Talk Is Cheap and Reliable on Nokia's $50 Phone - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD

From another Lumia 710 review

After a week of testing the Lumia 710, my verdict is that it’s a good value for the money, and a good choice for people moving up to their first smartphone, or those looking for an alternative to Android and Apple. It has some notable weaknesses and drawbacks, and it doesn’t compare with the iPhone 4S or elite Android models like the Samsung Galaxy S II. But it’s a decent phone that gets the most common smartphone tasks done.

Talk Is Cheap and Reliable on Nokia's $50 Phone - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD

Nokia’s cut-rate Windows phone is just right - Business - The Boston Globe

Excerpt from a Windows Phone/Nokia Lumia 710 snapshot

Windows Phone 7 ought to have a better shot. It’s not merely an adequate substitute for Apple’s iPhone software or the industry-leading Android phone software from Google Inc. It is first-rate, a worthy rival to the iPhone and decisively better than Android.

And yet, people refuse to buy it. In the past three months, only 1.4 percent of Americans who bought a smartphone picked one that runs Windows Phone.

Nokia’s cut-rate Windows phone is just right - Business - The Boston Globe

Journalism Warning Labels « Tom Scott

It’d be nice to see a consistent approach for this type of labeling in comments for digital information items (check the full post for the full warning label set; via The New Yorker)

It seems a bit strange to me that the media carefully warn about and label any content that involves sex, violence or strong language — but there's no similar labelling system for, say, sloppy journalism and other questionable content.

I figured it was time to fix that, so I made some stickers. I've been putting them on copies of the free papers that I find on the London Underground. You might want to as well.

[…]

Journalism Warning Labels « Tom Scott

A GarageBand for ebooks: Simplifying publishing could mean a flood of new content » Nieman Journalism Lab

Excerpt from a thoughtful review of Apple textbook strategy implications

Will there be an iBooks for Android? The Kindle and Nook platforms have the advantage of living on multiple types of devices: both on their own e-ink and tablet devices and on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. Apple’s iBooks thus far lives only on iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads. If they’re aiming at widespread adoption in schools, sticking to Apple-only devices could be a hindrance. Apple’s bitten this bullet before, putting out a version of iTunes for Windows when it became clear keeping music purchasing Mac-only was a recipe for irrelevance. An iBooks for Mac seems like an obvious next move, but are sales of non-iOS smartphones and tablets sufficient to also spread the platform in new directions?

A GarageBand for ebooks: Simplifying publishing could mean a flood of new content » Nieman Journalism Lab

Facebook Integration May Be Coming To iOS 5 [Business Insider]

I’m not expecting to see Google+ support in iOS anytime soon

After finally bringing Twitter to iOS 5, it looks like Apple is considering integrating other social networks as well.

This weekend, iMore discovered references to Facebook integration in the latest developer beta of iOS 5.

Facebook Integration May Be Coming To iOS 5

Web Site Will Shut Down to Protest Antipiracy Bills - NYTimes.com

Stimulus-response

Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School, said that the technology industry, which has birthed large businesses like Google, Facebook and eBay, is much more powerful than it used to be.

“This is the first real test of the political strength of the Web, and regardless of how things go, they are no longer a pushover,” said Professor Wu, who is the author of “The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires.” He added, “The Web taking a stand against one of the most powerful lobbyers and seeming to get somewhere is definitely a first.”

Web Site Will Shut Down to Protest Antipiracy Bills - NYTimes.com

Jerry Yang's Decision to Leave Yahoo Was His Own - Kara Swisher - News - AllThingsD

A major transition for Yahoo, with more changes expected

With a new CEO in place and the possible chance that its Asian problems were moving in the right direction, it had to have sunk in for Yang that it had finally become time to make peace with the present by abandoning his future at Yahoo.

Thus, he wanted to leave on his own terms, even if — in the end — the man who is most definitely one of the Internet’s most important pioneers did not have much of a choice.

Jerry Yang's Decision to Leave Yahoo Was His Own - Kara Swisher - News - AllThingsD

‘Open Science’ Challenges Journal Tradition With Web Collaboration - NYTimes.com

More research and education business-as-usual disruption ahead

The system is hidebound, expensive and elitist, they say. Peer review can take months, journal subscriptions can be prohibitively costly, and a handful of gatekeepers limit the flow of information. It is an ideal system for sharing knowledge, said the quantum physicist Michael Nielsen, only “if you’re stuck with 17th-century technology.”

