What Google Wants

Google’s operating system project is probably the search giant’s most forceful attempt to hasten the end of the operating system era | IslamOnline.net

Technology rumor sites, and probably everybody else, were caught off guard. Google, which is the subject of an ever-revolving rumor mill, announced last Tuesday that it’s working on an operating system, dubbed Chrome OS.

And that was a surprise. After all, it’s no secret that Google has been working to elevate the web browser to be the center of users’ interaction with information. Whether you wanted to compose a formal letter or share your photos with family, Google made sure that a web browser (and a Google account) would suffice.

In Iran, Revolutionaries Are Busy Twittering

In Tehran’s summer of rage, Twitter is helping opposition street protesters – and is receiving  their help too | Islamonline.net

Almost all the reports from or about Iran have one thing in common: a mention of Twitter.  Technology-savvy Iranians, especially in Mir Hussein Mousavi camp, used the “micro-blogging” service during the campaign to make the case for their candidate. Then Twitter became more important as opposition supporters took to the streets protesting against what they believed was an undemocratic reelection of President Ahmadinejad, and as the government responded with more restrictions on the freedom of the media. That is when “tweets” from inside Iran be-came a principal source of information on the unfolding events. And opposition leader Mousavi’s Twitter feed became a  must-read for commentators and analysts on Iran.

Newspapers in the Googlespace

Good news—for now—that Google is pushing major newspapers to open up their vaults | IslamOnline.com

With no fanfare the New York Times pulled the plug on its TimesSelect program this last September. Through TimesSelect, launched in October 2005, the Times started charging readers (who were not  subscribers to the print edition) for access to some sections of the online edition,fparticularly that of opinion columns. Clearly, the objective was to capitalize on the New York Times’ fame as one of the world’s best news papers to generate revenues through its online presence.

That was a fair thing to do. Why did the Times shut it down then?

The way the Times explained the closure implies it probably had to. In a short note, the Times cited “significant alterations in the online landscape” over the period TimesSelect was in operation that made it in the best interest of the New York Times readers and “brand” to grant full online access to all readers. Most important among those alterations was the fact that “[r]eaders increasingly find news through search, as well as through social networks, blogs and other online sources.”