Google and Microsoft traded more barbs today in their patent squabble. Google said Microsoft’s offer to jointly bid on the Novell patents was a trick. Microsoft said today Google is only interested in using patents against others. The rhetoric, however, doesn’t improve Google’s fighting position. Read More »
Tech
The Obama administration introduced its National Strategy on Trusted Identity in Cyberspace on Friday, and took pains to point out that this program will be led by the private sector, and isn’t some kind of Big Brother-ish, government-issued ID card everyone will be forced to use. Read More »
Yahoo has been on a media hiring spree, snapping up journalists from existing traditional and online outlets to ramp up its original content efforts. But that sounds a lot like the strategy Yahoo pursued just a few years ago, and that didn’t turn out so well. Read More »
Viral growth for a web startup is great — as is getting to 15 million users in a year — but it is possible to grow a profitable business slowly and see it ramp up after a few years, as I learned from uShip’s founder. Read More »
More and more, hardware vendors are finding that Web 2.0 technologies can be a good way to improve the end user experience of their devices. For example, Netgear (NTGR) said today it’s inked a deal with San Jose, Calif.-based Pramati to bundle ReadyNAS Photos, an… Read More »
Editor’s Note: Ben Yoskovitz is one of our favorite contributors. Today he offers a nice post at his Instigator Blog about vision, and how to keep “the big picture” in focus while struggling through the minutiae of “moving the ball forward” on a daily… Read More »
Update: for another lesson on the imperative of customer support, spend a few minutes studying Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s decision this week to close hundreds of stores nationwide for 3 hours in order to retrain Baristas in good customer service. The Wall… Read More »
“This is the position you want to be in … you like being down 4 points at the end of the game and you gotta to score a touchdown to win. If your down 3 points you might settle for a field goal [so] you’re not… Read More »
Bobby Fischer, the child-prodigy chess master who, at 29, became world champion and a Cold War icon after he dethroned the Soviet Union’s grand master, Boris Spassky in 1972 — a feat never before, or since, achieved by an American player– has died. He… Read More »
McKinsey blasted us again yesterday, this time with its foreboding “Special Collection: Coping with a downturn.” Every day the signs of our coming recession grow clearer, so it’s time to start rationing and stockpiling — or diversifying, depending on your business type. Only you can make… Read More »
I read a nice story in Crain’s Small Business today about Scott and Mitch Silver, and their marketing firm Printable Promotions, in Chicago. The piece outlines why the Silver brothers abandoned managing “activities” through their org chart hierarchy, in favor of a flat,… Read More »
Raghav ‘Rags’ Gupta, a partner at Brightcove, and a Gigaom contributor, put up a thoughtful post Sunday called 5 Trends & Themes for the Year Ahead. Rags moves beyond a few super-exposed stories (clean tech and the 700 megahertz wireless auction), and he… Read More »