This week, TDD regulars Devindra Hardawar, Dwayne DeFreitas, Chris Burnor, Andrew Sorcini & semi-regular Lidija Davis  discuss the US Justice Department's bust of filesharing site Megaupload, in the wake of the fall of SOPA & PIPA, and whether or not those measures really mattered in the first place. Also we talk about a plan to kill Hollywood, and what to replace it with. Later we discuss Apple’s new textbook initiative, and their amazing 1st quarter profits. But first, we look at some other tech headlines...

We look at the President's State of the Union speech as it pertains to tech, Facebook launches Timeline apps, RIM intros a new CEO, Google Plus allows pseudonyms, and Google tracks user info across all its products.

Show Links

 Headlines

• Facebook Launches 60 Apps To Share On Your Timeline
  
• At Research In Motion, a new CEO vows to silence the doomsayers
  
• Google+ Allows Pseudonyms, But Only If They’re “Established”
  
• Google tracks consumers across products, users can’t opt out
  
• Google’s USER EDUCATION Campaign
  
• How Is This Supercharged MacBook Air Editing Crazy HD Video?
  
• 'Don't Be Evil' tool alters new Google search results
  

Audible Book of the Week

• World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War  by Max Brooks
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• Reid Calls Off Protect IP Act Vote
  
• Feds Shut Down Megaupload.com File-Sharing Website
  

• Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music all Offline
  
• Cyberlocker Ecosystem Shocked As Big Players Take Drastic Action
  
• The real reason Megaupload was taken down?
  

• Request For Startup: Kill Hollywood
  

• Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales: MPAA chairman Christopher Dodd should be fired
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Apple's $46 billion revenue set new tech record
  
• Apple jumps into digital textbooks fray
  

• 350,000 Textbooks Downloaded From Apple's iBooks in Three Days
  
• The Unprecedented Audacity of the iBooks Author EULA
  

This week, regular TDD panelists Andrew Sorcini, Devindra Hardawar, Dwayne DeFreitas & Christopher Burnor discuss the Internet's reaction to the U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act & Protect IP Bill, including a nationwide blackout of several prominent websites, in protest.

But first, the headlines: Facebook adds simultaneous music listening, Zappos gets hacked, Sarah Lacy launches PandoDaily (with a $2.5 M investment from the VC community), and Yahoo's chief Yahoo, Jerry Yang resigns.

Finally, Devindra summarizes the highlights of his trip to CES, the Consumer Electronics Show.

Show Links

Headlines

• Facebook Launches Turntable.fm-like “Listen With” For Simultaneous Music and Chat
• Zappos user accounts get hacked
  
• Sarah Lacy’s PandoDaily launches with $2.5 million in funding
  

• Tech Industry Buys Itself a Mouthpiece
  

Audible Book of the Week

• The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You  by  Eli Pariser
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

• Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA
  
• http://bit.ly/zZ6if6 - SOPA/PIPA #’s = 250k tweets/hr (yCombinator’s Hacker News)
• Obama Opposes Parts of 2 Antipiracy Bills
  
• Rupert Murdoch Complains About Obama and "Piracy Leader" Google
  

• Google calls Murdoch's piracy allegations 'nonsense'
  

 Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Devindra’s Highlights from CES

© ncomment, used by permission

On this week’s show, we welcome back Lee Garnett, the brilliant mind behind the social media-conscious online comic, ncomment. Lee guides us through the final chapter of his magnum opus, War, an epic three-part series about Digg, Reddit and the fractious conflicts between social communities.

But first, the headlines: Apple's head designer Jonathan Ive is knighted, Netflix launches a new series (and double the delay on Warner Bros. content), Yahoo names PayPal's chief as its CEO, An Android App that helps you fight SOPA, Reddit goes black to protest  SOPA, Lenovo launches an Android-powered TV, Nokia launches the Lumia 900, Kinect comes to Windows, and Google adds personal results to search.

For our Final Word, we ask whether Internet access should be classified as a human right, or a facilitator of human rights.

Show Links

Headlines

• Sir Jonathan: Apple’s design mastermind Jonathan Ive awarded knighthood in the UK
  
• Netflix To Debut Original Series “Lilyhammer” Next Month
  

• Want to rent a new Warner Brothers DVD via Netflix? Prepare to wait longer
  

• Twitter Dumps on Google for Pushing Google+ in Search
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google? by William Poundstone
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• War, by ncomment
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Vint Cerf: Internet Access Is Not a Human Right
  

As we close out the final days of 2011, Andy, Devindra, and Techmeme's Lidija Davis are joined by Startup Digest's Christopher Burnor and VentureBeat's Sean Ludwig to review the top tech stories of the past year. After the break, we offer our tech predictions for 2012.

Best Tech Events of 2011

• Andy

• Passing of Steve Jobs
• Netflix/Qwikster
• AT&T/T-Mobile saga
• Social media’s role in social protest
• Launch of Google+

• Nokia dumps Symbian for Windows Phone
• Steve Jobs (maybe we should just talk about all of this in Andy’s)
• Rise of Ultrabooks
• HP drops the ball with Palm and webOS
• RIM continues to stumble

• Steve Jobs
• Louis CK $5 downloads
• Facebook FTC settlement
• Tech blogger wars (maybe)
• Role of the internet in social change

• SOPA and what it means for the future of law and technology
• Steve Jobs
• Social Protest
• Pruning the fold in the tablet space (Meego, WebOS, Dell)
• Death of DailyDeals & Social

• RIP Steve Jobs
• The Patent Wars
• PlayStation Network hacked down
• Anonymous AntiSec LulzSec Year of the hackers
• iPhone 4S iPhone 5 rumors

Ad Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: The Man in the High Castle by  Philip K. Dick
  

Musical Interlude: My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year ) by Regina Spektor

Tech Predictions for 2012

• Andy

• Consolidation of carriers (Either T-Mobile or Sprint will be merged into AT&T or Verizon)
• Google will roll out a national ultra high-speed network
• Google will get into the carrier market
• iPad 3 will beat out all previous iPad sales records

• Ultrabooks will become the new laptop standard
• Microsoft acquires Spotify
• Windows Phone surprises everyone

• AppleTV becomes a real product
• Facebook’s stock becomes the stock to own
• Payment processing becomes the next big thing in startups
• Windows 8 makes or breaks M$

• T-Mobile gets the iPhone, makes a big comeback
• RIM and Netflix get acquired
• Cloud computing finally goes mainstream

This week Dwayne, Devindra & Andy talk about the death of AT&T/T-Mobile, the public launch of Facebook Timeline, Zynga's disappointing IPO, Sprint ditches Carrier IQ, SOPA is on hold for the holidays, Apple wins a patent over HTC, RIAA and other content kings caught filesharing, and the Dark Knight Rises & Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey trailers emerge.

Later, we discuss IBM's 6th annual list of 5 technology predictions in the next 5 years, and Google's annual 'Zeitgeist' list of the years top searches.

Show Links

What we’re playing with:
Andy: Delicious.com revisions, Mission:Impossible - Ghost Protocol (The IMAX Experience),
Devindra: Galaxy Nexus, Homeland
Dwayne: 4,200 pages later, done with A Dance with Dragons

Headlines

• AT&T Gives up on T-Mobile Deal. $3 Billion, 7 Year roaming agreement, giving T-Mo access to 50mm more US residents
  
• Facebook Timeline: Now Available Worldwide
  
• Zynga prices at a high $10 a share
  

• Zynga's Share Price Heads South (No longer the top game on FB (Gardens of Time))

• RIAA: Someone Else Is Pirating Through Our IP-Addresses
  

Audible Book of the Week

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: The Millennium Trilogy, Book 1 by Stieg Larsson
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• IBM reveals five innovations that will change our lives in the next five years
  

• People power will come to life
  
• You will never need a password again
  
• Mind reading is no longer science fiction
  
• The digital divide will cease to exist
  
• Junk mail will become priority mail
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Zeitgeist 2011: How the world searched
  

• Google Zeitgeist 2011
  

This week, Andy and Devindra are joined again by Christopher Burnor from the Symbiotek podcast & Startup Digest as we discuss Currents, Google's answer to Flipboard, FBI uses Carrier IQ files for "law enforcement purposes", Verizon in the market for Netflix, Twitter updates its interfaces, Sarah Lacy to start a TechCrunch 2.0, webOS goes open source, Louis CK's self-distribution experiment, 'Steve Jobs' tops year-end best-seller lists,  Universal censors song praising filelocker service, and the political inevitability of remix culture.

Show Links

What we’re playing with:

• Andy: Google launches Currents, new social reading platform for iOS and Android
  

Headlines, Pt 1

• FBI: Carrier IQ files used for "law enforcement purposes"
  
• Verizon ‘Very Serious’ About Making Bid for Netflix, Banker Says
  
• Here’s a first look at the “New-New Twitter”
  
• Sarah Lacy And Mike Arrington Are Starting TechCrunch 2.0
  
• HP open sources webOS, plans for tablets in 2013
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
  

Musical Interlude #1

Headlines, Pt 2

• Louis C.K. Doesn’t Get Torrents, But Gets Distribution
  

• Louis CK Says $5 Standup Special a Success, with 200k Profit
  

• Megaupload to Sue Universal, Joins Fight Against SOPA
  

This week Andy, Dwayne, and semi-regular Tom Cheredar welcome guests Sean Ludwig from VentureBeat and Christopher Burnor from the Symbiotek podcast as we discuss: Facebook buys Gowalla, Kindle becomes #2 tablet, Verizon blocks Google Wallet, and a new advancement to cut chip power consumption.

Later we discuss upgrades to XBox Live, Verizon challenges Netflix, and YouTube's new interface, all intended to steal your living room attention. Lastly we dissect culpability in the Carrier IQ exploit scandal.

Show Links

Headlines

• Facebook Failed With Its Own Foursquare Killer, So Now It's Buying Gowalla
  

• Gowalla Confirms It Will Shut Down As Founders and Team Members Join Facebook
  

• In fundamental breakthrough, SuVolta cuts chip power use by 50 percent
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: One Second After by William R. Forstchen
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: The Fight for Your Living Room

• Microsoft upgrades Xbox Live with 40 entertainment services, live TV, and Kinect...
  

• Microsoft Releases Xbox Live App for iOS
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Carrier IQ: Should We Believe the Hype?

• CarrierIQ clicktracking scandal pulls Samsung and HTC into class action suit
  

• Apple Put a 'Keylogger' in iOS 5
  
• Carrier IQ denies responsiblity for insecure log files, suggests manufacturers are to blame
  

This week we deliver The Drill Down's annual holiday shopping guide, a list of the best tech appliances, gadgets, software and media, hand-picked by Andy, Dwayne & Devindra for your perusal.

But first, the tech headlines: Black Friday/Cyber Monday spending is up, Facebook gets slapped over privacy concerns, Google Maps goes inside, Google TV goes X-Rated, GamePro is dead, FCC disses AT&T/T-Mobile merger, and an Android app is logging your keystrokes.

Show Links

Headlines

• Black Friday Online Retail Spending Up 24.3 Percent
  

• Record Cyber Monday Online Spending Up Over 20 Percent To $1.25B
  

Audible Book of the Week

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
  

Musical Interlude #1

Wish List/Gift Picks

Andy:

1. Skyrim by Bethesda Softworks
   
2. Canon 5D Mark II SLR camera
   
3. Kindle Touch
   
4. Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 3010 Projector
   
5. Glitch / Hugo
   

Dwayne:

1. Sony KDL-46HX729 TV
   
2. Planet Earth: Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray] ($22) Amazon
   
3. Connected Blu-Ray player - every mom needs Netflix
4. Contour GPS Camera - nothing better
   
5. Logitech Harmony Link
   

Musical Interlude #2

Wish List/Gift Picks, Pt. II

Devindra:

1. Time for an e-reader! Kindle Touch, Simple, etc
   
2. Kinect
   
3. Jawbone Up/Fitbit Ultra
   
4. Time for a new camera: Canon Elph 500, S95/100
   
5. Kindle Fire
   

This week the TDD team discuss their Black Friday finds, staff shakeups at TechCrunch & Mashable, the quashing of SOPA, Redditors build an alternative to the Internet, Facebook's IPO is coming, Kinect for Windows, President Obama joins Google+, and Arrested Development returns to Netflix.

Later, we discuss the potential dissolution of the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile USA merger, and rumored new cellphone devices from Amazon and Facebook.

Show Links

Headlines

• Sarah Lacy's Quitting TechCrunch
  

• Heather Harde's Quitting AOL
  
• Mashable Fires Editor-at-Large Ben Parr
  

• Wary Of SOPA, Reddit Users Aim To Build A New, Censorship-Free Internet
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Micro by Michael Crichton
  

Musical Interlude #1: 'Valentines Day' by David Schwartz
Hot Topic

• FCC chairman opposes AT&T; takeover of T-Mobile
  

• AT&T; pulls T-Mobile application from FCC, records provisional $4bn loss
  
• AT&T withdrawing merger application with the FCC while pursuing win with the Justice Department
  

Musical Interlude #2: 'Telephone' performed by Pomplamoose

Final Word

• Citigroup Says Amazon Phone Coming in 2012
  

• The Facebook Phone is Real, and Its Name is Buffy
  

This week, we note the tragic passing of one of the founders of Diaspora, Logitech says goodbye to Google TV, Steam gets hacked, the Kindle Fire is roasted, the DOJ wants to make lying on your profile a felony, batteries get a technological boost, Community is 'on the bubble', COD:MW3 & Skyrim make huge debuts, Minecraft comes to iOS, and Black Friday is upon us!

Later we discuss the official launches of both Google Music and iTunes Match from beta, and we rant briefly on the future of interaction design (our hands' place in that future).

Show Links

Headlines

• Why Did This 22-Year-Old Entrepreneur Commit Suicide?
  
• Logitech CEO: Google TV 'cost us dearly,' no Revue replacement coming
  
• Steam user database compromised
  
• Kindle Review: Is This Really the Tablet Everyone’s Talking About?
  
• DOJ: Lying on [your social network profile] needs to be a crime
  
• Graphene improves lithium-ion battery capacity and recharge rate by 10x
  
• NBCs mid-season schedule benches Community
  
• Call of Duty Makes Dough, Skyrim Blows Minds
  
• Minecraft Coming To The iPhone And iPad!
  
• Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Audible Book of the Week

• Catching Fire (Hunger Games, Book 2) by Suzanne Collins
  

Musical Interlude #1
Hot Topic

• Google Announces Google Music, Storage Free for All
  
• Apple releases iTunes Match
  

Musical Interlude #2
Final Word

• A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design
  

• Touchscreen inventor: Forget 3D, haptics is the future of mobile screens
  
• Microsoft’s Code Space project combines Kinect, touchscreens for awesome meeting...
  

This week, Devindra and Andy are joined by former regular co-host (and current TechMeme editor) Lidija Davis as we discuss Groupon's IPO launch, Google claims Apple's Siri is a 'competitive threat', Disney & YouTube team up, Barnes & Noble's new Nook Tablet, Steve Jobs' lost interview, Google + opens up for businesses, Consumer Reports recommends the iPhone 4S, Adobe ceases mobile Flash development, and we look at the Verge.

What We’re Playing With:
Andy: Revamped Playstation Home, finished LA Noire, finished Ready Player One
Devindra: Google TV v2, Uncharted 3

Headlines

• Groupon IPO Shares Pop 40% On First Trade, Debuts At $17.8B Market Cap
  
• Google Chairman Eric tells US senators Apple's Siri could pose 'competitive threat'
  
• Disney and YouTube Make a Video Deal
  
• The $249 Nook Tablet : Like the Nook Color, but built for HD media
  
• Steve Jobs Lost interview
  

Audible Book of the Week

• 11-22-63: A Novel by Stephen King
  

Musical interlude

• Google+ Pages Now Open For Businesses, Brands, Places & More
  

• Google+’s Brand Pages Are Woefully Inadequate
  
• Google+ had a chance to compete with Facebook. Not anymore.
  

