Interesting links for 2009-06-11

'Journalists can do some of this online more easily than they could have in the pre-Internet days, and some of them are doing it already, through blogs and other means. But I think it might help a lot of news organizations if they made a serious commitment to engagement, if they swallowed some of their professional “we know what news is” attitude and said, instead, “We need to find out what people really want to know about their communities.” '

'… there are as many as 200 million active users on Facebook and they all will get an opportunity to pick a user name for their Facebook profiles at the same time so chances are high that the username you want is taken even before you type one.'

'The email includes a brief synopsis of your new follower, giving you all the information found in their basic profile. You’ll see the number of followers they have, as well as the number of people they’re following. You’ll also find their bio, their web URL, location, and their user photo. This synopsis also includes their ten most recent tweets. At the bottom of the email alert you’ll find a link to follow them back.'

'Seeking, perhaps, a high-profile way to appear the “good sport,” the New York Times granted The Daily Show a tour of headquarters and a sit-down with Bill Keller, resulting in last night’s segment titled, “End Times:” '

'Gizmag says this new metal opens up the possibility for new breakthroughs in these fields, as well as being able to use it to observe how superconductivity itself works.'

'There are hundreds of different websites out there to use as tools that cover every field relating to web design and development. Below I’ve listed my favorite 50 sites that I check out on a daily basis …'

'I’m very excited to announce to everyone that the latest and greatest version of WordPress, version 2.8 “Baker,” is immediately available for download. 2.8 represents a nice fit and finish release for WordPress with improvements to themes, widgets, taxonomies, and overall speed. We also fixed over 790 bugs.'

'Microsoft Corp is getting ready to unveil a long-anticipated free anti-virus service for personal computers that will compete with products sold by Symantec Corp and McAfee Inc.'

'While the masses (that’s you) will be fighting for that perfect name on Friday night, some lucky few people won’t need to bother waiting in line.'

'Hundreds of dedicated investigative reporters and editors will gather for the IRE Conference in Baltimore this week to hear from the industry’s biggest names, to honor the nation’s best investigative journalism and to brainstorm about ways to breathe new life into the profession.'

'Windows only: Google Apps Sync is a new free utility from Google that syncs your Google Apps (Premier or Education edition) email, contacts, and calendar directly with Microsoft Outlook.'

'What is interesting, though, is that Apple instead chose to name it 'iPhone 3G S', stating that the 'S' stands for faster speed. But even a quick perusal of the specs on Apple's website will tell you that speed is far from the only improvement over the original 3G.'