IT'S WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 2010, I'M JEFF BAKALAR, AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
TWITTER IS GETTING READY TO ROLL OUT A TOTALLY REDESIGNED VERSION OF ITS SITE. IN A VIDEO DETAILING THE IMPROVEMENTS, THE NEW TWITTER.COM WILL COMBINE MOST OF THE SITE'S FUNCTIONALITY INTO ONE PAGE. AMONG THE UPDATES IS A STREAMLINED VERSION OF YOUR TWITTER-VERSE, WITH AT-MENTIONS, RETWEETS, SEARCHES, AND LISTS JUST ABOVE YOUR TIMELINE. FOR MORE ON THE CHANGES, HEAD OVER TO TWITTER.COM-SLASH-NEW TWITTER.
THE FIRST REVIEWS OF "THE SOCIAL NETWORK" ARE OUT. CNET'S OWN CAROLINE MCCARTHY GOT A CHANCE TO SCREEN THE FACEBOOK-ORIGIN FILM LAST NIGHT AND CALLS IT "THOUGHT-PROVOKING" BUT POSSIBLY "TOO BRAINY FOR MASS-MARKET SUCCESS." THIS COUPLED WITH THE QUESTIONABLE ACCURACY OF THE FILM'S CONTENT CERTAINLY MAKE FOR SOME CONTROVERSY, BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO DECIDE FOR YOURSELF WHEN IT'S RELEASED NATIONWIDE ON OCTOBER 1ST.
THOUGH THE HP SLATE WAS ANNOUNCED AT THIS YEAR'S CES IN JANUARY, IT HAS YET TO TO GO ON SALE. BUT THE COMPANY DID CONFIRM YESTERDAY THAT THEY ARE INDEED WORKING ON TABLET THAT WILL RUN PALM'S WEB-OS OPERATING SYSTEM. THE COMPANY SAYS THAT THE RUMORED "PALM-PAD" WILL MAKE ITS DEBUT IN EARLY 2011. BUT DON'T WORRY IF YOU WERE STILL HOPING FOR A WINDOWS 7 SLATE, HP SAYS IT WILL SHIP BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
ACCORDING TO GAWKER AND CONFIRMED BY GOOGLE, THE COMPANY FIRED AN EMPLOYEE OVER PRIVACY BREECHES IN ITS SEATTLE OFFICES. DAVID BARKSDALE IS ACCUSED OF BREAKING INTO THE GMAIL AND GOOGLE VOICE ACCOUNTS OF SEVERAL CHILDREN. HE IS NOT ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT--JUST INCREDIBLY POOR JUDGMENT. AS A SERVICE ENGINEER, BARKSDALE HAD PRIVILEGES TO PEER INTO ACCOUNTS TO CHECK FOR DATA INTEGRITY. ALL THIS COMES AT A BAD TIME FOR GOOGLE, WHICH IS UNDER INCREASED SCRUTINY OVER PRIVACY CONCERNS.
THOSE ARE YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY I'M JEFF BAKALAR FOR CNET.COM, AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
