WikiLeaks, the site infamous for exposing America’s diplomatic dirty laundry, has confirmed via its Twitter feed that it is no longer hosting its files on Amazon’s servers. The move comes as Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut–who was a onetime vice-presidential nominee and who is also chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee–had called for Amazon to cut its ties to Wikileaks. Read More »

As the possible acquisition of Groupon by Googlechugs along–sources tell me bankers are starting to swan around annoyingly, which could be a sign of fruition, but we shall see–BoomTown realized that I have been remiss in mentioning one likely key person in the deal strategy. And, I am only guessing, that would be the search giant’s relatively new head of commerce, Stephanie Tilenius. That’s because the unassuming former longtime eBay exec–you won’t see her all over the scene swanning, for sure–is one of the few at the company sharp enough to have seen Groupon’s copious local retail data as a strong fit into Google. Read More »

Silicon Valley’s improving outlook is beginning to manifest itself through local companies’ holiday gifts and parties. Take Equilar Inc. Last year, the Redwood City-based compensation-research firm handed out pullover fleeces with the company’s logo as an end-of-year gift to its work force. This year, the firm held a Thanksgiving lunch and went one better: It gave out Apple Inc. iPads, which start at $499, to all 74 employees. Read More »

CEO Jason Kilar says he’s found plenty of takers for his premium service. But why pay Hulu at all, when you can get it for free on your PC? It’s a core question for the service and for Web video in general. Read More »

The General Services Administration–which oversees government procurement–will soon become the first major federal office to move to cloud-based office apps on an agency-wide basis. And it’s chosen Google Apps to do it. Read More »

LastPass, an online password manager and form filler, has acquired the social bookmarking and browser synchronization service Xmarks. The San Francisco-based Xmarks has been in the midst of some tumult of late, as it closed down in September and then quickly opened back up again in an effort to keep its service running for a large group of active users and to find a new home. Read More »

As a managing partner at Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon Valley’s most successful and long-lived venture firms, Michael Moritz can speak eloquently about industry trends, entrepreneurs and the rise of global competition. He did so last night at an appearance for Xconomy, a business and technology Web site in San Francisco. Read More »

Here is a teaser trailer for a mid-season replacement television show on NBC called “The Cape.” It’s from Hollywood multimedia production company, BermanBraun, which is known in tech for the handsome content sites they make for Microsoft’s MSN, such as the celebrity-focused Wonderwall. “The Cape” is about a good cop who is framed and has to turn himself into a crimefighting hero to regain his old life and family. With a cape, natch. Read More »

Those who want to be among the first to rule the air on Verizon Wireless’s new 4G network better have a Windows PC handy. Verizon had already made clear that, for the rest of this year at least, the company will have only laptop cards and that 4G smartphones wouldn’t come until next year. However, it looks like Mac users will also have to wait–at least a little while. Read More »

YouTube today is launching a personalization update to its “Leanback” viewing mode, which is meant to be played on televisions. YouTube users who watch through Leanback already spend on average 30 minutes per session, two times longer than sessions on the Web. Read More »

This Sunday, the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” returns to Facebook after several years to check in on co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In the first interview by correspondent Lesley Stahl in early 2008, Zuckerberg’s social networking empire was much smaller, beset by a series of management snafus and mired in yet another privacy controversy. Plus, he was more than a lot more awkward. Fast-forward to today: Zuckerberg rules one of the most powerful tech companies in the world and BoomTown dubs him a prodigy! The worm has officially turned. Read More »

Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site. (Click on the image to see a bigger version.) Read More »

Pulse, the visually engaging mobile news reader, is adding a social element today. To date, Pulse (for iPad, iPhone and Android) gave users an easily scannable and image-driven view of their favorite RSS feeds. Now, users will also be able to add their Facebook accounts and flip through material posted by their friends. Read More »

The Federal Trade Commission unveiled a report on Internet privacy Wednesday that calls for the development of a do-not-track system that would enable people to avoid having their actions monitored online, a move the online-advertising industry has opposed. Read More »

Since it is bubble-bursting Wednesday here at Mobilized, let me assure you that the forthcoming update to Windows Phone 7 is neither “massive” nor an iPhone killer, despite some reports to the contrary. On the other hand, the software update, which could come as early as January, will add two things that are very important for Microsoft. First and foremost, the update will pave the way for Windows Phone 7 devices that work on Sprint and Verizon’s networks. It will also add copy and paste, an omission for which Microsoft has received no shortage of grief. Read More »

With the red-hot acquisition dance between Google and Groupon sucking up all the attention, it’s easy once again to ignore the No. 2 player in the fast-growing social buying space–LivingSocial. But not everyone is. According to sources close to the situation, the Washington, D.C.-based company that also focuses on local deals is in advanced talks for a major strategic investment–as high as $150 million–by online retail giant Amazon, at a very hefty valuation of over one billion dollars, to counter a possible Groupoogle challenge. Read More »

Everyone has something to say about today’s speech by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on the subject of net neutrality. Having been blocked in the courts from imposing sanctions on Comcast for throttling users of BitTorrent, the commission has been spinning its wheels trying to find a way to nudge the broadband industry in a direction toward treating all Internet content fairly. Read More »