Best in Blogs: Apple iPad, Google Wave, and Other Fall Sneak Peeks  Top Stories for the Week of Sept. 28 - Oct. 2, 2009
Ya-who? Not to be forgotten, Yahoo has launched a $100-million-plus marketing campaign with a glitzy TV ad reminding us that Yahoo still exists. The Net as delivered via Yahoo is "a place where time and space collide and breed wonder, and joy, and wow," according to the commercial. In case you were wondering about that. "The mission is to reposition Yahoo! as a consumer-focused company," says Download Squad. That said, if you look at the company's first TV spot for the campaign, you'd be hard pressed to tell exactly what that mission was. For about 55 seconds, Yahoo! clearly wants you to hear the word you a lot. And that ad is certainly dynamic, features vibrant colors, and locations from five different countries." Adds MediaMemo: "My armchair ad criticism: Why is Yahoo… marketing the fact that it has enormous reach? Why not, say, advertise some awesome new products? " Technologizer observes: "If you showed an alien this ad, he (she? it?) would come to the conclusion that Yahoo is a place where nobody’s old, bald, fat, or ugly–and where nobody uses computers."  Google says its now-less-supersecret Google Wave answers the question "what would email look like if it was invented today?" In case you were wondering. SearchEngineLand says Wave is "a mix of email and IM with some Twitter and iGoogle thrown in." ReadWriteWeb adds: "It's as much of a real-time chat room as a platform for editing documents collaboratively. It can also be used as a wiki, to replace email and IM within an organization, or just to organize a pub crawl." (And a beer is exactly what we need at this point.) The main thing seems to be that people can work on documents in real time together. "It’s easy to see why people are extremely excited," says Mashable. Uhh…really? To help clear things up, this week Google allowed 100,000 of its best friends to start playing with a working version of Wave. (One lucky blogger tried to auction his beta tester account on eBay. Bids reached $5,000 before eBay shut it down.) Screenwerk shows examples of Wave apps that help answer the big 'why question' —"as in why should we use it."
 Ah yes, the why question. Here's a new thing to do with your computer that needs no explanation: Twitter lists. Ok, an explanation: Twitter lists "allow you to create your own custom lists of Twitter users that others can then follow with one click," Mashable says. Ok, that actually makes sense. At last Twitter is adding some obvious functions, says louisgray.com. "After some time where it has looked like Twitter was standing still, just trying to keep afloat, the features are making their way out the door, and they are welcomed for the many users who don't know where to go next once they have an account."
 Other teasers: Apple is merely "aiming to redefine print" with a heavily rumored new tablet, according to Gizmodo, which says "two people related to the NY Times have separately told me that in June, paper was approached by Apple to talk about putting the paper on a 'new device.'" iLounge says "Apple has created at least three separate prototypes of its tablet computer. Let’s call it iPad." It lists ten secret details about the device, like "chances of it appearing in the market are believed to be 80% at this point" and "Apple is currently planning to announce it on or before January 19, 2010, and start selling in May or June."
 Meanwhile, in a place where ignorance and fear collide and breed idiocy, The Secret Service reportedly has looked into a Facebook poll asking if the President should be killed. "So now we have the social media assassination poll," says Pam's House Blend. The Plum Line suggests "the poll is only the latest example of the sort of viral incitement to violence that flares up when the sparks of anti-Obama hatred are fed oxygen by the bellows of the Internets," though that may be giving too much credit to one lone loser. TPM LiveWire notes that "An ancillary poll has also popped up: "Should the person who created the 'Should Obama be Killed Poll' be arrested?"" As usual in these things, the results are nonbinding.
 And finally, how about a poll asking if Comcast should rule the world? The TV/Internet giant is denying reports that it may buy NBC Universal from General Electric, according to Dealbook. But The Wrap, the blog that broke all the buzz, insists "Two individuals informed about the meeting said that a deal had already been completed at a purchase price of $35 billion." Actually, Comcast only called the report inaccurate. "Clintonian parsers will note that Comcast’s denial has potential wiggle room: It isn’t denying, for instance, that the two companies had or are having talks," says MediaMemo. Notes Jon Friedman's Media Web: "GE is under pressure to dump NBC…to kick-start the behemoth's lagging stock. But it doesn't make sense for Comcast to acquire it." In case you were wondering.
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