Dr. Nielsen and other advocates for “open science” say science can accomplish much more, much faster, in an environment of friction-free collaboration over the Internet. And despite a host of obstacles, including the skepticism of many established scientists, their ideas are gaining traction.

‘Open Science’ Challenges Journal Tradition With Web Collaboration - NYTimes.com

Apple to announce tools, platform to "digitally destroy" textbook publishing [ars technica]

More speculation about Apple’s Thursday event

Don't expect that content to come directly from Apple, however. "Practically speaking, Apple does not want to get into the content publishing business," MacInnis said. Like the music and movie industries, Apple has instead built a distribution platform as well as hardware to consume it—but Apple isn't a record label or production studio.

But what Apple does provide is industry-leading tools for content production, such as Logic or Final Cut Pro, to help create content. The company also produces tools like GarageBand or iMovie that make such production accessible to a much wider audience.

Will Apple launch a sort of GarageBand for e-books? "That's what we believe you're about to see," MacInnis told Ars (and our other sources agree). "Publishing something to ePub is very similar to publishing web content. Remember iWeb? That iWeb code didn't just get flushed down the toilet—I think you'll see some of [that code] repurposed."

Apple to announce tools, platform to "digitally destroy" textbook publishing

Uh-oh, PC: Half of computing device sales are mobile [GigaOM]

A timely device dynamics reality check

[…] For some time to come, especially in certain industries or specific use cases, the PC will be important. For most folks, however, the PC is losing relevance as we’re morphing from a local / desktop user base to one of mobile / cloud.

A rather timely graph illustrates this. Horace Dediu, who tracks market data on his Asymco blog, tweeted an image showing a “brief history of personal computing platforms” on Saturday, going back from present day to 1975. Notice anything interesting?

http://gigaom.com/mobile/uh-oh-pc-half-of-computing-device-sales-are-mobile/

Apple to Teach a Few Things About Textbooks - WSJ.com

Apple is apparently heading back to school

Apple already has made a push into book publishing, launching its iBookstore. And the company has long been active in the education market, with its products used in many classrooms and by offering discounts to teachers and students. It also provides lectures, lessons and other educational content through its iTunes U.

The announcement Thursday could have a broad impact. Dr. Rob Reynolds, director of MBS Direct Digital, estimates only about 6% of education-textbook sales will be digital this year, up from 3% in 2011. But by 2020, digital textbooks and learning content will represent more than 50% of the overall textbook market, he said.

Apple to Teach a Few Things About Textbooks - WSJ.com

Will Microsoft buy RIM or Nokia? | Monday Note

Excerpt from a Jean-Louis Gassée perspective

With RIM’s market share dropping precipitously, and no sign of a rebound with spanking new models until the second half of 2012, who would want to risk billions in a market that’s controlled by competitors who manage to be both huge and fast-growing? Sure, RIM is still in the black, but its cash reserves are dwindling: the Cash and cash equivalents line went from $2.7B last February to $1.1B in November 2011. What’s left will evaporate quickly if revenue and profits keep dropping, as they’re likely to do for the foreseeable future.

Will Microsoft buy RIM or Nokia? | Monday Note

Information Diet | Better Activism Day: January 18

Check the full post for more details

On January 18th, the plan for some sites is to go dark in protest for SOPA/PIPA. The blackout is important -- it raises awareness and helps people get motivated to act on this bill -- and while it's on its last legs, I think the important thing in the long term isn't the particular defeat of this bill, but rather: how do we make Congress listen to citizens better.

Now part of that is stuff you've heard before: better advocacy, transparency reforms, even campaign finance and money-in-politics solutions. But another part of that isn't so familiar: getting acquainted with how Congress works, and upping our own expertise to become better advocates. So in honor of the blackouts on the 18th, I'm holding a "Better Activism Day" with my friends at O'Reilly and PopVox. -- a livestream of experts, most of the day, who will talk about how to improve your power in Washington from people who've been successful at moving it. It's time we started getting some of the inside-the-beltway expertise outside of Washington.

Information Diet | Better Activism Day: January 18

What I Use: Evernote and Microsoft Word for Writing [Supersite for Windows]

The prolific Paul Thurrott explains how he writes with Evernote.  I’m surprised Evernote hasn’t yet been acquired by Apple or Google.

According to the Evernote web site, I first joined the service in March 2008, almost four years ago. But it wasn't until last month that it finally clicked for me, and I've since begun using Evernote extensively, replacing a surprising number of software programs and services in the process. My use of Evernote is part of a wider strategy to be more efficient and simplify my computing setup, using only the hardware, software, and services that make the most sense for my needs. This change required a serious recalibration, and a deep rethinking, of how I get work done.

