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Clay Shirky, Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable:

“When someone demands to be told how we can replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are demanding to be told that ancient social bargains aren’t in peril, that core institutions will be spared, that new methods of spreading information will improve previous practice rather than upending it. They are demanding to be lied to.”

Marc Andreesen, If Microsoft goes fully hostile on Yahoo:

“We have seen extensive press coverage of Microsoft’s pursuit of Yahoo over the last few months, including notably excellent coverage from Silicon Alley Insider and the Wall Street Journal. However, I have not seen a detailed analysis of how a full hostile takeover might play out — the kind of analysis that you would be receiving if you were a Microsoft or Yahoo board member.

So I asked a pair of expert corporate attorneys — Michael Sullivan and Ed Deibert at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk and Rabkin in San Francisco — to work up such an analysis. What follows is their take blended with my commentary. (…)”

Bessemer Venture Partners, AntiPortfolio:

“Bessemer Venture Partners is perhaps the nation’s oldest venture capital firm, carrying on an unbroken practice of venture capital investing that stretches back to 1911. This long and storied history has afforded our firm an unparalleled number of opportunities to completely screw up.

Over the course of our history, we did invest in a wig company, a french-fry company, and the Lahaina, Ka’anapali & Pacific Railroad. However, we chose to decline these investments, each of which we had the opportunity to invest in, and each of which later blossomed into a tremendously successful company. “

Apple, Intel, FedEx, Ebay, Google… Via Freakonomics, Misadventures in Venture Capitalism.

Positive Sharing, Top 5 reasons why “The Customer Is Always Right” is wrong:

“The phrase “The customer is always right” was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s department store in London in 1909, and is typically used by businesses to:

1. Convince customers that they will get good service at this company
2. Convince employees to give customers good service

Fortunately more and more businesses are abandoning this maxim – ironically because it leads to bad customer service.

Here are the top five reasons why “The customer is always right” is wrong. (…)”

(via)

Harvard Magazine: Debtor Nation. The rising risks of the American Dream, on a borrowed dime

Gratis tabloid De Pers, vandaag tevens huis-aan-huis bezorgd in Amsterdam, kopt paginabreed Nina ‘World Online’ Brink regelde haar eigen eerherstel. Eric Smit schrijft deel 1 van een drieluik. Smullen voor de liefhebber.

Update 26 april, deel 2: De publieke terechtstelling van Joel Wyler.

En update 27 april, deel 3: Handlangers in toga.

• Wired 14.07: The Rise and Fall of the Hit
  “The era of the blockbuster is so over. The niche is now king, and the entertainment industry – from music to movies to TV – will never be the same.”
  (tags: business economics culture internet media longtail)

• American Photo: The Best Photography on the Web
  “After three months of clicking and cruising, we have found exemplary Websites from ten very different photographers, each of whom is taking the medium into new areas and new levels of communication.”
  (tags: photography art web)
• gladwell dot com – the talent myth – Are smart people overrated?
  “The talent myth assumes that people make organizations smart. More often than not, it’s the other way around.”
  (tags: psychology business culture enron mckinsey management)

• Hot markets cool off fast in Iceland – Business – International Herald Tribune
  “This tiny windswept island nation of 300,000 people has undergone one of the fastest, fizziest economic transformations in the world in recent years – one that is on par with the expansion enjoyed by many of the world’s fastest-growing emerging markets.”
  (tags: iceland economics)
• quicksilver:plug-ins:flickr_upload [docs]
  “The plug-in provides support for uploading images or directories of images to flickr.”
  (tags: flickr quicksilver)

• Ironic Sans: Idea: Advertisements on the overhead bins
  “I admit that it’s ugly as sin. Every bit of empty space in our lives is slowly being taken over by ads, so why would I want even more? “
  (tags: advertising travel planes)
• It’s a great time to start a business – Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)
  “I say it’s never been a better time to start a business.”
  (tags: startup web business)
• The New Wisdom of the Web – Next Frontiers – MSNBC.com
  “Why is everyone so happy in Silicon Valley again? A new wave of start-ups are cashing in on the next stage of the Internet. And this time, it’s all about … you.”
  (tags: flickr web business)
• Isn’t it semantic? : Articles : Internet : BCS
  Interview with Tim Berners-Lee.
  (tags: web history Berners-Lee)
• Kinkless GTD .83: Enhances Quicksilver and iCal integration, much more
  “The wait is over, kids. Ethan Schoonover has just released his .83 version of Kinkless GTD, and, brother, does it ever bring it.”
  (tags: osx kinkless gtd)

• Archinect : News : Manhattan Nuclear Nightmare (Full article)
  “A TRUCK pulls up in front of New York City’s Grand Central Station, one of the most densely crowded spots in the world. It is a typical weekday afternoon, with over half a million people in the immediate area, working, shopping or just passing through. A
  (tags: terrorism science)
• Caterina.net: It’s a bad time to start a company
  “it’s a terrible time to start a company, especially here in the middle of it all, in the Bay Area. Why?”
  (tags: business startup)
• Pandora/Last.fm
  “submit your real-time Pandora activity to Last.fm” – Waxy
  (tags: music pandora last.fm)
• The Energy Blog: Solar Powered UAV
  “QinetiQ, Europe’s largest science and technology organization, has completed the first flight trials of Zephyr – a High-Altitude, Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)”
  (tags: solar uav)
• Five years of Mac OS X : Page 1
  “Mac OS X 10.0 was released five years ago today, on March 24th, 2001. To me, it felt like the end of a long road rather than a beginning. “
  (tags: apple mac osx)
• trendbeheer » Uit de oude doosch: _Jeroen Bosch’ bestAAt niet_- Het Dagelijkse Nieuws ontsloten
  “Uit een interview met de maker: “Als dit allemaal mogelijk is, dan wordt het internet nog eens groot.””
  (tags: internet web history nl weblogs jeroenbosch dagelijksnieuws)
• ~ The Coding Machine ~
  (tags: enigma art encryption machine)

• Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad?
  “”What went wrong with Friendster? Why is MySpace any different?”"
  (tags: socialnetworks myspace friendster)
• Wired: How France Is Saving Civilization
  “New legislation in France would force Apple Computer to open the iPod and iTunes to competitors — and that’s a good thing for consumers, in the long run.”
  (tags: apple itms france drm)
• Is that a ticking crocodile?
  “Apple, whose Macintosh design team once famously flew the pirate flag above its Silicon Valley hideout, immediately branded France’s move “state-sponsored piracy.”"
  (tags: apple itms drm stevejobs france)
• Second Life (The Show On 10)
  “Laura visits Linden Labs, the folks behind Second Life, and learns about this new virtual world.”
  (tags: LindenLabs secondlife)
• ongoing · Atom as a Case Study
  “(…) That leaves Why we built it, How we built it, and what Lessons you might want take away from the experience.”
  (tags: atom rss)
• Checklist nieuwe media
  “Waar moet een omroep die toekomstbestendig wil zijn rekening mee houden? De ontwikkelingen op rij. Afvinken maar! Klaar voor de strijd? “
  (tags: web media omroep vpro)
• Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application
  “Getting Real details the business, design, programming, and marketing principles of 37signals. The book is packed with keep-it-simple insights, contrarian points of view, and unconventional approaches to software design. “
  (tags: 37signals book pdf business design programming marketing)
• The real threat of blogging
  “They (blogs – hvi) are threatening because they unequivocally demonstrate that commercial publishing does not necessarily represent the best writing that is available.”
  (tags: weblogs media publishing)
• The Institute of Internet History – www.ioih.org
  “As many people know, today’s Internet has its roots in the huge silk and cotton mills which grew up in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution.”
  (tags: Internet history funny mockup)