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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

31 Dec 2009 12:08

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Culture: John Mayer thinks we all need a “digital cleanse” to start out 2010

  • Someone is all teched out. And who else isn’t? In a year where Facebook Connect became a constant companion because you just couldn’t remember another password to another site, John Mayer’s convinced that society at large needs a digital cleansing. And who’s to say he’s wrong? He has a pretty good point, guys.
  • The Cleanse John Mayer wants everyone to take a week off of the social Web. “I’ll be defragmenting my mental and psychological hard drive during the first seven days of the new year, and I invite you all to participate.”
  • the details He wants everyone interested to stop using social networking for one week, to only use their cell phones for calls, to only use their laptops for e-mail and to stop visiting celebrity gossip sites, because they rot the mind.
  • will it work? Mayer passed the idea by people – to begin tomorrow and end January 8 – and saw some resistance. “If it is impossible, than my theory is already proven and we’re in big trouble as a society.” Good point. 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

30 Dec 2009 20:59

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Biz: Ho-ho-holy crap, did you see this online holiday sales number?

  • $27 billion in “wow that’s a lot of money” money source

28 Dec 2009 10:52

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Tech: Was this decade the “Search Decade”? Here’s why it might be.

  • Our searches tell the story of the decade. They show sometimes what we need, but always what we want; sometimes who we strive to be, but always who we really are.
  • St. Petersburg Times writer Michael Kruse • Arguing why this decade was the “Search Decade” – which, of the many descriptions we’ve heard this week, probably makes the most sense. We’re a society that searches for everything, not the least of which bigger answers. And Google has become the center of so many of our lives that, really, could it be anything else? source

14 Dec 2009 20:30

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Tech: According to Nielsen, we’re a bunch of Web-addicted shut-ins

  • 66 hours of computer usage per person in November alone source
 

04 Dec 2009 23:48

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Tech: Some guy in Taiwan beat “World of Warcraft,” wasted his life

  • 986 objectives completed – one of them apparently not “getting a girlfriend”
  • 390,895 creatures killed – none of them as scary as the mean, evil bullies at school source

15 Nov 2009 20:20

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Tech: You guys collectively tweet way too freaking much

  • 27.3 million tweets go across the spectrum each day source

15 Nov 2009 12:22

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U.S.: Recession lesson: Teachers can make bank selling coursework online

Erica Bohrer has turned a lesson of hers into $650 in cold, hard cash, which has gone to both the classroom and her mortgage. Some see an ethical crisis in this. source