bing

For some, the definition of software freedom begins and ends with source code. Such people have apparently never heard of market competition.

It's arguably even more important, and doesn't necessarily derive from a software license (though it's no doubt better when protected by an open-source license).

Over the last few weeks, we've seen signs that key open-source vendors are waking up to this fact, with both Canonical (Ubuntu) and Mozilla (Firefox) sniffing around Yahoo/Microsoft to replace Google with Yahoo/Bing as their default search engine.

Choice, you see, is good, even when it's not … Read more

Somehow, recently, Bill Gates turned into Mr. Awesome. He's tweeting and blogging, and now, according to the New York Post, he was spotted "dancing, Paris (Hilton) style, on a banquette" at a Microsoft-sponsored party at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

"He gyrated in a VIP booth until 2 AM," a "spy" told the Post's Page Six--a gossip item, so take it with a grain of salt. "Everybody was snapping photos of him until his security rushed him out the back door after he tipped a waitress $500." … Read more

We had the pleasure of chatting with Jared Cohen, Senior Adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today. He gave us some more insight into Secretary Clinton's speech about the freedom on the Internet, specifically relating to China. We also clarify that Verizon is not booting people off the Internet--but apparently Cox is. So take all that stuff we wrote yesterday about Verizon and just put Cox in there.

Joining us is Jared Cohen, Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Clinton’… Read more

Breaking news during the show has Verizon admitting to cutting off the Internet access of people accused of illegal downloading. But hey, they don't throttle,they say. Great! Except for cutting off people is really an extreme from of throttling. And also, Verizon isn't getting proof for this, just accusations. The problems with this policy are immeasurable and we discuss them. Oh and Bing may oust Google on the iPhone.

The Times to Charge for Frequent Access to Its Web … Read more

Apple and Microsoft may be in talks to expel Google as the iPhone's default search engine, in favor of Bing, according to BusinessWeek. The Apple-Google battle for the mobile throne is getting heated.

This is all coming from "two people familiar with the matter," so, you know, eat a bowl of salt or whatever, but it sort of makes sense in a Machiavellian kind of way. Windows Mobile 7 notwithstanding, Apple's competition in the mobile arena isn't Microsoft, but Google, and so it's not really that outlandish, especially considering that Bing isn't necessarily … Read more

Though Apple has officially announced an announcement, we don't know what it is, so we speculate anyway. Sue us. Will you pay $2 for a new character that indicates sarcasm? Most of us won't, either. We also discuss the meaning of privacy in search engines and Quicken hides it's online service behind Mint, which, oddly, makes Natali hungry.

Apple officially announces January 27 event http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10436586-37.html

Expect to see iPhone 4, Tablet, and new iLife … Read more

Microsoft plans to cut the amount of time it stores the IP addresses associated with search queries from 18 months to six months, in compliance with new European regulations and with a mind to putting pressure on its biggest rival.

Searchers on Bing already have their IP addresses immediately anonymized following a search query, but to comply with a new European Commission directive on Internet privacy the company will delete the IP addresses entirely after six months. Microsoft said it will roll out the new policy over the next 12 to 18 months, however.

Google anonymizes IP addresses after nine months, … Read more

Google continued to dominate the search market in December, trailed by Yahoo and Microsoft, according to media research firm Nielsen.

According to Nielsen's December U.S. Search Rankings, released on Wednesday, Web users queried search engines more than 9.9 billion times in December. Google accommodated almost 6.7 billion queries, capturing a 67.3 percent share of the month's searches.

Yahoo placed second in Nielsen's December search rankings. It was queried more than 1.4 billion times, tallying 14.4 percent market share. Microsoft's Bing, which garnered 986 million queries, captured 9.9 percent market … Read more

Hey, has anyone seen 2009? It was here a minute ago. Under the sofa cushions, maybe? No? Dang, guess it's gone for good. That was fast!

Because this is my last post until 2010, allow me to share some of the things I learned this year:

1. Never overpay for HDMI cables Actually, I learned this in 2008, but it bears repeating. If you pay more than a few bucks for an HDMI cable (you know, the kind that connects HDTV to receiver, Blu-ray player to HDTV, and so on), you're getting screwed. Witness this deal from Buy.com: a four-pack of 6-foot HDMI cables for $9.91 shipped. If you just walked out of Best Buy with a $30 Belkin, take it back!

2. Always look for coupon codes Do you often find yourself wishing for a big, juicy coupon code for the checkout page? A quick bit of Google searching may produce one. Or hit up Web sites like DealLocker and RetailMeNot to browse their coupon collections. I can't tell you how many times I've scored an unexpected discount, free shipping, or some other savings.… Read more