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Twitter removes deleted tweets

Twitter bird.Since its beginning, Twitter has tried to make it clear that your tweets are your property. You make them, you control who can see them. Problem was, the micro-blogging site couldn’t make good on that promise until recently, when it finally figured out how to keep deleted tweets out of search results.

Up until the end of this week, users could type your name into the search box and get every tweet, even those you deleted. If there was something you didn’t mean to post or wanted to correct, that little bit of info was there too. Thankfully, Biz Stone & Co. fixed that little problem. Now that problematic material is gone. Permanently.

Now all you have to worry about are the scores of sites cropping up to index tweets. Depending how those sites gather and store info, your deleted material may be a little more public than you’d hope. Yeah, drunk tweeting is still probably a terrible idea.

Droid isn’t just for Verizon

Droids for AT&T.The most recent info on Motorola’s Droid suggests that the phone isn’t just for Verizon. In fact, it looks like there’s a GSM model that would work on AT&T’s 3G network, as well as Canada’s Rogers.

So it looks like the new name for the “Droid” is now “Sholes,” at least pre-release. That’s the name buried deep in the FCC docs that also show the AT&T 3G bandwidths. To me the big advantage of the phone would be that it’s a nice piece of hardware for anything other than AT&T. If I was going with AT&T, I think I’d still stick to the iPhone. Android still has some catching up to do in the app department for me to genuinely consider a switch. Although there is that Google Voice thing…

Android gets tapped for military use

G1 google maps.Military defense contractor Raytheon is apparently as interested in Android as the rest of us. The company has created an application that works like a mashup between a buddy list and Google Maps, giving users the ability to locate “buddies” anywhere on the battlefield.

The system, called Raytheon Android Tactical System (RATS), was developed on Android for the openness of the platform. Raytheon sees RATS expanding to uses like biometric scanning and off-site suspect identification. By developing on Android, Raytheon was also able to keep the cost of the software down. Think a couple hundred dollars per user, versus the typical tens of thousands per mobile terminal, something taxpayers are sure to be happy with.

Source: Forbes

PC manufacturers may have overanticipated Windows 7

Too many PCs in the warehouse.Now that Windows 7 has officially launched we’ll get to see if PC manufacturers were a little overzealous in their anticipation of the new OS. Comments from AMD toward the end of last week suggested there might be a little too much PC stock because of the new Windows OS.

AMD has lowered its expectations for Q4 sales because of the high buildup for Windows 7. But a new OS doesn’t necessarily mean buying a new computer. For a lot of people, Windows 7 is just a fix for Vista – a remedy to that compelling desire to put fist through laptop when using Microsoft’s previous generation of operating systems.

If anyone’s to blame for misguided expectations, I’d say it’s Microsoft. Ballmer came out way too late in the game to say “hey, it might not be as big as we thought.” Prior to that it sounded like Windows 7 might save the planet.

Netflix to launch streaming-only service

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.During yesterday’s earnings conference call, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced plans to launch a streaming-only rental service. Unfortunately that program won’t be launched in the US. The new program is meant to expand the company’s international profile, but that’s not the only reason we won’t see it stateside. Hastings also said the model needs to be proven in other markets before expanding.

That probably means Netflix wants to know the model can be profitable before launching worldwide. The new system faces unique challenges as the rent-by-post services just aren’t an option in other countries. Hastings says the postal systems in other countries can be too “tricky” for physical mail to really work out.

I’m all for a streaming-only option. Sure, I can have that now as a part of regular Netflix service, but the DVDs are more of a hassle to me than anything else. Why bother with them when all I want is on-demand movie selection?

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