NY Times reports research findings on Facebook

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A Jargon-Free (97-Percent Free) Report From the Facebook Developers Conference

I’m reporting Wednesday from Facebook's second F8 conference in San Francisco. This is the company's annual forum for speaking to the thousands of entrepreneurs who create features and tools for the social network. It is also the public event that the Palo Alto, Calif., company, and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, use to unveil new features and new strategic directions. The company's wunderkind chief executive takes the stage at 1:30 Pacific time. Mr. Zuckerberg is expected to primarily talk about Facebook Connect, which lets users of other Web sites import their network of Facebook friends. That may sound trivial, but it relieves other Internet companies from asking users to re-establish all their friend connections – and it could cement Facebook as a social glue spread across the Web. [lien] [EN]

New York Times reporter says he's an unwitting Dell shill [Great Moments In Journalism]

Marc Santora, the New York Times reporter who appears in ads for Dell's DigitalNomads site, says he received no compensation for the ad, which came from an interview Santora did for Big Think, a website backed by Facebook investor Peter Thiel. What appears to have happened: Dell or its ad agency, Federated Media, created the ad for Dell's DigitalNomads, using a clip from Santora's Big Think video. In a comment, Big Think cofounder Peter Hopkins says that Dell is a sponsor of his site, but the ad does not mention Big Think. (The Big Think interview was also published to YouTube, and DigitalNomads' producers embedded the clip in a blog post.) From what Santora's saying, no one asked him or the Times for permission to run the endorsement. If so, Dell could be in rather big trouble — and not just with the Times. [lien] [EN]

People under the age of 30 use Myspace more than Facebook

People under the age of 0 use Myspace more than Facebook July - Posted by jeremyliew in facebook, myspace, social networks, twitter. Interesting research noted at Inside Facebook on how different generations use social networks. Most interesting chart to me shows that Gen Y (9) and Gen Z (4) use Myspace more than Facebook. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated) NY Times reports research findings on Facebook, Social networks don’t threaten Portals, they threaten Home Pages, Facebook is more than just a marketing channel, Facebook passes MySpace in the US. Facebook, Thank Gen Y. [lien] [EN]

Another New York Times Reporter Freed in Afghanistan

A New York Times reporter held hostage by the Taliban has been freed by British commandos: “Stephen Farrell, a New York Times reporter held captive by militants in northern Afghanistan, was freed in a military commando raid early Wednesday, but his Afghan interpreter was killed during the rescue effort. In a brief telephone call about 0 p.m. New York time on Tuesday, Mr. Farrell told Susan Chira, the foreign editor of The Times: “I’m out! I’m free!” Ms. Chira said Mr. Farrell told her that he had been “extracted” by a commando raid carried out by “a lot of soldiers” in a fierce firefight with his captors. Mr. Farrell said he had also called his wife.” A British commando was also killed in the raid that freed Farrell. Farrell had traveled to Afghanistan to cover a recent NATO airstrike that reportedly killed up to 0 civilians. [lien] [EN]

L.A. Times Reporter Responds to Allegations by Dowie Attorney

L.A. Times Staff Writer Ted Rohrlich has responded to my request for a comment about the letter I published last night from Doug Dowie’s attorney Michael Faber: Dear Mr. Frey, Thank you for the opportunity to respond. I am not willing to comment on matters involving confidential sources, real or imagined. If I were, who would agree to speak with me in confidence? I would, however, respectfully point out that I did not convict Mr. Dowie. Mr. Dowie was convicted by a federal court jury aware that Monique Moret testified under a grant of immunity. Sincerely, Ted Rohrlich Staff Writer Los Angeles Times Indeed, and as I said this morning, jury verdicts are generally entitled to respect, even though they can be mistaken. But the jury — and more importantly for my purposes. [lien] [EN]

New York Times reporter poses as hooker on Twitter [Sex Trade]

Matt Richtel, the New York Times reporter and author of Hooked, has whored himself out on Twitter this week. The messages read as if they're written both by a hooker and the murderous john she meets, somewhere on the road to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Tweeting in drag as a prostitute. Is it an old-fashioned Internet man stunt? Part of Richtel's recent day-job obsession with covering the Internet sex industry? Or is it some kind of experiment for his moonlight career as a novelist? Whatever Richtel's motive, the result is deeply creepy. His most whorish updates follow: [lien] [EN]

NY Times Reporter Warped Into Dell Shill [Dell]

Here's why you should never trust endorsements—besides the general principle of the matter. NY Times reporter Marc Santora did an interview for a startup site called Big Think, talking about how technology has changed covering stories like the Iraq War. Imagine his surprise when part of it was slipped into a DigitalNomads ad, a site that's "powered by Dell," magically turning his interview into an endorsement. While he doesn't actually say the word "Dell" in the spot, at the bottom of the DigitalNomads site is a small sign of who's backing it: "Powered by Dell," so it's an implicit endorsement that, as Valleywag says, "suggests a New York Times reporter has endorsed its vision of mobile technology." Santora says his involvement was unwitting and unpaid, and it's unlikely the NYT gave permission for an endorsement like this either. [lien] [EN]

