Top Items:
Peter Rip / EarlyStageVC:
Web 2.0 - Over and Out — Many of us in the VC community have been quietly wondering about the state of Web 2.0 innovation. We aren't seeing much. Startup activity remains strong, but the consumer web landscape seems to be populated with the same bodies with different skins.
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Valleywag:
BUBBLE: Alexa error triggers crisis of confidence — Web 2.0 may indeed be waning as a meme, as Crosslink Capital's Peter Rip suggests. Technology evangelists and journalists have probably vented all there is to say about dynamic web pages and online social behavior, the two key ingredients of this round of internet projects.
Brad Stone / New York Times:
MySpace Restrictions Upset Some Users — Some users of MySpace feel as if their space is being invaded. — MySpace, the Web's largest social network, has gradually been imposing limits on the software tools that users can embed in their pages, like music and video players that also deliver advertising or enable transactions.
Discussion:
Profy.Com, Mashable!, HipMojo.com, The Social Web, Social Media Club, Dumpster Bust, A VC, Screenwerk, Snipperoo, Virtual Economics and Jeffrey McManus
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Inside AdWords:
Pay-per-action beta test — Is there a specific action on your site that you want visitors to complete? Do you know how much that action is worth to your business? If so, you may be interested in our pay-per-action beta test. Here's Rob K., Product Manager for Pay-Per-Action, to tell us more:
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Harry McCracken / PC World: Techlog:
Google Personal Homepage Gets Skinnable — When I think of Google, I think of a site with a relentlessly consistent—and ultimately mundane—look and feel. Which is why a fairly minor new Google feature—dynamic themes (aka skins) for the Google Personalized Homepage—is worthy of comment here.
Discussion:
Valleywag
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Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Google Offers 'Themes' For Personalized Homepage — There's a flurry of activity in the newly invigorated personalized homepage category. Within the past two weeks all the major competitors have made announcements. First, AOL launched MyNetscape, followed by the release of "universal video widgets" on Pageflakes.
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
John W. Backus, 82, Fortran Developer, Dies — John W. Backus, who assembled and led the I.B.M. team that created Fortran, the first widely used programming language, which helped open the door to modern computing, died on Saturday at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 82.
Unstrung:
Palm Deal in the Final Stretch — A Palm Inc. buyout could be finalized by Thursday this week, demanding $20 or more per share, according to sources close to the situation. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK - message board) is seen as the leading vendor bidder; while Palm's management is said to prefer a private equity buyer.
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Ryan Block / Engadget:
Xbox 360 Elite: new, black limited edition Xbox with HDMI and 120GB drive — We've confirmed with trusted sources that the black Xbox 360 is indeed coming (the image above is of the original 360 dev kit, FYI), and will be dubbed the Xbox 360 Elite. Here's what you need to know about it:
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Business Wire:
Yahoo! Reinvents Search for the Mobile Web — Yahoo! oneSearch(TM) Accessible Today Through More Than One Hundred Million Mobile Phones — SUNNYVALE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - News) has today expanded the reach of the popular new Yahoo! oneSearch service to the Mobile Web in the United States.
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Kasper Jade / AppleInsider:
Apple's next-generation iMacs to add a touch of grace — AppleInsider has learned that Apple's popular line of iMac personal computers are about to undergo a substantial facelift that will showcase striking new industrial designs aimed at leaving both competitors and onlookers smitten.
Discussion:
Good Morning Silicon Valley, Engadget, michael parekh on IT, Gizmodo, O'Grady's PowerPage, Gadget Lab, CrunchGear and digg
CNET News.com:
Who exactly wrote the first blog — Someone, somewhere created the very first Web log. It's just not quite clear who. — It may not be one of the Internet's grandest accomplishments, but with the number of active bloggers hovering somewhere around 100 million, according to one estimate …
Julio / iinnovate:
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google — Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, talks about Google's industry and competitors, about leading innovation, and career advice. — MP3 File | Subscribe via iTunes | Digg it! Add to del.icio.us — We caught up with Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google last week …
MediaShift:
DOOMSAYERS DEBUNKED Serious Journalism Won't Die as Newsprint Fades — I was reading my local newspaper today — yes, I still read it in print — and came upon this unfortunate passage in an otherwise nice report on a maverick newspaper publisher in rural California: "With classified advertising usurped …
Discussion:
Teaching Online Journalism
CNNMoney.com:
PlayStation 3 price cut may be ahead — Sony game console's hefty price tag has drawn criticism; Goldman Sachs analyst expects worldwide price reduction of $100 later this year. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Japanese electronics giant Sony may cut the price of its PlayStation 3 by $100 worldwide …
BBC:
Virtual worlds are 'worth $1bn' — Millions of people are flocking to inhabit virtual online worlds, says research by analysts Screen Digest. — The market for massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) in the West is now worth more than $1bn (£511m)
Discussion:
InfoWorld Tech Watch