Daily dispatch: Techie kids are better writers; NYTimes.com launches new interface

The Daily Dispatch is a collection of interesting news about computing, consumer electronics, and other technology gathered from around the Web by Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, and other staffers. If you have a tip on news you want to share, leave a comment below.

..."Our research suggests a strong correlation between kids using technology and wider patterns of reading and writing," Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, told BBC News. "Engagement with online technology drives their enthusiasm for writing short stories, letters, song lyrics or diaries."

Where Google Goes From Here, Part 1 (New York Times)
As part of its Room For Debate series, two new media experts are asked for their thoughts on Google's future and its effect on media of all types.

New York Times launches 'Skimmer' to make news feel more print-like (New York Times Skimmer)

An example of the NY Times Skimmer page. (Click to enlarge.)
PHOTO: New York Times Skimmer

Google launches its own DNS (Domain Name System) resolution service (Google Public DNS)

By using Google Public DNS you can:

• Speed up your browsing experience.
• Improve your security.
• Get the results you expect with absolutely no redirection.

Spread some holiday cheer, one card at a time (Official Google Blog)

...This holiday season, as a token of our appreciation to our most enthusiastic fans, we'll snail-mail a free holiday postcard on your behalf. Yes, through the mail and everything. To send a card, visit https://gmail.com/holidaycard. We'll only be able to send cards to U.S. addresses and to a limited number of people (due to limited Gmail elf availability), so be sure to request one soon.

BestBuy.com to offer 99-cent standard shipping (AP)

BestBuy.com, the electronics retailer's Web site, said Tuesday it will offer 99-cent standard shipping on most products, except those that require a scheduled delivery.

YouTube Feather (Google Operating System)

Feather is a new feature from YouTube Labs. The goal is "to serve YouTube video watch pages with the lowest latency possible. It achieves this by severely limiting the features available to the viewer and making use of advanced web techniques for reducing the total amount of bytes downloaded by the browser."

Lighter side: 15 Google Interview Questions That Will Make You Feel Stupid (Silicon Alley Insider)

...Seattle job coach Lewis Lin put together a list of 140 questions his clients have been asked by Google.