[Wrapping up the week in three dots . . .]

How Venturebeat got it's beat on . . .

Matt Marshall, founder of VentureBeat talks about how his online publication got started and how it transitioned from a blog to a media company. He is talking at the Innovation Journalism conference 2008 at Stanford University.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=648584396342126970&hl=en

. . .

Reading the tea leaves in Silicon Valley car parks . . .

I've had the great pleasure of meeting Stephen Quinn, a journalism professor at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. We've met at a couple of conferences during his six week visit to the US and now he is heading back on Monday. He says the time passed in the wink of an eye. He says he has been inspired by Silicon Valley and his time at Stanford University--and how people are so willing to share information and ideas. "Back home the academic life is more monastic, people retreat into their offices behind closed doors."

He was telling me about a recent visit to Yahoo with a friend. His friend is a car buff and he was awed by the large number of very new and very expensive cars in the parking lot. $85k plus BMWs seemed to be a popular choice.

I said that was interesting because I had recently visited the Googleplex and I noticed the rather pedestrian collection of cars in the GOOG HQ car park: Hondas, Toyotas, etc, it could have been the car park at a K-Mart -- nothing special caught my eye.

I'm wondering if some Yahoo employees might have spent their Microsoft retention bonuses a little prematurely?

. . .

Reinventing Michael Kannelos . . .

I ran into Michael Kanellos and didn't realize that he is now the former editor-at-large at CNET News.com and is now working as an analyst at Greentech Media.

"After many years at News.com people kept telling me that it was time to reinvent myself," he said. I joked that he shouldn't pay attention to what his wife says (!)

For the growing numbers of PR people out there, it is one less journalist to pitch.

Good luck to Michael in his new gig.

. . .

Shel Israel sock puppet interviews Dan Farber . . .

The unstoppable Loren Feldman :-)... (Hat tip: Accman Dennis Howlett)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIYy3jddnG4

. . .

The man behind the sock puppet revealed!

Wow! Mike Arrington needs constant attention!!!

http://www.1938media.com/this-is-what-i-have-to-deal-with-or-why-mike-arrington-is-an-ass/

Monday I'm off to Japan. I'm going as a guest of Lunarr and I'll be blogging as much as I can, visits with Japanese ministry officials and Japanese startups, plus a deep dive into Tokyo with my expert guide Hideshi Hamaguchi. I can't wait!