Month: May 2008

Utopia Ho!

This post caught my eye: If a small team of Silicon Valley millionaires get their way, in a few years, you could have a new option for global citizenship: A permanent, quasi-sovereign nation floating in international waters. With a $500,000 donation from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a Google engineer…

This post caught my eye:

If a small team of Silicon Valley millionaires get their way, in a few years, you could have a new option for global citizenship: A permanent, quasi-sovereign nation floating in international waters.

With a $500,000 donation from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a Google engineer and a former Sun Microsystems programmer have launched The Seasteading Institute, an organization dedicated to creating experimental ocean communities “with diverse social, political, and legal systems.”

5 Comments on Utopia Ho!

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Reader Sam Writes….

Reader Sam writes: The police were doing their duty. As they are required by law. Google had to cough up the IP. As they are required by law. And now suddenly Google is evil? Wow! It is the job of a court of that country to decide what is legally…

< ![CDATA[Reader Sam writes: The police were doing their duty. As they are required by law. Google had to cough up the IP. As they are required by law. And now suddenly
Google is evil? Wow! It is the job of a court of that country to decide what is legally
right or wrong. Not Google or America.]]>

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Microsoft To Announce Search News Today

Wish I could tell you all about it, but the announcement is set for later this morning when I'll be on a plane to a meeting back in the Bay Area. So watch the NYT, the feeds, and here's a story with some details (but no analysis) on PC…

Wish I could tell you all about it, but the announcement is set for later this morning when I’ll be on a plane to a meeting back in the Bay Area. So watch the NYT, the feeds, and here’s a story with some details (but no analysis) on PC World or the Seattle PI. I spent a fair amount of time talking about this with execs up there and there’s more than just a cash back angle to this story. More this weekend….when I have time to write. Suffice to say, Bill Gates is going to be on stage, a swan song of sorts. This is a big deal for the company, the start of something.

7 Comments on Microsoft To Announce Search News Today

Not Giving Me Loads of Comfort

Air travel in the US is starting to feel like bus travel somewhere in Central America, at least from what I've heard. The latest sign that things are amiss? I sit down in my "business class" seat on Alaska and see this staring at me: Not exactly confidence inspiring….

Air travel in the US is starting to feel like bus travel somewhere in Central America, at least from what I’ve heard. The latest sign that things are amiss? I sit down in my “business class” seat on Alaska and see this staring at me:

No Good Alaska

Not exactly confidence inspiring. The plane felt old, worn out, and, well, poorly carpeted!

http://mobileposts.federatedmedia.net/searchblog/848/mobile_post.js

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Help Me Make the CM Summit Amazing….Tickets Going Fast

As many of you know, next month is our second Conversational Marketing Summit, this time in NYC. The line up of speakers is really fantastic. I'll be interviewing: – Beth Comstock, CMO of GE – Rich Silverstein, co-fonder of Goodby Silverstein – Sarah Fay, CEO North America, Aegis Media…

As many of you know, next month is our second Conversational Marketing Summit, this time in NYC. The line up of speakers is really fantastic. I’ll be interviewing:

– Beth Comstock, CMO of GE

– Rich Silverstein, co-fonder of Goodby Silverstein

– Sarah Fay, CEO North America, Aegis Media Americas

– Wenda Millard Harris, Chair, IAB and President, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Speaker Bianchini Gina Bianchini

Speaker Comstock Sm Beth Comstock

Speaker Rich Sm Rich Silverstein

Speaker Fay Sarah Fay

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If It Was Bad for Yahoo to Do It….

…It's bad for Google to do it. An Indian man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly posting derogatory and vulgar content about Indian politician Sonia Gandhi on Google's social networking site, Orkut. 22-year-old Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid had posted his comments in an Orkut community called "I hate Sonia…

…It’s bad for Google to do it.

An Indian man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly posting derogatory and vulgar content about Indian politician Sonia Gandhi on Google’s social networking site, Orkut. 22-year-old Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid had posted his comments in an Orkut community called “I hate Sonia Gandhi” through an Orkut account associated with his Gmail account. With Google’s help, local authorities were able to verify Vaid’s identity and make the arrest.

Yahoo caught a lot of shit, including from me, when they helped arrest a journalist in China.

10 Comments on If It Was Bad for Yahoo to Do It….

Google Goes Rich

…rich media, that is. Third party ad tags are now cool with Google on the AdSense network. That means mo' money. Look at the list of approved third parties: * Advertiser ad servers: DoubleClick (DFA), Mediaplex * Rich media agencies: DoubleClick Rich Media, Eyeblaster, EyeWonder, Interpolls, PointRoll, Unicast *…

…rich media, that is. Third party ad tags are now cool with Google on the AdSense network. That means mo’ money. Look at the list of approved third parties:

* Advertiser ad servers: DoubleClick (DFA), Mediaplex

* Rich media agencies: DoubleClick Rich Media, Eyeblaster, EyeWonder, Interpolls, PointRoll, Unicast

* Research firms: Dynamic Logic, IAG Research, InsightExpress, Factor TG

Focus on the middle, my friends. The third line is to prove it out, the first line, well, they own DClick, and Mediaplex is pretty small. What’s not there? Atlas. That’s owned by Microsoft. I’m sure it was just a technical error.

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Microsoft To Advance Its Search

I will be up at Microsoft this week, meeting with Kevin Johnson, President, and others during the company's Advance 08 conference. I am particularly looking forward to hearing what news comes around search, as Kevin has promised in a note to staff: "On Wednesday, we will be announcing a…

I will be up at Microsoft this week, meeting with Kevin Johnson, President, and others during the company’s Advance 08 conference. I am particularly looking forward to hearing what news comes around search, as Kevin has promised in a note to staff:

“On Wednesday, we will be announcing a major new initiative that our search teams have been driving. We are getting better and better with our core algorithmic search, and at the same time, we are investing to differentiate in vertical experiences and to disrupt the current model.”

I will post what I learn by Weds. midday.

1 Comment on Microsoft To Advance Its Search

You’re Right, Joe

Joe Duck, in a post about blog ranking systems: Ironically I think success has really diminished some formerly great blogs. John Battelle is one of the most thoughtful writers on the web but now he’s way too busy with Federated Media to keep Searchblog as lively as it once…

Joe Duck, in a post about blog ranking systems:

Ironically I think success has really diminished some formerly great blogs. John Battelle is one of the most thoughtful writers on the web but now he’s way too busy with Federated Media to keep Searchblog as lively as it once was.

Thanks for the kind words, Joe. I’ve been reading some of my earlier writing, and it’s true that I don’t have the time I used to to drill down and really think hard out loud. I still do it from time to time – probably about twice a month or so, compared to twice a week back in the day. I really do miss the process of working it out here, and I know over the next year or so, I’ll be back to it. Thanks for keeping me honest.

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