Links for 01-25-2009

• Google & the Future of Books - The New York Review of Books - A thoughtful piece on Google's digitization of books.
• Marco.org - Twitter is not public infrastructure - Some good points about building a business of platforms you don't control. Perhaps, more to the point, you don't even have any meaningful contractual relationship.
• Rackable Intros Physicalization Hardware - Web Hosting Industry News | Daily Web Hosting News and Web Host Interviews - So now dense servers are virtualization? Puhleeze. "Server and storage product provider Rackable Systems (www.rackable.com) has released a broad portfolio of servers based on its new MicroSlice architecture, replacing virtualization software with "physicalization," a hardware-based approach to virtualization and setting a new standard for price performance-per-watt."
• Wiki:this very short warning | Social Media CoLab - "Getting sucked into RSS or feeling obligated to keep up with all the unread feeds that accumulate, is a common hazard -- I have to police myself, lest I spend all day following links." Ditto for twitter.
• 'The New York Times' Facebook problem | Coop's Corner - CNET News - This is a complicated question. I see where the editors are coming from. One can imagine people combing through Times' writers' Facebook pages to put together evidence of bias.
• Tweeting without a Purpose - "It's useful to recall that social media sites - things like Facebook and Twitter - exist to enable user defined interaction between people. In a business context, that probably means trying to get out useful information that your community would be interested in. What it doesn't mean is an echo chamber consisting of self proclaimed "social media experts" patting each other on the back all day."
• Not All Earnings News Is Bad - "What's going on at IBM is an ongoing transition from a hardware oriented business to a software and services business which is driving margins up combined with a still healthy book of business from its clients all over the world combined with an ongoing ability to reduce costs and become more efficient."
• The argument FOR private clouds | The Wisdom of Clouds - CNET News - More fodder for private clouds discussion.
• Chuck's Blog: The Emergence Of Private Clouds - "A few of us have come to a general agreement around how we'll probably see the next phase of clouds evolve in corporate computing environments." I have some trouble with the private clouds term but this model is happening so I guess I should just deal with it.
• Cisco Plans Big Push Into Server Market - NYTimes.com - "The product — a server computer equipped with sophisticated virtualization software — is a bold but risky move by Cisco into an unfamiliar, intensely competitive market that typically produces far lower profits than Cisco makes from network gear. But it reflects the company’s ambition to grow beyond its roots as the so-called plumber of the Internet to offer everything from instant messaging software to digital stereos." Big News!
• Spirit Airlines: Spirit Airlines Tries To Charge Cancellation Fees On Passengers It Put On Flight 1549 - "Well done, Spirit! You have managed to take the one really awesome airline story of the last few years and turn it into a bad PR opportunity. Please charge yourself a congratulations fee."
• Top 10 Incredible Early Firsts In Photography - The List Universe - Nice list. I didn't realize that an older first photograph (by the same photographer) was discovered relatively recently.