Also: Why Google can Keep it to itself.
YouTube reaches 1 billion unique monthly users, almost 15% of planet Earth [THE NEXT WEB]
Google says that the video site reaches almost one out of every two people on the Internet. Its monthly viewership would make it the planet’s third-largest country, behind China and India.
These feats are all the more interesting considering that Google was criticized for over-paying for the site when it bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006. It’s fair to say that the acquisition has proven to be a shrewd one, with YouTube far and away the Web’s most popular video site.
Google’s Chome, Android systems to stay separate [REUTERS]
Schmidt also said rumors he may be leaving Google were “completely false.” He was responding to a question on whether his plan to sell about 42 percent of his Google stake was a signal that he was leaving the world’s No.1 search engine.
“Google is my home,” he said, adding that he had no plans to take on a job in government.
Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself [GIGAOM]
It might actually be good, or even better than Evernote. But I still won’t use Keep. You know why? Google Reader.
I spent about seven years of my online life on that service. I sent feedback, used it to annotate information and they killed it like a butcher slaughters a chicken. No conversation — dead. The service that drives more traffic than Google+ was sacrificed because it didn’t meet some vague corporate goals; users — many of them life long — be damned.
Dell walks fine line in pitch for buyout [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]
Mr. Dell needs to persuade Dell Inc. investors that the prospects for the company he founded in his dorm room in 1984 and has been running for the past six years are anything but rosy if he is to succeed with his plan to take the computer maker private.
Friday marks the end of a 45-day window to flush out alternative offers to the $24.4 billion buyout deal that Mr. Dell and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners reached last month. The $13.65-a-share offer has sparked derision from some shareholders who believe the price undervalues the Round Rock, Texas, company.
Klout launches business portal, is gunning for brands [FORTUNE]
Since then, Klout has matured and gained more acceptance among consumers, thanks in part to a partnership with Microsoft’s Bing search engine. The company tripled revenue last year and expects to make in the low double-digit millions this year. There’s a hitch, however. “A friend came in and told me that 10 out of 10 CMO’s [chief marketing officers] that I talk to know what Klout is—so we have brand recognition—but 0 out of 10 know you do anything for brands,” says Matt Thomson, Klout’s VP of Business Development and Platform. Today’s announcements are intended to address this.
How Hollywood’s own pirates must inform the future of copyright [TECHDIRT]
Don’t let the party line fool you — if there’s one thing the film and television industry can’t live without, it’s copyright infringement. Ask any assistant. Piracy in Hollywood is not just a quiet expectation, it’s a stated requirement, and oftentimes a formal part of job training. When I started as a studio assistant, one of the first lessons I learned was how to rip an encrypted DVD. But it’s not just the studios. From agencies to management firms to offices all over town, the volume of infringing material that trades hands on a daily basis makes Hollywood look like a Chinese flea market.
But wait, there’s more: LED bulbs also turn on to full brightness instantly. They’re dimmable. The light color is wonderful; you can choose whiter or warmer bulbs. They’re rugged, too. It’s hard to break an LED bulb, but if the worst should come to pass, a special coating prevents flying shards.
Yet despite all of these advantages, few people install LED lights. They never get farther than: “$30 for a light bulb? That’s nuts!” Never mind that they will save about $200 in replacement bulbs and electricity over 25 years. (More, if your electric company offers LED-lighting rebates.)
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