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We heard that over 5 billion global viewers watched the Presidential inauguration yesterday, but if you were one of those that kept track and participated in CNN and Facebook’s streaming partnership, you weren’t the only one. According to statistics, the pairing resulted in 600,000 status updates posted with 4,000 updates per minute. With millions logged on during the broadcast, about 8,500 status updates were posted in the first minute of President Obama’s speech. CNN itself got more than 136 million page views.
Read More 
| Mashable
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Ashford and Simpson Tribute to Barack Obama
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
After SNL turned their famous tune into “Solid as Barack,” the singing team of Ashford and Simpson decided to turn the entire song into a real tribute. If you would like to download it, it is available for $.99 on Amazon and through iTunes. There is also a ringtone version. Simply text “aands” to 66937. We forsee all sorts of music titles following suit, such as Paul Simon’s “I am Barack, I am Obama (“I Am a Rock,”) Queen’s “We Will Barack You” and AC/DC’s “Let There Be Barack.”
Read More | Amazon
Belkin Employee Asks Turkers for Amazon Reviews
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech,
Anyone who has ever Turked knows that there are some pretty silly requests sometimes for very little bucks (most are less than a nickel each, depending on the complexity and work involved.) It seems that Belkin employee Michael Bayard (or someone using his name) posted a hit on the site offering $.65 for positive reviews on the company’s products listed on Amazon. After being contacted, Belkin’s president Mark Reynoso issued a response, apologized and claimed that they have removed all postings as well as the fake reviews.
Read More | The Daily Background
Latest Gear Live Videos
With the economy the way it is, lots of techies are getting laid off, including former Yahoos. The Purple People Collective has jobs and short term work in the areas of design, marketing, PR, product management, engineering, finance, HR and sales. Sign up as a seeker if you are looking for a new gig or a poster if you have one available. Though it may not be a permanent solution, it certainly beats Turking.
Read More | Purple People Collective
VTech IS9181 Internet Radio
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Wireless / WiFi,
Is there no end to the influx of Internet radios these days? This is VTech’s entry, the IS9181, targeted for adults. Priced at under $200.00, connect to your home wireless 802.11 network and have access to over 11,000 Internet stations. You can also listen to MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV and Real files stored on a WiFi PC. The radio comes with an aux-audio cable to use with your iPod, MP3 player or any other audio device with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Read More | Gadgetell
Panasonic VIERA CAST Adopts Amazon VOD
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Movies,
Watch out, Netflix, you have some competition. Panasonic has now announced that it is teaming with Amazon Video On Demand on their 2009 VIERA CAST enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray products. Grab yourself one and you will have access to over 40,000 titles. In addition, you can get YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg News and weather. We have to admit we like VOD as they often have some freebies and that is a good thing. Look for the new VIERA CAST early this year.
Read More | Akihabara News
ASUS Eee Keyboard/Browser
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: CES, CES 2009, Design, Internet, PC / Laptop, Peripherals, Wireless / WiFi,
Imagine a keyboard PC with a 5-inch touchscreen built in. That’s exactly what Asus did with their Eee, unveiled at the recent CES. The screen can be used for browsing while the keyboard itself can be used to stream audio and video when attached to a TV or other screen with built-in wireless HDMI. At a weight of under 1KG, it also features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor, 1GB DDR2 DRam, Windows XP Home and either 16 or 32 GB storage. Look for the Asus Eee around September of this year.
Read More | Stuff.tv
Windows 7 direct download links
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: CES, CES 2009, Internet, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Software,
As we told you the other day, the Windows 7 beta went live today. However, apparently there was a bit more demand than Microsoft had planned for. Thanks to NeoWin, we’ve got the direct download links for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7:
Be sure to check out the post on NeoWin for specifics on what to do with those files once you download, and also know that you will still need a key from Microsoft to use this through the August 1, 2009 expiration date, otherwise it will stop working after 30 days, cool?
twtapps Twitter Applications
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Hot Deals, Internet, Mods / Hacks,
We know how much you like to Twitter. Now there is even more reason with these three new applications. twtcard allows you to make a greeting card with square heads and your allotted 140 characters. With twtpoll, you type in a question and multiple choice answers. And twtvite is an event manager app. Create your event and enter specifics including room for an RSVP. All three are free (donations gladly accepted) and can also be used on Facebook, MySpace and other social network sites.
Read More | twtapps
Word has come down that after the Chinese government decided to limit Internet usage, 3 of the sites in question decided to apologize. Gaming sites NetEase and SINA were two of them. Baidu also issued one “to the netizens at large for the negative impacts we brought upon the society.” They also claimed that they had deleted the content and links in question. The oddest remark came from the BBC’s Micky Bristow who said China is trying to protect its young people. We will see where this goes and get back to you “youngsters.”
Read More | BBC
