When you arrive on the search giant homepage today, you’ll be greeted with a gray Google doodle. When you start typing a search query though, the color magically returns to Google’s iconic logo. This follows yesterday’s logo, a collection of animated particles that react to the movement of the cursor.

If today’s logo is any indication, Google is about to unveil a real-time search overhaul. This is not about adding Twitter or Facebook results to Google search though; this is about search results that change as you type. Google has been testing this feature recently. Also likely to be announced tomorrow: AJAX-powered search results.

“This is fantastic for our industry from a marketing perspective,” WineNet’s Kevin Kidson told News24.

“It gives you a view of the winery online and it’s a pity that there’s one picture for now, but it’s a great opportunity for us,’ he said.

There are about 30 wine farms listed on Street View and it’s Google’s intention to include a wider range of businesses but that will take some time, said Google’s Julie Taylor.

“There’s still a lot to be done and we are committed to investing in South Africa. The wine industry will hopefully form a key part.

“We currently have imagery of 11 wine estates in Street View (you can view multiple images of each one, obviously, and do tours down their roads) and will be adding another 19 estates,” Taylor said.

Virtual walks

Google has been developing its mapping programme and “geo-location tools” for SA and since the launch of Street View in June, the internet giant exceeded its initial plan of rolling it out to five cities in the country.

“We launched Afrikaans and Zulu support before the Soccer World Cup and people are using it. It’s getting better with time,” Jarda Bengl told News24 as he demonstrated Street View.

Covering the main wineries in the Stellenbosch area in Cape Town, the Street View service allows users to view the wine estates, take virtual walks, and provides contact details to allow wine purchases.

“Let me show you the magic. The map works for people in Japan. They see the map in their own language, and they can print it out for the taxicab driver when they get to South Africa,” said Bengl, from the Czech Republic.

This exposure allows South African wineries to compete in the international market.

“There is a tourism aspect and a wine aspect,” said Kidson. “People can see the place and decide whether they want to come and visit, but I don’t think it will change the way local people buy wine much. Wine purchases have always been a tactile experience,” he added.

The Street View service is part of Google’s strategy to “map the world” and the wine lands were of particular importance, said Bengl.

This afternoon we received an e-mail from a Facebook spokesperson who revealed:

“This error isn’t specific to any one account. It’s generated when a person has been blocked a certain large number of times. In very rare instances, a viral campaign will develop instructing lots of people to all wrongly block the same person. The purpose of this system is to protect the experience for people targeted by these campaigns. We’re constantly working to improve our systems and are taking a closer look at this one.”

It’s not as fun an explanation as; ‘CEO vanity’ or ‘developer facetiousness’, but there you have it.

There could be a few situations in which an undeserving innocent member could be the victim of unfair mass blockings, so that could arguably be a good feature in some cases.

Could it be a bug or an intentional inside joke, but Facebook’s developers have created jokes and pranks in the past, so don’t put it past them. Of course, why would you want to block him?

Nevertheless, there’s a website called Block Zuck that acts as a sort of cleansing for people fed up with some of Facebook’s recent choices, such as allowing your friends to location-tag you in Facebook Places by default with no confirmation from you.

Maybe you’ll want to block Zuckerberg after you see the fictionalisation of his early years at Facebook in the upcoming movie The Social Network.

Either way, you can validate this by going to Zuckerberg’s Facebook profile, scrolling down near the button of the left panel and clicking “Report/Block this person,” then clicking on “Block this person” and clicking “Submit.”.

Ceglia declares that a 2003 contract signed by Ceglia and Zuckerberg awarded Ceglia $1,000 and a 50% stake in the social networking company, along with “an additional 1% interest in the business for every day after Jan. 1, 2004, until it was completed,” as compensation for his work designing and developing the site.

Yet Ceglia’s claim to 84% of the still privately-held company, valued at between $12billion and $22 billion, predates the actual formation of Facebook: “Zuckerberg built a predecessor to Facebook called Facemash in October and November 2003, but Mr. Zuckerberg didn’t register the domain thefacebook.com until January 2004.”

