Google We kind of doubt the departure of Genentech's former chief executive from Google's board of directors will close all of this out in the FTC's eyes, but if you were curious about the impact of said probe, here's your answer. Just two months after Google's Eric Schmidt peaced out from Apple's board due to a “conflict of interest,” Arthur Levinson has left Google's board for presumably the same reason. Schmidt is still obviously fond of Sir Levinson, noting that he has “has been a key part of Google's success these past five years,” and while he's exiting the board, he'll “always have a special place at Google.” So, now that all of this is cleared up, can we finally move on without worrying that the aforementioned search giant will buy up the world's remaining inventory of dark fiber, fuse into Apple and create a telepathic iPod that would rule the world? – engadget.com Obama's prize While few observers think Obama has done anything for world peace in the nearly nine months he's been in office, the same clearly can't be said for economics. The president has worked tirelessly since even before his inauguration to wrest control of the US economy from failed free markets, and the evil CEOs who profit from them, and to turn it over to wise, fair and benevolent bureaucrats. From his $787 billion stimulus package, to the cap-and-trade bill, to the seizures of General Motors and Chrysler, to the undead health-care “reform” act, Obama has dominated the US, and therefore the global, economy as few figures have in recent years. Yet the Nobel panel chose instead to award the prize to two obscure academics. It is unclear whether the president will now refuse his peace prize in protest against the obvious slight to his real achievements this year. – marketwatch.com FB for news? Facebook's growth, it seems, is limited only by the scope of Mark Zuckerberg's ambition. It began as a social networking site trying to keep up with MySpace, but Facebook is now circling its own orbit. All that's stopping Facebook from becoming the pre-eminent news publisher for its 300m users is Zuckerberg's desire to do it. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2007, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg alluded to a new stage to transform Facebook from simply a social media site into a diverse platform. He said that in future iterations, users would see “real stories being produced” on their Facebook feeds. The obvious question is, would Facebook want to get into the news business? It's clear today that it's not exactly profitable. Or is it that this current business approach is no longer profitable? Though it's unclear it would be a prudent decision, Facebook now has the tools to make an impact on the news industry.
