The Angry Drunk asks for a little consistency from writers on the Web.

You The Designer:

We’ve made 10 free Christmas graphics/icons that would be perfect for decorating your website or blog. Feel free to download them.

I downloaded them. Great, high-quality stuff.

Apparently RIM organized a party in Sydney, Australia where BlackBerry users could share songs with their friends. Judging from the turnout, I guess they were too embarrassed to show up.

The actions by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice to block this transaction do not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry. It is one of the most fiercely competitive industries in the world, with a mounting need for more spectrum that has not diminished and must be addressed immediately. The AT&T and T-Mobile USA combination would have offered an interim solution to this spectrum shortage. In the absence of such steps, customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled.“AT&T will continue to be aggressive in leading the mobile Internet revolution,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “Over the past four years we have invested more in our networks than any other U.S. company. As a result, today we deliver best-in-class mobile broadband speeds – connecting smartphones, tablets and emerging devices at a record pace – and we are well under way with our nationwide 4G LTE deployment.”To reflect the break-up considerations due Deutsche Telekom, AT&T will recognize a pretax accounting charge of $4 billion in the 4th quarter of 2011. Additionally, AT&T will enter a mutually beneficial roaming agreement with Deutsche Telekom.

Ben Brooks:

Then Topolsky and crew launched their next big thing: The Verge. It’s what they envisioned tech reporting to be when they left Engadget, but unfortunately for them it sucks.

Ben just goes off on The Verge — not about the design of the Website, not about advertisements, but about the writing.

Frederic Lardinois for SiliconFilter:

From December 21st thru December 27th, Skype (and, by extension, Microsoft), will offer free access to third-party WiFi hotspots through its Skype WiFi program in over 50 airports all across the U.S.

You sign in using your Skype ID. Obviously if your local airport offers free Wi-Fi already, you don’t need this – but well-traveled airports like Boston’s Logan Airport, SFO, Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway, and dozens of others are on the list. Visit the Skype blog for an interactive map.

Chris Davies for SlashGear:

Google will begin promoting what could be the first official Nexus tablet within the next six months, according to chairman Eric Schmidt, the latest stage in the “brutal competition” between it and Apple. “In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality” Schmidt told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sea, while also confirming that Google plans to leverage its voice recognition technology to better challenge Apple’s Siri.

We’ll see if Google has any better luck wading into the fray; so far, Android tablets haven’t had very much impact in the market compared to the iPad.

Hat tip: Engadget.

Katie Marsal for AppleInsider:

Research in Motion’s struggles in the smartphone market have driven its stock price so low that the company is worth less than the estimated value of just Apple’s App Store.

Clearly RIM’s co-CEOs were right. The iPhone will have no effect on the BlackBerry at all.

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Some very smart and talented people.

WSJ:

Apple is also working on its own television that relies on wireless streaming technology to access shows, movies and other content, according to people briefed on the project.In the recent meetings with media companies, the Apple executives, including Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, have outlined new ways Apple’s technology could recognize users across phones, tablets and TVs, people familiar with the talks said.

This is going to be big. Even though its competition has warning of Apple’s plans, I don’t think they understand the scope of Apple’s plans.

Some of the comments are pretty brutal, but you can definitely see some common threads as you read through.

Nilay Patel for The Verge:

It appears that the wild story of Fusion Garage has come to a sadly ignominious close: the manufacturer of the failed JooJoo and Grid10 tablets has all but disappeared, leaving behind only a database error on its website and a US PR firm that is quitting representation as of tomorrow.

Maybe Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan can send his resumé to RIM.

Matt Hartley:

After much consideration, he concluded that his company’s only hope was to abandon its long-held strategy, to acknowledge its shortcomings and embark on a radical new strategy. He ditched the company’s sputtering software business. He put teams to work developing new devices and he cut a billion-dollar software deal with one of the most powerful technology companies on the planet.Unfortunately for the shareholders of Research In Motion Ltd., the Canadian smartphone executive’s name was not Jim Balsillie or Mike Lazaridis. It was Stephen Elop, the Hamilton-born chief executive of Finnish mobile giant Nokia Corp.

I don’t think RIM can do it. They need to fire the co-CEOs and bring in someone with some imagination to clean house and get the company back on track.

Police are searching for someone who stole a semtrailer filled with $1.7 million worth of BlackBerry PlayBooks.

These are either the stupidest robbers ever, or more likely, RIM’s co-CEOs took a road trip. It is interesting to note that the truck was headed back to RIM’s headquarters in Ontario. Sounds like a truckload of returns to me.

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Rachel Weber for Gamesindustry.biz:

Zynga has raised $1 billion in its much anticipated IPO today, after offering its 100 million shares at $10 each.

Zynga is the casual game developer behind Facebook hits like Farmville and Cityville. The company has branched out to support other platforms including iOS.

There are some classics in there.

[Via Laughing Squid]

MG Siegler responding to Josh Topolsky:

I don’t know about you, but when I read my favorite technology writers, I want an opinion. Is the iPhone 4S the best smartphone, or is it the Galaxy Nexus? I need to buy one, I can’t buy both. Topolsky never gives us that. Instead, he pussyfoots around it. One is great at some things, the other is great at others. Barf.

Honesty rules.

Globe and Mail:

Research In Motion Ltd.’s top executives cut their salaries to $1 as they delivered yet more dismal news to investors, telling the world the product that was supposed to save the company will come out almost a year later than promised.

Still $1 too much.

Defining what a journalist is has become more difficult in the last decade. Mathew Ingram at GigaOM takes a look at the challenges and how things have changed with Twitter and bloggers entering the fray.

Tom Krazit for paidContent.org:

As they tried once again Thursday evening to urge financial analysts to look ahead to a brighter future while once again delaying the release of a crucial product, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis failed to give anyone a reason to think RIM will be a player in mobile during 2012 or to explain why they should still have their jobs.

We’re happy Balsillie and Lazaridis are around if just for the comic relief.

Joanna Stern:

Dell is still planning on being a lead player in the mobile laptop space and stressed that it has been spending time developing higher-end, premium laptops like the XPS 14z. Dell’s Marketing Director Alison Gardner was very clear about the strategy: “Thin and powerful is where it is at for us.”

Dell quits MP3 players. Dell quits tablets. Dell quits netbooks.

Nielsen:

Teens have officially joined the mobile Data Tsunami, more than tripling mobile data consumption in the past year while maintaining their stronghold as the leading message senders. Using recent data from monthly cell phone bills of 65,000+ mobile subscribers who volunteered to participate in the research, Nielsen analyzed mobile usage trends among teens in the United States. In the third quarter of 2011, teens age 13-17 used an average of 320 MB of data per month on their phones, increasing 256 percent over last year and growing at a rate faster than any other age group. Much of this activity is driven by teen males, who took in 382 MB per month while females used 266 MB.