Ceglia won a restraining order that blocks both Facebook and its CEO “from transferring, selling, assigning any assets, stocks, bonds, owned, possessed and/or controlled by the defendants” until the case is heard.

A spokesperson for Facebook called the lawsuit “frivolous” and the company is said to be working to have the case annulled. Zuckerberg reportedly owns 24% of the company, with the rest belonging to employees and investors.

Ceglia is seeking “declaratory judgment that defines ownership rights” (84% ownership over the social networking company) and financial damages.

The parties are scheduled to be back in federal court in Buffalo on Oct. 13 to argue Ceglia’s motion to have the case returned to state court.

“I have young children that can’t read yet,” said LegacyLocker.com founder Jeremy Toeman. “One day my blog will have meaning to them in the same way you find an old photo of your grandfather and wonder what the story was.”

Toeman launched his start-up in San Francisco in April of 2009 after the birth of his first son; the death of his 94-year-old internet-savvy grandmother, and a turbulent airplane flight.

He owns a set of domain names and realised that while his wife was entitled to them in event of his demise, she would have no way to get them.

His thoughts went to photos, videos, email, and other digital creations people squirrel away on Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail and elsewhere on the internet.

“Today, you get a shoe box full of pictures; tomorrow you will get a Flickr account,” Toeman said. “Today, you get a diary; tomorrow you will get a blog.”

Online vault

For $30 a year, or a one-time fee of $300, Legacy Locker acts as a personal online vault for online account login and password information along with back-up copies of documents or videos.

People can also leave messages to be sent to beneficiaries after they pass away.

Facebook lets people leave their marks online with profiles of the people who have passed on remaining as tributes in the global social networking community.

“We created the idea of ‘memorialised’ profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who’ve passed,” the world’s top online social networking service said in a blog post.

Profiles of deceased people do not turn up in friend recommendations or general searches at Facebook.

Legacy Locker is used primarily as an online strong box for internet account passwords but is building tools to fulfil the vision of being a secure online repository for people’s virtual estates, according to Toeman.

Digital legacy

“FarmVille is an incredible success online and I am certain there are people out there that shiver at the thought their farm might one day be unattended and whither and die,” Toeman said of a Zynga online game with a cult following.

“The same with swords or gold at World of Warcraft. Ultimately, these are acts of creativity, almost art, and like winnings in online poker accounts they belong in people’s wills.”

He referred to uploads, online musings and other online contributions as a “digital legacy” that should be factored into estates divvied up after people die.

“We are going to help people think about that stuff a little more,” Toeman said. “I don’t need my Twitter stream preserved for all time, but someone who lives their life on Twitter might feel the opposite.”

A self-described early-adopter of technology, Toeman noted the wisdom of remembering to turn off computers, televisions and other devices and spending time with loved ones while life allows.

People should not find themselves one day in an all-online world where they have lost the ability to connect in real life.

Everyone loves Twitter’s little blue bird, unless of course you’re afraid of birds! Finding the right bird icon for your site can be a challenge!

Here are 10 fabulous freebie Twitter bird-themed icons, so click through to view, and be sure to check the terms of use for each set before you download. Although all are available for free, some are only for non-commercial use.

1. Matt Hamm’s Blue Bird

Simple and charming! This little bird is from UK creative Matt Hamm.

2. Spoon Graphics’ Hand-Drawn Twitter Birds

These are quirky birds that will offer some child-like charm and would make a fun addition to kid-themed sites.

3. Marek Sotak’s Fluffy Twitter Icon

Marek bird will add some feathery fun to your web page.

4. Graphic Leftovers’ Twitter Eggs

These shiny solid forms of egg are a fresh slant on Twitter iconography.

5. Zwitscha Twitter Icon

These are so different from many of the “overly sweet” birdies out there, offering a true alternative for anyone who doesn’t do cute.

6. Graphic Leftovers’ Twordle Birds

The second applicant from Graphic Leftovers (these guys are good.) A word-based characteristic of a bird would be fabulous icons for rambling bloggers.

7. HaloMomo’s Helvettwitca

This clever design brings some typeface simplicity to the Twitter bird  design arena.