This week, TDD team (including Tom Cheredar) discuss Mona Simpson's eulogy for her brother Steve Jobs, Sony buys Ericsson out of their mobile joint venture, HP decides to keep PC division, E-PARASITES would create the Great Firewall of America, Apple acquires mind-blowing 3D mapping technology, creepy PETMAN robot is the first iteration of the Terminator, Google launches an iPhone GMail app (then takes it back), and Rockstar releases a trailer for GTA V.

Later, we discuss Google's new updates to Google TV and 100 new content channels  for YouTube and how these may disrupt the home TV viewing experience. Lastly, we explore the lack of racial diversity in the tech sector, causes and potential solutions.

[display_podcast] Show Links

Headlines

• A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs
  
• Sony buys full control of Sony Ericsson
  
• HP to Keep PC Division
  
• SOPA: Hollywood Finally Gets A Chance to Break the Internet
  

• PROTECT IP Renamed E-PARASITES Act; Would Create The Great Firewall Of America
  

• Google (almost) launches a Gmail iPhone App
  
• Rockstar releases Grand Theft Auto V trailer
  

Audible Book of the Week

• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Disrupting the Set Top Box

• The Official Google TV Blog: An Update on Google TV
  
• Google's Big Video Push Is Here: YouTube Getting More Than 100 New Channels
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Diversity in Silicon Valley

• War of words breaks out over Silicon Valley diversity debate
  

• Oh Shit, I’m A Racist
  
• Beyond Arrington and CNN, Let's Look at the Real Issues
  

Later we discuss the release of Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs and what we've learned from it, including future plans for an integrated television. We discuss Nokia's first 'true' Windows phone, the Lumia 800. Also we talk about patents on software from Microsoft and Apple, and the impact they have on the mobile industry.

Headlines

• Google shifts stance on Google+ anonymity, will support pseudonyms
  
• Does Warner Bros. Really Have Exclusive Movie Rights to a Story Posted on Reddit...
  
• Netflix’s Quarterly Loss of Subscribers Worse Than Forecast; Shares Plunge
  
• iPod creators unveil Nest, the smartest (and prettiest) thermostat yet
  
• Rockstar announces Grand Theft Auto V with maddeningly few details
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• The Full Walter Isaacson/Steve Jobs Interview From 60 Minutes
  

• What We Learned About Steve Jobs on ’60 Minutes’
  
• What Was on Steve Jobs's iPod and How It Drove Him
  
• Steve Jobs: What an Asshole...
  

• Apple TV Project Is Said to Be Led By ITunes Creator Jeff Robbin
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Nokia launches Lumia 800: 1st Nokia running Windows Phone 7
  

• Whoa, Microsoft’s patent deals now cover half of all Android devices
  
• Every Android device (and possibly Windows 8) now infringes Apple patent: Slide To Unlock
  

This week's music, Coldplay's Every Teardrop is a Waterfall & Norah Jones' rendition of Bob Dylan's Forever Young were both performed at Apple's memorial to Steve Jobs.

Later we discuss Google's 4.0 iteration of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, Android vs iOS 5, and Amit Gupta's request for bone marrow donors.

Show Links

Headlines

• Apple Q4 results miss the mark
  
• Dennis Ritchie, father of Unix and C, dies
  
• BUSTED: Groupon And Living Social Caught Inflating Regular Prices To Make Deals Look Better
  
• Reddit Comments Lead to Movie Deal
  
• Google Music Store — With a “Twist” — Coming Soon, Says Android Boss
  
• Scoop: Skype founders gunning for Netflix with Vdio
  
• Lytro unveils its revolutionary light field camera
  

Audible Book of the Week

• The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True by Richard Dawkins
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• Android 4.0 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ official
  
• A Quick Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Feature Rundown
  
• OS designer Matias Duarte on the philosophy of Android, and an in-depth look at Ice Cream Sandwich
  
• iPhone 4S impressions

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• 40 Days To Find A Bone Marrow Match For Amit Gupta
  

This week we discuss the end of Diggnation, the death of the Zune,  a viral attack on US drone fleet computers, Facebook releases an iPad app, Adobe reveals incredible new unblur technology, Sony's Playstation Network is hacked (yet again), and Sprint strikes  a $20B iPhone deal with Apple.

Later we discuss the launch of Apple's iPhone 4S, in-depth (including the launch of iOS 5), and the impact of main streaming in the content ecosphere, including Netflix changes its mind (again), Gen Y's screen size viewing trends, and Live TV comes to the XBox.

What We’re Experiencing

• Andy: iWoz by Steve Wozniak, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Delicious.com
• Dwayne: Excitement about iPhones and iOS 5 and iTunes match and iTunes Movie Trailers and Find a Friend and everything ‘i’ right now!
• Devindra: Game of Thrones!

Headlines

• Diggnation to End in December
  
• Microsoft kills the Zune HD (for real this time)
  
• Exclusive: Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet
  
• Adobe demos incredible unblur feature for Photoshop
  
• Sony locks down 93K accounts after possible breach
  
• At Long Last, Facebook Releases an iPad App
  
• Sprint bets it all on iPhone: Strikes $20B deal with Apple
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Reamde by Neal Stephenson
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• New Apple iPhone 4S: All the Information
  
• Take A Look At Siri, The iPhone's New Voice-Powered Personal Assistant
  
• Siri Personal Assistant Only Works on the iPhone 4S
  
• Apple showcases iPhone 4S camera with high-resolution sample photos
  
• Apple refreshes iPod touch: Now in white, 8GB model dropped to $199, available October 12
  
• Sell your used iPhone to Apple for $200 - Unlocked 16G 4S is $649.00 and only works on AT&T in US.
• Everything Apple Didn't Talk About Today   
  
• The iPhone 5 Failboard: How Everyone Got It Wrong
  
• iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Top One Million in First 24 Hours
  
• iOS 5 available now, makes the iPhone 4 feel completely new
  

Musical Interlude #2

“Main Streaming” - The impact network delivered content is REAL

• DVDs will stay at Netflix. Qwikster is dead
  

• Netflix and the Increasing Focus on Streaming Services
  

• Live TV is coming to the Xbox 360: Microsoft signs deals with Verizon, Comcast and others
  

In this special edition of The Drill Down, regulars Andrew Sorcini, Dwayne DeFreitas, Lidija Davis, Tom Cheredar & Devindra Hardawar (via remote from the 5th Ave. Apple Store, NYC) come together to celebrate the life and legacy of Apple co-founder, former CEO & tech visionary Steven P. Jobs, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 56, after a long bout with pancreatic cancer. Together we discuss the unparalleled influence he had on virtually every aspect of technology, media and popular culture over the past thirty years, and the future of Apple without him.

This week's music is from three of Mr. Jobs' favorite performers: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and The Grateful Dead.

This week Andy, Devindra and Dwayne welcome back former TDD co-host Lidija Davis as new semi-regular to the show. We share what we're experiencing this week, then discuss Meg Whitman's appointment as HP's new CEO, new (old) management at Yahoo, Netflix signs a deal with Dreamworks, Dish launches Blockbuster streaming, Amazon's streaming service partners with Fox, Microsoft will get royalties from Samsung for every Android device sold, Surveys say things are changing, Delicious relaunches, and Zynga's profits are down 95%.

Later, we talk about Facebook's F8 Developer Conference announcements, including  Timelines and "frictionless" sharing. Then we review Amazon's new Kindle lineup, including the Kindle touch and the Fire.

Show Links

What we’re experiencing:

• Andy: Spotify mobile, Glitch comes out of beta, Terra Nova
  
• Devindra:Gears of War 3.
• Dwayne: ifttt - loads of fun.
• Lidija: Mine Com sorta sounds like Mein Kampf

Headlines

• How TechCrunch’s back-room deals destroy its credibility
  
• It’s Official: Meg Whitman Named HP CEO; Apotheker Out ...
  

• HP’s Whitman Says She’ll Keep Strategies Begun by Apotheker
  

• LEAKED MEMO: Jerry Yang Tells Yahoos The Company Is For Sale
  

• Dish’s Blockbuster Movie Pass: Streaming, mail and on-demand, $10...
  
• Amazon, Fox Streaming Deal Brings 11k Movies And TV Shows To Prime Instant Video
  

• Google On Microsoft’s Android Patent Tactics: It’s Extortion
  
• Microsoft Responds To Google’s Extortion Claim: “Waaaah.”
  

• Google: 2/3rds of our mobile search comes from Apple’s iOS
  
• Study: 52% of BlackBerry users plan on switching to iPhone 5
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook’s big changes, including all new profiles

• Netflix announces Facebook integration for Canada, Latin America ...
  
• Facebook Is Ready for Your New Closeup. Are You?
  
• Share Buttons? Ha. Facebook Just Schooled The Internet. Again.
  
• Facebook's terrible plan to get us to share everything we do on the web
  

• The Facebook Timeline is the nearest thing I’ve seen to a digital Identity, and it’s creepy as hell
  
• All of life has been utterly, profoundly changed thanks to Facebook’s new features, and nothing will ever be the same, and all I can do is sit here and weep at the beauty and magic that Mark Zuckerberg has brought to this world
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet
  

• Playing With Fire: Amazon Launches $200 Tablet, Slashes Kindle Prices
  
• Oh, one more thing about the Amazon tablet: the second, better version is coming very soon
  

This week's music by Seth MacFarlane from his album, Music is Better Than Words.

Then we discuss: Google Wallet's launch, Google+ opens its beta to all, Google develops a Flipboard clone, Sony sneaks a 'Binding Individual Arbitration' clause into its new PSN user agreement, Apple prepares to launch the iPhone 5 under new CEO Tim Cook, and HP considers Meg Whitman to replace CEO Léo Apotheker.

Later we discuss Netflix's decision to split the company into two separate divisions (with a new name for its DVD-by-mail service). Then we talk about Facebook's new News Feed changes.

Show Links

What we're experiencing this week:

• Andy: Misfits, Minecraft 1.8 ‘Adventure’ update & Glitch (MMO by Tiny Speck, featuring work by Keita Takahashi)

Headlines

• Google Wallet quietly launches today
  

• Google Wallet review: photos, videos, and availability
  

• Not Google Plus
  

Audible Book of the Week

• The Woody Allen Collection by Woody Allen
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• An Explanation and Some Reflections
  

• Why Netflix is splitting itself in two - The Oatmeal
  
• The Joy of Tech (I think the irony here is wonderful)

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Facebook News Feed Gets Smarter— And The Ticker Makes Its Big Debut
  

This week Andy and Devindra are proud to add Dwayne De Freitas, of the Symbiotek podcast as a regular panelist. We discuss former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz' outspoken remarks about her dismissal and the future of Yahoo, Michael Arrington's decision to leave AOL, Google acquires Zagat, Sprint to offer unlimited data on the iPhone 5, Nike creates 'Back to the Future II'-inspired shoes, Amazon to launch an e-book rental service, Turntable.fm launches an iPhone app, and Facebook launches better friend sharing services.

Later, we discuss Microsoft's launch of their Windows 8 Developer Preview. Then Tom Cheredar interviews “The Dude” Dean Bairaktaris on his ‘Save SGU’ and ‘Save Eureka’ campaigns.

[display_podcast]

Show Links

Headlines

• Carol Bartz exclusive: Yahoo "f---ed me over"
  

• Yes, Carol Bartz had a non-disparagement clause
  

• "Deciding” To Move On
  
• Bartz & Arrington, a match made in heaven.
  

• Official Google Blog: Google just got ZAGAT Rated!
  
• $125 Million according to WSJ
  

• Facebook follows Twitter, adds "Subscribe" button
  
• Facebook Launches Instagram-like Filters
  
• Facebook Punishes third party Apps where Edgerank is concerned
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Life Itself: A Memoir  by Roger Ebert
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• Windows 8 for tablets hands-on preview
  

• Ballmer: 500,000 Downloads of Windows 8 Since Last Night
  
• Acer and MSI are also sporting the Metro Interface
  
• ARM! The Win8 OS runs SMOOOTHLY on ARM chip-based tabs, not just AMD’s APU setups.
  
• Windows 8: The Verdict Isn’t In!
  
• Wow. Even John Gruber had to capitulate that “Metro looks like an excellent design for an iPad rival”
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Interview with “The Dude” Dean Bairaktaris on ‘Save SGU’ & ‘Save Eureka’ campaigns

This week we bring you a supersized episode as we celebrate The Drill Down podcast's 200th episode with interviews with former show co-hosts Reg Saddler & Lidija Davis, as they reminisce over their experiences on the show.

But before that, we cover two weeks worth of tech analysis, including the resignation of Rob 'CmdrTaco' Malda from Slashdot, an Apple television in the works, Microsoft's Windows 8 Explorer layout, iTunes Match's streaming function, Amazon's upcoming Kindle tablet, the US Department of Justice and Sprint move to block the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, Apple loses another prototype iPhone (and attempts to get it back), Starz won't renew its deal with Netflix, Michael Arrington starts a venture fund (and gets ousted from TechCrunch), Conde Nast spins Reddit off into its own company, and Yahoo! fires CEO Carol Bartz.

Show Links

Headlines

• Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda Resigns From Slashdot
  
• Apple is working on a television for 2012, sources say
  
• Microsoft details Explorer layout for Windows 8
  
• 'iTunes Match' Allows Both Streaming and Downloading of Music
  
• Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Is Very Real. I’ve Seen It, Played With It.
  
• US government files suit to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger
  

• Sprint files suit to block AT&T's T-Mobile merger
  

• Lost iPhone 5: Bernal Heights Man Says Visitors Impersonating Police Searched His Home
  
• Full text: SFPD statement on aiding Apple
  

• A Big Blow To Mike Arrington's CrunchFund As AOL Says It Will Not Allow TechCrunch To Be Used For Deal Flow
  
• Arrington On Whether He Works For TechCrunch Or AOL: "I Have No Idea"
  
• AOL Left Arianna Huffington In The Dark About Arrington's Controversial VC Fund
  
• A Tech Blogger Who Leaps Over the Line - David Carr, NYT
  
• CrunchFund? No Matter What You Call It, It's Business as Usual in SV. - Kara Swisher
  
• TechCrunch As We Know It May Be Over
  
• Exclusive: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Under the Dome by Stephen King
  
• Book #2: American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot by Craig Ferguson
  

Musical Interlude #1

Interview with Reg Saddler

Musical Interlude #2

Interview with Lidija Davis

• Past shows mentioned in interviews:

• The Drill Down 004 – Apple (and Other Systems)
  
• The Drill Down 007 – The Death of TV, NBC vs. iTunes
  
• The Drill Down 008 – The Torrent Show
  
• The Drill Down 025A – RevoltNation, Part 1: The Issue at Hand
  
• The Drill Down 025B – RevoltNation, Part 2: Jay and Kevin Respond
  

This week, we say goodbye to Steve Jobs as he officially resigns as CEO of Apple, and COO Tim Cook takes over. We also take a look at the possibility that the iPhone 5 will be on all major carriers by the end of this year, Apple is building a cheaper 8GB iPhone, IBM produces chips based on the human brain, Skype acquires GroupMe, an 8-day delay by Fox on Hulu triggers a surge in piracy, Cloud music services score big in new copyright ruling, and Samsung cites '2001' for prior art against the iPad.

Later, HP spins off their PC business, sells the TouchPad at a loss, and effectively kills WebOS. Also director Sir Ridley Scott plans another 'Blade Runner' film, and Devindra reviews Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Show Links

Headlines

• Steve Jobs Resigns As CEO Of Apple
  
• Tim Cook Replaces Steve Jobs As CEO
  

• Sprint to Get iPhone 5
  

• T-Mobile to get iPhone 5 as well, report says
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: 1984 by George Orwell
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: HP spins off PC business

• HP to Spin Off PCs, Eyes Software Purchase
  
• HP begins TouchPad liquidation; 16GB cut to $99, 32GB $149
  
• HP tested webOS on an iPad. It ran over twice as fast.
  
• How Much Did HP Lose on the TouchPad? Here's a Good Guess.
  
