The two of them finally came together, looks like Bing is gaining more traction than I originally thought. I still think Google’s stronghold and brand loyalty is a hill they won’t be able to climb. Via NYTimes

The NY Times has an interesting interactive graphic where you input variables for rent, taxes, house price, appreciation, etc. and it computes whether it is a better choice to rent or buy a property.

Via NY Times

Oh Comast you big fat jerk you. This reminds me of a post by Kottke about how there are no more edge cases once you reach a certain customer base. In effect once your company gets large enough even a 1% problem is a big one affecting a lot of people.

Some activists created a beautifully designed set of water bottles from the contaminated ground water near a toxic site Dow has refused to cleanup. Dow’s response? When the activists were schedules to show up at their headquarters they vacated it.

Blackberry is launching a social network for tips, advice and other info on its devices. Meanwhile Facebook is using its platform to trial new apps. Seems like the convergence of “product info” networks and things like Facebook groups is inevitable.

Google is releasing a new OS that takes on Netbooks and smaller devices head on. Seems like this has been coming for a while and interestingly coincides with the removal of beta status from Google apps. (via Wired)

A Russian immigrant is currently being held on suspicion of stealing some of Goldman Sachs secret trading codes, industrial espionage?

I feel like Christian Bale every time I peruse one of these lists but this is a very cool collection of business cards.

In a clear response to the success of Twitter Facebook has been implementing a number of changes to rival the service. Most noticably a status search engine and now the “everyone” button. This will take the large number of filters off of your status updates and basically “twitterfy” the Facebook news feed for chosen content.

Facebook recently moved into their new HQ – it’s 150,000 square feet and will house a large portion of the company’s 1,000 employees.

Virgin and UMG are launching an unlimited download music service where you keep the music permanently, it at least sounds interesting that someone with a serious catalog is taking an approach that might work.

Another interesting analysis on the use of Twitter it’s a medium that has gained a lot of buzz from celebrity types and the news but the actual frequency and depth of use seems to be lacking:

- 40 percent of Twitter users have not tweeted since their first day on Twitter         – Approximately 30 percent of Twitter users do not have any followers, and 80 percent of Twitter users have less than 10 followers

Pepsi and Coke have been going at it in the court room over Gatorade and Powerade advertising slamming the competitor. Classy gems that came out include internal Powerade powerpoints that said things like:

It’s time to make Gatorade sweat like the dirty pig it is; Our squad is gonna kick the $#%! outta their squad; “We’re gonna crank up the pain on Gatorade in April; and  Gatorade is really f—d now

Google has signed up three more cable networks for their tv ad service, you’ve got to imagine this is going to start snowballing. The model provides a level of segmentation that seems very appealing:

In Google’s pricing model, advertisers pay only for the impressions that are actually delivered, estimated based on the Dish set-top data. Google TV Ads also lets brand managers identify which programs attract specific desired demographics, with a list of about 60 interests (such as motorcycling or children). That would let an advertiser figure out the best way to target, say, women who make more than $100,000 per year whose interests include motorcycles and gambling.

Collecta is a new search engine where results are posted in real time, a concept that I think will continue to take root – especially with the increasing speed and depth with which we get our news. It is pre-beta but has some examples like Obama and swine flu. Here CEO Gerry Campbell also has a great post about his thoughts on the company.