Categories: Articles

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Rednod, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, Bite-Sized Edits, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for each other (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:

Google(graphic) – Google’s Acquisition Appetite – Scores.org. "I’m a fan of things that help us understand the world clearly. This infographic from scores.org shows the acquisitions Google‘s made over the past few years, with several useful dimensions: why they acquired the company, the price they paid, and how much impact it’s had on their business. It also shows that the company hasn’t been idle; Google’s practically a second exit strategy in the Valley." (Alistair for Hugh).
Cream, Sugar, and a High-Speed Connection – The Smart Set. "Seven years ago, Wired ran a piece on Wi-fi being a condiment like ketchup and sugar: free with your purchase. That day has arrived, but not because companies like McDonalds decided to offer it as an incentive. Hotels still charge outrageous amounts for bandwidth (the fancier the hotel, the more expensive the bytes – a perfect example of price elasticity if ever there was one.) But free wifi has becoming ubiquitous broadband, just an iPhone or Android away. Has free Internet run its course as a marketing ploy?" (Alistair for Mitch).
Russia in color, a century ago – Boston.com. "Picture this: The year is 1910. There’s a man, named Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (born in 1863), sitting on a stone in a riverbed in the Caucasus Mountains. He’s a photographer. He’s wearing a grey wide-brimed hat, mustaches and well-trimmed beard, a dark suit, the kind of suit fashionable in the early 1900s. He’s holding a bamboo stick in his hands. It’s the summer time… Imagine what that man looks like, a hundred years ago. Now go look at these photos. Report back." (Hugh for Alistair).
Google’s Earth – The New York Times. "William Gibson on Google." (Hugh for Mitch).
Danny And Annie – StoryCorps. "When I think about the Internet, this is what I hope the Internet will always be. I’d love to be able to put into words what this video is about, but I think the first comment from Katie Armstrong says it best: ‘This is such an incredibly powerful piece. Their love is…wow…it’s what I’ve always imagined love to be. Thank you so much for sharing this. I can’t stop crying!’" – I have also embedded the video below. (Mitch for Alistair).
Neal Stephenson And Greg Bear Launch First Digital ‘Social Book’ – Digital Arts. "I’m not even going to editorialize on this as Hugh and I have batted back and forth the concept of ‘what is a book?’ Here is what this news items says: ‘The two authors released the first chapter, along with artwork, a map and other materials of The Mongoliad on Wednesday. Stephenson and Bear will release new chapters of the speculative fiction novel, set against the Mongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century, in weekly installments, according to a press release. New chapters will be available on the web and on handheld devices, starting with Apple‘s iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. The authors will collaborate with readers through Pulp, a participatory publishing tool from Subutai, a publishing technology company with Stephenson as its chairman. Five other authors, as well as artists, fight choreographers and other experts, will contribute to the book. ‘Pulp is what Gutenberg would have come up with if he hadn’t jumped the gun and released 600 years early,’ Stephenson said in a statement. ‘Kindles and iPads were little better than expensive drink trays until we came up with this.’" (Mitch for Hugh).