• HP to Keep Supporting ‘Not Dead’ WebOS Software, Executive Says
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Blade Runner sequel; Deus Ex: Human Revolution

• Ridley Scott Ready To Direct New Version Of Seminal Sci-Fi Film ‘Blade Runner’
  
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution review
• Sorry, Mr. BabyMan: You can’t use your pseudonym on Google+
  

This week, The Drill Down crew looks at: Nintendo investors pressure the company to develop software for smartphones, Google+ launches games and Facebook strikes back, Is Flickr dead?,  A leaked AT&T letter undermines their case for a T-Mobile merger, and President Obama joins Foursquare.

Later we dive into Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility and the shockwave that announcement made within the mobile community. We also discuss San Francisco BART's decision to shut down wireless and cell communication in advance of a protest, and the Anonymous (& public) response.

Show Links

Headlines

• Nintendo's Mario Pressured to Jump to IPhone
  
• Games in Google+
  
• Facebook strikes back at Google with its own game enhancements
  
• Flickr is Dead
  
• Photovine Grows Ready For Public Use; Easily Google’s Most Ambitious Photo-Sharing App Yet
  

• Leaked AT&T Letter Demolishes Case For T-Mobile Merger
  
• President Obama Joins Foursquare
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Google Buys Motorola Mobility

• Google Buys Motorola Mobility For $12.5B, Says “Android Will Stay Open”
  
• Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility
  
• THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GOOGLE-MOTOROLA DEAL: It Could End Up Being A Disaster
  
• By Buying Motorola, Google Can Now Do Whatever The Heck They Want With Android
  
• RIM Left in No Man's Land' By Google Deal
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: BART muzzles cell service

• Blaming the tools: Britain proposes a social-media ban
  

• S.F. subway muzzles cell service during protest
  
• Anonymous hacks SF’s myBART website. Thousands of names, addresses & numbers released.
  
• FCC Probing Wireless Blocking by San Francisco Authorities
  
• BART Shuts Down Cell Service To Thwart Rumored Protests, Gets Actual Protests (And Has To Close Stations)
  

This week’s music is by Gabe is the Devil.

This week we discuss Sony missing the holiday window for their PS Vita launch, Google's first self-driving vehicle crash (kind of), Anonymous hacks the Syrian Defense Ministry site, Digg launches a new feature called Newswire, Nokia ends Symbian development in the US for Windows Mobile, Facebook launches a new mobile messaging service, Apple (briefly) becomes the world's most valuable company, Gizmodo's name is cleared from prototype iPhone 4 theft, Amazon does an end-run around Apple's iOS app restrictions with a web-based Kindle reader, and Anonymous vows to kill Facebook.

Later we discuss the Greater London Riots and how Social Media has been used to both aid conspirators to coordinate their actions and help peacekeeping forces to identify looters. We also discuss further volleys in the patent wars as Microsoft & Google play the blame game, and Apple blocks the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab in Europe.

Show Links

Headlines

• Sony's Debut of PlayStation Vita Player in U.S., Europe to miss Christmas
  
• This is Google’s first self-driving car crash*
  
• Anonymous takes over, defaces Syrian Defense Ministry site
  
• Digg's New Newswire is a Radical Experiment in Social News
  

• How Digg is re-gifting old features and calling it innovation
  

• FB messenger app code reveals video conference feature
  

• Apple achieves most valuable company status (Today)
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: The Secrets of the FBI  by Ronald Kessler
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Social Media & London Riots

• How the London riots showed us two sides of social networking
  

• Social media’s role in the London riots
  
• Google Group Members to Use Facial Recognition to Identify London Rioters
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Patent Wars, continued

• Google Threw A Punch, Microsoft Fires Back With A Missile
  
• Ouch: Apple blocks sale of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe
  

This week Andy and Devindra are joined by Dwayne De Freitas , Devindra's co-host on the Symbiotek podcast .

We discuss Spotify's patent infringement woes, Google's stance on 'bogus patents", Logitech cuts the price on their GoogleTV device (and loses a CEO), a bogus study claiming IE users are dumb, Apple has more cash than the US government, AT&T throttles Unlimited Data subscribers, President Obama spams users on Twitter (and loses 40K followers), 92% of Newt Gingrich's Twitter followers are fake, Foxconn to replace workers with 1M robots, Adobe launches HTML5 alternative to Flash, and Apple launched iCloud beta.

Later, we discuss Operation ShadyRAT, one of the largest, most widespread cyber-espionage campaigns ever perpetrated, and we ponder whether handheld gaming consoles are obsolete in the era of the smartphone.

Show Links

Headlines

• That Didn't Take Long: Spotify Sued For Patent Infringement Just Weeks After Entering US Market
  
• Google Rips Into Microsoft, Apple, Oracle For “Bogus Patents” And Trying To “Strangle” Android
  
• Logitech CEO steps down after money losing Q1, Revue (GoogleTV) price slashed to $99
  
• STUDY: Internet Explorer Users Are Dumber
  

• The Internet Explorer IQ Hoax and the State of Tech Blogging
  
• How the hoax started and propagated
  

• AT&T Data Plan Scareware: Beyond Our Comfort Level
  

• @BarackObama’s Lost Followers: A Tempest In A Twitter Teapot
  

Ad Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Cowboys & Aliens  by Joan D. Vinge
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Operation ShadyRAT

• Exclusive: Operation Shady RAT—Unprecedented Cyber-espionage Campaign and Intellectual-Property Bonanza
  

• Enter the Cyber-dragon
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Handheld Console Gaming vs. Smartphones

• Opinion: $170 Nintendo 3DS Is Still Too Expensive
  

• Read Satoru Iwata's Apologetic Letter to Existing 3DS Owners
  

The Drill Down team is back from ComicCon, and we're wrapping up our discussion about what we've seen there, including a groundbreaking breakthrough from director Francis Ford Coppola. RIM cuts 10% of their work staff, China clones Apple stores, Google+ struggles with pseudonyms, LulzSec boycotts PayPal, and the White House RickRolls a Twitterer. 

Later we discuss the increasing problem of software patent litigation and its stifling of innovation. And Devindra reviews Apple's new MacBook Air.

Headlines

• Comic-Con wrap-up

• Coppola’s Vision for Twixt: Director as DJ

• Anonymity and Pseudonyms in Social Software - Catarina Fake

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Software Patents & The Stifling of Innovation

• When Patents Attack! | This American Life

• Intellectual Ventures And The War Over Software Patents

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Devindra’s review of new Macbook Air

Every year at Comic-Con, Director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) regales the Hall H audience as only a master raconteur can. Here he talks about quitting the film business and beginning a podcasting empire, lowering your expectations, raising a geek daughter, marketing his film Red State and his personal battle with the Westboro Baptist Church.

WARNING: The following audio contains explicit language and is not for younger or impressionable listeners.

This week we come to you LIVE from the 2011 San Diego ComicCon International, the premiere convention for comics, movies, television and pop culture.  And even though they couldn't all be in the same room at the same time, Andy, Tom and Devindra still managed to individually bring you their impressions of the ComicCon 2011 experience.  We also cover some of the hot headlines of the week, including Apple's new launches, The Sun hacked by LulzSec, Google's G+ iPhone app, Microsoft's secret new social site, and more.

Show Links

Headlines

• SEAN PARKER: Spotify Signals A Golden Age Of Music
  
• Oops: Microsoft accidentally reveals secret social project
  
• App developers withdraw from US as patent fears reach 'tipping point'
  
• Sun website hacked by LulzSec
  • LulzSec say they'll release big Murdoch email archive
    
• Google+ iPhone App Now Live In The App Store
  • Google+ Now The Top Free App In The Apple App Store
    
• Wave Goodbye to Google Labs
  
• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: the Ars Technica review
  • Apple Updates The Mac Mini: Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs, Thunderbolt, And Even A OS X Lion Server Model
    
  • Apple 27-inch Thunderbolt Display now available: FaceTime HD camera, 2.1 speaker system, and $999 price tag
    

Audible Book of the Week
Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich

Musical Interlude #1
Hot Topic #1
Tom Cheredar’s ComicCon experiences & the tech of ComicCon
Musical Interlude #2
Hot Topic #2
Devindra Hardawar’s ComicCon experiences

This week Tom and Andrew check out a lab test of YouTube’s new redesign, Major ISP’s agree to a “six strikes” policy, Google introduces their first eBooks e-reader, rumors of an HD iPad, Amazon announces an iPad rival, TechCrunch gets a facelift, and our take on the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

Later we discuss Netflix’s controversial new pricing plan, and... A million users isn't cool, you know what's cool? Ten million. Or perhaps one hundred million.

Show links

Headlines

• YouTube’s gorgeous, Hulu-like redesign makes videos pop
  
• Major ISPs agree to "six strikes" copyright enforcement plan
  
• The first Google eBooks-integrated e-reader: iriver Story HD
  
• iPhone 5 redesign likely says WSJ, but have you met the iPad HD?
  
• Amazon to Battle Apple iPad With Tablet
  
• Redesigning TechCrunch: We Picked This Logo Just to Piss You Off
  
• As it happened: News of the World phone hacking scandal
  • News Corp withdraws bid for BSkyB
    

Audible Book of the Week

• I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• DVD-only and streaming-only Netflix plans now $7.99. Each
  • Netflix raises plan prices by 60%, with 4100 negative comments and counting
    
  • Hulu or Netflix: In the game of streaming video, you win or you socialize
    
  • Netflix subscribers threaten to quit, but will they really?
    

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Google+ To Pass 10,000,000 Users
  • Idealab CEO: Google+ will be fastest service ever to hit 100M users (and why he may be right)
    

Google+ user #1

This week we read an anonymously sent letter from a top Blackberry exec about the company's failings, the dance is over for Californians skirting sales taxes online, Zynga files for a billion dollar IPO, hackers announce the President's assassination, Apple orders 25M iPhone 5s for the fall, Verizon kills all-you-can-eat data, Google may buy Hulu, and ends Realtime search.

After the break we examine the phenomenon that is Google+, one week later, including plans to fold older services into G+. Then we take a first peek at Facebook's new Skype-integrated video chat.

[display_podcast]

Show Links

Headlines

• Open letter to BlackBerry bosses: Senior RIM exec tells all as company crumbles around him
  
• California tells online retailers to start collecting sales taxes from customers
  
• Social Gaming Giant Zynga Files For $1 Billion IPO
  
• Hacked Fox News Twitter account claimed Obama had been assassinated
  
• WSJ: Apple aims to build 25M “thinner and lighter” iPhone 5s in 2011
  
• Verizon Rolls Out Tiered Data Plans, ends unlimited usage
  • Sprint’s Hesse Fires ‘Nukes’ in 18-State Push to Stop AT&T
    
• Google Inc. in preliminary talks to buy Hulu
  
• Google Realtime goes dark after Twitter agreement expires
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Google+, one week later

• Google+ Invite Shutdown: Google Social Network Curbs Sign Ups Due To 'Insane Demand'
  
• Google to Retire Blogger & Picasa Brands in Google+ Push
  
• Mark Zuckerberg Is The Most Followed User On Google+
  

• Zuckerberg on Google+: It's a Validation of Facebook's Vision
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Facebook adds Video Chat

• Call Your Friends Right From Facebook
  

• Facebook Launching Ad Hoc Group Chat, New Chat Design, Skype Video Calling
  

Later we look at Google's new Google+ suite of services, and whether or not it will be a 'Facebook-killer. Finally we discuss the FTC's antitrust probe into whether or not Google is skewing search results in favor of its own services.

Show Links

Headlines

• Nokia's first Windows Phone: images and video, codenamed 'Sea Ray'
• Winklevoss twins press Facebook case in Boston federal court after dropping Supreme Court appeal
• Notorious Hacker Group LulzSec Just Announced That It's Finished
  • Anonymous picks up where Lulzsec leaves off with new hack
  • Inside LulzSec: Chatroom logs shine a light on the secretive hackers
• Professional Video Editors Weigh In on Final Cut Pro X
  • Apple - Final Cut Pro X - Answers to common questions.
    
  • ‪Conan O'Brien Slams Final Cut Pro X
    
• Exclusive: Myspace to Be Sold to Specific Media for $35 Million
  
• Sources: PopCap In Late Stage Acquisition Discussions With EA For $1 Billion+
  
• World of Warcraft now free until level 20, core games drop in price

• Supreme Court strikes down video game violence law on free speech grounds

• New Japanese Pop Idol Shocks Fans With News–She's Not Real

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Google+

• Google’s Facebook Competitor, The Google+ Social Network, Finally Arrives
  • Google goes social with Google+ — Will Facebook flinch?
    

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Google Antitrust Probe

• FTC to serve Google with broad antitrust probe
  • Google Responds To FTC Inquiry: “Using Google Is A Choice”
    

Later we look at the Nokia N9 (and wonder what Nokia's up to),  we ponder the future of Research In Motion, and we attend an old-school slut shaming hosted by TechCrunch's own Michael Arrington.

[display_podcast]

Show Links

Headlines

• Winklevoss twins end appeal of Facebook settlement
  

• Lulzsec has released over 150,000 names, emails and home addresses.
  • LulzSec - 1000th tweet statement
    
  • Lulzsec and Anonymous Declare Open War Against All Governments and Fat Cats
    

• Bitcoin prices plummet on hacked exchange
  • How to Create Strong Passwords
    
  • How to Create a Strong Unique Password for Every Site, App, or Device
    

• Apple releases Final Cut Pro X & First Look: Final Cut Pro X
  
• New Top-Level Domains Approved by ICANN
  
• Facebook’s music plans involve Spotify & A killer app for Facebook’s Project Spartan: Mobile music
  
• NY Post blocks access to its website on iPads to drive app purchasers
  
• The Making of Lytro
  
• Hulu puts itself up for sale, retains investment banks
  
• PopCap Games To Be Acquired For $1 Billion+
  
• Perform This Way (Parody of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga)
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Solaris: The Definitive Edition by Stanislaw Lem
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Nokia N9 / Future of RIM?

• Nokia finally announces its N9 MeeGo phone, but what is it trying to accomplish?
  
• What RIM's latest results tell us: BlackBerry is a smouldering platform
  • RIM, You’re Done Here
    

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Arrington vs. Fake

• Why We Often Blindside Companies by Michael Arrington
  • I Call This Blackmail
    

Ahoy! This week The Drill Down crew discusses Google's doodles, Google's answer to SMS, Google voice search on desktop, image search via your own photos & pre-caching of predicted search results. Also, a massive Bitcoin theft, an interview with Bill Gates, Facebook's impending IPO and Pandora's recent IPO success, Steve Jobs' Apple 'spaceship' campus, Apple now selling unlocked GSM phones, Apple settles a patent dispute with Nokia, rumors of an iPad 3 later this year, XBOX Live on Windows 8, Duke Nukem Forever is finally released (to terrible reviews), and the IMF is hit by a sophisticated cyberattack.

Later, we discuss bold (and reckless) cyberattacks by merry pranksters Lulz Security, and the exodus of major movie studio presence from Comic-Con.

Show Links

Headlines

• Google doodle lets you play a recordable guitar ditty in honor of Les Paul
  
• Google may have developed Android rival to BBM, iMessage Rival
  
• Google Search: Voice search on desktop, image search using your own pictures, preloading of predicted pages on Chrome
  
• Judge furious at "inexcusable" P2P lawyering, nukes subpoenas
  
• Thief steals $500K worth of Bitcoin
  
• Microsoft's Bill Gates: A rare and remarkable interview with the world's second richest man
  
• Facebook Expected To File For $100 Billion IPO This Year
  
• Pandora Opens At $20 Per Share With A Market Cap Of $3.2 Billion
  
• Steve Jobs pitches new Apple 'spaceship' campus to Cupertino City Council
  
• Apple now selling unlocked GSM iPhone 4 in US, starting at $649
  
• iPhone liquidity: Why an unlocked Phone in the US matters
  
• Nokia and Apple settle patent disputes; Apple to pay one-time fee and ongoing license fees
  
• Taiwan Newspaper Pre-Announces 7-Inch iPad 3
  
• More Evidence for 2048x1536 iPad Retina Display
  
• Microsoft reveals Xbox LIVE will be built into Windows 8
  
• After 15 years of development, Duke Nukem Forever sucks
  
• Duke Nukem's PR threatens to punish sites that run negative reviews
  
• Sophisticated Cyberattack Is Reported by the I.M.F.
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book I by George R. R. Martin
  
• Go the F**K to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• Spain Detains 3 in Hacking of Sony PlayStation
  
• Spanish police website hit by Anonymous hackers
  
• Titanic Takeover Tuesday: LulzSec's busy day of hacking escapades
  
• LulzSec opens hack request line
  
• Lulzsec Hackers Go to War with 4chan
  
• Woah: Lulz Security Just Took Down the CIA
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Movie Studios Reassess Comic-Con
  

This week we cover: Facebook's claim that Paul Ceglia's ownership contract is a fraud, Groupon files for $750 million IPO, Sony is hacked (again again) & so is Nintendo, UN declares Internet access a human right, McDonald's clever interactive billboard, and Twitter incorporates auto-URL shortnening.

