Wired.com: Business News

Apple's Jobs Cites Hormone Imbalance for Weight Loss
Steve Jobs breaks a deafening silence on his health to tell the "Apple Community" that it is not a recurrence of his pancreatic cancer but a treatable hormone imbalance that is the cause for his noticeable weight loss.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:a5b8c58d4b7d96be398b63f928a90934:S9%2BtpQcz7zXnbPIHHUASKQ4KPrm2f%2FZWpjG2rfrU3%2BWGkgCBt%2F%2F93BAAyhDjCzLqEYqzeRPtqlEl'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:cf6342c7aa940e4012bf211c2b3f8101:LKbhvyBmdmnP3JHe6%2FGFP0ezoOcFqPThz7MK4cJIL6xFS16ldvtLdEwcxn6dz2Nz0dDozRbU7rjR'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:2a014ba4ad3a3839a29ee3886193533d:rvQZTZY9Rpvz4sjc0DrwRjeKknmyCF8TYVznUtuTbaNs1SpClCVi6ycEwnVkGJ2fWlkpOsNorDqF'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9406e4ab86f2df1a32e6da303061117f&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=9406e4ab86f2df1a32e6da303061117f&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=9406e4ab86f2df1a32e6da303061117f" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=co1hNV.P"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=co1hNV.P" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=FIHkoD.p"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=FIHkoD.p" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=hRzP6H.p"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=hRzP6H.p" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=YnsNLY.P"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=YnsNLY.P" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/503414301" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

25 Years of Mac: From Boxy Beige to Silver Sleek
<!-- pageType= magazinewide slug= ff_mac section= techbiz subsection= it headline= 25 Years of Mac: From Boxy Beige to Silver Sleek authorName= Steven Levy creditType= photo credit= Adrian Gaut caption= In 1984, Steve Jobs gave the world a little beige box. 25 years later, Apple is still thinking different. --> <p>It's the 25th anniversary of the Apple Macintosh, but Steve Jobs' eyes are dry. At the company headquarters in Silicon Valley, where he was presenting a set of new laptops to the press last October, I mentioned the birthday to him. Jobs recoiled at any suggestion of nostalgia. "I don't think about that," he said. "When I <a href="http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/09/dayintech_0916">got back here in 1997</a>, I was looking for more room, and I found an archive of old Macs and other stuff. I said, 'Get it away!' and I shipped all that shit off to Stanford. If you look backward in this business, you'll be crushed. You have to look forward."</p> <p>Here's what's amazing about the Mac as it turns 25, a number that in computer years is just about a googolplex: It <em>can</em> look forward. The Mac's original competition&mdash;the green-phosphorus-screened stuff made by RadioShack, DEC, and then-big kahuna IBM&mdash;now inhabit landfills, both physically and psychically. Yet the Macintosh is not only thriving, it's doing better than at any time in its history. Much of the attention directed at Apple over the past few years has focused on new products like the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN0SVBCJqLs">iPod</a> and the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZoPdBh8KUs">iPhone</a>. Click wheels and touchscreens have distracted us from the news that the Mac market share has <a href="http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/10/16/macintosh-share-of-the-us-market-tops-9/">quietly crept</a> into double digits. That's up from barely 3 percent in 1997, just before the prodigal CEO returned to the fold after a 12-year exile. Any way you cut it, the Mac is on the rise while Windows is waning. Roll over, Methusela&mdash;the Macintosh is still peaking.</p> <p>What's behind this autumnal upswing? Apple COO <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/bios/cook.html">Tim Cook</a> lists six factors: better computers, better software, seamless compatibility with Windows, marketing acumen, successful retail stores, and the belly flop of Microsoft Vista. (Redmond's lame new OS was merely the last straw; over the past two decades, millions have switched from PCs to Macs.) But the larger story of Apple's rebirth begins with the return of its cofounder. Jobs called the company he came back to a "beautiful Porsche speedster that had been sitting in a field. And it got really dirty, covered with mud." He slashed the product line, Picasso-ized the design, launched a wildly successful chain of retail stores, and turned the annual Apple keynote address into the high tech equivalent of a popcorn blockbuster. And yes, Apple <em>did</em> make better computers than its rivals.