The "Weekly WassUp" is a brief weekly overview of what has been showing up in "the feeds" in the last week.
In this issue:
- Esquire launches it's 75th birthday issue with (partial) digital cover
- Sep. 8 : Google digitizes newspapers
- Sep. 9 : Google anonimizes IP addresses after 9 instead of 18 months
- Sep. 10 : Yahoo's blueprint for mobile ad revenue
- Sep. 12 : Microsoft's second Seinfeld ad launches
1. Esquire launches it's 75th birthday issue with (partial) digital cover
Esquire magazine launches it's october issue in a limited edition version having flickering text and images on the cover. The technology used is from the guys at E-Ink. They have been working on it for quite some years now, and have come to a point where it is widely usable... and affordable: the Esquire issue could be priced at only $2 over the 'traditional' version to cover all costs. Under the hood, there's a flash programmable microchip, 6 lythium coin cells and 2 e-ink screens. Check it out in the video below:
2. Sep. 8 : Google digitizes newspapers
Google announced a partnership with several of the big newspaper publishers to make their archive searchable online. If you use the news archive search or the timeline feature after a search on Google news, chances are that you get a scan of an old newspaper, fully searchable and browsable, including photographs, headlines, articles and ads! Try a search for [Americans walk on moon] on Google News Archive Search, and you'll be able to find and read an original article from a 1969 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
3. Sep. 9 : Google anonimizes IP addresses after 9 instead of 18 months
To comply with European privacy regulations, Google announced to anonimize the IP addresses they collect after 9 instead of the current 18 months. It's clear that Google is not happy with this: They claim that keeping all this information is in the best interest of the user (in terms of search quality, reducing spam, improving security and fighting fraud) and stands in the way of true innovation. On the other hand, others find the measurements taken by Google far from sufficient to fully protect everyone's privacy. To be continued...
4. Sep. 10 : Yahoo's blueprint for mobile ad revenue
These are hard times for Yahoo: After the failure of the Microsoft negotiations and with the current stress on the Google advertisement deal, it is looking for a way to position itself. And the mobile market is one of the obvious targets. In January 2008 Yahoo announced its Blueprint platform: a development platform to create mobile widgets that could run on Yahoo's mobile platform: Yahoo Go. Now, Yahoo extends Blueprint to support other platforms so developers can create standalone applications for Java, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices. They also included the option of serving Yahoo ads through the applications you build, thus increasing overall advertising income.
5. Sep. 12 : Microsoft's second Seinfeld ad launches
The first Microsoft ad featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld was not that much of a success. A lot of talk about it, though, which in itself is also not so bad of course 
. According to an internal email to all Microsoft employees, the goal of the campaign is to inspire consumers and “tell the story of how Windows enables a billion people around the globe to do more with their lives today.” The first phase “is
designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows
– a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will
always be marked by humor and humanity.” whereas the next phase will "...go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go". On September 12, Microsoft launched the second ad (see below)... and controversy all over again. Personally, I like them. They're fun to watch, cleverly made and -to me- show another, more relaxed Microsoft that knows things didn't always go as they should have been.
