Facebook is the new AOL

ValleyWag today runs an interesting insider piece from a startup developing Facebook applications. Until recently FB members could invite all their friends to an app. creating massive viral adoption. Hence why some apps like Top Friends by Slide ended up with millions of users. Now Facebook is limiting app invitations to just 10 per day. That mean anyone creating a new app and trying to go viral has a mountain

CBS buys Last.fm for $280m, plans more ads

As hinted at back in February, Last.fm has been trawling around looking for a buyer and today it found its harbour in the form of a US media giant. The 'social music' site has been bought by CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m). This is less than the earlier rumour, but still the largest-ever buyout of a UK-based "Web 2.0" site. The site was founded in the UK five years ago

Tribler’s long-tail video service

Watch out TIOTI.com? As Mashable reports, Denmark-based Tribler (note the .org domain) has created a BitTorrent client which works like Last.fm to find new media based on your downloading history. The non-profit group, a joint research project from Delft University of Technology and the VU University Amsterdam, already has $8 million in government funding. It's also about to be tested with video on-demand services for the Netherlands Public Broadcasting organisation:

Europeans dominate Second Life

There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason why there are more Germans in Second Life than Americans even though there are more American firms advertising inside the virtual world. Could it be down to better broadband in Germany? For now we'll have to ponder the results of a new Comscore study which finds that Second Life has a rapidly growing and global base of active residents. The report

New group for Widget fans

The UK’s Widget guru Ivan Pope has started a Widget Discussion Group: “I’ve thought for a while that there is probably more discussion to be had in the widgetspace. There’s a lot going on and a lot of questions around, but no forum for discussing it all. I’ve started a Yahoo group for anyone interested in talking widgets. Hopefully we can pick up on things that are blogged about and

Joost launches, expands invites

Joost, the online television service from Skype and Kazaa founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, launches today. Current beta testers will now get an unlimited number of invites, after being limited to five till now. A number of leading advertisers including Coca-Cola, Nike, General Motors and Visa will start ad campaigns this month. The latest version is available for download from existing users and those invited to join. While most