A Fuller View

This is a hilarious story. I am not sure if the (Red) Ads will really help Africa or only make people turn red in the face… On Monday I will contact my pals at Google and see what I can find out. Can you believe FSJ lost his blog login to the Fake Bono - wild stuff?!

As you would expect FSJ has a smoking post on the Kindle. I guess that means Apple may really be working on an ebook that even god might like. Let’s hope so… btw - Check-out what the Amazon.co.uk collaborative filter suggests as a companion book to buy with your copy of “Options” in the UK! “Beautiful Code” by the good folks over at O’Rielly, not sure FSJ would approve of that pairing. Here’s a comparison:

Beautiful Code:

How do the experts solve difficult problems in software development? In this unique and insightful book, leading computer scientists offer case studies that reveal how they found unusual, carefully designed solutions to high-profile projects. You will be able to look over the shoulder of major coding and design experts to see problems through their eyes. This is not simply another design patterns book, or another software engineering treatise on the right and wrong way to do things. The authors think aloud as they work through their project’s architecture, the tradeoffs made in its construction, and when it was important to break rules. “Beautiful Code” is an opportunity for master coders to tell their story.

Options:

A parody of Silicon Valley culture chronicles the struggles, triumphs, celebrity encounters, political hobnobbing, and counterintuitive management philosophy of Fake Steve Jobs, in a fictional memoir.

I am still fascinated to see how the eBook and eReader space plays out. I am optimistic that the new devices will help drive a good user experience. In the meantime, I just have to enjoy the humor of FSJ.

Today when I reading Fake Steve I just couldn’t stop crying. His words ring so true that the laughter turned to tears in mine eye… He also has great access to the Google CEO - check it and breaking news on Google android plans.

Coming to a FunWall near you its the Facebook News Network:

That’s a warp for the week for me at least. Look for my weekly wrap up on Monday, I am not going to get to it until Sunday night (maybe). In meantime I am hoping to have a burrito or maybe I’d prefer a taco?

Everyone should go check out this video clip posted by Mr Battelle - classic! Mr Ballmer should be coachin’ hoop. Its like Dick Vitale - all money and all net. I would wager he’s right - that eventually Microsoft search will slam dunk. And if they buy Yahoo!ooooo - that’s a serious 3-point shooter to add to the team. The trick will be in the integration.

Warning: this post is politically incorrect. We need one of these for London - what I am I talking about? A site for rating woman in the industry.  TechCrunch has a fun piece on this hot or not site from Silicon Valley - Dig A Valley Girl today - be sure to check the comments thread. What about those other valley girls - “like oh my god” they’ll totally need a site as well.

I’ve been at the beach most of this week on holiday with my family - which means this will be a short wrap-up…The big news this week is of course the Facebook and Microsoft investment deal that was announced - after many a rumour. There is tons of good and crap commentary on this deal on the blogs and news sites. Be sure check the following comment/analysis:

• Scoblozer - interesting snippet about former CEO of aQuantive helping drive strategy for MSFT
• At TechCrunch lots and lots to read, but wild one about apparent additional investors and a possible $700M+ war chest for the kids at Facebook
• Facebook Kremlinology on Radar
• Mr Battelle always astute

On a related thread, in last week’s print version of the Economist, there was a good piece about some of the reasons why Facebook is over-hyped. Even tough I am a big fan of Facebook and think MSFT’s investment is smart, I tend to agree with the Economist’s points. The thesis is that Facebook does not benefit from Metcalfe’s Law of networks, but instead is vulnerable to Groucho’s Law: “I refuse to be a member of any club that will have me.” [Tom Glocer has coined a new Groucho 2.0 Rule: "I refuse to participate in any social networking service that seeks to capitalize on my membership."] Or even worse it’s just a fad. Let’s watch and see what happens because its going to be fun and unexpected things will happen. Social networking is here to stay but it will change a lot in the next 5 years.

The last word is simply that last week Microsoft got to throw some sand in Google’s eye. This is the battle of the titans - M vs. G. Just think of a good game of Risk where its down to 2 players both with about 5000 armies. All good - everyone is a winner!

As usual I close with something funny - so here is a hilarious video someone posted on my FunWall.

Great news for all the fans of The Daily Show (yeah!) - it will launch a new dedicated site today that will contain tons and tons of video. Here’s a link to “sister” show site ColbertNation.

This was another interesting week for the Internet and the blogosphere in general. However, I would like to to start with two important stories that are a bit off to a tangent for this site - firstly, the story in Burma has gone from bad to worse and I am not sure anyone knows what’s next for the people of Burma. I only hope that freedom wins one of these days and that the junta is toppled. Secondly, congratulations to Al Gore for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (lots of press on this of course, I like this piece on the NY Times) - a well deserved victory for Mr Gore - respect!

Here’s my wrap up for last week of top stories and interesting posts from the space:

• Reach Local - raises a big (for the SEM space) founding round - see TechCrunch for details
• Social advertising post from Read/Write Web
• Facebook applications market report from O’Rielly
• Google acquires Jaiku- micro-blogging service

For this weeks piece of humour (Or as I used to say when I lived in the USA, humor), check out this comic I found on my friend’s Praized Blog:

Above Comic Credit: http://xkcd.com

That’s all for now. See you next week.

So here is my wrap-up for the week on what I found interesting and what people sent me.

• More Google 411 billboards in the USA - gotta watch the big G.
• Nokia decides to buy NAVTEQ for US$8 billion and change - lots to digest on this deal. Has to mean better mapping and local search on mobile phones.
• Verizon starts to get some traction on their move into local fiber, check the Biz Week piece for details.
• The latest edition of Plaxo is starting to look really useful, but why can’t it support a Nokia synch or the mobile app in Europe?
• I played with Chip In, which to me looks like one of the 1st really useful and fun Facebook apps and this has to be worth more than $10 million.
• We started to see the Ask Jeeves ads on TV in the UK - the new Ask.com and Ask.co.uk looks sweet. Well done No 3 or is it 4 ? - for working harder on a good user experience.
• Internet advertising goes from strenghth to strength (IAB reports: 1st half ’07 up 27% in the US) - I’d say the Gorilla is turing into Godzilla.
• AtlSearchEngines posted their latest top 100 list. And its French search engine Exalead at the top.

More next week of course. Here’s a Friday night video to enjoy (be sure to check the Office Space refs, I know geek humor)… Enjoy the weekend!