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Google Introduces Feed Reader — Continuing its push into the universe of blogs and feeds, Google has launched a feed reader application. Google Reader is a browser-based application that works with virtually all popular browsers on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.
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What now? — What an amazing 24 hours... I did at least 20 press interviews, spoke with 100+ people at the Web 2.0 conference, and have been emailing and IMing with our bloggers constantly. I'm fried... but it's a good fried. It reminds me of finishing the marathon.
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Threadwatch.org

A post of thanks... ... to Dave Winer, not only for getting me into blogging in the first place, but for putting this blog up on Weblogs.com for its duration (and where I expect it will remain, on a server operated by Userland). — I've said it before, When they scroll the credits of my life …

Six AdSense optimization tips for forums — 1. Format is important for multiple ad units — Placing a skyscraper above the fold on the left side of your forum seems to produce slightly better performance than other positioning. However, when using multiple ad units throughout the page …

The orange icon... It's great that a discussion of icons has recently restarted in the RSS community. We are in the process of figuring out what icon to use on our toolbar in IE7 to represent feeds. — There are five parts of the experience for feeds in IE7: discovering if a webpage has a feed …

Man-made diamonds sparkle with potential — BOSTON — In the back room of an unmarked brown building in a run-down strip mall, eight machines, each the size of a bass drum, are making diamonds. — That's right — making diamonds. Real ones, all but indistinguishable from the stones formed …
Discussion:
Gadgetopia

China to develop its own DVD format — Announced next-generation standard based on HD DVD — SHANGHAI, China - For the second time in two years, China has announced plans to develop its own next-generation DVD standard to break the monopoly of foreign companies and avoid paying heavy licensing fees.

Grassroots journalism: Actual content vs. shining ideal — Community news sites get a lot of hype, but can they produce quality journalism? A survey, from pineapple salsa to virtual village greens. — Community sites filled with local news and humming with spirited discussion …
Discussion:
Terry Heaton's Weblog

Yahoo! RSS awareness whitepaper — Yahoo! conducted a study of Internet users in August in an attempt to quantify the ubiquity of RSS among Internet users. Yahoo! released a whitepaper covering some of their findings after surveying over 4000 Internet users in August. — Findings
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Threadwatch.org

The Hidden Money Trail — Those programs that pelt you with ads and bog down your PC are financed by some of America's largest companies. — Allison Smith will never forget the week before Memorial Day 2005. — Roaming the Internet looking for some free clip art, Smith found a site that looked perfect.
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Search Engine Journal

Semel On Yahoo Being New To Search, More Open To Google — Terry Semel at Web 2.0: "We'll Always Be More Open Than Google" from Yahoo's Jeffrey McManus is a very nice rundown of the Q&A between Yahoo CEO Terry Semel and John Battelle out at Web 2.0. But man, my jaw dropped at some of the positioning …

For some teenagers, cell phones become 'an extension of me' — What happens when a group of teens and tweens are asked to surrender their cell phones for a day? — Nothing as dramatic as, say, a wild animal caught in a steel trap. No limbs were gnawed off in this experiment.

If Everyone Thinks It's a Bubble, It's Not a Bubble — Our Web 2.0 conference is prompting all sorts of people to declare that the Bubble-with-a-capital-B is back, Web 2.0 is over, and here we go again. The only problem with this is, if everyone agrees it's a bubble, then it isn't a bubble.
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