Later we discuss Apple's World Wide Developers Conference, including updates to OS X, iOS, and the introduction of iCloud and iTunes Match, and we finish with a roundup of E3 2011, including new Kinect integration, Playstation's  Vita and Nintendo's Wii U.

Show Links

Headlines

• Facebook, Zuckerberg say ownership contract forged
  
• Facebook Lawsuit: Okay, We're Convinced: The Guy Who Says He Owns 50% Of Facebook Is A Fraud
  
• Groupon Files For $750 Million IPO; Lost $413 Million In 2010
  
• Groupon Is Effectively Insolvent
  
• Sony hacked again: 1m compromised, claims LulzSec
  
• Hackers Attack Nintendo
  
• UN: 3 strikes internet laws violate human rights
  
• McDonald's Brilliant Interactive Billboard Campaign
  
• Twitter introduces automatic link shortening on Twitter.com
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

Book: Always On: How the iPhone Unlocked the Anything-Anytime-Anywhere Future - and Locked Us In by Brian Chen

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: WWDC coverage

• Top 10 key features in Apple’s OS X Lion
  
• Apple announces iOS 5: Brings revamped notifications, Twitter integration, iMessage and more
  
• Apple officially announces iCloud storage service
  
• iTunes Match is more convenient than Google Music, but it will cost you
  
• Hack lets anyone install iOS 5 — oh, and it’s jailbroken already too
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: E3 Recap

• Andy: Recap of convention from show floor
• Minecraft, Fable, and Kinect Sports 2 coming to Kinect
  
• Halo 4 stars Master Chief, to arrive by end of 2012
  
• E3 2011: Sony Announces PlayStation Branded 3D Monitor and Glasses
  
• E3 2011: PlayStation Vita First Take
  
• Wii U: first hands-on with Nintendo's new console
  

This week we discuss the return of the PlayStation Store, Chinese labor camp prisoners forced to gold farm, Mark Zuckerberg's eat-what-you-kill diet & his thoughts on privacy anxiety, Google's +1 button for websites, Twitter's Follow button & partnerships with Firefox and Photobucket, Samsung vs. Apple, and Apple's upcoming WWDC announcements.

Later, we discuss the escalating consequences of cyberhacking, Google's Wallet, and a preview of Windows 8.

Show Links

Headlines

• Full PSN Services, including PlayStation Store, Return This Week
  
• China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work
  
• Mark Zuckerberg's new challenge: Eating only what he kills (and yes, we do mean literally...)
  
• Zuckerberg: Privacy anxiety is fleeting
  
• Google launches the +1 Button for websites
  
• Introducing the Twitter Follow Button
  
• Twitter Partners With Photobucket On Photos And Firefox On Search
  
• Samsung’s lawyers demand to see the iPhone 5 and iPad 3
  
• Apple to show off iOS 5, iCloud, Mac OS X Lion at WWDC June 6
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Hacktivism & Cyber warfare

• Hacktivists Scorch PBS in Retaliation for WikiLeaks Documentary
  
• Lockheed Martin Confirms It Came Under Attack
  
• NATO report threatens to 'persecute' Anonymous
  
• Pentagon: Online Cyber Attacks Can Count as Acts of War
  
• Iran Plans to Unplug Internet, Create Its Own - Tehran aims to put all citizens on internal network
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Google Wallet / Windows 8

• Google takes wraps off pay-by-phone system
  
• Coming soon from Google: make your phone your wallet
  
• PayPal Sues Two Ex-Employees Who Created Google ‘Wallet’
  
• Google has 99 problems, but PayPal’s lawsuit ain’t one
  

• Previewing ‘Windows 8’
  

Later we discuss the launch of LinkedIn's IPO, ending with a $9 Billion valuation, and whether or not this will precipitate a new tech bubble. Then we talk about Apple's new Apple Store 2.0 concept, Square's new Register & Card Case apps, and how these will transform retail Point-of-Sale.

[display_podcast]

Show links

• Devindra: Few thoughts on TechCrunch Disrupt Conference
• Foxconn to Suppliers: iPad 2 Production (and Next iPhone?) Will Not Be Delayed Due to Explosion
  
• Apple to debut iPhone 4S / iOS 5 at WWDC?
  
• Why would Microsoft buy Nokia?
  
• Facebook partnering with Spotify for music service
  
• Sony Music Japan, Greece hacked through SQL injection flaw
  
• Twitter acquires TweetDeck for $40 million in cash and stock
  
• Welcome to the Lady Gaga Wars
  
• Windows Phone 7 Update Mango adds 150 new features
  
• Hurt Locker Makers Target Record Breaking 24,583 BitTorrent Users
  
• A milestone for e-books: Amazon sells more Kindle books than print
  
• Barnes & Noble announces new touch-enabled Nook for $139
  
• After 15-year gestation, Duke Nukem Forever goes gold
  

Audible Book of the Week

• Book: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic: Will Tech IPOs Precipitate a New Bubble?

• LinkedIn Closes At $94 Per Share, With $8.9 Billion Market Cap
  
• Red-Hot LinkedIn IPO Heats Up Tech Bubble Talk
  
• Exclusive: Zynga About to File for IPO
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word: Point-of-Sale 2.0

• Apple Retail Refresh: Hands On with 'Apple Store 2.0'
  
• Square's new Point-of-Sale iPad app
  

Later, they discuss a smear campaign against Google secretly instigated by...Facebook, and Netflix's emergence as a major content provider.

Show Links

Headlines

• PlayStation Network Outage: Now It’s the Worst One Ever, Right?
  
• Kazuo Hirai: PlayStation Network Restoration Announcement
  
• Details for PlayStation Network Customer Appreciation Program in North America
  
• Another PSN exploit hits today
  
• Jason Calacanis on Bitcoin P2P Currency: The Most Dangerous Project We've Ever Seen
  
• Next iPhone Will NOT Have NFC Mobile Payments
  
• NFC payment systems coming to Apple Store locations?
  
• Apple Store 2.0 revealed
  
• Apple to overhaul retail operations with iPads running new RetailMe software
  

Ad Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Tales From the Norse Legends by Edward Ferrie

Musical Interlude #1

Hot Topic

• BUSTED: It Was FACEBOOK That Hired A Former CNBC Reporter To Spread Lies About Google
  
• Facebook, You’re Going To Need A Better Answer For Your Slimeball Stunt
  

Musical Interlude #2

Final Word

• Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on HBO, Cord-Cutting and Amazon
  
• Miramax brings its movies to Netflix streaming in June
  
• Netflix Now The Largest Single Source of Internet Traffic In North America
  

This week, we're proud to add Devindra Hardawar (reporter for VentureBeat and co-host of the Symbiotek & Slashfilmcast podcasts) as part of our regular roundtable of co-hosts (welcome, Devindra!).

We discuss the new "add to Tumblr" button for publishers, using speech to recharge cellphones, inside Apple with Steve Jobs, infighting amongst Anonymous factions, the Biggest BitTorrent case in U.S. history, Google lobbies for driverless cars, and a FCC commissioner who brokered Comcast's merger with Universal leaves to lobby for Comcast.

Later we discuss Microsoft's deal to purchase Skype for $8.5 billion, and we cover news from Google's I/O conference, including Google Music Beta, movie rentals on YouTube, Android@Home, and Chromebooks

Show Links

Headlines

• Tumblr Launches ‘Share On Tumblr’ Button For Publishers
  
• Cellphones could be charged by voice chatter
  
• “Inside Apple” Reveals Steve Jobs Anecdotes, Apple’s Little Known Facts
  
• Exclusive: AnonOps splinter group speaks out
  
• Biggest BitTorrent Downloading Case in U.S. History Targets 23,000 Defendants
  

• Google lobbies Nevada to be first state for self-driving cars
  
• Meredith Attwell Baker Leaving F.C.C. to Join Comcast
  

Ad / Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: This Is an AudioBook by Demetri Martin

Musical Interlude #1
Hot Topic I: Microsoft buys Skype

• Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5 Billion. Why, Exactly?
  
• Done Deal! Big Deal. Smart Deal? Microsoft Buys Skype For $8.5 Billion In Cash
  

Musical Interlude #2
Hot Topic II: Google I/O Conference

• Google Music Is Live In Beta Now! Here's What You Need To Know
  
• Google’s Music Beta first look: it’s miserable
  
• Google Partners With Sony Pictures, Universal And Warner Brothers For YouTube Movies
  
• Google announces Android @ Home
  
• Google launches Chromebooks
  

This week’s music by Stomping Nick and His Blues Grenade, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

We discuss the effect the bin Laden raid had on global twitter traffic (and one tweeter in particular), Sony gets hit with a second round of security breaches, Apple updates their iMacs, rental laptops spy on their rentees, Warner Brothers buys Rotten Tomatoes, and The Woz tells Paul Allen to stop trolling.

Later we discuss the decline of TV ownership and DVD/Blu-Ray sales and why that's an indicator of the new way we watch content; Julian Assange says Facebook is the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented; and we breakdown the new upcoming Star Wars box sets.

Show Links

Headlines

• Bin Laden Announcement Has Highest Sustained Tweet Rate Ever, At 3440 Tweets Per Second
  
• Here's the guy who unwittingly live-tweeted the raid on Bin Laden
  
• Sony Online loses 12,700 credit card account numbers, 24.6 million accounts compromised
  
• Sony says "Anonymous" set stage for data theft
  
• Apple adds Thunderbolt, faster processors to iMac line
  
• PC rental store accused of using webcams, keyloggers on customers
  
• Warner Bros. beats out Yahoo to buy Rotten Tomatoes owner Flixster
  
• The Woz to Paul Allen: Stop patent trolling, start innovating
  

Ad Sponsor: Audible Book of the Week

• Book: Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft
  

Musical Interlude #1
Hot Topic

• Television Ownership Drops in U.S., Nielsen Reports
  
• US DVD sales plummet 20%
  

Musical Interlude #2
Final Word

• Wikileaks Founder: Facebook is the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented
  
• Facebook Saves The CIA Billions In Intelligence Costs via The Onion (video)
• Star Wars Blu-ray Set Coming Sept. 16 With over 40 hours of Bonus Features
  

• This week’s music by Sheri Miller , courtesy MusicAlley , the podsafe music network

This week, we discuss Facebook's new Send button and Social Deals, YouTube's founders rescue Delicious, Yahoo launches Video on Demand, HBO launches Go for mobile, Marvel announces a free-to-play MMO, Apple's white iPhone is thicker, and Apple buys iCloud.com

Later we drill down into the breach of Sony's Playstation Network and its 77 million victims. And the details of Apple's iOS location tracking controversy, from Apple's press room itself.

Show Links

Headline News

• Facebook Launches ‘Send’ Button For More Selective Sharing, Announces 50 Million ‘Groups’
  
• Facebook Launches “Social Deals” To Challenge Groupon & LivingSocial
  
• YouTube Founders Acquire Delicious from Yahoo!
  
• YouTube Finally Goes Hollywood With New Movies on Demand Service (Updated)
  
• HBO Go hits iOS and Android, free for subscribers
  
• Marvel Entertainment’s new MMO game will be free to play
  
• The new iPhone 4 is white, fat
  
• Apple utilizing 'iCloud' internally, service to be more than music
  

Audible book of the week

• In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
  

music interlude

Hot Topic

• Sony admits utter PSN failure: your personal data has been stolen
  
• PlayStation Network: hackers claim to have 2.2m credit cards ...
  

music interlude

Last Word

• Steve Jobs on iOS Location Issue: 'We Don't Track Anyone'
  
• Apple Q&A on Location Data
  

This week’s music by Jeff Sanson, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

Photo: ThisIsMyNext.com

This week Tom and Andy discuss Research In Motion's recent missteps, Google crowdsources map refinements, AT&T admits to network failures, ,more news on Nintendo's next console, Sony's Playstation Network clobbered by intruders, the effects of Gawker's redesign on their traffic, Netflix becomes the largest subscription business in the US, How (and why) Apple tracks your location and who's using this info now.

Later, we discuss a major failure of Amazon's cloud service, the multiple sites it affected and whether cloud services are the right choice for small enterprise. Finally we discus various rumors on the upcoming changes in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5.

Show Links

Headline News

• What happened to BlackBerry?: How did Research in Motion lose its way?
  
• Add your local knowledge to the map with Google Map Maker for the United States
  
• AT&T: Filing Admits Network Wasn't Ready For The iPhone
  
• Project Cafe: The Tech Behind Nintendo's Next Console
  
• Sony confirms external attack brought down PlayStation Network
  
• Gawker's redesign is killing the network
  
• Netflix to Become Largest Subscription Entertainment Business in U.S.
  
• How Apple tracks your location without consent, and why it matters
  
• Researcher: iPhone Location Data Already Used By Cops
  

Audible book of the week

• Bossypants by Tina Fey
  

music interlude

Hot Topic: Cloud Computing

• Amazon’s Cloud Crashed Overnight, And Brought Several Other Companies Down Too
  

music interlude

Last Word: Future of the iPhone

• White iPhone 4 lands at Best Buy on April 27th
  
• Exclusive: Apple testing iPhone for T-Mobile USA
  
• Is this what the iPhone 5 will look like? (updated)
  

This week’s music by Lisa Sheppard, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

This week we welcome Social Blend, TARDISBlend and The Round Up co-host Greg Davies as we discuss new evidence that suggests that Facebook owes half its ownership to a convicted felon, Cisco Systems kills the Flip camera, Apple announces Final Cut Pro X, Nintendo may have an HD console in the works, Encyclopedia Dramatica sells out, and Asia's out of IPv4 addresses.

Later we discuss the advent of 48 fps digital acquisition for theatrical exhibition, beginning with Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Then we discuss the prospect that geolocation check-in services will be obsolete in the near future, and how they could survive.

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Show Links

Headline news

• George Hotz, Sony quietly settle PS3 jailbreak lawsuit
  
• Winklevoss twins must accept Facebook deal: court
  
• The Guy Who Says He Owns 50% Of Facebook Just Filed A Boatload Of New Evidence
  
• Cisco To Shut Down Flip Video Camera Business; Will Give Pink Slips To 550 Employees
  
• Apple announces Final Cut Pro X, rebuilt from ground up with 64-bit support
  
• Multiple Sources Confirm New Nintendo HD Console
  
• In light of recent Know Your Meme purchase, Encyclopedia Dramatica blinks, becomes OhInternet
  
• It's official: Asia's just run out of IPv4 Addresses
  

Audible book of the week

• A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice & Fire, Book I
  

music interlude

Hot Topic

• Peter Jackson: Hobbit to be filmed at 48 Frames Per Second
  
• Frame Wars: Why 48 fps?
  

music interlude

Last Word

• 2011: The Year the Check-in Died
  

This week’s music by Insult to Injury, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

This week Tom recaps his recent trip to WonderCon, we discuss April Fools Day on the 'net, MySpace's rapid decline, Know Your Meme's acquisition by Cheezburger, Anonymous' attack on Sony, Kevin Rose's new startup, Milk, a grim outlook for The Daily, and Facebook's initiative to open the development of their servers.

Later, we discuss Google's aggressive initiatives to kick the company into the social space, and we finish with a discussion of the impact that a government shutdown would have had on IPO development.

