by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Will Comcast use its rising cash pile to make a large acquisition in the content business?
Reuters raised that question in a lengthy news analysis yesterday which wondered if the company is plotting a giant deal along the lines of its failed $54 billion bid for Disney in 2004.
by Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Has Sarah Palin rejoined the Twittering masses after nearly three weeks of silence? According to CNN, she’s back, picking up the name “SarahPalinUSA.”
The former Alaska governor stopped using her previous account, AKGovSarahPalin, on July 26, her last day in office. Her farewell tweet: “Last state twitter. Thank you Alaska! I love you. God bless Alaska. God bless the U.S.A.”
Everyone’s coverage of the uprising in Iran has been Twitter-centric, for obvious reasons. But CNN, in an apparent attempt to look like they have real, non-Twitter newsgathering capabilities, has been regurgitating Twitter posts and attributing them to unnamed “sources.”
As the Iranian election aftermath unfolded in Tehran–thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to express their anger at perceived electoral irregularities–an unexpected hashtag began to explode through the Twitterverse: “CNNFail.”
Every day, with everything they do, the key question for journalists and news organizations in these tight–that is, more efficient–times must be: Are you adding value? And if you’re not, why are you doing whatever you’re doing?
Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site. (Click on the image to see a bigger version.)
by Brandon Griggs and John D. Sutter, Contributing Writers, CNN Technology
As Ashton Kutcher becomes the first to collect 1 million followers on Twitter and Oprah Winfrey sends out her first tweet, tech observers are debating: Does Friday mark a new peak for the microblogging service? Or the beginning of its demise?
by Marisa Taylor, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Who knew Dick Cheney was an e-book reader?
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the former vice president said that he owns an Amazon Kindle and used it to read James McPherson’s “Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief.” He said he also uses a BlackBerry, made by Research In Motion, to keep up with the news now that he’s no longer in office.
by Mark Glaser, Host and Editor, MediaShift, PBS.org
You’ve probably heard how much the microblogging service Twitter can help your business, or that being on social-networking site Facebook can boost your company’s profile. But what you might not have considered is the potential danger in over-relying on these start-ups that could go out of business, get bought out, or close your account if you aren’t familiar with their Terms of Service.
Barack Obama’s inauguration was clearly historic as the United States celebrated its first black president, but the coverage and experience of the inauguration also broke new ground. For the first time, digital satellite images showed the millions of people who braved the cold to see the inauguration.
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