The future is already here, I'm just trying to aggregate it.

Google Buys Facebook Ad Start-Up Wildfire

This is very interesting. It’s no surprise that Wildfire got acquired. I’m just kind of surprised Facebook didn’t try and buy them (maybe they did and they just got outbid). Wildfire has received investment and deep partnership with Facebook. Or maybe Facebook sees it as a good thing if their competitors are selling their ads. 

How to re-enter the Android community after years with iOS-only devices

It’s like all of the of the other device manufactures keep coming to a gun fight with Apple carrying guns without ammo. Everyone wants a strong option to Apple tablets, even the fanboi’s. Here’s hoping Microsoft’s Slate brings some ammo. 

My colleague Jon Silk, an Apple fan and a gadget fanboi, was so excited for the Nexus, but he’s not off to a good start.

I’d write a quick how-to for people attempting to re-enter the Android community after years with iOS-only devices.

5. Find out that the screen glass isn’t attached the device very well, and has popped out on the left side.

8. Wait four days. Nothing will happen, so keep yourself amused by attempting to understand how a popular operating system built by one of the world’s largest companies can be so hostile to humans.

BONUS TIP:

11. Pray that Apple brings out a 7-inch tablet soon.

Marissa Mayer’s $71 million package from Yahoo! - Or as she calls it "pocket change"

Seriously, isn’t Marissa a Billionaire already, or close to it? That’s a lot of money, but there’s no way she’s doing this for the money. She’s doing it to prove to herself, and everyone else (including her previous employers) that she can run a company. 

Naming Contest: Name Android's Answer To Siri.

Androids claiming to have the “first natural-sounding synthesized voice in the World.” But does it sound like a Google developer or a “real” person? j/k

Wired: Is there a name for the voice that we hear in Jelly Bean?

Barra: Google Voice Search. It’s always been called Voice Search. It continues to be called voice search.

GVS huh? How about GeeVeS? Of course, Ask, might have a problem with that. 

Google’s Next Big Buy

Remember when we used to talk about and be excited for Google’s next big product innovation? It seems like 2012 is the year that Google quit innovating new products and started buying. Google+ will likely be the last (major) product Google rolls out. 

I don’t say this as a slam against Google. There comes a time when companies just get too big and true innovation often isn’t cost effective. It’s cheaper and more effective to buy them. Google’s now at that size. 

Feelings of Love/Hate Nostalgia for Usenet

Google Fixes Usenet Archive; Old Geeks Rejoice

In response to a Wired article that ran yesterday, Google is fixing its archives of Usenet posts, one of the richest and oldest repositories of user-generated content ever to exist online.

For those of you under the age of 30, Usenet began in 1979 in Chapel Hill as a collection of newsgroups. In the years that followed, Internet history unfolded, jargon was coined, and lore was created in these discussions. In 2001, Google acquired two Usenet archives comprising 700 million posts and failed to index them in any meaningful way. As of today, that wrong is being righted.

I’m just old enough to have memories of Usenet sites. I hated them, and still to this day hate forums for the most part, because they are rich valuable sources of information but are horrible to navigate and search.