Show Links

Headline news

• Tom: WonderCon breakdown
• Andy: April Fools 2011: The Big List
  
• Andy: MySpace lost 10 million users in a month
  
• Tom: 'Know Your Meme' Acquired By Cheezburger in Seven-Figure Deal
  
• Tom: Anonymous goes after Sony, makes it personal... very personal
  
• Andy: Milk: Kevin Rose’s New Company Aims to Solve Big Problems on the Mobile Web
  
• Tom: Analysis Paints Grim Trajectory For ‘The Daily’
  
• Andy: Building Efficient Data Centers with the Open Compute Project
  

Audible book of the week

• Doctor Who: The Runaway Train
  

music interlude

Hot Topic

• Google: Larry Page Ties Employee Bonuses To Social Strategy
  
• Exclusive: Google CEO Larry Page completes major reorganization of Internet search giant
  
• YouTube is going LIVE
  

music interlude

Last Word

• Deal Reached To Avoid Shutdown
  
• Government shutdown will halt IPOs
  

This week’s music by Celestial Underground, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

This week, Tom and Andy make up for two weeks lost time, and do it in whirlwind fashion.

Tom wraps up highlights of his trip to CTIA Wireless. We discuss ICANN's approval of the .XXX domain, New York Times' paywall, Showtime's decision to pull future shows from Netflix, the release of Firefox 4,  Amazon's online Cloud Player, and Google's +1 social recommendation button.

Later, we discuss AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile, and the ramifications it has for the mobile industry, and we finish off the show with a brief discussion of the future of Digg following Founder Kevin Rose's departure.

Show notes

Headline news

• Tom: CTIA wrapup
• A Seedy New Neighborhood For The Web: XXX Domain Approved
  
• Banking on a Paywall at The New York Times
  

• Digital Subscription Prices Visualized (aka The New York Times Is Delusional)
  
• Showtime may be pulling current shows from Netflix
  
• Firefox 4 doubles IE9's 24-hour download tally
  
• Amazon Cloud Player goes live, streams music on your computer and Android
  
• Amazon faces backlash over music locker service
  

• Official Google Blog: +1’s: the right recommendations right when you want them—in your search results
  

• Meet +1: Google’s Answer To The Facebook Like Button
  

Audible book of the week

• It's a Good Life: The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas
  

music interlude

Hot Topic

• AT&T agrees to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion
  
• In AT&T & T-Mobile Merger, Everybody Loses
  

music interlude

Last Word

• Kevin Rose Resigns From Digg, Closing Round On New Startup
  
• Interview With Digg CEO Matt Williams On Future Of Digg
  

This week’s music by Derek K. Miller, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

This week, The Drill Down crew examine the importance of Twitter during national disasters, iPad 2 sales, AOL axes 900 jobs, IE9 is released, and the Zune (player) is dead. Later we discuss IP Czar Victoria Espinel's proposal to allow wiretapping to hunt for IP infringers, and seeks felony charges for illegal web streaming. Also we discuss Netflix's plans to produce and air their own original programming.

Show Links

Headline news

• An Amazing Story about Twitter and the Japan Earthquake
  
• Piper Jaffray: iPad 2 totally sold out, 70% to new buyers
  
• Top Engadget Editors Depart AOL Tech Site
  
• Veteran Journos Out as AOL/HuffPo Cuts 900 Jobs
  
• The most modern browser there is: Internet Explorer 9 reviewed
  
• Microsoft Is Said to Stop Releasing New Models of the Zune
  

Audible book of the week

• Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
  

music interlude

Hot Topic

• Obama "IP czar" wants felony charges for illegal Web streaming, copyright wiretaps & more
  
• CCIA: copyright wiretaps are Hollywood's "PATRIOT Act"
  

music interlude

Last Word

• Netflix Has 60 Percent Of Digital Movie Market
  
• Netflix To Enter Original Programming With Mega Deal For David Fincher-Kevin Spacey Series 'House Of Cards'
  

This week’s music by Charlie Crowe, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

This week, The Drill Down team discuss Sony being allowed to acquire IP addresses from anyone who visited PS3  firmware hacker George Hotz's website, Sprint plans on bringing a 3D EVO phone to the market, Microsoft's Kinect gets into the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest selling consumer electronics device, Reddit breaks personal records with their Ask Me Anything subreddit, Apple releases iOS 4.3, Mixx.com's social news product is dead, but the community lives on at Mixxingbowl.com.

Our in-depth discussion this week is on a Warner Bros. announcement to market movie rentals and purchases via Facebook, using Facebook credits. Finally we finish up with the news that YouTube has purchased video producer Next New Networks, and what that means for the future of YouTube content.

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Show Notes

Headline news

• ANDY: Judge Lets Sony Unmask Visitors to PS3-Jailbreaking Site
  
• TOM: Sprint Plans Nexus S 4G, EVO 3-D 4G
  
• ANDY: Kinect Gets Into the Guinness Book of World Records as fastest selling consumer electronics device
  
• TOM: Millions Ask Anything - Reddit Blog
  
• ANDY: Apple releases iOS 4.3
  
• TOM: Mixx is dead, long live the Mixxingbowl
  

Audible book of the week

• The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to Be Alive
  

music interlude

Hot Topic

• Warner Bros. to deliver movies on Facebook
  
• Facebook Could ‘Become a Credible Threat to Netflix,’ Says Goldman Sachs
  
• Fearing iTunes-Like Domination, Hollywood Plots Netflix’s Downfall
  

music interlude

Light news finish

• YouTube Buys Next New Networks, a Video Producer
  

This week’s music by Adam Emanon, courtesy MusicAlley, the podsafe music network

Welcome to the first retooled, shorter format episode of The Drill Down. It's a work in progress, and we definitely welcome your feedback, either in this post thread below, or at comments@thedrilldown.com. This week, hosts Tom Cheredar and Andrew Sorcini discuss the iPad 2, Facebook's Like button is now a share button, how Charlie Sheen got verified on Twitter and much more.

[display_podcast]

Show links

• • • The Oscars, On Twitter: Over 1.2 Million Tweets, 388K Users Tweeting
      
    • The Chronicles Of Rick Roll': Trailer
      
    • DreamWorks lines up WikiLeaks film based on Guardian book
      
    • Ashton Kutcher's Twitter Account Hacked at TED
      
    • Nintendo unveils 3DS Netflix, Super Mario at GDC
      
    • Gordon Brown 'blocked knighthood' for Steve Jobs
      

Audible book of the week

• The Return to the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs, The Creation of Apple and How it Changed the World
  

iPad 2 DIscussion

• • • iPad 2: faster, thinner, lighter; same battery, display resolution
      
    • Hands on photos with the iPad 2, reader questions answered
      • Apple Staffer: iPad 3 Is The One To "Make A Song & Dance About"
        

Facebook ‘Like’ Discussion

• • Facebook 'Like' Button Takes Over Share Button Functionality
    
  • All of Facebook’s Like Buttons on Third-Party Sites Now Publish a Full News Feed Story
    

Charlie Sheen on Twitter

• • How Charlie Sheen Got His Twitter Account Verified So Fast
    

Andrew Sorcini and Tom Cheredar welcome guest Social Blade co-host Jeff Cryder, Jr., as they discuss Apple's upcoming iPad 2 announcement, Amazon's streaming movie service for Prime members, Nokia's partnership with Microsoft and the death of Symbian, Apple and Google both launch subscription services, President Obama pitches a plan to free 500MHz, raise $28B, and bring 4G to everyone; Obama's dinner with the tech elite, Anonymous challenges the Westboro Baptist Church-- or do they? Google offers a plugin to block content spam, Microsoft embraces experimentation on the Kinect, and we welcome our new robotic Jeopardy-playing overlords.

• Apple to Unveil IPad 2 on March 2 in San Francisco
• Amazon takes on Netflix with movie streaming service for Prime
• Open Letter from CEO Stephen Elop, Nokia and CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft
• RIP: Symbian
• Microsoft to pay out 'billions' as part of Nokia deal
• Apple Launches Subscriptions on the App Store
• Google launches subscription service -- Google One Pass
• Obama pitches plan to free 500MHz, raise $28B, and bring 4G to everyone
• Obama’s Silicon Valley “Tech Supper” – Who Sat Where? Why Was He There?
• Anonymous: We didn’t threaten Westboro Baptist Church
• New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results
• Watson wins it all, humans still can do some other cool things
• IBM's Watson victorious in Jeopardy; Our new computer overlord?
• Microsoft welcomes Xbox Kinect 'hackers'

This week Tom Cheredar and Andrew Sorcini are joined by social media expert Mark Frost as we discuss AOL's purchase of Huffington Post (and the assignment of Ariana Huffington in charge of AOL's entire editorial content), Verizon breaks all pre-sale records with the iPhone 4, Canada reverses its stance on data caps, Gawker Media's new layout design, tech companies return to Super Bowl ads (and Groupon's incendiary ads), Apple's new iPad in production, Mark Zuckerberg gets a stalker, Anonymous pwns FBI contractor HBGary, and Duke Nukem Forever arrives with a whimper.

• AOL buying Huffington Post for $315 million
• AOL+HuffPo! Why It is Not Really a Good Deal?
• Verizon breaks first day sales record with iPhone 4 pre orders
• Ottawa to reverse CRTC Internet billing decision
• “It just feels inevitable”: Nick Denton on Gawker Media sites’ long-in-the-works new layout
• Gawker Learns the Hard Way Why ‘Hash-Bang’ URLs are Evil
• Tech Returns To The Super Bowl Big Time, An Ad Roundup
• Our Super Bowl Ads, and How We’re Helping These Causes
• Reddit Blog: Charting the Super Bowl through our traffic graph
• Apple's New iPad in Production
• Mark Zuckerberg -- I Fear My Facebook Stalker
• Valleywag’s Ryan Tate Publishes Photo of Zuckerberg’s House; Days Later, Stalker Shows Up
• Anonymous to FBI security firm contractor: "You've angered the hive"
• Duke Nukem Forever hands-on: an ambitious, audacious mess

(Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

This week we welcome as our guest Greg Davies of Social Blend, The Round Up, Tardis Blend, and podcasts too numerous to mention. We discuss the unveiling of Google's Android Market and the return of The Daily Show & The Colbert Report to Hulu. Then we launch into a discussion of what is turning out to be the story of the year, the protests in Cairo, Egypt, including the government's complete shutdown of internet services.

Then we discuss Canada's plan to significantly meter the internet; major ISPs want more money from Netflix & YouTube to handle their traffic; Netflix publishes ISP traffic performance reports, News Corp. releases 'The Daily' tablet-based newspaper; Mixx is purchased by UberMedia & Mixx classic's community migrates to Mixxingbowl.com; Digg.com gets a welcome overhaul; Bing gets caught red-handed copying Google's search results; 4Chan's founder unleashes user-generated content site Canvas;  the web runs out of IPv4 addresses, and 'The Social Network's' Jesse Eisenberg meets Mark Zuckerberg on Saturday Night Live.

Video streaming by Ustream

Show Links

• Google Unveils Android Market Webstore. It’s Already Live! 
• Daily Show & Colbert Report Return to Hulu 
• Complete Internet Blackout in Egypt
  
• How Did Egypt Kill the Internet? Possibly With a Few Phone Calls 
• Egypt Shuts Down Noor, Its Last ISP 
• Google, Twitter build Speak to Tweet for Egyptians
• Internet Restored in Egypt 
• 200GB to 25GB: Canada gets first, bitter dose of metered Internet 
• Huge ISPs want per-GB payments from Netflix, YouTube 
• Netflix Performance on Top ISP Networks 
• iPad newsstand "The Daily" finally makes debut at 99 cents per week
• Digg Gets an Overhaul (again) 
• Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results 
• 4chan Founder Unleashes Canvas On The World 
• Canvas vs. 4chan 
• Web Running Out of Addresses 
• Watch Mark Zuckerberg's Awkward SNL Cameo

This week we're joined by previous guest Dragon*Con TV‘s Chris ‘Crispy’ Lloyd, as we discuss President Obama's recent State of the Union address, and in particular, its focus on the advancement of technology. We're then joined byLatinoReview.com's editor-in-chief, Kellvin Chavez, as he predicts who will win this year's Academy Awards; film editor Walter Murch's letter to Roger Ebert stating why 3D will never work in film; and recent casting choices for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Later, we discuss the hacking of Mark Zuckerberg's personal Facebook fan page; new security features coming to Facebook; Google CEO Eric Schmidt stepping down in place of co-founder Larry Page; Apple's plan to allow you to use your iPhone in place of a credit card; Google allowing users to port their mobile numbers to Google Voice, and Yahoo's bid to sell Delicious to Digg.com.

Video streaming by Ustream

Show links

• State of the Union 2011: Obama plays up technology's value
• The wrong kind of sharing: Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook page hacked
• Eric Schmidt Out As Google CEO, Larry Page Takes Over
• News Desk: Why Is Eric Schmidt Stepping Down at Google?
• Eric Schmidt expects another 10 years at Google
• Apple Plans Service That Lets IPhone Users Pay for Purchases With Handsets
• List of NFC phones
• Port your existing mobile number to Google Voice
• Kevin Rose: Yahoo Contacted Digg To See If We Wanted To Take Delicious

This week The Drill Down team reflects on Steve Jobs' announced medical leave from Apple and ponders the company's future without him, Apple posts record quarterly earnings, rounding up rumors on the iPad 2, the overthrow of a tyrant in Tunisia  facilitated by the internet, why you should always encrypt your smartphone, the government approves a Comcast-NBC Deal, Why John C. Dvorak doesn't use Facebook, a battle between H.264 and WebM codecs, NetFlix drops the 'Add to DVD queue' option from streaming devices, I Can Has Cheezburger raises $30M in funding, & 'The Social Network' wins the Golden Globes and causes its creators to reevaluate their opinion of Mark Zuckerberg.

Show Links

• Steve Jobs takes medical leave from Apple
• Steve Jobs went to Switzerland in search of cancer treatment
• Apple Shares Fall as Jobs Takes Medical Leave
• Record sales spur Apple to $26.74 billion in 1Q FY2011 revenues
• Pad 2 Rumor Roundup
• Tweeting tyrants out of Tunisia: the global Internet at its best
• Why you should always encrypt your smartphone
• Government Approves Comcast-NBC Deal
• Why I Don't Use Facebook
• Facebook Suspends Phone & Address Sharing Feature
• HTML Video Codec Support in Chrome
• Google's dropping H.264 from Chrome a step backward for openness
• Is the removal of H.264 from Chrome a step backward for openness?
• Google Clarifies Their H.264 Stance, Hands Keys Of Web Video’s Future Back To Flash
• Netflix spends 20 times more on postage than bandwidth
• Netflix Is Abandoning DVDs, Customers Who Prefer DVDs
• I Can Has Funding: Cheezburger Raises $30M For LOLcats, FAIL Blog And Other Memes
• Awards In Hand, The Social Network Filmmakers Heap Praise On Zuckerberg

This week we invite one of our most avid live show chat room members, Morebanter, to step behind the curtain and sit in on the tech roundtable. We discuss the premiere of Apple's iPhone (and the iPad) on Verizon's network, Myspace axes 47% of their staff, Twitter stands up to a government subpoena about Wikileaks, Apple's Mac App store opens, Skype acquires Qik, Groupon raises, like, a billion dollars, and Facebook's new Profile goes live to all users.

Show Links

• Verizon Gets the iPhone 4, Arriving February 10th From $199.99
• Verizon iPhone’s Impact on Google’s Android: How Bad?
• Verizon Will Sell IPad That Connects to Its Network
• MySpace Reduces Staff by 47%
• Bitterness, Anger And Betrayal At MySpace
• Twitter’s Response to WikiLeaks Subpoena Should Be the Industry Standard
• Apple's Mac App Store opens
• Mac App Store Downloads Top One Million in First Day
• Skype To Acquire Qik For ~$100 Million
• Groupon Raises, Like, A Billion Dollars
• The new Facebook profile is here

This week Andy, JD, and Tom discuss Goldman Sachs's Facebook offering, the vaporware of 2010, AT&T's 4G plans, FCC wants you to design a traffic-blocking detector, Reddit boasts 232% growth, Kevin Rose launches Foundat.io/n, the PS3 is cracked, Intel adds content protection to its CPUs, and Skype for the iPhone now features video teleconferencing.

