It appears that Microsoft is once again talking to Yahoo about the possible acquisition of the company. That being said, there is a lot of confusion on exactly what the two parties are discussing. Some sources are reporting that Microsoft is attempting to resurrect the offer that they made for Yahoo a few weeks back. On the other side of things, some feel that Microsoft is only interested in purchasing Yahoo’s search business. Either way, most believe that the companies are definitely discussing some sort of deal.

TechCrunch, a popular tech news blog, reported that both sides are open to discussions about a full buyout. They also reported that Microsoft is offering less than the $33/share that was on the table when Yahoo walked away the first time. (more…)

As you have probably heard by now, all communication between Yahoo and Microsoft has been broken off. Just a couple of months ago it appeared that the two companies would work out a deal in which Microsoft was to purchase Yahoo for tens of billions of dollars. But although Yahoo did not strike a deal with Microsoft, they are still in the news. This time around, it appears that the company is going to strike up a partnership with search engine giant, Google.

On the surface, the terms of the partnership are simple: Yahoo will now have the ability to display Google ads with some of their search results. This covers results on both Yahoo search as well as publisher networks in Canada and the United States. (more…)

Over the past couple of years, Web 2.0 companies have been collecting venture capital at a record pace. And during the first half of 2007 this trend held the same. In fact, approximately 6 percent more money was invested during these six months. But guess what? Most of this increase took place outside of the United States; particularly in Israel and Europe.

The most noticeable sign of a slowdown in the US is the pace at which venture capitalists are investing. For instance, take Benchmark Capital; the country’s top investor in 2006. Last year, this firm made 16 deals. Through the first half of this year, they have only backed three companies. To make this situation even more complex, only one was in the Silicon Valley area. Similar situations can be found with other large venture capital companies such as Storm Ventures, Omidyar Network, and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers. (more…)

A public Google video page recently made available a video with the title, “Nooglers and the PDB: Reactor.” While this may not sound like a huge deal, the video was actually leaked by mistake. In other words, it was not meant to be seen by the public eye.

So what exactly does the title mean? At Google, a noogler is known as a new employee. The Reactor is what employees call the back end operations of the ever popular Google Reader.

Although the video has since been removed from the Google website, several sources did get a good look at it, and have made it well known what the video was all about. Here are some of the major points that are touched on. More…

1. The backend of the feed grows at an astonishing pace of approximately 4 percent per week. It contains data from just about eight million feeds. (more…)

From a general point of view, Facebook is nothing more than a space that allows college aged students (and others) to communicate with one another. But anytime there is communication, there are sure to be some problems. Most recently, Facebook is faced with an issue that is based around free speech. While you may think that this would be easy enough to resolve, nothing could be further from the truth.

The problem at this time is a group of approximately 750 people who have organized against Islam. Even though the group does not say anything too harmful, they have definitely made it well known what they are all about. The group says: “The Quran contains many lies and threats. Islam is false, no god exists, and someone should say that loud and clear.” To some people this may not be a huge deal, but as you can imagine, many others are taking great offense to this statement. (more…)

Acer is getting serious about becoming a major player in the computer industry. They recently reached an agreement to purchase Gateway, Inc. for $710 million. Although Gateway had fallen off the map as of late, this acquisition is sure to move Acer up the computer industry ladder.

Gateway is the fourth largest PC manufacturer in the United States. Each year, they ship approximately 20 million units. But now, these numbers will all be credited to Acer. This will immediately send them to the number three spot as far as computer production is concerned.

“The acquisition of Gateway and its strong brand immediately completes Acer’s global footprint, by strengthening our US presence. This will be an excellent addition to Acer’s already strong positions in Europe and Asia. Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as number three PC vendor globally,” said Acer chairman J.T. Wang. (more…)