Website Hype

From cars to gadgets, DIY to aviation, from the military to the environment, and plenty of entertainment and gaming, popsci.com offers “the future now”, and all the science information that you need in a nutshell.

The images are superb too – see what happens when you create lightning-like effects in a block, see pictures taken on the ground on Mars, and take a look at possible warships of the future. Popsci’s extensive Photo Galleries give some intriguing vistas onto the technology of the future, cutting edge research, and micro- and nano-scopic images.

You can read about Richard Branson’s attempts to create space tourism, about issues concerning how science is funded, and about the latest scientific research.

Popsci is the website of the magazine Popular Science, and the site makes a highly engaging browse for those interested in science, the gadget geek, gamers and those who just want to be better informed on issues relating to science and technology.

Jon Chase’s “The Grouse” is a great column for if you want to enjoy a right good rant about the cost of inkjet refills, social networking sites, batteries that cannot be re-charged, and other stuff.

There are some interesting points made in the environment section too – like how it might be better to just take shorter showers than invest in those eco-friendly light bulbs that give off about as many photons as a glow worm.

Popsci is definitely a site that I will be coming back to – it doesn’t just inform, it entertains.

If you are looking for a new job, and want to impress the prospective employers, a new tool is here that could be just the thing to help you. CV stands for curriculum vitae, and is basically another word, or words, for resume – now, I hope you don’t need me to explain what that is. Anyway, resumes, or CV’s, have always tended to be rather dull old things, one or two typed sheets of A4, which of course you can send as an attachment by email, or mail the hard copy, to those top companies.

But now it’s time to think again. VisualCV takes the traditional resume, and makes it come alive with video, pictures, a portfolio of your best work samples, and any other supporting documents that you care to include. Informational pop-ups provide background data on the companies you’ve worked at, and the universities and colleges you have attended. Add to this the fact that you can securely share different versions of your resume with your own network of employers, colleagues and friends, and control who sees what.

VisualCV certainly takes the whole concept of the CV up a level, and the result is a lively, vibrant and informative online document, that is pretty well guaranteed to impress.

One quibble might be that you might just as well do your own website, but VisualCV offers you the chance to put your resume online in a somewhat easier manner, and in a standardised format that makes a professional looking online resume easy to produce.

VisualCV is still at the beta stage, so if you are job hunting, it could be worth giving it a go. The proof of the pudding will be the job offers.

So, the latest in the Microsoft vs Google saga is that the giant Microsoft has made a bold $44.6bn bid for Yahoo in a deal that would create an online advertising colossus big enough and powerful enough to rival market leader Google.

Microsoft arrived rather late in the day to the internet advertising market, and so is keen to gain a good foothold in this area. Microsoft is offering Yahoo shareholders a tempting $31 a share, and this deal would be one of the largest dotcom takeovers since the merger of AOL and Time Warner.

Only last year Yahoo turned down an offer from Microsoft. Microsoft’s chief executive, Steve Ballmer, says:

“Our companies really do share a vision for the potential of online services and advertising specifically. When you combine the strengths of our two companies the result will be an incredibly efficient and competitive offering for consumers, for advertisers and for publishers.

“A year ago the Yahoo management team told us it was not really the right time to discuss an acquisition, we believed then in the benefits of combining the two companies and we believe now in those benefits more than ever.”

Yahoo said that it had received the unsolicited proposal and that its board would evaluate it carefully, bearing in mind the interests of its sharholders.

This news has boosted share prices in London, with the FTSE 100 going back through the 6,000 level. And on Wall Street, shares in Yahoo have risen by almost 50%, to $28.26, while Microsoft has fallen by 5% to $30.94. Google too has dropped by 9% to $512.90.

It seems that Yahoo’s position has weakened somewhat over the past year with repeated delays to the launch of its new advertising platform Panama, and plans to axe 1,000 jobs following a drop in profits.

Meanwhile Google has, as ever, surged ahead in the online search market, and additionally has made moves into the wider online advertising market.

All this just confirms that, for the big players at least, online advertising is definitely where it is happening at the moment. And, especially where Microsoft and Google are concerned, it’s always intriguing to see what happens next.