From: “Google Shoots For The Moon - Forbes.com“:
The company on Thursday announced the first 10 teams of competitors in its $30 million contest to send a spacecraft back to the moon to gain greater insights into the solar system and to find new sources of clean energy.
More info is available on the Google Lunar X Prize web site.
Google. Space. Clean Energy. $30M. What’s not to like?
Via Digg.
From “OpenSocial or OpenGadget? - ReadWriteWeb“:
Steve O’Hear (who edits our digital lifestyle blog last100) has an interesting post on his ZDNet blog that questions whether Google’s OpenSocial initiative is at all about data portability, or if in fact it really just about widget standardization. O’Hear quotes heavily from a recent article by Marc Canter, who is a strong advocate for open standards and data portability, that ran on CNet.
I see the same issue with Facebook’s JS Client Library.
I love client-side technologies, but I’m increasingly thinking that the propagation of such libraries is calculated by the providers more in terms of securing data and activity custodianship, as an alternative to truly opening one’s data APIs, rather than with scalability and processing decentralization in mind, like some argue.
It’s not a bad thing by any stretch, but I’m not sure associating them with true openness and data portability is entirely appropriate.
From the Craigslist ad:
Google is seeking excellent software engineers with a passion for building real-time 3D graphical applications. Here at Google we are always on the forefront of creating revolutionary products. If you have experience with distributed interactive user applications or real-time 3D graphics, we invite you to join our world-class engineering team!
Ready? Polish your résumé… Go!
From “The Next Google Search Challenger: Blekko“:
Rich Skrenta, who created the first computer virus (Elk Cloner), co-founded the Open Directory Project, and co-founded online news site Topix, may have bitten off the biggest challenge of his career - taking on Google. In search.
Taking on Google is a statement that is now so cliché, but this is one guy (and team) who might actually have a shot at it.
Hum… I was on my way back from work on Montreal’s Sherbrooke Street tonight when I spotted something in the oncoming traffic that most definitely looked like a multi-lens, 3D capture camera mounted on a standard black car.
Difficult to miss it, perched 4 feet above the car’s roof and right at eye level for me in the bus.
Knowing that Immersive Media, the company handling most (but not all) of Google’s Sreet View image capture, is from Calgary, I wasn’t exactly surprised. But it definitely got me curious.
Well, it turns out that the bolts of controversy coming from the States have been duly noted by our government and its privacy watchdog. See also: Canada to Google Street View: “Car!”.
Ms. Stoddart’s letters to Google and Immersive are available online.
On my end, I’m equally interested in both parties’ perspectives.
Finding an appropriate compromise is the name of the game.
Update: I guessed I had somehow missed the buzz on the always excellent Montreal Tech Watch. That’s definitely the car (see picture). I hadn’t seen the side logo from the bus. Oooooh. Aaaah.
Share this content