8. Dirceu Veiga’s Square Icons

The unusual, square shape of these icons makes them really eye- catching.

9. Iconhive’s Black Twitter Icons

Moving away from regular blue twitter icons, here are some from the darker side. Twitter icons, perfect for?

10. Marek Sotak’s Human Twitter Icon

This is such a  cute original take on the Twitter icon - a person wearing a blue bird costume.

“I think about this in relationship to the Pentagon Papers,” said James Lewis, a cyber security expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), of the 1971 leak of Pentagon files about the Vietnam War.

“The difference with the Pentagon Papers is that Daniel Ellsberg took a huge bunch of paper and gave it to a reporter,” said Lewis. “Now you can take even more documents and give them to the whole world.”

WikiLeaks has not identified the source of the documents it obtained, but suspicion has fallen on Bradley Manning, a US Army intelligence analyst who is currently being held in a military jail in Kuwait.

Manning was arrested in May following the release by WikiLeaks of video footage of a US Apache helicopter strike in Iraq in which civilians died and has been charged with delivering defence information to an unauthorised source.

The Pentagon in June said it was probing allegations that Manning supplied classified video and 260 000 secret diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

Lewis said the Pentagon, like any organisation, is going to have “bad actors” - insiders who turn against their employer - “but now it’s a lot easier for them to do things like this”.

“Everything’s digital now, everything’s on the network,” said Tom Conway, director of federal business development at computer security firm McAfee.

WikiLeaks appeared to be a “classic insider threat case”, he said, noting that safeguarding computerised information posed particular challenges to an institution with the “sheer size and complexity” of the US military.

“Ultimately, where there’s a will there’s a way,” Conway said. “What you have to do is make it difficult.”

That includes such measures as blocking access to the internet, disabling DVD drives on personal computers, compartmentalising sensitive information and flagging or blocking behaviour that is “outside the norm”, he said.

“If all of a sudden someone goes from downloading 50MB a day to 9 000 a day that should set off a red flag,” he said. “Maybe there’s nothing wrong, a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, but maybe there isn’t.”

A former Pentagon official who requested anonymity said the “proliferation of digital media and social software is certainly going to increase the risks of things like this happening”.

“Security is always going to be a balance between convenience and security,” said the former official. “It’s always a trade-off between functionality and security and the pendulum has swung way to the functionality side.”

He cited a notorious Pentagon ban in 2009 on the use of thumb drives by military personnel. “They’ve now re-allowed them but with special thumb drives that are encrypted and tamper proof,” he said.

“You’ve got to rethink how you secure information,” said Lewis, who heads the technology and public policy programme at the Washington-based CSIS think tank.

“In the paper world, I got a document that had top secret stamped on it and the government trusted that I wouldn’t take that piece of paper and share it. Maybe in the paper world that was okay but it’s not for the digital,” he said.

“The way we control that access is based on an older model, it’s pretty much personal trust,” Lewis said. “The Pentagon trusts its employees, which is good, but it’s not enough.”

Don Jackson of SecureWorks said military security clearances, access and “need-to-know” requirements are “based on the analogue world, where the worst you had to worry about was information like this being published in a newspaper.

“Something like WikiLeaks is not something you had to worry about before the internet,” said Jackson, a security researcher with the counter-threat unit at the information security firm.

“The newspaper can’t publish 90 000 documents but WikiLeaks can do it in a matter of seconds.”

From April to June, the company sold 43% more digital books for its Kindle handheld device than hardback books, nearly three years after the electronic format became available, according to a press release on Monday, 19 July.

In June alone, digital books outsold hardbacks by 80%. The company did not provide total sales data for either format.

Sales of e-books, as they are also called, have been boosted by a drop in the price of the Kindle hardware, according to Amazon founder and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos.

“The growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 (R1,956.43) to $189 (R1,427.74),” he was quoted as saying in a company press release, without indicating how many were sold.

Kindle books can also be read on competing hardware devices such as Apple Inc’s iPhone or iPad, or laptop computers.

Of the 630 000 e-book titles available for purchase on the Amazon website, over 510 000 cost under $10 (R75.54), the company said. No information was provided on the price of Amazon’s hardbacks.

