Pluto got voted out of the planet club.  No word yet if its position in the Disney club is in question.

From the TIVO Deathwatch Department: all that flailing around looking for partnerships, any partnerships, finally paid off as Cox Communications has agreed to administer a little CPR.

Fraser Kelton on branding.

TechCrunch reviews four file sharing programs.

Mathew Ingram gives a business lesson to C|Net and any number of other bubble blowers.  As he correctly points out, the mad money that Sony threw at Grouper was more about the technology than the number of users.  Sometimes it amazes me how little business sense seems to be applied in the Web 2.0 space.  That’s reason number one why much of the real world is profoundly disinterested in Web 2.0.

New York City wants CBS to pull the upcoming season of Survivor.

A blog covering Windows Live Writer plugins. (via Kevin Briody)  I just wish there were more of them to cover.

Tags: kents news, links

What’s more pitiful, the sick puppy who gives a false confession just to get his name in the paper or the family of said sick puppy trying to make money off of it? “They’re not looking for money for themselves.” Right.

This is not going to help Dell sell laptops to those big corporations where they make all that money.

Marc Canter on Google’s strategy. He thinks they may have a master plan, contrary to appearances.

Kevin Hales on Rock Star: Supernova – “The Pixies could crap a better rock song.” Undoubtedly, but Cassidy and I met Patrice (who I read this morning just got booted) after a concert a few years ago and she was very nice to Cassidy. Cassidy has an autographed copy of one of her CDs. If Patrice had won, Cassidy might have listened to it instead of the A-Teens. Nah.

Richard Querin on photography podcasts and histograms.

Videos of the new features in Word 2007. If you want to see what’s new, but don’t want to wade through the all the geek-talk, this link’s for you.

The “one” Chip Camden (that’s his new name, courtesy of Shel Israel) on trying out for Jeopardy and an amazing web site that has all the questions and answers presented in Jeopardy board format. Here’s the first Final Jeopardy answer of the Trebek era: “The third Monday of January starting in 1986.” All three contestants got it right. Did you? Update: TDavid on game shows.

Brazil has commenced action to sue Google for allegedly refusing to hand over user information about drug dealers who use Orkut, Google’s social networking site that has been described as the MySpace of the region, to solicit, communicate and traffic illegal drugs.

Tags: kents news, links

Ethan Johnson’s The Compleat A-List.

Looks like my wish for a more media-enabled Blackberry is about to come true. Of course just because it’s coming doesn’t mean it’s coming to Verizon, where I just signed a contract. But any progess is good progress.

Techdirt on the RIAA’s last profitable business model.

The most recent Web 2.0 lottery was held- and Grouper won.

Tags: kents news, links

Susan Getgood on the Gatekeeper Debate: “A bunch of white guys linking around.” A good read, and I largely agree with her point, even though I’m sure she’d say I perpetuate the problem.

Shelley Powers takes on a roomful of rowdy commenters. I really like her writing, even though I know she could punch me in the nose at any second.

Matt Craven on the echo chamber chamber chamber chamber…

Mathew Ingram on a better, funnier Digg. I always find at least one hilarious thing every time I look at Fark.

I’ve been waiting for podcast tours of museums, historical places and cities to become more mainstream.  It just seems like a great use for podcasts.  Now all we need is a central place to put them.  Hey Jimmy, doesn’t this sound like a natural addition to Wikipedia?

Believe it or not, I was wondering last week whether anyone ever survived a parachute jump when their parachute didn’t open.  This guy got up like Wylie Coyote, shook himself off and walked away.

Something about this just seems wrong to me.  Let’s play ad-infested music for people we think can’t afford better….

Stupid shit like this makes me glad I’m a Methodist, but it still makes us all look like idiots.  Tim LeBouf (here’s his blog) should count his blessings that I am not a member of his congregation.  I would stand up during a so-called sermon about women learning in quietness and submission and expose it for the horse manure it is.  This really pisses me off, in case you can’t tell.

Does anyone really care about Paris Hilton, other than for the ridicule value? 

Tags: kents news, links

In the I Almost Wish I Were Italian or Catholic Department: Working too hard, even for those leading the Catholic Church, is bad for the spirit, Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday as he greeted tourists at his summer residence outside Rome.  In other news, Americans are cutting back their vacations.

Who’s Your Mommy: Polygamist’s children rally for their families.  “Speakers said that with ‘dozens of siblings’ and multiple ‘moms’ they are well supported, encouraged to be educated and can make their own choices about marriage.”  Do bad ones count?

Instabloke has 10 reasons why he doesn’t like your blog.  Really good advice for bloggers new and old. (via Darren Rowse)

I was wrong when I thought arguing about what is or is not a planet would be the height of boredom.  That would be arguing over what it or is not a blog.  The confusion results from the fact that the term blog is used to describe both a content management platform and a particular type of content.  People can use a blog platform to create non-blog content.  Is that a blog?  Who cares.

