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05 Jan 2010 20:27

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Tech: We watch a lot of videos, guys, mostly on YouTube

  • 31B videos were watched online in November alone
  • 40% came from Google – 99% of those from YouTube
  • 3% came from Hulu – a distant second place source

05 Jan 2010 09:44

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Biz, Tech: Apple spends big bucks to follow Google’s mobile ad dreams

  • $350 million amount Apple agreed to spend on Quattro Wireless, a mobile ad firm, just last night
  • $750 million amount Google agreed to spend on AdMob, another mobile ad firm, in November source

04 Jan 2010 20:42

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Tech: Mashable’s redesign sucks. Yeah, we said it. What what?

  • They look like the establishment now. Mashable’s always had a lot of clutter in its design, due to the fact that they tended to try a lot of things and throw them on the wall and see if they worked. It’s what the site’s always been about. They did need a redesign, and we’re glad they’re trying. But we’d rather have the old design back than this slick hodgepodge that feels like absolutely nothing at all.
  • Why does it suck? The colors of this design are so quiet, so muted, so similar to Yahoo!’s longstanding mid-decade quiet tones, that it doesn’t make us feel anything. Also worth noting: The headshots, which emphasized that this was a personality-driven site, have been de-emphasized too much, creating an anonymous, generic feel.
  • Changes worth considering Mashable’s a popular site, but it could stand to be hipper (like Engadget, which just got a great redesign) or more playful (like Twitter, which drives much of the site’s traffic). It should have as much personality as the words of its jetsetting founder, Pete Cashmore. Cleaner doesn’t mean lifeless. Never forget that, kids.

04 Jan 2010 20:23

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Tech: The frickin’ iSlate (or whatever Apple calls it) is coming. Maybe.

  • The Wall Street Journal says March. Are you a nerd with a predestined affection towards devices with no buttons? Do you like breathlessly waiting for months for things, turning rumor into fact in the process? Well, good news for you. The WSJ says the machine, which may or may not get released in January, is heading into stores in March, just in time for your rent check to burn a hole in your pocket. Yay anonymously-sourced tech rumors! source

03 Jan 2010 11:16

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Tech: Life after magazines: Daily Beast editor modestly kicks @$$

Tina Brown, already a vet of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, has built The Daily Beast into a hype-free News 2.0 beast in just over a year. Not bad. source

03 Jan 2010 11:07

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Tech: Google Chrome now a bigger browsing force than Apple Safari

  • 4.63% use Google’s Chrome, the new third-place browser, which was just released for the Mac last month
  • 4.46% use Apple’s Safari, which is now the fourth-place web browser (but still doing well on phones) source

02 Jan 2010 22:06

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Tech: Twitter may just have legs made for a long-term endurance run

  • The history of the Internet suggests that there have been cool Web sites that go in and out of fashion and then there have been open standards that become plumbing. Twitter is looking more and more like plumbing, and plumbing is eternal.
  • Technology observer Steven Johnson • On Twitter’s long-term prospects as a communication mechanism. Johnson’s comments are the centerpiece of an article by New York Times media columnist David Carr, who makes the argument that Twitter may just stick around as a long-term mechanism rather than a trend like MySpace or Friendster. Carr still sounds a little cynical of the idea, but even so, makes a killer point: “Professional acquaintances whom I find insufferable on every other platform suddenly become interesting within the confines of Twitter.” Twitter win. source
 

01 Jan 2010 12:00

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Tech: Word on the street: Apple super-bullish on selling tablets

  • 10 million tablets in the first year, an ex-Google exec sez source

31 Dec 2009 12:32

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Tech: iPod headphone lawsuit jacked because defendants had no claim

  • WHAT?! No, really, we couldn’t hear you. Apple, which is in the midst of lawsuit hell with Nokia, can at least claim one big victory – a class-action lawsuit on iPods causing hearing loss. After winning the original suit, now they won the appeal? Why? Well, two reasons. First, the defendants didn’t actually have any hearing damage caused by the iPod, just fear it might happen. And two, even if they did, the court would pin the blame on them, not Apple. Way to lose embarrassingly, guys. source

30 Dec 2009 21:36

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Tech: Slowly but surely, web font solution Typekit’s getting better

  • To give credit where credit is due: We really like the direction Typekit’s Web interface is headed. It’s very clean and well-organized, it’s easy to use, and it works like a snap. Keep it up, guys. Between this and Kernest (which we use and have lots of nice things to say about), the Web font game is starting to get very interesting. source