Amazon did not include downloads of its nearly 1.8 million electronic titles available free of charge.

The figures released did not include paperback sales, which represent over two-thirds of the market by revenue according to the Association of American Publishers.

It is incredible to imagine how we ever managed without text messages, but simple services have the power to permanently change how you – and millions of other consumers – incorporate media into your daily life. “Why didn’t I think of that?” you wonder, as yet another social media or mobile start-up hits the headlines after a multi-million-pound acquisition.

Size isn’t everything; what matters more is the newsworthiness or “buzz” surrounding a company.

One thing is for sure: the companies listed below are offering unique services or technologies that are shaping the future of the media industry - and if you haven’t already heard of them, you soon will.

Vente Privee

Mission statement: “As innovator and industry leader of exclusive online flash sales… Vente-privee.com aims to continue building strong relationships with like-minded brands who want a perfectly tailored solution to protect their product and present it to a captivated customer base.”

Key people: Founder and chief executive Jacques-Antoine Granjon, founder and chief executive

Financial performance: Predicted turnover of £763m this year, up from £610m in 2009. UK turnover is forecast to grow from £2.7m in 2009 to £7.2m this year.

Employees: 1,250 (25 in UK)

Founded: 2001

The buzz: Most online retailers let shoppers come and go anonymously, but Vente-privee.com started out by insisting users must be members of its exclusive club in order to get discounts on designer fashion brands.

Members are given previews of sales with an invitation email and sales last between two to four days, with discounts of 50% to 70%. The site has 11 million members in Europe (350,000 in the UK) and has sparked a number of imitators. Persistent rumours of acquisition by Amazon remain unconfirmed.

Perform Group

Mission statement: “To reach and engage mass audiences through progressive sports media.”

Key people: Group chief executive Oliver Slipper

Financial performance: Turnover grew from £31m in 2008 to £64m in 2009.

Employees: 350

Founded: 2007

The buzz: Formed from the merger of Premium TV and Inform Group, Perform has cornered the market in digital sports media, specialising in video on-demand.

As well as working with the Premier League and Chelsea FC to provide live streaming of matches, Perform has a thriving ad sales business.

The group is expanding internationally and 60% of turnover now comes from outside the U.K. A U.S. launch is planned for later this year.

TweetDeck

Mission statement: To make social media more powerful

Key people: Iain Dodsworth, chief executive~

Financial performance: Revenues undisclosed, but the firm recently received a reported US$2m in funding and expects to become profitable this year.

Employees: 15

Founded: January 2009

The buzz: Social media users have taken this British start-up to their hearts just 18 months after it launched as a client for Twitter. TweetDeck allows users to browse social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and MySpace on the same “dashboard”, with apps for devices such as the iPhone. TweetDeck also taps into the social media psyche – for example, allowing users to see who has mentioned them on Twitter.

Mind Candy

Mission statement: “To build the largest and most respected kids’ entertainment property in the world.”

Key people: Founder Michael Smith

Financial performance: Profitable since May 09. Smith says revenue for 2010 will be five times that of 2009, running into “tens of millions of dollars”.

Employees: 30

Founded: 2003

The buzz:  The new Facebook for kids, Mind Candy’s phenomenally successful property Moshi Monsters is one of the biggest sites for children in the world.

Players log on to adopt and care for a virtual monster, which can interact with other creatures in their own virtual world. Future plans include expanding the brand to new platforms including the iPhone, and branching out into trading cards, books, video games, music albums and live shows.

Mind Candy also recently signed a multi-book publishing deal with Penguin.

Streaming Tank

Mission statement: “The creative live video streaming logistics agency that specialises in the consultancy, creation, training and digital delivery of brand-specific live events, including the contingent on-demand products and services.”

Key people: Co-founders James Wilkinson and Chris Dabbs

Financial performance: Profitable, with revenues forecast to increase by more than 40% this year. The firm expects to achieve revenues of more than £5m within three years.

