No more ugly desktop software

From
ReadWriteWeb it seems Mr Kirkpatrick is all a quiver with Adobe AIR :

AIR lets developers use Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, HTML and AJAX to create desktop apps. That means no more ugly desktop software!

No more ugly desktop software. Do you really think it was the software that was the problem before? Unless you're part of the short-attention-span-journalism industry, it'll take more than drop shadows and bouncy icons to get past ugly software.

Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life - How "View Source" Broke the Web

I haven't been following the Web blogging elite recently (really, 'view source' broke the Web??), but this post - How "View Source" Broke the Web - made me think of Bob Dylan.

Broken lines, broken strings,
Broken threads, broken springs,
Broken idols, broken heads,
People sleeping in broken beds.
Ain't no use jiving
Ain't no use joking
Everything is broken.

SpaceX signs more business, builds more engines

It looks like SpaceX is continuing to make good progress, both with engineering and with business.
From the SpaceX status page:

"For the last few months, optional activities such as website updates have gone on the back burner while we finished the regeneratively cooled Merlin 1C engine, got the Falcon 9 first stage integrated, proof tested and fired, signed up our first GTO (geostationary transfer orbit) customer - Avanti Communications Group, and took our COTS system past the big CDR milestone."

Signing a contract for placement into a geostationary orbit is huge! I'm really hoping these folks don't spend all their capital on development of bigger engines without establishing the operational business that will generate revenue. They seem to be looking to raise $100M in the first half of 2008, hopefully that will happen and keep this company going to profitability.

Yowza! MicroHoo in the future?

Looks like Microsoft is serious about buying advertising's future - they have offered $44B for Yahoo.
Favorite punditry (from Stowe Boyd)

"Personally, I think the Microsoft and Yahoo matchup is like two tired swimmers who bump into each other and then wind up drowning each other in their scramble to survive. But Yahoo will be the first to go under in this embrace."

This one from iMe on Twitter is good too:

"Microsoft and Yahoo! Its like a blind man trying to lead a deaf guide dog...."