Since John Paczkowski’s still out of range, Beth Callaghan will be posting Digital Daily today.

In a stunning turn of events over the weekend, both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes passed away–Mac of complications from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease, and Hayes from as-yet unknown causes.

The immediate impact and response, of course, is displayed on the Web, with the now-customary ritual proliferation of tribute videos on YouTube–at last count, there were 188,000 for Isaac Hayes and 137,000 for Bernie Mac.

Legendary music icon Hayes was primarily known as the embodiment of ’70s soul. As composer of “Theme from Shaft,” he won a Grammy and established himself as the king of old-school cool. To younger generations, he’ll be remembered as the voice of “Chef” on Comedy Central’s “South Park”–a role he played from 1997-2006. Hayes was 65.

Still-rising star Bernie Mac reached prominence in Spike Lee’s 2000 film “The Original Kings of Comedy,” and starred in Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s Eleven” films. His own sitcom, “The Bernie Mac Show,” ran from 2001 to 2006. His cutting-edge brand of humor set him apart from his contemporaries, and often received attention from critics. Mac was recently scolded by Barack Obama’s campaign after a surprise appearance at a fund-raiser for the presidential candidate during which he used crude language. He was 50.

The two had recently been shooting a film, “Soul Men,” in which they were starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson.

To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. Our Tech 10 appears below.

1. Coming to a PDF Near You: Adobe announced today that it is teaming with Yahoo to put text-based ads in PDF files, reports The Wall Street Journal, noting that publishers will be paid for running ads from Yahoo Inc. next to the PDFs.
2. But Will It Be Able to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound? The new and improved version of Apple’s iPhone will be able to download from the Internet at a faster rate, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson announced last night, Bloomberg reports. Speaking to the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, Calif., Stephenson also divulged that the new iteration of the device will debut next year and will operate on third-generation wireless networks. (AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S.)
3. Nothing’s Set in Concrete, After All: Responding to criticism from MoveOn, Facebook execs are looking into changes to the recently launched Beacon advertising tool, according to BusinessWeek, adding that adjustments to the system could come as early as today.
4. Democracy Comes to Search Results: Google is experimenting with a system that enables users to change the rankings of or delete sites in personalized searches, according to Loren Baker of Search Engine Journal, explaining that the new system will allow users to manipulate search results by simply hitting dedicated buttons.
5. Reining In Comcast: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is proposing a rule to keep cable colossus Comcast from growing larger, the New York Times is reporting, adding that the new rule comes as Martin attempts to regain the upper hand after his earlier proposal to broadly control the cable industry was shot down.
6. The Faster the Better: Verizon Wireless will upgrade its network in 2008, according to Reuters, using long-term evolution technology to achieve higher speeds. The new system could end up challenging Qualcomm, which developed the CDMA technology Verizon’s current network is based on, as well as supporters of WiMax.
7. Strike This Strike? ABC and the Writers Guild of America, East, announced today that they had come to a tentative agreement for about 250 ABC News writers, editors, graphic artists and desk assistants in New York and Washington, D.C., according to the Hollywood Reporter. The union, which has worked without a contract since Jan. 31, 2005, will vote on the new agreement Dec. 13.



8. Cartman, Kyle and Kenny–Free: Following the online popularity of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” MTV Networks will make all episodes of the animated comedy “South Park” available for free in 2008 according to Reuters, noting that the move is part of Viacom’s strategy to boost TV viewership.
9. Just When You Thought Things Couldn’t Get Any Worse: Along comes Warner Music Group’s gloomy forecast for 2008. In today’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. predicts a continuing decline in physical music sales as retailers cut back on shelf space, while the digital-music and mobile sales growth will be slower than expected, reports Peter Kafka of Silicon Alley Insider.
10. No Wii? Waaaaa! The popularity of Nintendo’s gaming console coupled with “a maxed-out supply chain that can’t be ramped up to meet holiday demands” means it could be next to impossible to purchase a Wii before Christmas at retail stores, explains Chris Kohler at Wired.

–posted by Associate Editor John Sullivan