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Mac App Store: First Impressions

Mac App Store

Apple delivered its Mac App Store this morning with an OS update (restart required). Once the installation was complete, a new menu item appeared under the Apple menu; just click the thumbnail for a larger view. As expected, it works in the same manner as iTunes and provides a familiar interface. You must have an [...]

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The Paper.li Problem

images

I received a notice on Twitter Sunday morning that surprised me. Someone I didn’t know was announcing his online newspaper, including content from one of my blogs. That got my attention, because I’ve never even discussed the possibility of sharing my content with anyone else. After reluctantly checking the link in his Twitter post, I [...]

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LinkedIn Creeps Me Out

Screen shot 2010-12-14 at 8.31.54 PM

By now, it’s not news that hackers compromised user accounts of Gawker.com websites. Gawker sent out notices to users to change their passwords, particularly if they used the same password on more than one web site. It’s embarassing for them, but I respect that they announced the problem to their user base and gave recommendations [...]

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Ping & Twitter

Since the last time I investigated Ping – Apple’s attempt to leverage social media to spur sales in the iTunes Store – it hasn’t really taken the world by storm. That’s why Apple desperately wants and needs integration with more popular social media tools, like Facebook and Twitter. While the dance with Facebook continues, Apple [...]

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Social Influence

Microsoft

Microsoft’s Bing and Facebook had an interesting announcement yesterday. Bing now incorporates social data from Facebook into its search results. That means the information you see now has a very different taint to it. Rather than being relevant based upon the text you typed into the box, search results will now prioritize based upon people [...]

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Flashing Emotions

Adobe Financial Statement

What is it about Adobe that creates such emotional and irrational outbursts on Internet forums? Apple’s decision to forego Flash was a business decision, but it brought out the faithful who declared there was a war between the two, so they chose sides. Recently, rumors started flying that Microsoft would buy Adobe, and the faithful [...]

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The Way of the Whiner

Baby crying / iStockPhoto

A few weeks ago, Larry Becker wrote a post titled “The Needy Among Us.” He discussed the people who simply must have things their way, rationalizing it as they go along and demanding results from others to accommodate their own needs. I commented that we should just call these people what they are – whiners. [...]

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Gene Simmons Wants to Save Music by Suing Everyone

Not Gene Simmons - © Copyright 2010 by William Beem

Ars Technical wrote an interesting piece on advice from Gene Simmons during a panel discussion at Cannes. Quite simply, be litigious. Sue everyone who infringes on your business. Don’t wait, don’t hesitate.  Sue them all and sort it out later. Never let them cross the line. He complains that the music industry failed to act [...]

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License to Steal

Twitpic TOS

Every time you sign up for some online service, you check a box stating that you agree to the Terms of Service (TOS).  Do you ever read these TOS statements? If so, do you really comprehend them?  Most of us don’t.  All we know is that we want to use the service and they aren’t [...]

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The EFF Strikes Back

Scales of Justice - iStockPhoto

A friend of mine passed along this link to a TechDirt article about an EFF countersuit against RightHaven and Stephens Media. For those of you who don’t know the RightHaven story, here’s a quick recap: RightHaven is a company that exists, apparently, for the sole purpose of buying copyrights and filing lawsuits against those who [...]