Microsoft Photosynth Focuses On Endeavour
Google Earth recently added a “NASA layer,” and new reports indicate that Microsoft’s also interested in the agency; Photosynth, the company’s digital photo “technology preview,” has made three-dimensional images of Endeavour.
Google Forges Alliance With Airtel
India’s population long ago passed the one billion mark, and Bharti Airtel Broadband & Telephone Services is that country’s largest private broadband and telephone service provider. Thanks to a new deal, the gigantic corporation is also Google’s partner.
Fake Steve Outed As Forbes’ Daniel Lyons
Remember Daniel Lyons, the guy who lambasted the blogosphere in a notorious October 2005 hit piece for Forbes? He’s been revealed as the voice of the Fake Steve Jobs blog.
Congressman Investigating Yahoo’s China Claims
The revelation of a Beijing State Security document issued to Yahoo for information on journalist Shi Tao contradicted testimony by a Yahoo executive; a California Congressman wants Yahoo to clarify the disparity.
Well, At Least One FCC Commissioner Isn’t An Idiot
Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps isn’t happy about how the commission has handled a number of recent issues, and is speaking loudly about it. And if one is as disgruntled as much of the public is, then that might be a positive sign.
Google Maps Makes Use Of Crowdsourcing
Who knows your town better: you or Google? Unless you live in Mountain View, California, I’m betting it’s not Google. So the search giant is experimenting with crowdsourcing as a way of making its maps more detailed.
Twitter, Indeed Backer Involved In Name Game
Union Square Ventures’s past investments include Del.icio.us and FeedBurner; it’s currently backing Twitter, Indeed, and AdaptiveBlue. Union Square Ventures is also behind a lawsuit against Union Square Partners, and, for simplicity’s sake, I’ll henceforth refer to the entities as “Ventures” and “Partners.”
Lyrics, Bridge Collapse Top Searches
I’ve become enamored with Google’s Hot Trends feature that lists the top 100 searches for a particular day. It’s a glimpse into the culture that’s hard to get, in crisp clear text. Even if you’re not sure you want to see.
It’s also a good, simple way to keep up with what’s going on in the news, really. A spike of searches for "fisher price recall" for example can let you know there might be a problem.*
Facebook Reunites Man With Birth Mother
Once a site gets so popular you can almost guarantee the negative press to begin – that seems to be the nature of the beast, disallowing the sunset ride off to be completely free of potholes. But every now and then (not often enough, in other words) something very nicely warm and fuzzy, like an early Christmas story, gets through.
Vodafone, Others Flee Facebook Over BNP Ads
Before today, I don’t think I’d ever heard of the British National Party – guess I need to brush up on my racist, far-right organizations. But it would seem that Vodafone and five other major corporations know the name, and they pulled out of deals with Facebook after their ads were placed on the BNP’s profile page.