Tags: kents news, links

Test your blog’s popularity with Socialmeter. (via Steve Rubel)

Famster, social networking and more for families.  It seems to do everything an online family needs and more.  It will take a little time to learn your way around, but I’m reasonably impressed with it.

Henry Hereford helps make my point by calling me riff-raff.  Me and the other typing monkeys say thanks, we think.

Someone has bid $50 large for Kiko.  We’ll see if it’s real or another sad attempt at getting 15 minutes.  I’d say the chances of the bidder actually paying $50 large for Kiko are about 100 times higher than the chance that whack-job killed JonBenet.

Daniel Terdiman on the evolution of Second Life.  Early versions required hand grenades to terraform land.  I have often wished for a hand grenade when trying to get the desired slopes on mine.  If only to blow myself up out of frustration.

In the most absurd quote of the day department, Google’s CEO believes TV ads are “a waste of your time.”  Why?  Because they aren’t targeted.  But never fear, Google has a plan to deliver “targeted measurable television ads.”  Hey Google, how about do us all a favor and don’t.  Go make something we want, as opposed to something we don’t, and get back to us.  Entire industries (TIVO, satellite radio, etc.) have been built on ad-avoidance.  Doesn’t that tell you something?

And at the risk of piling on, why isn’t every right-thinking blogger and writer in the world pointing out the gigantic, indisputable conflict of interest in wanting to  “obtain and control every piece of data in the world, including users’ personal data,” and planning to use that data to stuff targeted ads down out throat for a profit?  Isn’t this sort of like giving all our data to telemarketers and then giving them phones and telling them to dial away?

A Florida TV station reports that old ladies like cats and that herds of cats will, in fact, attack birds and squirrels.  Wow, I didn’t know that. (via Drudge)

Tags: kents news, links

Scott Karp: “If Google is the new Microsoft, that’s actually great news. Why? Because Micrsosoft is the old Micrsosoft, and they are now chasing Google, which demonstrates the precariousness of market leadership. And the cycle is speeding up.”

Another reason why you might want to forego the nickel or so per 1000 impressions you might make via AdSense.  Yes, I added AdSense here a month ago, but only in preparation for a story and the whole $5 bill will be given to a bum, if I ever get it.  While you’re at it, you might want to forego Movieland for the same reason.

In the “what did you expect him to say” department, Michael Dell thinks Dell’s troubles, including plunging earnings and exploding laptops, are short-term setbacks.  DISCLAIMER: I am a Dell shareholder (not that I am particularly excited about that at the moment).

You think arguing about gatekeeping in the blogosphere is a snooze-fest, be glad you aren’t an astronomy blogger arguing about the precise definition of a planet.  Isn’t that sort of like auto bloggers arguing about the precise definition of a car?

 Tags: kents+news, links

Kevin Brown used to throw heat, now he carries it.

Lost a manual for your TV, camcorder, etc.?  UsersManualGuide.Com probably has it. 

My Sirius lust (particularly for channel 14) keeps growing, this time courtesy of the Sirius Conductor, a small Sirius tuner, indoor/outdoor antenna, and remote control with a 3 line LCD readout that shows channel, artist and song.

AOL continues giving itself away, this time with free personal email domains.  The AOL announcement is here.

TIVO is going down at the hands of DirecTV’s abandonment, but, by golly, it’s making a valiant effort to take Dish Network with it.  The big winners in all this are the cable companies.

Fred Wilson picks Pretzel Logic as his music nugget for this week.  Fine choice.  Steely Dan’s music has aged better than any other rock band, excepting perhaps the Stones.  When a record from the 70’s sounds like it could have been released last week, you know that band has captured the magic.  Steely Dan had a patent on the magic from Can’t Buy a Thrill through The Royal Scam. That’s 5 masterpieces in 5 years.

Tags: kents+news, links

Franco is still dead and Ed Bott still loves Microsoft.  Here’s his latest write up on Live Writer.  I really like Live Writer too, but we need more plugins.

John Koetsler has the best write up yet on the feudal or futile, depending on your point of view, blogosphere.

Mark Evans isn’t drinking the Google Talk kool-aid.  Neither is Ben Metcalfe.  Sounds like feature bloat in search of traction.

Darren gives a lesson on photographing moving targets.  His photo blog, along with Photojojo and Richard Querin‘s series, are my favorite photography how-to blogs.

Tom Reynolds reports on his holiday: “A week without an internet connection is both liberating and leaves me thinking that I’m missing an arm. It’s tough to not have the wisdom of mankind at my fingertips.”

Today would have been my good dog Virgil’s 13th birthday.  He was a good boy.

Baldur Bjarnason doesn’t think Kiko is worth $50 large.  Maybe not, but what Web 2.0 company is worth the numbers people toss around?

Tags: kents+news, links