SYMANTEC HAS A DIRTY MIND. MYSPACE ACQUIRES ILIKE, AND TWITTER
MAY NOT HAVE A PATENT ON THE WORD TWEET. ITS THURSDAY, AUGUST
20TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
SYMANTEC IS THINKING DIRTY. THE COMPANY RELEASED ITS "DIRTIEST
WEB SITES OF THE SUMMER" LIST. THESE ARE EXACTLY WHAT THEY
SOUND LIKE: 48 WEB SITES WITH ADULT CONTENT. THIS STUDY WAS NOT
JUST DONE FOR PRURIENT INTERESTS THOUGH. SYMANTEC FOUND THAT
SITES ON THE DIRTY LIST HAVE AN AVERAGE OF 18-THOUSAND THREATS
PER SITE. MORAL OF THE STORY: KEEP IT CLEAN.
[*]
MYSPACE CONFIRMED ITS ACQUISITION OF ILIKE., A MUSIC
RECOMMENDATION AND DISCOVERY SITE. WE ORIGINALLY THOUGHT
THAT ILIKE WOULD BE BUILT INTO MYSPACE MUSIC BUT THE COMPANY'S
CEO OWEN VAN NATTA SAID THAT THIS ACQUISITION IS FOR MYSPACE
INC INSTEAD. MYSPACE WILL USE ILIKE'S RECOMMENDATION
TECHNOLOGY FOR MORE THAN JUST MUSIC, INCLUDING GAMING AND
FILM. IT IS UNCLEAR HOW THIS WILL EFFECT ILIKE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH
FACEBOOK SINCE THE SERVICE IS SO HEAVILY EMBEDDED THERE.
MEANWHILE, MYSPACE HAS ALSO DISABLED AUTO-PLAY ON USER
PROFILES MEANING THAT YOU WON'T HEAR SOMEONE'S FAVORITE SONG
START PLAYING WHEN YOU LAND ON THEIR PAGE. THEY DID THIS TO
TRIM COSTS. MYSPACE WAS PAYING ABOUT $10 MILLION PER MONTH FOR
THAT MUSIC. YOU CAN STILL RE-ENABLE THIS FEATURE BUT YOU HAVE
TO GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO DO IT. BUT FOR PETE'S SAKE, PLEASE DON'T.
IF I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR FAVORITE SONG IS, I WILL PROBABLY
JUST ASK YOU.
[*]
OUR PARENT COMPANY CBS IS GOING TO START VIDEO ADVERTISEMENTS
IN MAGAZINES. THIS IS THROUGH OUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT OF
COURSE, WHICH WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH. THEY WILL USE A
VIDEO-CHIP AD EMBEDDED IN AN ISSUE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY.
THE AD WILL HAVE TO DO WITH PEPSI AND THE NETWORK'S FALL LINEUP
OF TV SHOWS AND WILL ONLY APPEAR IN THE NEW YORK AND LOS
ANGELES MARKETS. EACH CHIP WILL BE ABLE TO PLAY ABOUT 40
MINUTES OF VIDEO FROM A CHIP MADE BY A COMPANY CALLED
AMERICHIP. THIS GIVES ALL NEW MEANING TO THE WORD "EMBEDDED
VIDEO." I IMAGINE IT IS COSTLY. WE WILL TRY TO GET OUR HANDS ON A
COPY AND GIVE YOU A LOOK WHEN IT COMES OUT IN SEPTEMBER.
[*]
MICROSOFT IS STILL DUKING IT OUT IN COURT OVER MICROSOFT WORD.
LAST WEEK THE COMPANY WAS ORDERED TO STOP SELLING THE
PROGRAM BECAUSE IT WAS BEING SUED FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT BY
A COMPANY CALLED I-4-I. THE COMPANY ALSO HAD TO PAY $290
MILLION. MICROSOFT HAS ASKED THE COURT FOR PERMISSION TO KEEP
SELLING THE PROGRAM WHILE IT FIGHTS THIS FIGHT. THE PATENT
APPLIES TO WORD 2003 AND WORD 2007.