</p> <p>There was something else at work, too. Unlike almost anything else dating from the era of Culture Club and <cite>The Cosby Show</cite>, the Mac has retained its vitality and cachet without ever becoming retro or kitsch. A sense of a cultural divide was there from the very beginning and persists to this day. The skunkworkers behind the Mac were self-styled corporate outcasts who <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/puckman/117882793/">flew a pirate flag</a> and talked trash about the competition. ("We've made almost every computer that's ever been made look completely absurd," Mac teamer vgbfvrn told me back in 1983.) On the very first day I spent with the Mac team members, working on a <cite>Rolling Stone</cite> story two months before the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FtgZNOD44">January 1984 launch</a>, they made it clear that they saw themselves as a new kind of digital hipster&mdash;silicon artists determined to take down the faceless giants dominating the industry. They weren't building a computer for some wonks behind a desk; they were building it for themselves. Jobs made the case when we went out for pizza that night (he was lobbying for the <cite>Rolling Stone</cite> cover). "What if you did a story about what a group of really neat people are doing in the 1980s?" he prodded. "They aren't in the garage with a set of drums and a few guitars. At two in the morning they're in the lab, writing software." (Jobs no longer begs for covers; now he manages the press so well that we beg him.)</p> <div class="wide_img"> <img onclick="window.open('/wired/archive/17.01/ff_mac_viewer.html', 'mac_viewer', 'height=860,width=650,resizable=1,scrollbars=1');" src="http://www.wired.com/images/article/magazine/1701/ff_mac2_f.jpg" alt="" style="cursor:pointer;"> <div class="wide_caption"> <div class="wide_caption_txt"> 25 Years of Mac. <br/> <em>Click on the image to see the full-sized timeline of Apple products.</em> </div> </div> </div> <br/> <br/> <p>Those original Mac rebels (including their leader) are now in their fifties, but the Mac itself has managed to avoid middle-age wrinkles and creaky joints. Forever young, it's associated more with Millennials than geezers, even though many Millennials weren't even born when that famous first commercial&mdash;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNy-7jv0XSc">Ridley Scott's "1984" spot</a>&mdash;ran during Super Bowl XVIII. The Mac is Obama, Microsoft is McCain. Computer scientist Paul Graham summed it up in a <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html">famous online essay</a> in 2007: "Windows," he wrote, "is for grandmas."</p> <p>That generational perception is why Apple's long-running PC-versus-Mac ad campaign, with the nebbishy <a href="http://www.areasofmyexpertise.com/">John Hodgman</a> portraying the PC, has deeply unhinged Microsoft despite the company's dominant market share. When I mentioned the ads to Bill Gates at the January 2007 Vista launch, he went Vesuvius on me. "I don't know why they're acting superior," he said. "I don't even get it. I mean, do you get it? What are they trying to say? There's not even the slightest shred of truth to it!" But that's not what the public thinks, and the sales figures prove it. Microsoft is now so rattled by Apple's advertising that it's running a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121928939429159525.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">$300 million counterpunch</a>. The whole point of the "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi1se9rH7S8">I'm a PC</a>" campaign is to assure customers that they aren't pathetic losers.</p> <p>Generally, when products go mass market, they lose their edge. So it's remarkable that with 30 million users, being a Mac person is still a statement. If the Mac share keeps growing, will that stay true? If 50 million people are using Macs, does that mean they're still "thinking different"? How about 100 million?</p> <p>We may just find out.</p> <p><em>Senior writer Steven Levy</em> (<a href="mailto:steven_levy@wired.com">steven_levy@wired.com</a>)<em>, who wrote about Microsoft's Ray Ozzie in issue 16.12, still has his first Mac, seen in the photo above.</em></p><br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:ae12a5a3de7ac1f4af13a78ea2d3b672:FoqxIJHbbLIIzv3npkk0%2FelFMgecA4aaUfhHOSB1iGGvNesgIGkSugzusPj011qV3EZsC6NK%2BF1e'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:55a0200c4c6a4277a9bc88ad1a49338c:nQh6jaQOeiGaVE9mJxd5qrY2VjgMPjag%2FWczbyopo%2BtQ55r%2FCHIEZvVH1csDssuqDCH5ocPO%2BwEI'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:b9cf96775bc35c2036fa102a36fd0b96:ZoLfY489uZG8bjeokb8T876PYAMkkKqKE7tvOxP7V3kSt2MfTjr4j1tUIqJACfbSMpXz9oNLp5mh'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9d2a3af88ad57dcb9f8f9e01cc0ece7f&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=9d2a3af88ad57dcb9f8f9e01cc0ece7f&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=9d2a3af88ad57dcb9f8f9e01cc0ece7f" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=chL8bZ.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=chL8bZ.O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=HeelmF.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=HeelmF.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=V8Fike.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=V8Fike.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=pbfhLP.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=pbfhLP.O" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/499989400" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

With Flickr Layoffs, Whither 'The Commons'?
