Linked List: February 11, 2010

Thursday, 11 February 2010

‘Facebook Login’ 

Fascinating. ReadWriteWeb has a weblog post that ranks highly in Google’s search results for “Facebook login”. The comments on the post are filled with complaints from confused people who think that this is the new Facebook login page.

It’s funny, yes, but it’s a fascinating glimpse at just how confused many people are about how web sites and browsers work. They don’t use bookmarks, they don’t type “facebook.com” in the location field. They just Google for whatever they’re looking for and assume the first result is correct. All this argument over whether the iPad is too simple — if anything it’s probably still too complex.

Meat Stylus for the iPhone 

Kottke:

Sales of CJ Corporation’s snack sausages are on the increase in South Korea because of the cold weather; they are useful as a meat stylus for those who don’t want to take off their gloves to use their iPhones.

iTunes 10 Billionth Song Countdown 

Interesting perspective: looks like they sell about 100 songs per second.

Introduction to Square 

Another little masterpiece from my friend Adam Lisagor.

SublimeVideo Now Supports Firefox 

Better and better.

New Beta of Google Chrome for Mac 

Now with support for extensions.

Kara Swisher on Microsoft’s Mobile Dilemma 

Kara Swisher on the dwindling enthusiasm for Windows Mobile:

Indeed, this is why Microsoft and its giant wallet might be better served by buying one of the big and more established telecom companies, such as Research in Motion, Palm or even — as another Microsoft exec said to me, “Why not?” — Nokia.

Nokia has a market cap of close to $50 billion, with RIM at close to $38 billion. And Palm? A paltry $1.74 billion. Microsoft’s current valuation is $246 billion, and the company has $40 billion in cash and marketable securities on hand. […] And, in fact, many sources at Microsoft have told me that CEO Steve Ballmer has expressed interest in buying RIM many times (while also dismissing any interest in Palm).

RIM seems like a natural fit, in terms of its customer base and the whole look and feel of BlackBerry software. Palm would be the bolder play.

Bill Hill on the iPad 

Bill Hill, formerly of Microsoft:

The trouble is trying to innovate at Microsoft, which is a company of geeks, run by geeks, and dominated by Windows.

When TabletPC began at Microsoft, it was a research effort - outside of the regular Windows organization. Once it was re-organized into Windows, that was the kiss of death. I never really thought much about this while I worked there, but it’s my belief that despite all the lip-service paid to end-users, the only Windows customers with any real power are the Windows Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

Creative Review on MTV’s Tweaked Logo 

Patrick Burgoyne:

After 29 years, MTV unveils a logo ‘refresh’ – like many of its viewers, the network has become a little wider and a little fatter.