Employees: 15 (plus freelancers)

Founded: 2003

The buzz: Video streaming is their business. As the go-to agency for live streaming and branded online events, the company achievements include live streaming of every concert on a world tour for The Who, and the much-awarded Love project for Starbucks and charity Red, which involved people from 156 countries singing All You Need is Love live to raise awareness of Aids.

In February 2010, the firm organised live streaming of every show from London Fashion Week.

Velti

Mission statement: “To be the leading global provider of mobile marketing and advertising solutions across multiple media.”

Key people: Chief executive Alex Moukas and chief operating officer Chris Kaskavelis

Financial performance: Revenues increased 82% between 2008 and 2009, up from US$49.5m to $90m.

Employees: 459

Founded: 2000

The buzz:  Velti has been around for a while as a mobile marketing specialist, but brands looking to do more with mobile are particularly excited by its mGage portal, which launched in January.

The portal is designed to act as a one-stop-shop where advertisers can plan marketing and advertising campaigns across mobile and traditional media, but mGage can also be used for managing media buys, tracking performance and creating mobile applications. It will also provide case studies to help clients make the most of mobile.

Mesh Planning

Mission statement: “To create, develop and lead the experience tracking market globally.”

Key people: Chief experience officer Fiona Blades and founding partner Stephen Phillips

Financial performance: Sales for the first six months of 2010 are almost double those for the 12 months of 2009. Mesh is part of the 38th Floor Group of three research agencies, whose turnover increased from £1.9m in 2008 to £2.3m in 2009.

Employees: 20

Founded: 2006

The buzz:  Described by industry observers as “fascinatingly different” and “Millward-Brown orthodoxy busting”, boutique research agency Mesh specialises in experience tracking, using a tool called Troi (Touchpoints Return on Investment).

The tool is designed to evaluate marketing activity using a multimedia approach centred on mobile.

Mesh has several awards under its belt and has attracted high-calibre clients including Unilever, Vodafone and Coca-Cola, as well as media agencies OMD and Havas.

Playfish

Mission statement: “Changing the way people play games by creating more social and connected experiences.”

Key people: Co-founders Sebastien de Halleux and Kristian Segerstrale

Financial performance: Acquired for $275m last November by Electronic Arts. Revenues undisclosed but were estimated at $75m at the time of the deal.

Employees: 200

Founded: 2007

The buzz: Just two years after it was founded, London-based social gaming company Playfish was snapped up by Electronic Arts last year after creating popular online gaming properties such as Pet Society, Restaurant City and Who Has the Biggest Brain?, which was one of the first major games to take off on Facebook.

EA hopes the company will prove a strong rival to the likes of Farmville-maker Zynga, and claimed recently that Playfish’s user base is continuing to grow thanks to games such as FIFA Superstars, while other games are losing players on Facebook.

ChannelFlip

Mission statement: “Connecting advertisers with audiences through fantastic online video content.”

Key people: Co-founder and managing director Wil Harris

Financial performance: On course to achieve “six-figure profit and seven-figure turnover” for 2009-10, according to Harris.

Employees: 14

Founded: May 2008

The buzz: ChannelFlip claims to answer the question of how independent TV producers can use online video outside repurposed broadcast content.

One recent project created the online video show David Mitchell’s SoapBox as a branded content partnership with men’s grooming brand Bulldog, starring the comedian.

It was the most successful show of 2009 on Apple iTunes and has racked up more than six million views on YouTube. Other clients include Volvo, Pepsi and Oil of Olay.

Flirtomatic (operated by Handmade Mobile Entertainment)

Mission statement: “To operate the most successful mobile social network.”

Key people: Chief executive Mark Curtis

Financial performance: The company’s turnover of £2m in 2009 is forecast to double to £4m this year, with a profit expected next year.

Employees: 37

Founded: 2005

The buzz: One of the first brands to successfully crack the market for social media on mobiles, Flirtomatic not only allows users to “flirt” (anonymously) with each other, they can also use its own currency FlirtPoints to buy virtual goods online.

The service’s two million members flirt with new people based on their preferences, interests, location or other profile information – making it distinct from Facebook, which connects people who already know each other.

Flirtomatic is already the biggest mobile social network in Europe and is rapidly taking off in the US, attracting more than 500,000 users just six months since launch.