Over the past year, museums and libraries have uploaded thousands of copyright-free historical photos, so that Yahoo's Flickr users could add tags and historical information. But then Yahoo laid off the head of The Commons in December, leading users to try to fill George Oates' shoes. Will "The Commons" survive the economic downturn?<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:3e8b0449aeed4e0223251c5f6363340b:vWDQC3JoEvhyeU%2BrzyV4WnFxNR9xBUpLdb%2Fubz28RnKBoPl33016OXi%2FxE1VYD6hMQ3HYajF8co4'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:1e6520de949e84f19d9e8a41bda6e8ba:EKaY5NE5QSLnd04DSWVaaEUPy7hmMAEYg3aojCnU5%2BlnXdmmP0%2BymSSZlkApKELeSJDwrK4gleyu'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:931a015773860e9af91f909098b7e8d7:E%2B2qIRBFV9hTrq9RVfJW4qyhn5L4fQC6v2G0MPYaa8mezk1zSuqoLz%2B0WrHGGHj8xXMhJyUON00Z'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=410fc456daedd2c9af52830e105250ea&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=410fc456daedd2c9af52830e105250ea&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=410fc456daedd2c9af52830e105250ea" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=NtSpwl.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=NtSpwl.O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=D6Rtm4.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=D6Rtm4.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=ubqjre.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=ubqjre.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=4LF4jq.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=4LF4jq.O" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/499070391" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

Times Square Goes Brightly Into That New Yea
New York's Times Square has been loudly ringing in the New Year every December 31 since 1907. But as technologies change so do the opportunities: Advertisers can now change their messages on a minute-by-minute basis and, more importantly, they can interact with the people looking up from the street.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e21da7b696ad6f4773f27224b1c6cbe6:NkiVqJo1SNb51nURm3MTDznJUvlQCM0Y0NwgT0331OQ3pyFaVLYl5l895yrM0Xcy8Z6DAT5blEVO'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:fdc274dd15558e9497fa0cfc95b1a2ff:%2BzraDo%2F7UXdy5mmba9%2F2GS8bYylIsDWSDHi55q2tdCdWWMo4PbOloCwZiovjPUPYkj1iiusPmxhf'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:ff00c0fe332b9c6f49474501efaddf60:hn6EyLPIW7H7as0DpRvp6JJ%2FcMYfpO5PuxlwlOz%2Bdyx7QFftpFbNVvE%2B0AamCBl2ifbn5btoSF%2F7'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=7eab8f8da7eb5dc9e43190509087835d&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=7eab8f8da7eb5dc9e43190509087835d&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=7eab8f8da7eb5dc9e43190509087835d" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=nJHd7M.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=nJHd7M.O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=yN1jTQ.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=yN1jTQ.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=zTQUQx.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=zTQUQx.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=aY9xto.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=aY9xto.O" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/498930101" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

Uproar in Australia Over Plan to Block Web Sites
A proposed Internet filter dubbed the "Great Aussie Firewall" is promising to make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among democratic countries. Consumers, civil-rights activists, engineers, Internet providers and politicians from opposition parties are among the critics of a mandatory Internet filter that would block at least 1,300 Web sites prohibited by the government -- mostly child pornography, excessive violence, instructions in crime or drug use and advocacy of terrorism.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:5264713ecdead9352bf55d3c65bd6f9a:matIiqP%2BMmOctVxj11fib1kieaTu4jkV05RVSgLJhfF4ErAFhVHoIH%2B20NxW91Lfyn4g5sSmOmD0'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:2cbe968e36957fa328a59294a8320881:%2B9iP90%2BGoFGAqx4LA5X%2BQt0i0uTzsRuasFJ9b4a9vOVyx7YTMbxVSAKWiHt64tH1JKFhGzv7twXn'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:1a5b328e0dd8067397ee682ccf94ea54:kgZsJ55ACEcphe3XR8m8IU%2BOyxv7Ew8R5KHKFmZ6G7ZSOAPFWPcklEj8kGI%2B6NKcbMrD%2BvdfLU1f'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=181166ae0d78c89fb685bf0feff817fd&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=181166ae0d78c89fb685bf0feff817fd&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=181166ae0d78c89fb685bf0feff817fd" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=WjNdWI.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=WjNdWI.O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=gre85B.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=gre85B.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=S0WLyN.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=S0WLyN.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=ip4VIC.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=ip4VIC.O" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/498652783" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