[display_podcast]

Show Links

• Goldman Invests in Facebook at $50 Billion Valuation
• Why Facebook won’t go public
• What Everyone Seems to Miss In Facebook's Private or Public Debate...
• Facebook CFO explains Facebook to Goldman employees
• Vaporware 2010: The Great White Duke
• AT&T details 4G plans
• Net Neutrality? The FCC Hopes You'll Make an App For That ...
• Reddit Has Banner Year, Boasts 232% Traffic Growth
• Digg Founder Kevin Rose Launches Private Newsletter Called Foundation
• PS3: First ‘Custom Firmware’ now working!
• Skype for iPhone now with video calls

[display_podcast]

Show Links

• Top 10 tech stories of 2010
• The top 10 tech trends of 2010
• The 10 biggest tech 'fails' of 2010
• 10 best viral videos of 2010
• 10 biggest videogame stories of 2010
• The 20 Best Games of 2010
• The Best Gadgets of 2010
• 10 Best Social Mobile Apps of 2010
• 5 Trends in Social Media for 2011
• 10 Predictions for the News Media in 2011
• Tech predictions for 2011: The winners and losers

Intro music performed by Shane Stever

Outro music performed by Girl Talk

Show Links

• Skype downtime today 
• The FCC's weak new "open Internet" rules 
• Mark Zuckerberg - Person of the Year 2010 - TIME
• 16 Tycoons Agree to Give Away Fortunes 
• Former Yahoo Engineers Shed Light On Why Delicious And Other Acquisitions Failed 
• Gawker hackers release file with FTP, author & reader usernames/passwords  
• The Top 50 Gawker Media Passwords
• Your Apps are watching you
• Google Books Ngram viewer

This week The Drill Down crew (spontaneously joined again by blogger Amy Vernon) discuss updates to Google Chrome, including the introduction of the Chrome App Store and a test platform for ChromeOS, further developments in Cablegate, including the arrest of Julian Assange and subsequent response from Anonymous, Facebook’s overhauled profile pages, Samsung’s Android-powered Nexus S, Tumblr’s downtime woes, AT&T named worst carrier by Consumer Reports, Google’s eBookstore, Google’s search algo changes, and a sneak peek at Google’s “Facebook-killer”, Google+1

Show Links

• An update on Chrome, the Web Store and Chrome OS            
• What Google's New OS Looks Like            
• Google unveils Cr-48, the first Chrome OS laptop            
• Lieberman Introduces Anti-WikiLeaks Legislation            
• EveryDNS.net Terminates Wikileaks.org DNS Services, Wikileaks.ch Back Up in Switzerland    
• Swiss cut off bank account for WikiLeaks' Assange
• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested in Britain            
• Julian Assange: Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths ...
• Full Details On Facebook’s Overhauled Profile Pages            
• Victim Of Its Own Success: Tumblr Redefines The Concept Of “Back Shortly”    
• Nexus S Revealed: This is the Android Phone You've Been Waiting For        
• Consumer Reports: AT&T is the worst carrier
• Google launches eBookstore with choice of sellers and devices            
• Google's new algo spanks bad faith characters
• Looks Like “Google +1″ Was Just Accidentally Revealed

The holiday gift-giving season is upon us and The Drill Down crew wants to help, so we brought in gadget blogger (Sony social media team member) Sukhjit to help with her tech gift picks for the holidays and our picks as well (you can see our full lists here).

Later in the show, we tackle the hard tech news of the week, including a peering feud between Level 3 Communications and Comcast, Google's $5.3B offer for Groupon, Wikileaks release of 250 thousand US Embassy cables & the hunt for founder Julian Assange, Microsoft's TV service, Kinect's record-breaking sales, and iPad 2 rumors.

Show Links

• The Drill Down's Holiday Gift Guide 2010
• Black Friday Boasts $648 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago
• How Comcast became a toll-collecting, nuke-wielding hydra
• Google’s Groupon Offer: $5.3 Billion, With $700 Million Earnout
• Wikileaks: Secret US Embassy Cables
• United States diplomatic cables leak, by region
• WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Wants To Spill Your Corporate Secrets
• Microsoft in talks for new TV service
• Kinect is Selling 2X as Fast as the iPad
• Apple to add 5 new features to iPad 2, says paper
• Apple bans Android magazine app

This week, our guest is Greg Davies of Social Blend , Tardis Blend , and our very own The Round Up podcast.  Greg and Tom air their beefs (beeves?) toward webcomic artist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal. We discuss MySpace's Mashup With Facebook, Facebook's patent on the word "face", Diaspora* Alpha, Twitter's co-founder admits he "screwed up" with developers, Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs announce an iPad only newspaper, Oregon Senator Wyden effectively saves the internet, Netflix introduces a streaming-only subscription, Mac iOS 4.2, Google's Cloud Connect plugin for Microsoft Office, and Foursquare's new TSA badge.

Show Links

• MySpace mashup with Facebook
• Patent Office Agrees To Facebook’s “Face” Trademark
• Facebook Alternative Diaspora Releasing Private Alpha Invites
• Twitter "Screwed Up" With Developers, Founder Says
• Rupert Murdoch creates 'iNewspaper' - with the help of Steve Jobs
• Oregon Senator Wyden effectively kills Internet censorship bill
• Netflix intros $7.99 streaming-only plan, bumps DVD prices
• iOS 4.2 is Now LIVE in iTunes. Here’s What You Need To Know
• Google Launches Plugin That Fuses Microsoft Office With Google Docs
• Getting your “baggage” handled by the TSA? Yeah, there's a badge for that

This week we welcome web entrepreneur (and world record kitesurfer!) Tammy Camp as we discuss Facebook Messages, how to export your email contacts from Facebook, TSA rage, The Beatles on iTunes, 4Chan vs. Tumblr, Jason Calacanis on why he's suing Michael Arrington, XBox 360 owners hack the Kinect, Reddit's astonishing altruism, Google Voice for the iPhone, Twitter sells their raw data, and sex stats on Facebook users.

• Facebook: See the Messages that Matter
• How To Mass Export All Of Your Facebook Friends’ Private Email Addresses
• #IAmSpartacus campaign explodes on Twitter in support of airport joker
• Can the internet bring down the TSA’s new enhanced pat-down search, also known as “touch my junk”?
• How EMI's New CEO Helped Beatles Clear iTunes Hurdles
• 4chan Users Declare War on Tumblr
• 4chan Users Try to DDoS Tumblr, Tumblrs Raid 4chan in Revenge
• 4chan Users Declare War on Tumblr
• Why I’m suing Mike Arrington - Jason Calacanis
• Hacked Kinect used to manipulate images, more to come
• Reddit’s Astonishing Altruism
• 16 Months Later, Say Hello To Google Voice For The iPhone. It Was Worth The Wait.
• Twitter to Sell 50% of All Tweets for $360k/Year Through Gnip
• 11% Have Had Sex with Someone They Met on Facebook
• I don't like the TSA by Jonathan Mann
  
• 
  
• The New Web Series – What’s Our Name?

This week we discuss the Google/Facebook data portability war, the return of lists on Digg filtered by content type (and additional changes to their UI),  the debut of social browser Rockmelt, game theory to explain viral content on social news sites, Skype 5.0 beta for Mac, an alleged sexual assault on a Googler by a Twitter employee, Google instant previews, Google gives free in-flight wifi away for the holidays, installing Android on a jailbroken iPhone, Fox News blocks Google TV, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and an iPhone app that plays Flash video.

Show Links

• Google To Facebook: You Can’t Import Our User Data Without Reciprocity
• Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data
• Facebook/Google Slap Fight: “Openness Doesn’t Mean Being Open When It’s Convenient”
• Give Us Our Data, Facebook
• Pics or it didn't happen
• Behold RockMelt, Browser For The Social Set: Tech News
• Game theory explains why some content goes viral on Reddit, Digg
• Skype 5.0 Beta for Mac OS X
• Googler Accuses Twitter Engineer of Sexual Assault on Her Blog
• Google Launches Instant Previews
• Happy holidays from Google Chrome: free holiday Wi-Fi at 30,000 feet
• Install Android 2.2.1 Froyo On iPhone Using Bootlace in Cydia
• Fox.com now blocking Google TV devices
• Google TV Product Lead: “We’re Not Trying To Replace Cable”
• Call of Duty: Black Ops TV Commercial: "There's A Soldier In All Of Us"
  

• Skyfire for iPhone Earns Nearly $1 Million Its First Week

Show Links

• Deals, updated mobile apps, new single log-in come to Facebook
• Facebook Buys, Kills Drop.io
• FARK.com: Blog (Drew): Jon Stewart to Reddit: you don't matter
• Reddit Is Not Mad at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, Reddit Says
• Promoted Tweets: Testing in the Timeline
• At My Wit’s End: Jason Calacanis Threatens To Sue Us
• Reddit Chief Takes Flight To Hipmunk, Explains Why He’s Leaving Now
• And like that, poof. He's gone.
• The Real Reason White iPhone 4 Is Delayed (Hint: The Camera)
• iPhone 5 Will Enable Ambitious Remote Computing Program
• Digg Unburies the Bury Button
• Google settles in class action lawsuit over Buzz launch

[display_podcast]

Show Links

• Sears goes Zombie
• Did Digg game its own system to benefit publisher partners?
• Info on site changes and test accounts
• In Response to The Digg Blog Post
• Mass Firings At Digg
• Wikileaks releases "the secret history" of the Iraq War, as told by its soldiers
• Is Facebook Outing Gay Users to Advertisers?
• Networks Block Web Programs From Being Viewed on Google TV
• A Tour Of How Networks Have Blocked Google TV
• The PlayStation Phone

This week Mu, Tom and Andy discuss Apple's new iLife, OSX Lion, and MacBook Air offerings, Steve Jobs' uncharacteristic 4Q phone call to investors, additional privacy concerns at Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg on 'The Social Network', Ray Ozzie leaves Microsoft's Chief Architect post, Wikileaks' funding is frozen, and Starbucks opens an in-store community portal.

Show Links

• Live from Apple's 'Back to the Mac' event

• Steve Jobs conference call with analysts following Apple's announcement of record earnings

• Apple Posts Surge in Sales and Profit, but Margins Slip

• Facebook in Online Privacy Breach; Applications Transmitting Identifying Information

• Did the Wall Street Journal Overreact to Facebook Privacy ‘Breach’?

• Facebook Co-Founder Speaks Publicly: What I Learned From Watching “The Social Network”

• Ray Ozzie leaving post as Microsoft's chief software architect

• WikiLeaks says funding has been blocked after government blacklisting

• First Look: Starbucks Digital Network Is Here

This week, Tom and Andy discuss Digg's BP ad and its new CEO, the debut of Windows Phone 7, the effectiveness of twitter on social activism. Driverless Google cars, cracking glass on the iPhone 4, the popularity of smartphone apps, and Facebook loves Bing.

Show links

• Digg Removes BP America Sponsored Submmission From Front Page
• Digg: Greetings from the new CEO
• Microsoft announces ten Windows Phone 7 handsets for 30 countries
• Why the revolution will not be tweeted - by Malcolm Gladwell
• Twitter Founders: Gladwell Got It Wrong
• Official Google Blog: What we’re driving at
• Apple Will Take A Pass On 4G Networks For The iPhone In 2011— Sorry Verizon and AT&T
• With Antennagate over, is Glassgate next for the iPhone 4?
• iPhone 4 glass breaking 82% more than iPhone 3gs - four months in
• iPhone apps now more popular than major TV shows and sports broadcasts

This week, we look at Facebook's new Groups and Download features, Twitter's new CEO, CNN's Rick Sanchez vs. Jon Stewart, Apple hit with $625.5 Million patent violation, Android moves ahead, Apple preps an iPhone for Verizon, Google TV gets more real, Goo.gl gets a website, an alternative to JPEG, Google goggles comes to the iPhone, and Search terms Google Instant doesn't want you to see.

Show Links

• Groups Tool, Download Your Information Feature, And New Dashboard Design Unveiled At Facebook Event
• Why Dick Costolo Is Now CEO Of Twitter: It's Time To Make A LOT Of Money
• Rick Sanchez Calls Jon Stewart “A Bigot”; Says CNN Is Run By Jews
• CNN's Social Media Pioneer Gets Fired: What Happens to Rick Sanchez on Twitter?
• Apple Challenges $625.5 Million Mirror Worlds Verdict
• Android Most Popular Operating System in U.S. Among Recent Smartphone Buyers
• Apple Making Verizon-Ready iPhone by Year End
• Google TV gets more real: Content partnerships and more apps announced
• Google URL Shortener Gets a Website
• Google offers JPEG alternative for faster Web
• Google Goggles now available on iPhone in Google Mobile App
• Search Terms Google Instant doesn't want you to see

Too soon?

This week we're joined by Brian Howard, editor for The Daily Green as we discuss Digg's decline, Blockbuster files for bankruptcy, Facebook founder's new fortune, AOL acquires TechCrunch, and Google Voice is finally coming to the iPhone.

Show Links

• Digg Redesign Tanks: Traffic Down 26% (Updated With New Reddit Stats)
• Blockbuster Files for Bankruptcy
• Everything You Really Need To Know About Blockbuster's Bankruptcy
• What We'll Lose When We Lose Blockbuster
• Mark Zuckerberg now richer than Steve Jobs
  
• AOL: We Got TechCrunch!
• Why We Sold TechCrunch To AOL, And Where We Go From Here
• Apple Has Already Approved The Official Google Voice App For iPhone, Expect It Soon

Show Links

• What Digg Must Do to Survive
• 4chan DDoS Takes Down MPAA and Anti-Piracy Websites
• RIAA Goes Offline, Joins MPAA As Latest Victim Of Successful DDoS Attacks
• Google Transparency Report shows where its content is blocked
• Steve Jobs In Email Pissing Match with College Journalism Student
• The Twitter hack: how it started and how it worked
• The Real Story Behind The Social Network, The Facebook Movie
• Sex! Hackers! Embellishment! The Inside Story of the Facebook Movie
• The Social Network Soundtrack 5 song EP free
• Facebook Is Secretly Building A Phone
• Anatomy Of A PR Spin (AKA How To Lie Like A Pro)
• So A Blogger Walks Into A Bar…

Show Links

• Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg opens up
• The New Yorker's Mark Zuckerberg profile: 7 key revelations
• FarmVillains - Steal someone else's game. Change its name. Make millions. Repeat.
• The Secret Dealer for Farmville Addicts
• Meet the new Twitter.com
• YouTube begins trial of new live streaming platform
• Censorship Stays as iPhone App Development Rules "Relax"
• Claimed HDCP master key leak could be fatal to DRM scheme

This week The Drill Down team explore Google Instant, craigslist's censorship of their adult services listings; a slew of new Apple releases, including Ping, a music discovery service for iTunes, and AppleTV; Paul Allen unleashes patent troll hell upon Silicon Valley; Netflix for the iTunes; Google's Gmail linked phone service and Priority Inbox; China's "character amnesia"; and the Duke is back from the dead!

[display_podcast]




Show Links

• Google Instant
• Craigslist Censored: Adult Section Comes Down
• How Censoring Craigslist Helps Pimps, Child Traffickers and Other Abusive Scumbags
• Everything Apple Announced Today In One Handy List
• Can Ping be saved?
• Apple releases iOS 4.1 with Bluetooth, proximity sensor fixes
• Paul Allen Sues Apple, Google, Others Over Patents
• Netflix Arrives on iPhone, and Doesn’t Disappoint
• Google Launches Priority Inbox to Help You Fight Email Overload
• China's wired youth forget how to write
• Controversial ‘Duke Nukem Forever’ Will Finally Be Released

• reddit needs help [Reddit Gold]
  
• In protest, Reddit rolls its own pot ads
  
• I Can Haz Cheezburger CEO offers to buy Reddit – it is for realz
  
• Reddit’s Co-Founder Responds to Cheezburger Founder’s Acquisition Approach
  
• Digg Users Lash Out At New Format, Join Forces with Reddit
  
• Digg: The Broken Covenant (aka Selling Out to “The Man”)
  
• Kevin Rose - blogg - Digg v4: release, iterate, repeat.
  
