1. Apple’s Ping pongs a bit right now (Telegraph)
Shane Richmond looks at Apple’s new iTunes-based social network – and finds that it’s not quite right yet.
2. Apple-Facebook friction erupts over Ping (New York Times)
After introducing Ping on Wednesday, Steve Jobs was asked why Apple built its own social network, rather than, say, build services on top of Facebook, as other music sites have done. He said that discussions were held, but the social networking company’s terms were "onerous."
3. 3PAR battle ends, but drama remains (Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds)
The outcome of the tussle no longer is in doubt, but the dust has yet to settle on HP’s pending acquisition of 3PAR. In a bidding war that said as much about the fear of the buy-side principals as it did about the scarcity of high-end storage alternatives, Dell finally folded its hand and backed away from the table, unwilling to match HP’s latest escalation.
4. Never mind the Valley: here’s Paris (ReadWriteWeb)
If you’re capable of seeing past the old stones of Paris and the picturesque rural villages, you’ll realize that France is every bit as technologically advanced as any other Western country – more so in some areas, says Pamela Poole.
5. Dolly Parton and the death of 9-5 (CBR Rolling Blog)
Email add-on firm Xobni has released results of a study that suggests we no longer indulge in a day off and the traditional 9-5 working day is very much a thing of the past as workers are glued to their emails 24/7. What would Dolly Parton say about that?