Leaked Copies of Windows 7 Beta 1 Hit BitTorrent
The first beta of Windows 7, Microsoft’s coming replacement for Windows Vista, is due to arrive at January’s Consumer Electronics Show, but already leaked version are circulating on popular BitTorrent sites.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:181635e3bda8df99e2fc6011b1ed4294:t8hUs2e6Lu8ybcd%2FCALWoRhbSmI67Ch1oihRe9Ql%2FNMHVB507dVvpF2bNDKqVt1%2Bfd9vDOMPRkVp'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:88d60cc428c2cb14ada97b7d92d02207:vMpGPMDVTb0CTZ%2FCjbiTx6xLY%2FpuCdYW9LgvdGIIz0koYU3ekz9Lvb%2BWC%2Big%2Fh4guDD4hRZTlCVx'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:74fbb2fda186a248759fea1f43cb4e07:TlAZK6HKUbf7bSr8jWMH1gP2EO4rzZsiHvaACo%2FiQJtNqEvlhGhOhEhltZDCUCi9nq0dhi4VvCZd'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=a2084bacd025d438ce14f3812e40206b&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=a2084bacd025d438ce14f3812e40206b&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=a2084bacd025d438ce14f3812e40206b" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=ln9E4S.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=ln9E4S.O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=R4tVJP.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=R4tVJP.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=lBzpCk.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=lBzpCk.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=N94ZaU.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=N94ZaU.O" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/498701775" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

Clive Thompson on How YouTube Changes the Way We Think
<!-- pageType= magazinesmall slug= st_thompson section= techbiz subsection= people headline= Clive Thompson on How YouTube Changes the Way We Think authorName= Clive Thompson creditType= illustration credit= Julia Hasting --> <p>Two years ago, a YouTube member named MadV&mdash;who silently performs magic tricks while wearing a Guy Fawkes mask&mdash;put up a short, cryptic video. He held his hand up to the camera, showing what he'd written on his palm: "One World." Then he urged viewers to respond.</p> <p>The video was just 41 seconds long, but it caught people's imagination. Within a few days, hundreds of YouTube users had posted videos&mdash;shot on webcams, usually in their bedrooms&mdash;displaying their own scrawled messages: "Don't quit!" "Tread gently." "Think." "Carpe diem." "Open your eyes." And my favorite, "They could be gone tomorrow!"</p> <p>Soon, MadV had <a href="http://www.federicopistono.org/One_World_MadV_beautiful_video">inspired 2,000 replies</a>, making it the most-responded-to video in YouTube's history. MadV stitched them all together into a long, voiceless montage, and it's quite powerful. All these people from across the globe convey something incredibly evocative while remaining completely mute.</p> <p>So here's my question: What exactly <em>is</em> this? What do you call MadV's project? It isn't quite a documentary; it isn't exactly a conversation or a commentary, either. It's some curious mongrel form. And it would have been inconceivable before the Internet and cheap webcams&mdash;prohibitively expensive and difficult to pull off.</p> <p>This is what's so fascinating about online video culture. DIY tools for shooting, editing, and broadcasting video aren't just changing who uses the medium. They're changing how we use it. We're developing a new language of video&mdash;forms that let us say different things and maybe even think in different ways.</p> <p>Here's another example: a new trend on Flickr called <a href="http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/04/flickr-long-por.html">the long portrait</a>. These are short videos in which the subjects simply stare into the camera. The first time you see one, it's unsettlingly intense. The subject's gaze&mdash;staring at <em>you</em>&mdash;totally discombobulates the normal voyeuristic payload of a photo. It's also a lovely comment on the hyperkinetic style of today's world: Slow down and look at something, will you!</p> <p>What's happening to video is like what happened to word processing. Back in the '70s and early '80s, publishing was a rarefied, expert job. Then Apple's WYSIWYG interface made it drop-dead easy, enabling an explosion of weird new forms of micropublishing and zines. Laptop audio editing did the same thing, giving birth to the mashup and cut-and-paste subgenres of music. Then there's photo manipulation, once a rarefied propaganda technique. Photoshop made it a folk art.