A weekly summary of the more interesting blog posts to come across my desk...

• Two bizarre posts this week include the discovery of Atlantis on Google Earth and a student arrested for text messaging in class. Doesn't get stranger that that.

• Three insightful posts provide perspective on the recession from Steve Ballmer at Microsoft(act like RCA to survive!), Marc Andreessen on the death of print media, and  on empowering employees from an undercover reporter working at of all places, Walmart.

• Although most of my experience is Windows based, with ever increasing frequency open source software is playing a role in my development activities. Until I read an article on the the eXtropia web site, I must admit that I didn't completely understand the open source business model. I am particularly taken by the notion of a halo of opportunity around the free software.

• On the topic of open source, arc technica reports on a Microsoft lawsuit that could do serious damage to the movement, and the possibility that the Open Invention Network (OIN) might deploy its "nuclear option" in retaliation. Apparently OIN has amassed patents that could damage the Windows franchise.

• Having just purchased an Amazon Kindle a few days ago, I found this ZDNet post on the design strategy behind the Kindle particularly fascinating. As with DVRs, you don't really know how cool a Kindle is until you get one!

• I am endlessly intrigued by Internet usage statistics. This ZDNet post looks at various web site categories and the percentage of traffic driven to those sites by search engines. Medical sites toped the list with almost have their traffic coming from search engines.

• Finally, three rather divergent posts including an iPhone app generating $37,000 a day from a one-man band developer, using twitter to mine the thought-stream of America, and finally the top 10 rejected iPhone apps.  I wonder why MyShoe, the footwear flinging accelerometer, was rejected?

More next week...

Jim