TWiST #190 News Roundtable

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has been named CEO and President of HP, ousting Léo Apotheker. Whitman made an unsuccessful bid as the Republican nominee for governor of California last year and since has been consulting part-time at Kleiner Perkins.

HP’s most recent spate of trouble was the announcement of layoffs of hundreds of employees in its Palm division, which came after the news that HP was shutting down its webOS hardware business.

QUESTION: Whitman’s expertise is primarily in the consumer space, so is she a good pick to run what is largely a hardware company--and one with major enterprise clients? Why take on

SOURCE: AllThingsD

Google+ started the week off by opening access to everyone. (Users previously were required to obtain an invite.) The service also rolled out search functionality for people, posts and Web content.

Along with search, Google released a pack of new features for their Hangouts feature. Hangouts are now available for Android phones with front-facing cameras, for larger viewing audiences, and can include screen-sharing, basic sketching, Google Docs and public topic listings.

QUESTION: Facebook seemed to do a pretty good job this week of stealing G+'s thunder, and more and more people have been observing that G+ is generating less new conversations and engagement than it did post-launch. Will opening the gates give the system the surge of eyeballs and commentary that it needs? What more can Google do to compete with the constantly-updating, ever-iterating Facebook?

SOURCE: AllThingsD

Netflix announced that its DVD-by-mail operations would soon be rebranded "Qwikster." The service will be separated from its streaming service, but share the same infrastructure and content library as the current DVD-by-mail system. Video game rentals will also be available.

Netflix recently angered its customer base with a rate hike and some feel that even more DVD members may leave the service if there’s not an incentive to bundle.

QUESTIONS: Is a standalone DVD-by-mail operation going to really be a viable business model? Or is the goal just to get a better valuation on Wall Street for its streaming operation?

SOURCE: GigaOm

The FBI has been using a cell phone tracking device known as a "Stingray," capable of zeroing in on a cell phone even if it's not in use. The FBI has said it obtains appropriate court orders before ever using the device.

Recently, the Stingray was used to track down a hacker named Daniel David Rigmaiden, accused of filing fraudulent electronic tax returns. Rigmaiden's lawyers are now arguing that they should have access to information about the government techniques used to find him, including the Stingray. This has led to questions about how much access even judges have been given to the inner workings of the technology.

QUESTION: Should Rigmaiden's lawyers be given access to more information about the Stingray and other equipment used to track him down? Or does the FBI have a right to keep its technology and techniques a secret?

SOURCE: WSJ.com

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has a Google problem.

Back in 2003, after Santorum gave an interview comparing homosexuality to polygamy, adultery, incest and bestiality. (He argued that allowing gay marriage would be akin to tolerating "man on dog" relationships.)

In response, sex columnist Dan Savage asked his viewers to decide on a new definition for the word "santorum," eventually resulting in using the term to refer to - prepare yourselves - the mixture of lubricant and fecal matter resulting from anal sex.

Search "Santorum" on Google to this day, and this is what you'll find - first, the page "SpreadingSantorum.com" providing the alternate definition, and then a Wikipedia page about the incident, followed by information on Rick Santorum the candidate.

Santorum has begun lobbying Google to alter the result. He said "To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website is something that they say they can't handle but I suspect that's not true." He also implied that if a Democrat were in a similar situation, Google would help them out.

QUESTION: Aside from thoughts about whether Google SHOULD make this change, or thoughts on Mr. Santorum's positions... is this really the best possible result for this term? Are people looking up the word "Santorum" more likely to be looking for the slang than the man? As well, how much of a concern is it that politicians don't seem to really grasp the Internet. Should comfort with technology be a more prominent consideration when choosing a president?

SOURCE: ABC News