</p> <p>In a sense, you could argue that even after 100 years of moving pictures, we still don't know what video is for. The sheer cost of creating it meant we used it for a stiflingly narrow set of purposes: news, documentaries, instructional presentations.</p> <p>Now the lid is blowing off. The Internet has shown us that video is also good for mass-distributed conversation&mdash;as with Talmudic response chains on YouTube or Vimeo, or even the super-short Twitter-like blurts of video on <a href="http://seesmic.com/">Seesmic</a>. I know people who use Skype for virtual closeness, leaving a video channel to their spouses open all day long while they work. They're not even looking at the feed or talking; it's like emotional wallpaper. Who would have thought of doing that with a $10,000 videoconferencing rig?</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan">Marshall McLuhan</a> pointed out that whenever we get our hands on a new medium we tend to use it like older ones. Early TV broadcasts consisted of guys sitting around reading radio scripts because nobody had realized yet that TV could tell stories differently. It's the same with much of today's webcam video; most people still try to emulate TV and film. Only weirdos like MadV are really exploring its potential.</p> <p>A bigger leap will occur when we get better tools for archiving and searching video. Then we'll start using it the way we use paper or word processing: to take notes or mull over a problem, like Tom Cruise flipping through scenes at the beginning of <cite>Minority Report</cite>. We think of video as a way to communicate with others&mdash;but it's becoming a way to communicate with ourselves.</p> <p><em>Email <a href="mailto:clive@clivethompson.net">clive@clivethompson.net</a>.</em></p><br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e520155d3a374b48e99768f1fc9c959a:e2GfYOg2j%2FL2MFGkIymdEt86%2BYRug4GxL3INxl2ZZm%2BH6gvGuGiiIjz50XjcWdaxwVr6%2F%2FcXa9vl'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:1dccf5847b70e09a76e3ec3d957d45b7:whNpJjPxe0mm%2FRTbr4ElbqbjJaLxyEJpDuagM%2BSMn0T2%2FZhhwA5SCyh0lCqRlpt07RdejKw4VQ2t'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:73daa7fb4c44274f091f6670c946ed4e:mG4w0lrkd3a%2FCw4x%2FSmKLbS%2BncMbYeQ5drjXy%2FqHUO9CxnhNC9aPWP9kTD%2FfsQshHNjYPbxO8NGn'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=1021f0c253ff79063d771a2f20035052&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=1021f0c253ff79063d771a2f20035052&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=1021f0c253ff79063d771a2f20035052" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=vgrDYH.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=vgrDYH.O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=uQCB9H.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=uQCB9H.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=P0D5WS.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=P0D5WS.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=Xo5TVb.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=Xo5TVb.O" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/497892032" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

Amazon Says 2008 Holiday Season Was 'Best Ever'
Amazon.com called this holiday season its "best ever," saying that it saw a 17 percent increase in orders on its busiest day -- a rare piece of good news in a season that has been far from merry for most retailers, including online businesses. Best sellers included the Wii game console, Samsung's 52-inch LCD HDTV and the iPod touch.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:f8100fc6bc1a5fac7d5385abd3468508:5wBagtwE1K250fARtwQfTJNq2poi46kOFTytV2UL%2FWVPzsq2A3KNz133RBuGf3%2BoKTQvZnFWZ1Tt'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:bdff0f14fd6f24bb983a0eed200840d9:kJOfUHQmAfbGZHIHteH9wdkE%2B860eCRJWmrlaYLjIweKVRdf9a9i9gONL9DT4K6WbXobqMxBMglL'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:ff6935e30773d5ffebc680d324ce8d42:NVzaLvCpZPb1v1DGMUIt3Q8VtZiCbf4NoR%2BoahALCmh7y0ZVe97ZS4EredmcwiC3Z3l7P%2F5MYgVP'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=66bc886c7e2728e8db3efcc8730a83fc&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=66bc886c7e2728e8db3efcc8730a83fc&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=66bc886c7e2728e8db3efcc8730a83fc" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=4yyovR.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=4yyovR.O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=mqXLty.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=mqXLty.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=6lTgLv.o"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=6lTgLv.o" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=3n4fYm.O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=3n4fYm.O" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/497796432" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

Broadband Stimulus Plan: How About Some Data First?
