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press

PC World Gets Confused, Releases Best of 2008 List in May

Look at PC World's just-released Best Tech of 2008 list. Yes, it's May, the fifth month of 2008. The hot, bleeding edge tech that made the list? The New York Times website! YouTube! Windows XP! More »

press

Worst Gadgets Ever From Wired's Fetish

It's not online yet, but I had to post this: Wired's done a 15th anniversary retrospective on past gadgets from its Fetish column, pulling out the most absurd, useless and ridiculous through the hindsight of 2008. I have a special interest in this article, as I wrote Fetish for 20% of its lifetime, and the column was the original inspiration, my media mogul boss Nick Denton told me, for Gizmodo. More »

press

Conde Nast Buys Ars Technica

Conde Nast and Wired bought Ars Technica for a rumored $25 million. More details are coming on Monday but I'm happy to see friends at both Wired and Ars get together in this deal. [Techcrunch, Thanks Arn]

geeks

Wired Feature on Deep Sea Cowboys Saving Giant Ships

The cargo ship Cougar Ace was entering Alaskan waters when its ballast tanks malfunctioned and a wave turned it on its side. Millions of dollars in shiny new Mazdas were dangling feet from the cold water. Then the A-Team of sea salvage (including a geek) flipped it right side up without the help of cranes or tugs. My good friend Josh Davis wrote this breathtaking feature on the small group of divers, ship captains, salvage masters and ship architects who brought the Cougar upright again. More »

PCWorld's Test Center Director Remembered PCWorld's Ulrike Diehlmann passed away on January 17th, succumbing to cancer after a long battle. She was responsible for developing the performance charts of PC gear and later HDTV reviews. Rest in Peace, Uli. [PCWorld]

ces 2008

CES 2008: What You Missed So Far

We arrived at CES yesterday, and despite being separated into bloggers and press, and watching the game in standard def, we've had a great time so far. If you've missed the coverage, let's catch you up to speed: More »

Hey, if you've got Xfire, I'm taking part in their "Gamers' Holiday" panel that's going to start in about 10 minutes (6 p.m. EST). It's moderated by Zonk from Slashdot, and some of the people talking include one of NOTCOT's founders, Jean Aw, and Razer prez Robert Krakoff. They're also giving away free stuff like (surprise) Razer gear. [Xfire]

controllable media

Apple Resists the Hard Questions with PR Force Field


This interview outtake gives you an idea of the kind of control Apple demands (and gets) when dealing with any kind of media. Benjamin Cohen, a correspondent from UK broadcaster Channel 4 in the UK interviews Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller. As soon as the words "iTunes" and "monopoly" come up in the interview, Jobsian acolytes swarm around, attempting to control every word that's said. "Are you acting in a sort of monopoly way?," asks Cohen. Schiller claims he answered the question, and yes, we are seeing this clip out of context. Still, you can see what amounts to a dream situation by any company, able to perfectly control what's known by other companies as "uncontrolled" media. "Stay focused," intones the Apple babysitter. A good reminder to all journalists to ask the hard questions, anyhow. [YouTube] (Thanks, Rory and Martin!) More »

wsj pulpbite

Mossberg Keeps On Dreaming of a Phone Revolution

Mossy's column today is a remix of his Wireless Telcos as Soviet ministries joke, told first in a June 2005 column. He complains about phone companies locking handsets to carriers, and making them lame little pocket convenience stores for ringtones, and so on (my words). The timepeg is Apple's new promise of a software development kit for the iPhone, perhaps the device that could best benefit from such an open arrangement. Yes, I am glad he's continuing the salvo against the phone companies. But there is a but. More »

set the tivo

Wired Science Premieres Tonight at 8 p.m.

My buddies Josh Davis and Adam Rogers from Wired are on tonight's first episode of Wired Science. Josh does a segment on Estonia's internet being shut down by a botnet, reported by basically partying with Russian mobsters. And Adam, a science editor who has the special ability of knowing what every ingredient off the back of a food box does, goes on a hunt for explosive, radioactive chemistry materials you can't find in off-the-shelf sets anymore. And this weird dude singing Pi like its a song as well as a few other segments. Show starts at 8, so set your TiVo for some smart TV. You can check your local listing here. [Wired Science] More »