What I Use: Evernote and Microsoft Word for Writing

I.B.M. Makes Its Social Computing Strategy Smarter - NYTimes.com

Not a single instance of “Lotus” to be found in this Lotusphere/Connect 2012 snapshot

I.B.M. is benefiting from its seal-of-approval status as it seeks to build a big business in selling Web-based social networking, collaboration and decision-support software to corporations. The unit selling social business software, Connections, was founded in 2007, and it has tens of thousands of customers, I.B.M. says. About 5,000 people, mostly customers and partners, are expected to attend the company’s Connect 2012 conference in Orlando, Fla., on Monday and Tuesday.

I.B.M. Makes Its Social Computing Strategy Smarter - NYTimes.com

Obama: Don't Worry Internet, I Got Your Back on That SOPA Thing - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Glad to see this

Today it became clear that SOPA, at least in its current form, will never get that far. Word came from the White House today that the administration, while sympathetic to the cause of curbing online piracy, will support neither the SOPA bill nor its companion bill — known as PIPA — in the Senate.

Responding to a petition, the White House announced in a blog post today that Obama will not “support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”

Obama: Don't Worry Internet, I Got Your Back on That SOPA Thing - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Google Attempts to Take Down Facebook With ‘Search Plus Your World’ Feature - The Daily Beast

Excerpt from a timely Dan Lyons snapshot

The people running Facebook aren’t as easily gulled as newspaper companies—if only because some of them, such as COO Sheryl Sandberg, were the ones running Google when it ran roughshod over the newspapers.

Sandberg and her colleagues know what Google did to media companies, and they do not intend to suffer the same fate. They’ve told Google: thanks very much, but we’ll keep our precious data to ourselves and do with it as we please.

Who can blame them? Facebook put in years of hard work and spent huge amounts of money building the world’s biggest network of people. Why should Google be allowed to just walk in and start digging through that data?

Google Attempts to Take Down Facebook With ‘Search Plus Your World’ Feature - The Daily Beast

Ringing Finally Ended, but There’s No Button to Stop Shame - NYTimes.com

Moral of the story: if somebody gives you a new iPhone, check to make sure no alarms have been set

The unmistakably jarring sound of an iPhone marimba ring interrupted the soft and spiritual final measures of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 at the New York Philharmonic on Tuesday night. The conductor, Alan Gilbert, did something almost unheard-of in a concert hall: He stopped the performance. But the ringing kept on going, prompting increasingly angry shouts in the audience directed at the malefactor.

[…]

Before that, the disruption became the marimba ring tone heard round the world, prompting feverish commentary on blogs and comment forums about performance interruptions.

In a Twitter message, the composer Daniel Dorff said, “Changed my ringtone to play #Mahler 9 just in case.” A YouTube poster superimposed a marimba sound over a performance of the piece by Leonard Bernstein.

Ringing Finally Ended, but There’s No Button to Stop Shame - NYTimes.com

Is Too Much Plus is a Minus for Google? « StevenLevy.com

A timely Google reality check from Steven Levy

Search, in short, should appear to be like Caesar’s wife, above reproach. When using its algorithmic wizardry to deeply integrate social information into its search experience, it behooves Google to avoid even a whiff of bias. With SPYW, though, the odor is unmistakable. No matter how you cut it, the search engine now increases the value of participating in Google+. It may be Google’s right to do this. But it also may turn off a lot of users. And it also provides ammo for Google’s detractors, including those in Washington.

In fact, some people are saying that Google’s move may trigger an antitrust action, and there’s already talk that the FTC is on the case. But you don’t have to get into legal issues to see why Google’s new product as it appears now takes the company into dangerous territory.

Is Too Much Plus is a Minus for Google? « StevenLevy.com

Microsoft execs jab at Google after signing Android patent-licensing deal - San Jose Mercury News

Interesting times

In a series of tweets after the agreement was announced, some with the hashtag #anotherandroidlicense and making reference to the Occupy movement's catchphrases, Microsoft execs teased Google and chided Apple for its penchant to sue instead of sign licensing agreements.

"Hey Google -- we are the 70%," Frank Shaw, Microsoft's vice president of corporate communications tweeted, referencing Microsoft's assertion that it now has deals on 70 percent or more of the Android smartphones sold. Shaw later posted on Twitter, "Can we just agree to drop the patents-as-weapons meme? When effective licensing enables companies to share IP, the metaphor falls apart."

Microsoft execs jab at Google after signing Android patent-licensing deal - San Jose Mercury News