if they choose to. To some, this has always been problematic, since those readers aren’t being served ads (unless they’re being injected into the feed, of course). To others, this was a vital distribution mechanism. For every person that got referred to a site via Reader, there were undoubtedly thousands more reading quietly on a daily basis that you would simply never see or hear from."

What If The Google Reader Readers Just Don’t Come Back? | TechCrunch

Oracle Is Bleeding At The Hands Of Database Rivals | TechCrunch

A timely DBMS market dynamics snapshot (and video interview with DataStax CEO Billy Bosworth)

"Datastax has its own challenges. It competes with Amazon Web Services and all the other NoSQL providers such as 10gen. The ecosystem is still quite young. Finding qualified people is a challenge. Developers need more education, a change in thinking for the new cloud approach.
But overall, it’s clear that Oracle really is starting to show the pains of being an aging innovator. The earnings show a slight cut. The question is how deep the cut is and how Oracle will respond to challengers like Datastax."

Oracle Is Bleeding At The Hands Of Database Rivals | TechCrunch

The Little Secrets Behind Apple’s Green Data Centers | MIT Technology Review

More Apple power strategy details

"While clean, renewable energy gets most of the attention, Apple likely spent at least as much engineering effort to make its data centers very energy efficient. The Maiden facility, for instance, has massive cold water storage tanks that allow its chillers to reduce peak-time energy demand, saving energy and Apple higher power chargers. It also has precision air flow handlers to minimize energy use and the facility will use outdoor air for cooling most of the time. Chilling typically represents about half of a data center’s energy use.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Apple’s chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said that, “We think these efforts will result in learnings that other companies and communities can benefit from as well.”"

The Little Secrets Behind Apple’s Green Data Centers | MIT Technology Review

Amazon’s Mobile Strategy Is for You to Buy Something in 30 Seconds | MIT Technology Review

Excerpt from an interview with the person responsible for Amazon's mobile shopping strategy

"What are the most surprising things you’ve learned about people’s shopping behavior on mobile devices?
I think people tend to assume there are certain categories that do better on mobile than others, but the reality is, customers are buying everything on their mobile phones. We’ve sold, believe it or not, engagement rings, bicycles, razor blades, jeans, dresses. People buy the whole variety of what Amazon has.
Another recent observation that’s been interesting is that one of our busiest days happens to be on Christmas Day, for mobile phones and tablets in particular. My theory, at least, is you open up all your presents, you didn’t get what you want, and you’re able to quickly buy what you really wanted for Christmas."

Amazon’s Mobile Strategy Is for You to Buy Something in 30 Seconds | MIT Technology Review

Windows Blue Leaks! | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

Check the post for "leaked" details and the comment thread for a stark Windows 8 realty check

"Tired of speculative blog posts about Windows “Blue,” the upcoming interim update that will allegedly fix all the problems in Windows 8 and put Microsoft back on course? Speculate no more: Blue has leaked, and now we have a much better idea of what this release really contains."

Windows Blue Leaks! | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

Another Reason Google Reader Died: Increased Concern About Privacy and Compliance - Liz Gannes - News - AllThingsD

Check the post link for more details including speculation about the Google Reader user base size

"That means every team needs to have people dedicated to dealing with these compliance and privacy issues — lawyers, policy experts, et cetera. Google didn’t even have a product manager or full-time engineer responsible for Reader when it was killed, so the company didn’t want to add in the additional infrastructure and staff, the sources said.
But at the same time, Google Reader was too deeply integrated into Google Apps to spin it off and sell it, like the company did last year with its SketchUp 3-D modeling software."

Another Reason Google Reader Died: Increased Concern About Privacy and Compliance - Liz Gannes - News - AllThingsD

The Evolution Of Google Reader Started With A Crash | TechCrunch

Excerpt from a Google Reader history lesson from the Reader founding product manager

"Reader was an application that felt like you were in control of the programming. You could summon the content you told it to keep track of at your leisure. Reader was like TiVo for the web, appealing to completists and skippers alike. Read everything or read nothing. The choice was yours. When we started Reader, I envisioned something a little more like Google News that knew about your likes and dislikes and would program based on what we thought we knew about you. Indeed recommendations became a part of Reader in the past few years.
But it’s no surprise that Facebook and Twitter (who know an awful lot about what you like) are in a better position to deliver suggested content these days. They don’t explicitly put you in the driver’s seat of programming what you see. We rely on the people (or brands) we follow to act as filters. But it’s not that level of control we came to expect with Reader."

The Evolution Of Google Reader Started With A Crash | TechCrunch

Michael Dell Could Lose Vote, CEO Job in Rival Dell Buyout Bid - WSJ.com

The Dell plot thickens

"If Blackstone succeeds in unseating the existing buyout, however, Mr. Dell may lose his position as CEO. Blackstone is working on a deal that would not require Mr. Dell to contribute his Dell shares into the buyout, people familiar with the matter said. It is not clear whether Blackstone would ask Mr. Dell to contribute his stake.
As Blackstone has worked to assemble a potential rival deal, it also has approached other executives about potentially taking over as Dell's CEO. The potential candidates Blackstone has approached include Michael Capellas, an ex-CEO of PC maker Compaq that is now part of H-P."

Michael Dell Could Lose Vote, CEO Job in Rival Dell Buyout Bid - WSJ.com