Took the wife to go see Gaelic Storm. I’ve had a few of their songs rolling around on my ipod, but it has to be said they were far superior in person than in the studio. They were incredibly funny as well as serving up a great musical set. And the venue wasn’t bad either 
Google: March Paid-Click Growth Awful (Again) - Silicon Alley Insider
This is an interesting development. I think a lot of folks have been watching Google very closely over the last year or so as their stock has come under pressure. Could this be the beginning of the end or just a recession based speed bump?
AOL’s Platform-A is Top Ad Network for March [SearchEngineWatch]
I think this is a good trend for us and maybe the Sphere acquisition helps solidify this position. The real challenge is turning that reach into $$$’s. Overall, it’s nice to hear some good news about us for a change
AOL buys Web tech firm Sphere Source | Reuters.com
To be honest, I’m not really sure what this means.
Gartner Says Vista Will Collapse. And That’s Why The Yahoo Deal Must Happen
I actually saw something about this on the Gartner website a few days ago - clearly, Vista has stalled. And as web based applications pick up steam (never mind OpenOffice) MS may well become less relevent. For instance, while sitting at my desk this morning (and being phenomenally productive, I might add) I only have three apps open - Firefox, Thunderbird and AIM. It’s coming to the point where my laptop isn’t much more than a file store….
Yahoo takeover battle takes dramatic twist - U.S. business- msnbc.com
I was covered up pretty well yesterday, but I’m not sure how I managed to miss this! I still haven’t thought through all of the implications, but I’m not sure how well this gets sold to both TW and Yahoo shareholders - the MS deal is too solid, especially if they up their bid.
I’m not sure what the reluctance is in the Yahoo camp, but they sure don’t want to be bought by the Evil Empire
I just don’t see how High Command will be able to pull this off. If I’m a major Yahoo shareholder, I probably don’t vote for a TW deal over a MS deal - even though as a biased bystander I would probably like to evaluate an AOL/Yahoo hookup in more detail. It would certainly be a more amicable deal between like-thinking people, IMO.
Olympic Torch Run in Paris Halted as Protests Spread - New York Times
I’ve blogged about this before, but this is really the last thing the Chinese government needs. I wonder if they knew then what they know now whether or not they would take a pass at bidding for the Games. I really was hoping that the Olympics would go off well - on balance I think they would bring more good than bad, but now I suspect that the run up will not be pretty. The Games themselves could well be a disaster.
Firefox 3 Beta 5 released, RC1 Freezes April 8 | Open Source | ZDNet.com
Get it today!
I’ve been using FF3 since beta 2 with no trouble other than incompatible extensions. I find it to quite reliable (sans extensions) and the performance is very solid. Two thumbs up
BBC NEWS | Africa | Mugabe’s Zanu-PF loses majority
It’s about time. Hopefully, reconciliation both within the country and without can begin in short order. History will not regard Mugabe fondly - he systematically destroyed what was one of Africa’s great success stories.
