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Google's Launches Pay-Per-Action; a Threat to Affiliate Networks? — If you're reading this post, then you can expect a flurry of news covering Google's beta launch of its Pay-Per-Action (PPA) product for AdWords. Yep, after years of hinting, Google is finally ready to let us test their platform on a CPA (cost per action) model.
Discussion:
Lightspeed Venture …, Search Engine Journal, pc4media, Jim Kukral Online … and WebMetricsGuru
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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:

Google to Test Pay-per-Action Ads
Discussion:
Vinny Lingham's Blog


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:
Discussion:
Neowin.net, Gizmodo, Joystiq, Xbox 360 Fanboy, DigitalBattle, Channel 9, The Tech Report and digg
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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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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.
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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:
alarm:clock, Profy.Com, Mashable!, Gadgetell, Social Media Club, HipMojo.com, A VC, The Social Web, Dumpster Bust, Screenwerk, Snipperoo, Jeffrey McManus and Virtual Economics

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 …

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.

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 …


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.
Discussion:
O'Reilly Radar, Download Squad, Slashdot, Adaptive Path, Engadget, Monkey Bites and digg

Twittering your Home — I had no sooner got finished writing "don't discount twitter. I'll lay odds that it gets hacked into a really useful service before long" in the comments on Nat's twittervision post, in response to the various people saying that twitter was drivel, and who cares …


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)

Apple of Our Eye: Macs Save Money — There's been a distinct sea change in the way people think about Apple in the last few weeks. — Recently, people have been saying the strangest things about Apple and the Mac. Everything is topsy-turvy. Pundits aren't trotting out the old conventional wisdoms any more.


ADOBE: Scoble's favorites — Robert Scoble, the geek commentator whose fame still mystifies me, once tried to answer a question — Who is the Adobe blogger? — about the web communications strategy of one of the key web software firms. The answer was staring him in the face. Scoble himself is the Adobe blogger.
Discussion:
Ryan Stewart


VMware Fusion Beta 2 now available — VMware, the top banana in the virtualization market though relative new comer to the Mac, has just released Fusion Beta 2, their Mac virtualization client. Fusion, much like Parallels, allows you to run Windows (and many other operating systems) …