In Silicon Valley, Venture Capitalists Turn Cautious and Focus on the Short Term
The search for the next big thing in technology gets a reality check. (NYT)+++

Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books
Google’s book search may allow writers to make money from titles that had been out of commercial circulation for years.(NYT)+++

All a-Twitter About Stars Who Tweet
It seems the whole world is Twittering, and people like Shaquille O’Neal and Natalie Gulbis are no exceptions.(NYT)+++

Trade Shows Are Likely to Be More Subdued
Tech companies are expected to flock to the Macworld and Consumer Electronics Show trade conferences this week. But the shows are expected to be more subdued than usual. (WSJ)+++

RIAA Drops MediaSentry
The RIAA has dumped the company it used to help it gather evidence for mass lawsuits it filed against people it claimed were illegally uploading copyrighted music. (WSJ)+++

Group Releases Tool to Unlock iPhone
A team of independent programmers said it “unlocked” Apple’s iPhone 3G, allowing use on unauthorized networks. (WSJ)+++

Big Tech Shows Scale Back
With the economy casting a gloomy shadow and industry titans Steve Jobs and Bill Gates stepping away, Macworld Expo in San Francisco and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week are expected to be more low-key affairs. (SFC)+++

VC Industry Squeezed
A dearth of IPOs and mergers has created a drought-like condition for early stage investors, according to a new report.  (SFC)+++

YouTube Tips Ohio Police
Investigators say they have YouTube to thank for arrests in connection with a large disturbance. (SFC)+++

Frames Carry Infection Risk
Digital photo frames were a popular holiday gift, but some of them carry a nasty surprise — malicious software code. (SFC)+++

Digital TV Subsidy Cash-Poor
The Feb. 17 transition from analog to digital television broadcasts looms and as many as 8 million households are still unprepared. (SFC)+++

Dawn Of Transhumanity
Merging tech with flesh has led to implants that improve hearing. Some think that inventions to aid memory and cognition are next. (SFC)+++

Browsing the career of Mozilla CEO John Lilly
The Stanford University-trained computer scientist is chief executive of Mozilla, maker of the Firefox Web browser, which broke Microsoft’s hold on the market so it couldn’t dominate the Internet the way it does computer operating systems. (LAT)+++

Nonagenarian works on healthcare’s cutting edge
Morris F. Collen , M.D., is a pioneer in harnessing the vast power of computers to improve healthcare. He is hip-deep in studying the ways that prescription drugs could interact and harm the elderly. He’s hard at work on his sixth book. (LAT)+++

No Steve Jobs or big announcements expected at Macworld
Apple prognosticators don’t expect new product lines to be announced at Macworld, given that Jobs isn’t scheduled to be there ‘” company senior vice president Phil Schiller will take his place on the stage. (SV)+++

Chips drive Hollywood closer to its most special effect
Advances in technology bring movie makers closer to the day that they can create realistic animations of human beings. (SV)+++

Rumor: Unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro in the works
Apple also expected to announce a makeover for the Mac Mini, possibly has early as this week’s Macworld Expo. (CNET)+++

Wikimedia: Jimmy Wales ‘absolutely’ not out
Valleywag reports that the Wikipedia founder was out at the foundation that runs the Web-based encyclopedia, but the foundation strongly disputes it. (CNET)+++

Bright new phone displays that don’t guzzle power
Several companies are developing power-saving technologies for bright color displays on phones and other handhelds. (CNET)+++

Twitter phishing scam may be spreading
Beware this bogus direct message: “Hey! check out this funny blog about you…” (CNET)+++

Have yourself a merry Facebook Christmas?
The social-networking site, which has been experiencing explosive membership growth, sees record traffic on Christmas Eve. (CNET)+++

Obama considers linking Defense Dept. with NASA
President-elect is reportedly considering tearing down some of the walls between the two groups to make the U.S. more competitive with China in space exploration. (CNET)+++

Facebook sues social-network aggregator Power.com
Social-networking giant files claim against start-up that gives users access to several social networks and messaging clients at once. (CNET)+++

Israel brings Gaza airstrikes to the Web
The IDF has created its own YouTube channel carrying videos of its air assault against Hamas militants, and is using Twitter to spread its message. (CNET)+++

Living apart for the paycheck
An uncertain economy leaves more families living in different time zones, depending on video chats and technology like Skype for quality time. (CNET)+++

“Rock Band,” “Guitar Hero” battle doesn’t seem to have a loser
The American people had an important and historic decision to make this holiday season: “Guitar Hero World Tour” or “Rock Band 2″? (TST)+++

Q&A | Kindle, Sony’s Reader require user to stick within their networks
Q: I read many book series, mostly mysteries, and often like to reread them a few years later. Even sticking exclusively to paperbacks they take up a lot of room, so my ultimate goal is to replace as many of these as possible digitally and store them on an external hard drive or some such. (TST)+++

Macworld expected to attract faithful despite Steve Jobs’ absence
This year’s Macworld Conference and Exposition might be its last — at least in its current incarnation. Apple doesn’t run the Macworld show, as many casual observers would infer; instead, the exhibition arm of multinational firm IDG handles it. (TST)+++