Top Items:
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Microsoft readies ‘Albany’ subscription trial for consumers — Microsoft is set to start testing privately a consumer Software + Service bundle code-named “Albany,” an all-in-one bundle of Office Home and Student, Windows Live OneCare, Office Live Workspace and various Windows Live services.
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Joe Wilcox / Microsoft Watch:
Microsoft Takes the Toll Road to Albany — This morning, Microsoft announced the managed beta for Albany, which is codename for a bundle that includes Office 2007 Home and Student, Windows Live OneCare and supporting online services, such as mail and messaging.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb
louisgray.com:
Most Bloggers Don't Deserve Any Ad Revenue — It's routinely shocking to me that so many bloggers think they should try and make a profit from their Web site. — Urged on by the success of mega blog networks like TechCrunch and spurred forward by stories from ProBlogger …
Martin LaMonica / CNET News.com:
After complaints, Apple tweaks Software Update for Safari — Following a storm of criticism, Apple has changed its Software Update software to mark a distinction between new programs, such as its Safari on Windows browser, and updates to existing ones. — Last month, Apple started …
Discussion:
Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim
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Ryan Naraine / Ryan Naraine's Security Watch:
After Criticism, Apple Software Updater Gets UI Makeover — Apple has made a small but significant tweak to its Automatic Software Update utility to make a clear distinction between security patches and new products being pushed out to Windows users. — The UI redesign, which adds …
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Comscore: The Google fallout — Google's first quarter earnings call didn't have much in the way of theatrics, but a serious brush back pitch was delivered to Comscore. What should we make of Google CEO Eric Schmidt essentially throwing Comscore under the bus?
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Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Google Defies the Economy and Shows Profit Surge
Google Defies the Economy and Shows Profit Surge
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, STARTUP CHATTER, Google Investor Relations, BuzzMachine, MediaFile, Electronista, Bits and Techland
Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog:
Minimum Bids No Longer Fixed at $.10 — How to manage your new Sponsored Search minimum bids — Starting today, minimum bids for some Sponsored Search keywords will no longer be fixed at $.10. Throughout the next week, you may start noticing new minimum bids on some of your keywords.
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Jena McGregor / Business Week:
The World's Most Innovative Companies — Smart ideas for tough times: The 50 companies that make up our annual ranking nurture cultures that value creative people in good times and bad — Suddenly, innovation has a bull's-eye on its back. As the recession debate shifts from “what if” …
Fred / A VC:
The Difference Between Wordpress and Facebook — Is about $14.8bn according to the publicly available information about the most recent financings of the two companies ($15bn for Facebook and $200mm for Automattic). — But consider this comscore chart of unique visitors over the past year.
Discussion:
The Social Times
Alexander van Elsas / Alexander van Elsas's Weblog …:
The noise in Web 2.0 is mainly a Tech Elite's problem — Erick Schonfeld has a funny article today on TechCrunch in which he predicts/hopes that web 3.0 is about removing the noise. We all recognize the problem he describes. He is in so many different networks with so many followers …
Discussion:
Mark Evans, Steve Poland, Feedonomics, The Last Podcast, The Blog Herald, I'm Not Actually a Geek, Maple Leaf 2.0 and TechCrunch
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Matthew Lasar / Ars Technica:
Big ISPs a no show at second FCC net neutrality hearing — Federal Communications Commissioner Chair Kevin Martin ascended to the podium at Thursday's hearing on net neutrality, sounding even more rushed and befuddled than usual. The FCC “did also invite the carriers to participate …
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BBC:
Paypal to block ‘unsafe browsers’ — Web payment firm Paypal has said it will block “unsafe browsers” from using its service as part of wider anti-phishing efforts. — Customers will first be warned that a browser is unsafe but could then be blocked if they continue using it.
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Pageflakes Acquisition Confirmed — The personalized start page is dead. Long live the personalized start page. Pageflakes, a nice-looking but perennial also-ran in the world of start-page startups, has been officially acquired by Brad Greenspan's Live Universe, a deal we reported earlier this week.
Discussion:
Mashable!
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Secret Merger Talks Between Technorati And b5media Blow Up — Blog search engine Technorati was days away from merging with blog network b5media when the whole deal blew up earlier this week, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. — Technorati has been searching …
John Cook / John Cook's Venture Blog:
Secret Farecast buyer is Microsoft — It's official: Microsoft is the mystery buyer of Farecast, the Seattle online travel startup. Responding to an inquiry from the P-I today, Microsoft issued this statement from spokeswoman Whitney Burk: … We reported earlier this week that the company …
Discussion:
WebProNews, Rev2.org, Techvibes Blog, Microsoft News Tracker, VentureBeat, WebGuild, Mashable!, paidContent.org, CenterNetworks and Search Engine Land
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Jonathan Richards / Times of London:
iPhone sellers braced for hit on cheap handsets — Mobile operators with exclusive contracts to sell Apple's iPhone are bracing themselves for significant losses on unsold stock as they clear the shelves to make way for a new, faster version expected this summer.
Ionut Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Watch Restricted YouTube Videos — I've noticed that an increasing number of YouTube videos are restricted to a limited number of countries, probably because the company that uploaded them doesn't have global distribution rights or because it wants to use different marketing strategies in other countries.
Carleen Hawn / FoundRead:
Why You Must Embrace Rejection to Succeed — I have spent the last fifteen years starting and running two startups. Currently, I am “on a break” to finish my book, “Survival Guide for Bootstrapping Entrepreneurs” and to experiment with an online community for open source and commercial network tools.
Discussion:
ben barren