• Kevin Rose's welcome letter for Matt Williams, Digg's new CEO
  
• Reddit considers itself a benefactor of Digg user revolt
  
• Dear entire mainstream media: Please stop referring to reddit as "small".
  

Chris 'Crispy' Lloyd of Dragon*Con TV

This week, The Drill Down Crew welcome Dragon*Con TV 's Chris 'Crispy' Lloyd, who talks about his upcoming involvement in Dragon*Con, and shares with us his latest video, Vaderex . Later we discuss Leo Laporte's cautionary disenchantment with social media, accusations of rape leveled against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Intel's recent purchase of McAfee, reactions to the new Digg version 4, Portal 2's release date (and cast!), and the most inspired viral marketing stunt since Old Spice on YouTube.

Discussion of Digg v4 on audio begins at appx 38 min.

• Vaderex @ Dragon*ConTV
  

• Stormtroopers Gone Wild! (dragoncontv.com)
  

• Leo Laporte: Buzz Kill
  
• Social Me Me Me Me Me Media
  
• WikiLeaks: We were warned to expect "dirty tricks"...
  
• WikiLeaks founder suspected of rape
  
• Lawyer for alleged victims in Assange case denies Pentagon involvement
  
• New Version of Digg Goes Live For Everyone This Morning
  

• Portal 2 Dated, Gets Stephen Merchant on Cast
  

• The Last Exorcism - BEST OF Chatroulette reactions
  

This week, the crew tackles Chris Anderson & Michael Wolff's incendiary piece in Wired, " The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet ". We also discuss Facebook's new Places geolocation feature, AT&T's take on Google/Verizon's Net Neutrality proposal, a recent poll that shows a third of AT&T's users would switch to Verizon if the iPhone were available there, Hulu's potential IPO listing, Sony Ericsson's upcoming new PSP-like Android phone, Twitter's new "followed by" lists, advertisers' frustration with Apple's tight control of iAds, and...do iPhone users have more sex?

Show Links

• The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet
• Is the web really dead?
• The Tragic Death of Practically Everything
• Facebook Places Location-Based Service Review
• No Shock: AT&T Backs Different Rules for Wireless in Net Neutrality
• 1 in 3 AT&T iPhone customers will ditch for Verizon variant
• Hulu Is Said to Be Ready for an I.P.O.
• Hulu Is Not Ready To Go Public
• Sony Ericsson to introduce Android 3.0 gaming platform and PSP Go-like smartphone
• New Features from Twitter Just Appeared: TLists & Also Followed By
• Steve Jobs Seizes Control of Advertisements, Don Draper Style
• iPhone users have more sex

This week the Drill Down team welcome Ole Ole Olson, aka Digg user Novenator, lead investigator of the Digg Patriots conspiracy scandal. He breaks down his investigation and fields questions from the TDD audience. Later we discuss Skype's IPO offering, Google and Verizon's proposal for Net Neutrality, HP's CEO Mark Hurd leaves amidst alleged sexual harassment claims, Twitter launches tweet buttons, and 4Chan's founder explains the finer points of the site to a federal court.

Show Links

• Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered
• Digg investigates claims of conservative 'censorship'
• Skype Files for IPO
• Google & Verizon Propose Enforceable Net Neutrality
• Verizon and Google’s Net Neutrality Agreement Explained: What Does it Mean to You?
• Here’s The Real Google/Verizon Story: A Tale of Two Internets
• Google-Verizon Pact: It Gets Worse
• Google CEO Schmidt: No Anonymity Is The Future Of Web
• A paper trail of betrayal: Google's net neutrality collapse
• HP's Mark Hurd resigns amid sexual harassment investigation
• Twitter Launching Official Tweet Buttons This Week
• 4chan Founder Tries To Explain 'B-Tard' To Federal Prosecutors

This week we're happy to have as our guest video producer and creator of Bottles, Blends and Brews podcast Zack Luye.  Zack shares his experience in creating BBB and the most unusual beverages he's ever had. Later we discuss Nielsen's report on how we're spending time online, Disney gets into the casual games space with purchase of Playdom, Android sales overtake iPhone sales in the U.S., Saudi Arabia bans Blackberries, college students gain higher awareness of privacy on Facebook, YouTube expands upload time to 15 minutes, and RIP, Google Wave.

Show Links

• BED INTRUDER SONG!!!
• What Americans Do Online: Social Media And Games Dominate Activity
• Disney Buys Playdom For Up To $763.2 Million
• Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.
• It's official: Saudi Arabia bans BlackBerries
• Who Cares About Facebook Privacy? Students Do
• Official Google Blog: Update on Google Wave --It's Dead
• YouTube Blog: Upload limit increases to 15 minutes for all users

This week The Drill Down crew enlist the help of Latino Review.com's Kellvin Chavez as we review the best (and worst) of San Diego's Comic-Con International 2010. Later we assess the impact of WikiLeaks' Afghan War report on the state of internet and mainstream journalism, A contract that calls Facebook's ownership (and its 500 Million users) in question, how a 15-year-old kid tricked Apple with a disguised iPhone tethering app, iPhone jailbreaking now considered fair use, Apple's Magic Trackpad, the end of internet addresses, and the Flipboard phenomenon.

Show Links

• Comic-Con Reports at Geeks of Doom by Tom Cheredar
• Comic-Con Reports at Geeks of Doom by Andrew Sorcini
• Latino Review's Comic-Con 2010 coverage
• Afghanistan war logs: Story behind biggest leak in intelligence history 
• Facebook hits 500-million users, but many of them are frustrated 
• Facebook: Actually Owned by Wood Pellet Businessman?  
• Analyzing The Facebook Contract: Is Mark Zuckerberg Screwed?
• Facebook: Contract Giving Up Ownership Was 'Forged'
• How a 15-yo Kid Tricked Apple With a Disguised iPhone Tethering App 
• Apple loses big in DRM ruling: jailbreaks are "fair use" 
• Less Than 1 Year Until The Internet Runs Out of Addresses 
• Apple Magic Trackpad first hands-on 
• Flipboard for iPad: Part revolution, part ridiculous

This week JD, Mu and Andy discuss Steve Jobs' make-good for Apple iPhone 4 owners, rival cell manufacturers snap back over Jobs' 'death-grip' claims, NYT attacks Google, The Times loses 90% readership after paywall, is the RIAA's business model worth it?, Arrested Development is coming to the big screen, and Inception twists our minds.

Show Links

• iPhone 4 signal bar software fix now out
• Live from Apple's iPhone 4 press conference
• Steve Jobs: free iPhone 4 bumpers for everyone
• Rivals Hit Back at Apple Over iPhone 4 'Death Grip' Claims
• The New York Times Goes Nuts, Says The Government Should Regulate Google's Search Algorithm
• Rupert Murdoch's London Times loses almost 90% of online readership after paywall goes up
• RIAA paid its lawyers more than $16,000,000 in 2008 to recover only $391,000
• 'Arrested Development' Movie Is Definitely Happening, Say Will Arnett and Mitch Hurwitz
• 'Inception' takes No. 1 spot at box office

Show Links

• Why Consumer Reports can't recommend the iPhone 4
• Apple deleting mentions of Consumer Reports' iPhone 4 piece on forums
• PR Experts: iPhone 4 Hardware Recall Is “Inevitable”
• Blizzard’s RealID reveals your real name
• Blizzard retracts: Real names will not be required on official Blizzard forums
• Viral Done Right: The Hyper-Personal 'Old Spice Man'

• Skype Blocks, Threatens To Sue Fring (Update: Skype Says Fring Is Lying)
• Boom! Foursquare Crosses 2 Million Users
• The Pirate Bay Hacked, Attackers Gain Access To Entire User Database
• What's bigger than 1080p? 4K video comes to YouTube
• YouTube Announces Partner Grant Program
• Reddit Solicits Donations to Keep Site Afloat
• Google Secretly Invested $100+ Million In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games
• Marvel To Ed Norton: Sorry But You're Kind Of A Jerk

JD, Tom and Andy talk about Apple's official answer to their iPhone antenna issues (and why it ultimately won't work), Apple's App store is hacked, Finland mandates broadband for everyone, Amazon buys Woot! (and they in turn thumb their nose at the AP), Justin Bieber is pranked (twice), Ebert doesn't apologize (but does concede), and Eclipse is a killer.

Show Links

• Apple: iPhone 4 Reception Problem Is Explained by "Incorrect Signal Display"
• Why Apple's iPhone 4 Update Won't Fix Your Reception Problem
• App Store, Hacked. (Updated: iTunes Accounts too.)
• Apple responds To iTunes hacking Reports. Confirms “fraudulent purchase patterns”
• Finland first to make broadband a 'legal right'
• Obama Wants to Free up 500MHz of Spectrum
• With Woot Deal, Amazon Expands Its Inventory
• Woot To The AP: Nice Story About Our Sale — You Now Owe Us $17.50
• AP Not Amused By The Woot Story, Tries To Play The Oil Spill Card
• YouTube Hacked, Justin Bieber Videos Targeted.
• Prank leaves Justin Bieber facing tour of North Korea
• Ebert: 'I should never have said video games can't be art'
• Man dead after Twilight screening

The Drill Down team discuss the rapid death of Microsoft Kin, Google wins landmark judgement against Viacom, .XXX gets its own domain, the new Digg V4 alpha, Steve Jobs tells users they're "holding it wrong", Google flicks its Android 'killswitch', Google's rumored 'Facebook-killer', Hulu Plus, and...Wonder Woman changes her costume.

Show Links

• Microsoft Kin is dead
• Google beats Viacom!
• What Viacom's loss to YouTube means for Hollywood
• XXX Domain Is Nigh, And the Net Is Sadly Better for It
• The New Digg Version 4.0 Alpha, reviewed
• Apple responds to iPhone 4 reception issues: you're holding the phone the wrong way
• "Holding it wrong"
• Steve Jobs on iPhone 4 Signal Issue: 'Stay Tuned.'
• Unveiling Wonder Woman’s new costume, direction
• Google flexes biceps, flicks Android remote kill switch for the first time
• Introducing Hulu Plus

The Drill Down crew are joined by Devindra Hardawar (of VentureBeat and his own Symbiotek Podcast) to discuss the proposed bill to allow the President to shut off the internet, record breaking pre-orders for the iPhone4, iPhone reception problems, record breaking iPad sales (and the effect that's had on the Kindle), Google Voice for everyone, "Piracy is Theft," says VP Joe Biden, and Jimmy Kimmel proves the show must go on!

Show Links

• Senators propose granting president emergency Internet power
• Apple calls iPhone 4 pre-order demand largest ever
• AT&T Randomly Cancelling iPhone 4 Pre-Orders?
• iPhone 4 Loses Reception When You Hold It By The Antenna Band?
• Apple sells 3 million iPads in first 80 days
• Amazon Forced To Slash Kindle Price To $189
• ‘Piracy Is Theft, Clean and Simple’ US Vice President Says
• Google Voice for everyone!
• DC Comics Apps For Apple’s iOS4 And PlayStation
• No Power? No Problem: ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Relies on a Webcam

This week, JD and Tom fly solo (duo?) as they discuss Google's Bing imitation, Post-suicide wage increases at Foxconn, World Cup Fever, Microsoft Kinect, Portal 2, Free WiFi at Starbucks, and Kevin Rose's post-Diggnation plans.

Show Links

• Customize Google Search page with images
• Google Kills Its Homepage Background Image Experiment Early
• Foxconn to up wages again at suicide-hit China plant
• World Cup Fever: Internet Has Busiest News Day as Tabulated by Akamai
• Free WiFi Coming To All U.S. Starbucks Stores Beginning July 1
• Twitter Places: More Context For Your Tweets
• Microsoft Kinect gets official, Video Chat announced
• Valve: Portal 2 Coming to PC, PS3
• Macs running Steam are more powerful than PCs, on average
• Kevin Rose To Leave Diggnation
• Kevin Rose Announces fforward, A Weekly Tech/Geek Culture Show

The Drill Down team discusses Apple's iPhone 4, an iPad security breach, AT & T's new data pricing, Mark Zuckerberg's 'Nixon moment', China blocks Foursquare, RIAA vs. Limewire, the inaccuracy of Wikipedia, Skype's five million downloads, and Team Fortress 2 for the Mac.

Show Links

• iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat
• iPhone 4 vs. the smartphone elite: EVO 4G, N8, Pre Plus, and HD2
• Apple's Worst Security Breach: 114,000 iPad Owners Exposed
• AT&T iPhone Tethering: An Extra $20/Month—If You Abandon Unlimited Data
• Say Goodbye to AT&T's Unlimited Data Plan For The iPad 3G
• AT&T's new DataPlus and DataPro plans ripping customers off?
• How Much Video Can You Actually Stream With AT&T’s New Data Plans?
• AT&T warns customer that emailing the CEO will result in a cease and desist letter
• China Blocks Foursquare After Users Check in to Tiananmen Square
• Facebook's Zuckerberg has Nixon moment
• Apple's HTML5 Showcase Isn't HTML5, Blocks Other Browsers
• Intellectual honesty and html5
• Yeah, It’s Popular: Five Million Skype 3G iPhone App Downloads In Four Days
• Recording Industry Says LimeWire on Hook for $1 Billion
• Study: Wikipedia Accurate But Poorly Written
• Team Fortress 2 for the Mac
  
• Digg’s Looking For A New CEO

IOGEAR has an exclusive deal for listeners of The Drill Down: Discounts via rebate on many of IOGEAR's popular devices, including a $20 rebate on the IOGEAR Wireless Audio/Video kit. Go to http://go.iogear.com/drilldown/ for details.

The Drill Down team (including new permanent co-host Tom Cheredar) debut on their new day and time (Wednesdays, 6:30 pm Pacific), with a slew of stories covering Facebook's official response to privacy criticisms, the first human infected with a computer virus, a new Apple TV, Tim & NBC/Universal refuse the move to HTML5, the tragic cost of Pac-Man, Half-Life 2 for the Mac, Steve Jobs speaks out, and Digg's upcoming new version 4.

Show Links

• Mark Zuckerberg - From Facebook, answering privacy concerns with new settings 
• Facebook Blog | Making Control Simple 
• The Half Truths of Mark Zuckerberg 
• First human 'infected with computer virus' 
• Apple Passes Microsoft as World’s Largest Tech Company 
• The next Apple TV revealed: cloud storage and iPhone OS on tap... and a $99 price tag 
• Time Warner, NBC Universal back Adobe's Flash vs. Apple 
• Apple CEO Steve Jobs | D8 Conference
  
• The Tragic Cost of Google Pac-Man – 4.82 million hours 
• Firefox Home Coming Soon to the iPhone 
• Half-Life 2 Now Available on Steam

• Exclusive Video And Screenshots Of Digg Version 4 
• An open letter to Kevin Rose (from Alexis Ohanian, co-founder, Reddit) 
• Guy Who Copied Digg Slams Digg For Copying Twitter 
• Are we still talking about this? [response to Michael Arrington]

Show links

• How I Got Famous on the Internetz: David After Dentist, Keyboard Cat, Mahir, Alexey Vayner and More at ROFLCon
• Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy Loophole
• snoopFacebook - Connect and share whether you like it or not
• How your office copier is spying on you in an unbelievable way
• The Pirate Bay Goes Down Following Legal Pressure (and back up again)
• After 3+ Years, Alex Payne Quits Twitter To Create “A Bank That Doesn’t Suck”
• Announcing Google TV: TV meets web. Web meets TV.
• Search more securely with encrypted Google web search
• Official Google Blog: Celebrating PAC-MAN’s 30th birthday
• Google Pac-Man
• 'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists
• Super Mario Galaxy 2: Inside the Reviews
• Red Dead Redemption: Inside the Reviews

This week, the Drill Down team are joined again by guest host Geeks Of Doom columnist Tom Cheredar to discuss Facebook's official response to privacy criticisms, a Twitter bug, another leaked iPhone 4G, Adobe ♥s Apple, Digg's pesky user problem, Hurt Locker sues, Heroes is canceled, Steam for the Mac, and heaven help us...4Chan 2?!

