msnbc

The Internet partnership of Microsoft and NBC is officially over.

NBC News announced this evening that it had acquired full control of MSNBC.com from the software giant and was rebranding the site as NBCNews.com. NBC will continue to provide news content to MSN.com, a Microsoft news portal, which will reciprocate by sending traffic back to the network, NBC said.

For the short term, MSNBC.com will mirror the home page of NBCNews.com and eventually become the address of MSNBC TV.

"It'll have a new name and a new URL, but everything else will be … Read more

NBC Universal plans to buy back Microsoft's remaining control of the MSNBC.com site, putting an end to the two companies' partnership, the Daily Beast reported today.

The network will rebrand the Web site and drop Microsoft's "MS" to create NBCNews.com, unnamed sources told the Beast.

The companies plan to announce the split "within days," the report said, but a NBC representative told the news site that no deal has been struck yet. The site's employees, however, have been notified, according to the report.

Microsoft originally invested $220 million for a 50 … Read more

Fresh off her appearance on MSNBC, Caroline McCarthy replaces Justin today to talk Net neutrality, iPhone users getting laid more than Android owners, Fallout New Vegas, and a Web-surfing contest.

There have been a lot of misconceptions and misstatements about Net neutrality. Usually on The 404, we strive never to talk about real issues, but the Net neutrality debate has really stirred up the emotions with Jeff, Wilson and Justin. Caroline helps explains some of the issue from her appearance on Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" on MSNBC, and if it means a lot to you, be sure to check out Wilson's rant yesterday about the issue.

But ultimately, there are several competing interests involved, and we just want make sure that the next Google or Facebook that comes down the road won't have to pay to get priority access. The stakes are high here, people! Everything will be delivered over the Internet in the coming years, from books, to newspapers, magazines, blogs, social networks, video channels, radio, music, etc.

Rant over. Moving on.… Read more

MSNBC Interactive News, a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC Universal, announced Monday that it has acquired EveryBlock, a start-up that provides hyperlocal news down to the block level. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

EveryBlock received its funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. It also won that organization's Knight News Challenge, which awards start-ups that have the most innovative media ideas. When it won that award in 2007, the Knight Foundation required EveryBlock to make its code freely available to the public. Its code is available now on the company's site. … Read more

I popped by the MSNBC studios on Sunday morning to discuss the latest Apple tablet rumors with anchor Alex Witt. Check out the clip below.

Blasted XP didn't warn me that my hard drive was full! Therefore, half of the podcast didn't record. Thankfully, I was able to salvage yesterday's episode from the Ustream recording, so here it is! Special guests include ZDNet's Andrew Mager, SXSW Event Director Hugh Forrest, and Blogger's Rick Klau.

Happy Pi Day! http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/13/happy-pi-day.html

Facebook: It’s party time for the social Web…on the iPhone http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10196472-2.html

Facebook Adobe AIR application http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=23723376453#/apps/application.php?id=23723376453… Read more

A top Microsoft lawyer made the case on Thursday that sites like Google News are making money while the folks creating that digital content aren't able to make a living.

Google News, said Thomas C. Rubin, makes $100 million a year, while the newspapers that power its content are having to cut staff in record numbers.

"Clearly this can't be the future for publishing," Rubin said, according to his prepared remarks delivered to the UK Association of Online Publishers. Rubin is Microsoft's chief counsel for intellectual property strategy.

It's somewhat curious though, since Microsoft … Read more

OMG, WTF, LMAO, and a million other Internet expletives for our new leader, Mr. Barack Obama. Even Jeff, The Lone Hater, can't seem to contain his excitement over the election results. Former 404 host Randall Bennett also joins us via completely useless hologram to share in the excitement and recap the events. Hats off to you, Mr. President. Please give us a call if you're ever in the Gramercy, N.Y. area, we'll see if we can pencil you into the show.

Even though all of us are out of breath and stricken with sore throats from a night of "Whoos!" and "F**K You Tennessee," we still manage to drag ourselves into the studio this morning to celebrate our country's triumphant return to common sense. It's like waking up from an awful nightmare that somehow managed to last eight grueling years. Our special guest on the show today is Randall Bennett, former host of The 404, who helps us weigh on the presidential election, the cheerful optimism resonating from the streets of New York, Twitter's flawless victory in the face of 13562834791 simultaneous tweets, and perhaps most hilarious--the AMAZING CNN HOLOGRAMS! Because when you've got money coming out of your ears and split screens just aren't enough, count on CNN to be the face of American frivolity. USA! USA! USA!

A flood of e-mails pretending to be from MSNBC contain links to malicious software, security companies warned Wednesday.

According to an MX Lab blog post, subject lines always start with "msnbc.com - BREAKING NEWS" then are followed with a variety of possible headlines, including: "Google launches free music downloads in China"; "Plane crashes into prep school, hundreds of kids killed"; "Please give your opinions for change"; and "US Dollar hits 6-year high, further gains expected."

The Web address http://breakingnews.msnbc.com is valid if you type it into … Read more