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Judge to Google: Hands Off Dr. Lee For Now

From MediaPost: A JUDGE IN SEATTLE HAS temporarily prohibited computer scientist Kai-Fu Lee from working at Google. Lee had worked at Microsoft until earlier this month, when he gave notice that he would join Google to lead its China office. "The equities dictate that a temporary restraining order ……

Lee-1From MediaPost:

A JUDGE IN SEATTLE HAS temporarily prohibited computer scientist Kai-Fu Lee from working at Google. Lee had worked at Microsoft until earlier this month, when he gave notice that he would join Google to lead its China office. “The equities dictate that a temporary restraining order … should be entered,” wrote Judge Steven Gonzalez. He also ordered Microsoft to post $1 million by Tuesday, which could be used to compensate Google and Lee if Gonzalez or another judge later decides that Microsoft wasn’t entitled to the injunction.

MSFT still has a page up for Dr. Lee.

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Google Patenting Ads in Syndicated Feeds?

Apparently Google has filed for a patent in "Incorporating targeted ads into information in a syndicated, e.g., RSS, presentation format in an automated manner." Uh Oh. TechDirt reports on this disturbing idea. After all, many folks have been doing this for some time… Patent here. Update: Gary points out…

Apparently Google has filed for a patent in “Incorporating targeted ads into information in a syndicated, e.g., RSS, presentation format in an automated manner.”

Uh Oh. TechDirt reports on this disturbing idea. After all, many folks have been doing this for some time…

Patent here.

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Good Lord

McKinsey sure can take a good idea and turn it into meaningless corporatespeak drivel. I was reading through CNET and saw this headline: From Push to Pull: The Next Frontier of Innovation (from partner McKinsey) That sounded familiar, I had written a post called "From Push to Point", and…

McKinsey sure can take a good idea and turn it into meaningless corporatespeak drivel. I was reading through CNET and saw this headline:

From Push to Pull: The Next Frontier of Innovation (from partner McKinsey)

That sounded familiar, I had written a post called “From Push to Point“, and so I figured, hey, let’s see what they have to say. Here’s the “teaser”:

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Book Excerpt: The Birth of Google

Wired is running an excerpt of my forthcoming book in the August issue, and it's online starting today. I'm of two minds about the excerpt – the book has much more to it than the history of Google – but on the other hand, I'm deeply pleased that the…

Cover13 08Wired is running an excerpt of my forthcoming book in the August issue, and it’s online starting today.

I’m of two minds about the excerpt – the book has much more to it than the history of Google – but on the other hand, I’m deeply pleased that the magazine I helped start is, 13 years later, excerpting my first book. It’s part of a cover package on the ten year anniversary of Web 1.0 (the Netscape IPO in August 1995 being the starting gun).

As with the entire book, I very much hope that any errors, omissions, or plain stupidity that is apparent in this work will be pointed out by you, the reader, and that I can address them here and in any future printings.

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On The LA Times, Kinsley, and the Wikitorial

The LA Times (caveat, I spent a glorious three months there as an indentured servant before leaving to join the founders at Wired) recently attempted to push their own boundaries online by rolling out a "wikitorial" – in which the paper allowed its readers to comment upon and edit…

LatimesThe LA Times (caveat, I spent a glorious three months there as an indentured servant before leaving to join the founders at Wired) recently attempted to push their own boundaries online by rolling out a “wikitorial” – in which the paper allowed its readers to comment upon and edit the Times’ editorials.

It was a good idea, but poorly executed. The site attracted trolls and showoffs, and was quickly shut down. Dan Gillmor has a good overview of why it didn’t work here, and adds his thoughts on what they could have done better.

But when I read about this, I instantly recognized a core problem with the approach: it was top down community, rather than bottom up. Michael Kinsley, who created the site for the Times, was attempting to force a considered, editorial structure onto a set of readers who had yet to identify themselves or their own interests in any kind of structured way. It was doomed to fail, because communities can’t be created by editorial structures – editorial structures must be created by communities.

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