Blog Resources: Researching the Research, Finding the Facts, and Seeking Supporting Evidence

As part of my ongoing series on blog resources, covering the many online resources I use to help me blog, you can tell that I don’t deal with rumors or guesses. I like facts. I don’t mind a few estimates, but I like being right when I make a claim or statement, so I work hard to find backup supporting evidence to support what I write. Here are some of the resources I’ve bookmarked to help me find the research material, facts, and supporting evidence for my blog writing. Your list may be different because of the topics you cover. Mine relates specifically to blogging, blog writing, and WordPress, and a few other blog-related topics. Is It Fact Or Fiction Before you publish it on your blog or forward that email, check to make sure you are publishing and forwarding facts not fiction. [lien] [EN]

Brain tumor researchers find their ‘niche’

Brain tumors appear to arise from cancer stem cells (CSCs) that live within microscopic protective “niches” formed by blood vessels in the brain; and disrupting these niches is a promising strategy for eliminating the tumors and preventing them from re-growing, according to results of a study by investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. CSCs are cells that continually multiply, acting as the source of tumors. “The finding that brain CSCs exist in protective vascular (blood vessel) niches helps explain the origin of brain tumors and suggests a new strategy for eliminating them,” said Richard Gilbertson, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program at St. Jude. Gilbertson is senior author of a report on this work that appears in the January issue of Cancer Cell. [lien] [EN]

Researchers find smallest cellular genome

The smallest collection of genes ever found for a cellular organism comes from tiny symbiotic bacteria that live inside special cells inside a small insect. The bacteria Carsonella ruddii has the fewest genes of any cell. The bacteria’s newly sequenced genome, the complete set of DNA for the organism, is only one-third the size of the previously reported “smallest” cellular genome. “It’s the smallest genome — not by a bit but by a long way,” said co-author Nancy A. Moran, UA Regents’ Professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. “It’s very surprising. It’s unbelievable, really. We would not have predicted such a small size. It’s believed that more genes are required for a cell to work.” Carsonella ruddii has only 159. [lien] [EN]

Researchers find key to avian flu transmission in humans

MIT researchers have uncovered a critical difference between flu viruses that infect birds and humans, a discovery that could help scientists monitor the evolution of avian flu strains and aid in the development of vaccines against a deadly flu pandemic. The researchers found that a virus’s ability to infect humans depends on whether it can bind to one specific shape of receptor on the surface of human respiratory cells. “Now that we know what to look for, this could help us not only monitor the bird flu virus, but it can aid in the development of potentially improved therapeutic interventions for both avian and seasonal flu,” said Ram Sasisekharan, MIT Underwood Prescott Professor of Biological Engineering and Health Sciences and Technology, and the senior author of a paper on the work that will appear in the Jan. [lien] [EN]

Researchers find key to keeping cells in shape

Yale University researchers have discovered how a protein within most cell membranes helps maintain normal cell size, a breakthrough in basic biology that has implications for a variety of diseases such as sickle cell anemia and disorders of the nervous system. Cell size is regulated by the balance of positively and negatively charged ions and other solutes in the fluid inside and outside cells, which in turn prevents water from moving across cell membranes and changing cell size. Changes in chemical composition of extracellular fluid can disrupt this balance, sometimes with damaging consequences to health. “If you eat a bag of salty potato chips or a jug of water, the cells lining your stomach will be under pressure to shrink or expand,” explains Richard Lifton, senior author of the paper and Sterling Professor of Genetics and Internal Medicine. [lien] [EN]

Researchers find that protein believed to protect against cancer has a Mr. Hyde side

In a biological rendition of fiction’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, researchers from the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida and Harvard Medical School have found that a protein thought to protect against cancer development can actually spur the spread of tumors. The scientists, reporting in the Sept3 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology, found that FOXO3a, a transcription factor that regulates gene expression, becomes active when growing cancer cells begin to starve. Their research suggests that this protein then turns on molecular switches that allow the cancer cells to invade surrounding tissues. “This is a complete reversal of what everyone thought about FOXO3a — that we should find a way to activate this transcription factor so as to fight cancer growth. [lien] [EN]

Researchers Find Promising New Targets for Antibiotics

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have identified new sites on the bacterial cell’s protein-making machinery where antibiotics can be delivered to treat infections. “The primary challenge of antibiotic therapy has been fighting infections caused by the pathogens which became resistant to antibiotics,” says Alexander Mankin, professor and associate director of UIC’s Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and lead investigator of the study. “Not a single class of drugs has escaped the inevitable emergence of resistance.” At present, Mankin said, “the constant development of new drugs is the only available strategy to keep up with the ever-growing variety of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.” Mankin and his research team are looking for new vulnerable sites on bacteria where drugs can be delivered to fight the infections. [lien] [EN]