President-elect Barack Obama has earmarked billions of dollars towards improving the United States' broadband infrastructure and making the internet more accessible to all Americans. But those who hold the secrets of the internet's inner workings -- the ISPs and the backbone providers -- aren't sharing any of the vital infrastructure data needed to make such wide-sweeping changes, a messy situation that could render such a plan insolvent.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:3749cbf185be86ff199031096144ae3c:e46dvUQFodo0gjFSmXw9VekkNujL4Lcch35u6I3Sz6YhD8K1Xg4W1qG9%2Fnzadw0Eg4iyWVYTLitz'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:46af00fef0d9789a15b67f03edd9b3e9:aAZAWTujXEvg7H4JXWtMMmN0EyLm%2FBOKiSpLD5Odgq5W8BSrMwo7Kv3Y2ncSlAJjTxKIi0%2FFh16u'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e1e8491b2752fafe4ce9c1d3d1f030b8:yGq12qVMgs9NGu82zQUBI9MNLz7TPLbD3v6q8OvyDwqkoHJU3%2F3Tyj2ji86x%2BvhlXgcQtLQj9B6M'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=1397461871a73da0d51f5ee2d98cefd1&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=1397461871a73da0d51f5ee2d98cefd1&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=1397461871a73da0d51f5ee2d98cefd1" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=0OM8O"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=0OM8O" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=MTYjo"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=MTYjo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=HP6Eo"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=HP6Eo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=3baVO"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=3baVO" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/494294837" height="1" width="1"/> [More]

2008 Foot-in-Mouth Awards
2008 was a good year for stupid statements from prominent people, from presidential campaign gaffes to Yahoo's refusal of Microsoft's buyout offer.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:19f9c4be3a870d575957557b6e0a615b:gF45pfyLKHoERNHIDppSAbfut7SB2pUYZZgbmHAt5vNSWdjwT6UN7H5iU5uYuyH%2FXjE%2BcIEq63vP'><img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:6644d0e22a23c2d0b0f70c91dc475ec8:%2Bju0ZQRnh4ldnnyRvaj7g6bBJ34pGakTzMP%2BiGJjoJSpVoY0%2FXn9%2FzD%2FAwMopQ7TElWYAnC4c4Xz'><img border='0' title='Add to Yahoo My Web' alt='Add to Yahoo My Web' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/yahoo.png'/></a> <a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:b990feee82703b831a10803fd9867c7b:YTxrcACAWi217GCVGRoGR04v6ourFeVlvr%2BYt2z5XuFxvFr4k1MdhpIRnqskIlX%2BubBmhKIkt1C2'><img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'/></a> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9056b442a9ba852fb952e9d0680548a0&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=9056b442a9ba852fb952e9d0680548a0&p=1"/></a> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=9056b442a9ba852fb952e9d0680548a0" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=cLoIO"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=cLoIO" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=uprfo"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=uprfo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=CrEFo"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=CrEFo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?a=d2cLO"><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~f/wired/techbiz?i=d2cLO" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~4/493444879" height="1" width="1"/> [More]