IT Buoy

From TechCrunch: Yesterday, [Marc] Andreessen was in New York City and we met up. We got to talking about how media companies are handling the digital disruption of the Internet when he brought up the Cortes analogy. In particular, he was talking about print media such as newspapers and magazines, and his longstanding recommendation that they should shut down their print editions and embrace the Web wholeheartedly. “You gotta burn the boats,” he told me, “you gotta commit.” His point is that if traditional media companies don’t burn their own boats, somebody else will. Read more at TechCrunch > Join the conversation about this story

In a bid to become part of Google’s fiber-optic broadband test, the mayor of Topeka, Kan., issued a proclamation Monday that the city will temporarily be referred to as … wait for it … Google, Kansas. Associated Press The sun sets in Topeka, Kan. The proclamation by Mayor Bill Bunten isn’t the same as an actual name change, but on Topeka … er, Google’s official Web page , the word “Topeka” already has been replaced with Google’s colorful letters. The proclamation itself even goes so far as to praise every aspect of Google’s corporate philosophy, saying that Google’s belief in “every employee” mirrors the city’s belief in every citizen’s importance. The Journal’s Jessica Vascellaro and Amy Schatz reported in February on Google’s decision to offer broadband “at a speed of one gigabit per second—100 times faster than what many U.S. consumers have access to today.” Google is now choosing locations for a test of its service, and cities across the country are vying for the opportunity. The Los Angeles Times points out that a number of areas have created Facebook groups to generate support for their campaign. So far, Topeka appears to be the only city to go so far as to rename itself

From TechCrunch: After hitting a flat spot last fall, Twitter’s worldwide growth is pointing in the right direction again. According to worldwide comScore figures released today, Twitter’s own site attracted 73.5 million unique individuals in January, up 8 percent from December, 2009 (when it had 65.2 million visitors). Its annual growth rate is still a phenomenal 1,105 percent. A year ago, Twitter.com attracted only an estimated 6 million visitors. Continue reading at TechCrunch

Former AOL CEO Steve Case is now chairman of the board for a company called Exclusive Resorts . Steve takes the position as he leads a $20 million round of new equity financing for the startup, which connects travelers with resorts and private residences at vacation destinations through a membership program. The company recently passed 100,000 vacations planned. Read the rest of this story

From TechCrunch : In January Amazon offered select customers a free Kindle of sorts – they had to pay for it, but if they didn’t like it they could get a full refund and keep the device. It turns out that was just a test run for a much more ambitious program. A reliable source tells us Amazon wants to give a free Kindle to every Amazon Prime subscriber. Just as soon as they can work out how to do it without losing money. Read the rest of this story