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Riya not recognized by Google — I've heard many rumors about Riya over the past few weeks. One strong rumor, reported by Om Malik, among others, was that Riya was getting purchased by Google. — I know our M&A guys had met with Riya too and had passed on the deal after negotiations got too expensive …
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The Power of Venture Myth — Some time ago when Skype-Hype was all the rage I made a flippant remark in this blog about Skype and Paris Hilton. I couldn't really understand why the blogosphere was all atwitter - since nearly no one was really affected by the outcome, except a few employees (too few it turns out) and some VCs.

Google Passes on Riya — Riya, the celebrated facial recognition company that has allowed in a few lucky alpha testers over the last few months, was the subject of significant acquisition rumors a few weeks ago. "Sources" put the price in the $30 million range, although the company …

Riya Rumors — For the past few months, there have been many speculations about our future as an independent company. For various legal reasons I couldn't and still can't directly comment on these. However, at this time, Riya continues as an independent team fully focused on making our photo search dream a reality.

AOL's Choice of Google Leaves Microsoft as the Outsider — This time, it was Microsoft that was snubbed at the last minute. — In 1996, America Online agreed to offer Netscape's Internet browser to its five million customers. A day later, the nonbinding agreement was shunted aside …

A better way to count clicks? — Web publishers may soon have to change the way they count visitor traffic, whether they like it or not. — An Internet standards body is hammering out new rules for tallying traffic numbers on Web sites and their content partners, in an initiative called the Nomenclature Project.

Personal shopper Companies sending merchandise information to cell phone users — Everyone knows cell phones are good for communicating. But shopping? — Marketers hope so. In fact, several companies are experimenting with better ways to send merchandise information to mobile phones …

Web 2.0? It doesn't exist — No, I am not turning into a "flat-earther." The world is pear-shaped, Pluto is not a planet, and global warming exists. — But Web 2.0 does not exist. — The advances being touted under the general umbrella of Web 2.- advances written about with considerable skill …

This is the Google side of your brain — As more people find themselves spending much of the day within arm's reach — or even pocket's reach — of something that can tap into the Internet, search engine Google quickly is taking the place of not only a trip to the library, but also a call home to Mom …
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Techdirt

A weekend of using the Thinkpad Tablet PC — It has been a fun weekend using the Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC. I've been to one conference at church, taken it with me on various outings, and then used it at church. I've also spent the day with it on the couch watching football, watching 24 at night, etc.
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Life On the Wicked Stage

Flipping your start-up the smart way — Microsoft employee Dare Obasanjo writes about flipping a startup to Microsoft, Google, or Yahoo, where he writes … Scoble and Don Dodge, also Microsoft employees, follow up with more commentary. All the commentary is right on target …
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Conversion Rater

THE PROBABILISTIC AGE — Q: Why are people so uncomfortable with Wikipedia? And Google? And, well, that whole blog thing? — A: Because these systems operate on the alien logic of probabilistic statistics, which sacrifices perfection at the microscale for optimization at the macroscale.

First Look: Nokia 770 Internet Tablet — First Look: Nokia 770 Internet Tablet — So is this a Tablet or PDA? More on that debate in our full review. Our first impression is that this most certainly is a hell of a fun digital toy. What a perfect gift for the technolfile in your life! …
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Life On the Wicked Stage

"Flipping Startups 101" Gets a Failing Grade — There is a silly discussion underway out in the blog-o-sphere, one that purports to be rational noodling about how best to set up your startup company to be flipped to Google/Yahoo/Microsoft. The nut is this paragraph from Dare Obasanjo's original piece: