UITE recently I mentioned Google’s negotiations with AOL. There is a $1 billion deal in stake. It turns out the the deal may lead to more graphical (i.e. imagery) ads, which thus far Google have trialled and tested on a mere subset.

Users of Google’s search engine will soon see something they are not used to on the notoriously spare site: advertising with logos and graphics. And the advertisers will not be limited to America Online, whose talks with Google prompted the change in policy, according to two executives close to the companies’ negotiations.

This could break the long-standing tradition of non-obtrusive ads from Google. It will, nonetheless, be avoided by many advertisers who opt for text-only ads. This comes only 7 months after Google ads in feeds were initially introduced. Speaking of unwanted intrusion, feeds are often intended to serve pure content in a minimalist way. Ads are adverse to their true purpose.

My message to Google: “With food comes the appetite? Is the mantra losing its mana?“

WordPress 2.0: coming to a blog near you by Christmas?

recently mentioned rigorous testing of WordPress 2.0. There are still odd bugs here and there; And yet, only hours ago came out a word of gossip. It suggests that WordPress 2.0 will be officially released just before Christmas. I wonder if it is rushed merely because of the important date. There is a typical download rush throughout the holiday. People have time to spare, so they upgrade software or hop on the blogging wagon. Christmas last year was the time of heavy WordPress 1.2 downloads.

Moving on to a different subject, after lengthy use and experience with WordPress, I decided to join the support forums and make contributions on rare occasions. I participated in the mailing lists for a long time (roughly 1 year), but never in the support forums. My first post was addressing to the problem below.

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The WordPress dashboard in its ’2.0 gown’

OR the past few weeks I have been working with the existing revision of WordPress 2.0 (RC2, soon Beta). It is currently on ‘feature freeze’, so it’s primarily a matter of cleaning up all imperfections and minor bugs. The nightly build of WordPress appears to be in a solid state and can definitely be described as “impressive”. My intention is to move this modified WordPress 1.2 blog (as well as another) into a newer and more robust section. There are various limitations to WordPress 1.2, the main one being its adaptability to scale and accommodation for functionality.

I have not made the new installation public yet, but the idea I have in mind is migrating the feeds to the new platform. I will be leaving the old 1.2 installation as-is to serve as a collection of legacy pages. The new installation will not contain older posts as to avoid duplicates. It can be perceived as a successor in a sense.

So what else should you know about WordPress 2.0? [Read on for details]

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Time and time again, Bill Gates is urging his engineers to push harder towards successful penetration into the Web. His main rival has been identified already and it has a name: Google. Now begins the fight to win over large corporations that can give an exposure boost and yet more marketing pipes. After talks and negotiations with both sides, AOL appear to be getting close to Google. In stake: communication, media, and more.

Under the deal, Google would pay $1bn (£565m) for a 5% stake in AOL, the Wall Street Journal website has reported. The two firms have declined to comment.

Here is an interesting quote comes from Blake Ross on the state-of-affairs between Google and Microsoft Windows. In particular, emphasis is put on the decline of the Windows brand.

As a user, how many times a day do I see “Windows” versus “Google”? My generation doesn’t know or care about “Windows,” and why should they? For all the talk about Google trying to “get onto the desktop,” you rarely hear about the incredible brand strengthening that takes place every time a user types “www.google.com”. Users go to Google and know it; Windows is a foam peanut that comes in the computer box. More than Google trying to get onto the desktop, Microsoft is trying to get onto the Web.

Diversity for the benefits of science

Just when you thought it was by no means possible, Google, Microsoft and Sun Microsystem join forces.

Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are setting aside their bitter animosity to back a new Internet research laboratory aimed at helping entrepreneurs introduce more groundbreaking ideas to a mass audience.

Google and Sun have formed an pact 2 months ago, by the way. What wonders if they will use Java, Open Source (notably LAMP), or commercial software in the lab. Perhaps a mixture of all?

S I approach the end of my Ph.D., I need to keep an open eye on job openings and vacancies in academia. I wish to do so in the least time-consuming way. What better way than feeds of information that give a rapid daily flow?

Vacancies are delivered as search results for a query or criteria specified by the user, e.g. location, sector. This has the same characteristic and advantages that RSS technology typically offers:

• Narrower scope and less visual clutter
• Littler user intervention, ‘pull technology’ versus ‘push technology’ such as E-mail
• Summarisation (title versus detailed description, link/s)
• Flagging of new content as opposed to previously-read entries.

There are many more arguments in defence of feeds, but they will be missing the point of this post and are worth a discussion in their own right. The following are job vacancies Web sites, which I know provide RSS feeds:

• Monster RSS – International coverage, sub-divided by job type
• Jobs.ac.uk RSS – Jobs in academia world-wide with emphasis on the United Kingdom
• CWJobs – Jobs in IT (United Kingdom). Search for terms, then use the RSS button/facility, currently at the top

[On to personal ramblings] Earlier today I read a more official announcement about the Google headquarters in Dublin. I have known about this for several months as I am/was considered for a Software Engineer/System Administrator position there. I also pointed to photos from the Googleplex in London before. In general, I have openly expresses disdain, skepticism and anger, as well as support, admiration, and sympathy for Google in the past. Their affinity to and backing of Open Source software probably transcends the controversy though.

Related items:

• Weather RSS Feeds
• Syndicating News
• Search Results as RSS, Google Results as RSS Feeds, Keeping Track of Google, Yahoo RSS
• RSS Feeds for Journals

As information is offered for sale, negotiation
by telephone can seal such transactions

ROM ZDNet comes as item that speaks of yet another odd item ‘on sale’. The article states: “An online auction of a “brand new vulnerability” in Microsoft Excel had reached about $60 when eBay pulled the item late Thursday. A seller using the name “fearwall” started the auction Wednesday evening at 1 cent. It was up to $56 on Thursday afternoon with 21 bids placed, and eBay quashed the auction soon after that.”

Other strange items which I can recall eBay boasting: chewing gums that have been sput out by celebrities, fake love letters, and potato chips.