[*]
WE DON'T ALWAYS COVER NEW PRINTERS HERE ON LOADED BUT I
THOUGHT THIS ONE WAS REALLY CUTE. IT IS THE NEW CANON SELPHY
ES40. IT HAS A VOICE GUIDANCE SYSTEM SO YOU CAN ASK IT TO PLEASE
PRINT OUT YOUR PRETTY PICTURES. IT ALSO HAS A 3.5-INCH LCD SCREEN.
PLUS IT LOOKS LIKE A CHILDREN'S TOY. IT WILL COST $150 BUT WE DON'T
HAVE A RELEASE DATE YET.
[*]
TIME WARNER AND YOUTUBE SIGNED AN AGREEMENT TO BRING CLIPS
TIME WARNER SHOWS TO THE VIDEO SHARING SITE. THIS INCLUDES CNN,
THE CARTOON NETWORK, AND ALSO "GOSSIP GIRL." OMG. IN MARCH,
YOUTUBE SIGNED A SIMILAR AGREEMENT WITH WALT DISNEY'S ABC
UNIT.
[*]
EARLIER THIS WEEK WE REPORTED THAT GMAIL IS NOW THE NUMBER 3
EMAIL CLIENT IN THE U.S. THEY WANT THE NUMBER 1 SPOT. THEY MADE
STRIDES TO HELP USERS STOP USING OLD EMAIL ACCOUNTS THIS WEEK
BY ALLOWING CONTACT AND MAIL IMPORTING FROM OTHER EMAIL
CLIENTS. A FEW MONTHS AGO, GOOGLE ALLOWED NEW GMAIL USERS TO
FORWARD ALL EMAIL AND CONTACT LISTS TO THEIR NEW GMAIL
ACCOUNTS BUT THIS WASN'T AVAILABLE FOR EXISTING GMAILERS. NOW
IT IS. AND SO I WENT THROUGH WITH IT. AND I MAY JUST GET RID OF MY
YAHOO MAIL NOW AFTER MANY MANY YEARS. WE'LL SEE HOW IT GOES.
[*]
TWITTER IS DEVELOPING ITS HIGHER POWERS AS A MEDIUM TO GOD. AN
ISRAELI STUDENT LAUNCHED A TWITTER PAGE FOR USERS TO SEND IN
THEIR PRAYERS. IF YOU TWEET HIM A VERY SHORT SUPPLICATION, HE
WILL PLACE IT IN THE CREVICES OF JERUSALEM'S WESTERN WALL, A
HOLY SIGHT. THE STUDENT'S NAME IS ALON NIR AND YOU HAVE TO
FOLLOW HIM SO THAT YOU CAN SEND YOUR PRAYERS OVER DIRECT
MESSAGE. SO FAR HE HAS DELIVERED OVER ONE THOUSAND TWITTER
PRAYERS.
[*]
SPEAKING OF TWITTER, THE COMPANY MAY NOT HAVE THE RIGHTS TO
THE WORD TWEET AFTERALL. BLOGGER SAM JOHNSTON FOUND
DOCUMENTS FROM THE U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE THAT
SHOW THAT THE APPLICATION FOR THE TRADEMARK ON THE WORD
TWEET WAS PRELIMINARILY DENIED. TWITTER FILED FOR THIS PATENT IN
APRIL BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THREE OTHER COMPANIES HAD DONE THE
SAME. OF COURSE THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE BATTLE OF THE TWEET.
TWITTER COULD CONTINUE TO FORGE AHEAD WITH THE LEGAL PROCESS
BUT THE COMPANY DID NOT COMMENT ON THIS STORY. OR TWEET
ABOUT IT.
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY AND THAT WRAPS UP
YOUR WEEK OF GETTING LOADED. BEFORE I GO I WANT TO WISH A HAPPY
BIRTHDAY TO MICHAEL, MELCARDO, MATTHEW, AND A HAPPY 50TH
BIRTHDAY TO DEREK. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL
CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