Show links

• "Kill Your Facebook Page" Backlash Gains Speed
• The Price of Facebook Privacy? Start Clicking
• Facebook Executive Answers Reader Questions
• Diaspora: The Student-Made, Privacy-Respecting Facebook Alternative
• How to Sneak a Dirty Joke Into the New York Times
• The Real Story Behind Twitter's Ridiculous Follow Bug
• 4th-Gen iPhone ‘Found’ in Vietnam, Contains A4 iPad Chip
• New Adobe ad campaign shows Apple some tough love
• Steve Jobs Offers World 'Freedom From Porn'
• Report: Apple developing a Flash alternative
• Digg’s Biggest Problem Is Its Users And Their Constant Opinions On Things
• Hurt Locker Makers To Sue Thousands of BitTorrent Users
• God help us all, here comes 4chan 2
• Real Gaming for Macs Is Finally Here With Steam

• NBC Cancels ‘Heroes’ As A Series But Plans Finale Event In Midseason
• TV Series Renewal scorecard: What's in? What's Out? What's in limbo?

This week, JD & Andy are joined again by guest host Geeks Of Doom columnist Tom Cheredar to discuss Apple seizing Gizmodo's computers, HP purchasing Palm, why Steve Jobs hates Flash,  Apple's potential antitrust suit, the end of Lala.com, and AT&T's service woes. We're joined by Social Blade co-host Erin Ryan to discuss Facebook's continuing privacy issues, Digg's layoffs, Conan O'Brian breaking silence, and why we should hate 3D movies.

Show links

• Flooding in Tennessee - The Big Picture
• The Community Foundation : Flood Relief
• American Red Cross: Flood Relief
• The Drill Down 134 – Live from ROFLCon 2010
• HP and Palm: what happens next
• The real reason why Steve Jobs hates Flash
• The State Of Web Development Ripped Apart In 25 Tweets By One Man
• Apple may face antitrust scrutiny for FTC, Justice
• Apple To Shut Down Lala On May 31, iTunes.com Launch Impending?
• Apple extended AT&T’s iPhone contract until 2011 in exchange for cheap iPad 3G data plan
• AT&T has most dropped calls, Verizon has least says study
• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Doesn’t Believe In Privacy
• Facebook's new features secretly add apps to your profile
• Facebook bug exposes private chats
• Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook
• Understanding Facebook's privacy aftershocks
• Facebook’s Gone Rogue; It’s Time for an Open Alternative
• Speed test: Google Chrome beats Firefox, IE, Safari

• Google Search Gets a Major Overhaul [PICS]
• What Bit.ly Knows About The Realtime Web
• The following email was sent to Digg employees
• What’s the Average Digg User Like?
• Court OKs Unmasking Identities of Copyright Scofflaws
• FCC Lets Hollywood Turn Off Your Output Jacks
• Conan Breaks Silence on "Tonight Show," NBC Exit
• Roger Ebert: Why I Hate 3-D Movies (& you should too)

Artwork by Dan Lacey for ROFLCon 2010

This week Muhammad Saleem and Andrew Sorcini are joined by 'Bacon Queen' Amy Vernon as they report live from ROFLCon 2010, the premier celebration of Internet pop culture. We interview Christina Xu and Tim Hwang, the ROFLCon founders; Brad O'Farrell, the creator of  'Play him off, Keyboard Cat'; Ben Huh, founder of the Cheezeburger Network (home to I Can Has Cheezburger?); and m00t, the enigmatic founder of 4Chan.org.

Here's an interview with Mahir Cagri, perhaps one of the internet's first memetic celebrities. Famous for his catchphrase, "I kiss you!", and arguably the basis for comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat character, the ebullient Turk was gracious enough to sit for a few questions.

We also spoke with Pete Hottelet, founder of Omni Consumer Products, whose mission is to 'defictionalize' fictional products from motion pictures and TV shows such as 'Idiocracy', 'True Blood', 'Anchorman', and 'Ghostbusters'.

Interviews were recorded under less than ideal sound conditions in live environments and we apologize for the sound quality.

Show Links

• ROFLCon Homepage
  
• LIVEBLOG: The Secret Masters of Digg @ ROFLCon
  
• LIVEBLOG: The Future of the World Weird Web @ ROFLCon
  
• Makmende (Wikipedia)
  

This week, we're joined once again by Geeks Of Doom columnist Tom Cheredar as we discuss perhaps the biggest tech mishap of the decade, the loss (and subsequent finding of Apple's next iPhone prototype. Later, Facebook wants you to 'Like' everything on the net, Hulu charges, Hitler disappears, South Park bleeps...and we couldn't live without all of it.

Show Links

• Why the Library of Congress cares about archiving our tweets
• This Is Apple's Next iPhone
• How Apple Lost the Next iPhone
• Gizmodo and the Prototype iPhone
• Steve Wozniak On Apple Security, Employee Termination, and Gray Powell
• Two prototype iPod touches with cameras show up on eBay
• On Adobe, Flash CS5 and iPhone Applications
• Facebook's Future: Less Privacy with Open Graph
• How Facebook will win the Internet and why that scares the shit out of me
• Students Addicted to Social Media
• Hulu pushes forward with $9.95 subscription service
• Attack on Hitler parodies now newest front in copyright wars
• 'South Park' airs 'censored' episode after threat

Untitled, Maurizio Cattelan - photo by Jim Linwood

The Drill Down crew rail against the Establishment this week as we question the usefulness of the RIAA/MPAA, piracy reports, television and Roger Ebert. We also look at the end of Ning's free service, an update to Google Docs, Twitter's acquisition of Tweetie and their acceptance into the Library of Congress, and Is Android Evil?
Show Links

• Twitter Unveils Ad-Supported Business Model
• Twitter acquires Tweetie
• Tweets to be preserved by Library of Congress
• Is Android Evil?
• Google Developing Tablet to Take on iPad
• The next generation of Google Docs
• The RIAA and MPAA Have Failed To Understand A Cultural Shift
• US government finally admits most piracy estimates are bogus
• An Update from Ning
• Estimate: 800,000 U.S. Households Abandoned Their TVs For The Web
• Conan O'Brien coming to TBS
• Video games can never be art - Roger Ebert

This week we're pleased to have as our guest Neil Pasricha, creator of 1000AwesomeThings.com and author of the new book, " The Book of Awesome ". We discuss the creation of the site and its subsequent public reaction, the genesis of his book deal, and his own personal favorite awesome thing.

Later in the show we discuss Wikileaks latest leak, Digg's CEO Jay Adelson leaves the company for greener pastures, Digg ditches the DiggBar, Apple unveils iPhone OS 4.0 (and pisses off app coders in the process), and native 3D movies vs. post-processed 3D.

Show Links

• 1000AwesomeThings.com
• LA Earthquake 2010 (VIDEO): Amateur Footage As Tremors Rock Southern California
• WikiLeaks releases classified US military video depicting slaying of over a dozen people in New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff.
• Digg App for the Android is now available!
• Kevin Rose to Replace Jay Adelson as Digg CEO
• Digg’s Kevin Rose: “One Of Us Has To Leave”
• Digg: The Digg iFrame Toolbar is Dead Unbanning Domains
• The iPad: Amazon's Secret Weapon
• iPhone OS 4.0: All the New Features

© Dale Stephanos

This week TDD regulars JD Rucker and Andrew Sorcini are joined by The Bacon Queen herself, blogger extraordinaire Amy Vernon, as we discuss the release of Apple’s iPad and the  impact it will have on consumers, developers, publishers, and authors. We’re joined in the discussion by Slashfilmcast host (and new iPad owner) David Chen. Later we discuss April Fool’s Day on the web, a campaign by independent film producers to sue thousands of illegal downloaders, and the end (and legacy) of Fox’s ‘24′.

Show Links

• An estimated 700,000 iPads bought on day one — plus a Steve Jobs sighting in Palo Alto
• iPad app pricing: A last act of insanity by delusional content companies
• The End of History (Books)
• Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either)
• April Fools 2010: The Definitive List
• New litigation campaign quietly targets tens of thousands of movie downloaders
• Extortion-Like Mass Automated Copyright Lawsuits Come To The US: 20,000 Filed, 30,000 More On The Way
• Kiefer Sutherland’s 24 cancelled

This week The Drill Down team discusses Google’s exit from mainland China, Digg’s iPhone app and publisher buttons, does Facebook cause syphillis, Wikileaks vs. the U.S. Government, three strikes for copyright scofflaws, Photoshop 5 magic, ticket prices on the rise, and a Chatroulette without dicks.

photo by Tyler Love

Show Links

This week we welcome back Tom Cheredar as guest host on this mega-sized edition of The Drill Down as we discuss Apple's first-day iPad sales, Apple's patent suits against HTC, Android's market share rise vs. the iPhone, is Adblocking killing your site, the true story behind the founding of Facebook, Facebook Pages, the internet as a fundamental right, Cisco's game-changing new router, Oscar highlights, Conan O'Brian follows one Twitterer, Corey Haim passes away, DRM crippling legitimate software licensees, Steam comes to Mac, Valve announces Portal 2, the Playstation Move controller, and Digg's Jay Adelson announces radical new changes to the site, and we invite Digg 'power user' LtGenPanda to discuss those changes.


Show Links

Apple Sells 90,000 iPads in the First Day?
Apple admits using child labor at the factories that build its computers, iPods and mobile phones
Apple Files Lawsuit Against HTC For Infringing On 20 iPhone Patents
Android marketshare growing, iPhone shrinking, says Quantcast
Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love
Don't Blame Your Community: Ad Blocking Is Not Killing Any Sites
At Last -- The Full Story Of How Facebook Was Founded
How Mark Zuckerberg Hacked Into Rival ConnectU In 2004
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg Broke Into A Facebook User's Private Email Account
Facebook To Announce Plans To Take Over The Internet With Facebook Pages
Four in five globally believe Web access a fundamental right
Cisco Introduces Foundation for Next-Generation Internet: The Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System
Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win an Oscar for best director
Ben Stiller presents an Oscar as a Na'vi
Conan O'Brien's Twitter stunt turns tear-jerker
Corey Haim Found Dead
I Bought a CD, not a Licensing Agreement
Ubisoft DRM Authentication Servers Go Down
Ubisoft's Uber DRM Cracked Within a Day
Valve's Gabe Newell shares his thoughts on DRM
Valve Brings Hit Games, Steam Service to Mac
Valve announces Portal 2 (via an in-game ARG)
Valve's Portal Puzzle So Far: The Files Recovered From Aperture Science
Sony Motion Controller is Called PlayStation Move, Launches Fall 2010 (Hands On!)
Mental Math: The PlayStation Move Experience Is Going to Be Expensive
New Version of Digg Revealed
Digg's upcoming changes give more power to publishers, less power to top users

This week Andy and Mu welcome Khayyam Wakil , a promoter, brand designer and self-proclaimed social media hustler. We discuss social media tools for disasters, Facebook’s patent of the feed, the Dalai Lama joins twitter, Apple bans sexy apps, Ubisoft’s annoying DRM, 1080p vs 720p, Conan O’Brien’s on the road, and places you don’t want to update Foursquare.

Show Links

• Google Launches Chile Earthquake Person Finder
• Time Spent on Social Networks up 82% Around the World
• Facebook Just Patented The Feed – What Does That Mean For Everyone That Uses Them?
• The Dalai Lama Just Joined Twitter
• Conan O’Brien to tour Live and Onstage!
• Apple removes over 5000 “sexually inappropriate” apps from iPhone app store
• Viral growth trumps lots of faux followers
• RIP, Rickrolling: YouTube Kills Original Video
• Google execs convicted for Italy autism video
• U.S. Pinpoints Coder Behind Google Attack
• Broken By Design: Ubisoft’s New DRM Scheme, Their Worst Misstep Yet
• Personal Branding R.I.P.
• Real World Test: Does 1080p Truly Matter?
• Places Where You Don’t Want To Update Foursquare

"No, I'm not a pessimist. At some point the world shits on everybody. Pretending it ain't shit makes you an idiot, not an optimist."

NOTE: Due to technical issues during recording, Audio volume levels may be inconsistent. We apologize for the inconvenience.

This week The Drill Down crew welcomes social media/tech/comic geek and Geeks of Doom columnist Tom Cheredar as our guest co-host as we discuss Kevin Smith using social media status as a bully pulpit, Windows new smartphone, evolving pay models for e-reader content, teachers spying on students in their homes, the FCC’s high-speed broadband 10-year plan, Steve Jobs’ call for the death of Flash, the privacy perils of geolocation tagging, and Shat My Dad Says.

Show Links

• What Kevin Smith means for the future of PR
• Windows Phone 7 Interface: Microsoft Has Out-Appled Apple
• Windows Phone 7 Series: Everything Is Different Now
• Redbox Caves To Warner Bros. Wave Goodbye To New Release Rentals, And Hello To More Piracy.
• Please Rob Me Makes Foursquare Super Useful For Burglars
• YouTube Broadcasts Tiger Woods Apology Live, Hinting at Future Moves
• Publisher: “If You Can Afford An Ebook Device, You Can Pay More For Ebooks”
• School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home
• FCC to propose faster broadband speeds
• Google Gives $2 Million to Wikipedia’s Foundation
• Turf War at the New York Times: Who Will Control the iPad?
• Steve Jobs to WSJ: ditch “dying” Flash technology
• William Shatner in @ShitMyDadSays

• Celebrate Earth Day with IOGEAR and enter to WIN green goodies at
• http://bit.ly/iogear-twitter-contest

Show Links

• Google, NSA to team up in cyberattack probe
• FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited
• Police want backdoor to Web users' private data
• WikiLeaks suspends all operations
• Wikileaks Raises Enough to Keep the Lights On
• Internet uprising overturns Australian censorship law
• Toyota's lesson: Software can be unsafe at any speed
• The Authors Guild - To RIAA or Not to RIAA, That was the Question
• Google’s Chrome Tablet Concept Revealed
• Adobe CTO: HTML5 Will Throw The Web “Back To The Dark Ages”
• An Apology To Techcrunch Readers
• Apple Bans Location-based iPhone Ads
• New Facebook 'Doppelganger' craze can violate terms of service
• Steam grows by 205% in 2009 -- and now has over 25 million users
• Microsoft Kills Xbox Live for Original Xboxes
• Fans rediscover 'Lost' as premiere ratings climb
• Surprise fan reaction to leaked 'Lost' hour

This week The Drill Down team is pleased to welcome the creator of the massively successful webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Zach Weiner. We ask him about SMBC's origins, his influences, the creative process behind the strip, and how comedy can inform and inspire social commentary. We also discuss his latest sketch comedy venture, SMBC Theater.

Later,  Zach joins us as we discuss Apple's latest tablet lifestyle device, the iPad, its pros, its cons and its missed potential. We also talk about VOIP over 3G for the iPhone, cyberbullies, how pirates are the music industry's best customers, Avatar's new world record, and Google Xistence™.

Show Links

• SMBC - The Mom Call (scroll down to blog post below comic)
• Apple iPad: Everything You Need to Know
  
• Apple iPad First Hands On - Gizmodo
  
• Hands-on, first impressions, and Photo gallery of Apple iPad
  
• Ten Things Missing From the iPad
  
• The iPad provides the ultimate browsing experience?
  
• iBummer: Augmented Reality Fans Disappointed By iPad
  
• First look: Google Voice's improved Web app for iPhone
  
• Apple opens up VoIP via 3G on iPhone, and maybe even iPad
  
• Phoebe Prince, 15, Commits Suicide After Onslaught of Cyber-Bullying From Fellow Students
  
• Pirates Are The Music Industry’s Most Valuable Customers
  
• Avatar Passes Titanic as the Top Grossing Movie Ever
  
• Google Xistence isn't real, but it's pretty funny and not a phishing scam (despite what Google says)
  

Zach Weiner links

• SMBC comics
  
• SMBC Theater
  
• Snowflakes
  
• Captain Excelsior
  
• @ZachWeiner on Twitter