Google Arranges To Expand In Pittsburgh

Over the years, more than a few people have compared the Googleplex to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.  Now, fact and fantasy will come even closer to merging in Pittsburgh, as Google's decided to lease 40,000 square feet at the former site of a Nabisco plant.

For better or for worse, this development doesn't signal Google's entry into the candy/baked goods market.  The site will play home to all sorts of retail and office space when a renovation is completed, and Google will set up its two floors (the top two in the building) as a fairly standard workplace.

Still, just about any expansion on Google's part is worth noting, and given the economy's recent contraction, this one stands out even more than usual.  Plus, a change of physical surroundings isn't the only thing set to take place, since reports indicate that additional engineers will be hired.  (An exact or even rough number remains unknown.)

Then here's one more important note: although Google's move will take it away from its current Pittsburgh base at Carnegie Mellon's Collaborative Innovation Center, the search giant and the school have effectively promised to stay friends.

Anyway, according to Erich Schwartzel, Google should settle into its new office sometime during the summer of 2010.

Have You Read This?

> New Googleplex Established In Brussels

> Google Ranked World's Most Attractive Employer

> Google Language, Land Expansions Take Place

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Release Sets Records

If you have any kind of passing interest in video games then you've more than likely heard of Call of Duty. The series has been around since 2003, and including sequels, spin-off/expansions has released 12 different games. The latest title is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) and looks to be the best selling yet.

Modern Warfare 2 could be on the Top 20 best selling games of all time list before the year ends. You thought Twilight knocked the ball out of the park with a $142 million opening weekend? Modern Warfare 2 raked in over $310 million in it's first 24 hours and sold 4.7 million units, setting a launch day media record. The previous record holder was Grand Theft Auto IV which  sold 3.6 million units.

The Modern Warfare 2 craze not only spawned record breaking sales, but set records on the Xbox Live Service. The first day of release saw around 2.2 million gamers logon to play Modern Warfare 2 online. Coupled with the statistic is 5.2 million online multiplayer hours were logged during the game's first day.

Have you played Modern Warfare 2 yet? Let Us Know.

Leading up to release, Modern Warfare 2 had a couple of minor speed bumps. First, the PC community was up in arms about Infinity Ward's decision to do away with dedicated servers from the multiplayer service. Dedicated servers are the tried and true method of allowing multiplayer gameplay in first person shooters. The reason dedicated servers are so loved by the PC community is they allow players to monitor and police gameplay sessions, and allow for open customization by the server admin.

Instead of going the traditional 'dedicated' route, Infinity Ward launched their IWNet service. They decided to scrap dedicated servers altogether, stating the overall quality of online multiplayer would improve with IWNet. This led the PC community to petition, and some to even boycott MW2. Currently, there are over 226,000 signatures for the online petition.



*spoilers ahead*

What had greater potential to spoil the MW2 party was the backlash coming from a particular gameplay element which sparked some controversy. There's a mission included in the game which has you working undercover in a terrorist cell, who's gunning down civilians in a Russian airport. The game provides an option to engage in the shooting to help bolster your undercover image. I haven't played the game personally, but reports on all fronts state the level is played out very cinematically and is meant to pull the emotional strings of the player.

What are your thoughts on the Modern Warfare 2 controversy? Talk to ArisYulianta and Friends....

The controversy has stemmed from a wide variety of places. The most prevelant is from Australia, where classification of the game was put under much higher scrutiny than the US release. The events of the Ft. Hood tragedy only added fuel to the fire, and led many people to be upset at the images shown in MW2. Stephen Totilo an editor of Kotaku.com, a popular video game blog, spoke with MSNBC and provided some insight into what brought the level to the media forefront:




*spoilers end*

The dedicated server protest, and terrorist level couldn't keep Modern Warfare 2 from reaching mammoth sales. If anything the added media coverage only helped hype the game even further. VGChartz, a company based around video game sales figures is projecting Modern Warfare 2 to sell 14.5 million copies by the turn of the new year.

Facebook Has Hit The ‘Cash Positive’ Mark

Facebook is still growing. They’re now at 300 million members—you know, roughly the population of the US. But unlike the US, Facebook has also entered the world of “free cash flow positive.”

In his post announcing the milestones, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that they’d hoped to reach cash positive sometime next year—but, happily, they made enough to cover their operating expenses starting last quarter.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard financial news from Facebook—and the last reports weren’t so good. Almost a year ago, many were speculating whether Facebook was headed for financial ruin, and their ad rates had fallen. And less than six months ago, there were some reports that Facebook was snubbing a $4B valuation despite needing the cash the sale would have given them. (A far cry from $15B, eh?)

Up to this point, it seemed that Facebook was struggling to monetize itself enough to cover its costs. But according to Zuckerberg, their finances are better than fine. One recent effort that may have helped (but, let’s be honest, is so new that it probably hasn’t made a whole lot of money yet) was opening the gift shop to developers. Inside Facebook notes a few other potentially contributing efforts:

What’s driving Facebook’s revenue growth? A combination of revenue streams: Facebook’s self-service ad business has been very strong lately, it continues to invest heavily in brand advertising efforts, and it also continues to release many experimental expansions to its virtual goods and virtual currency business, Facebook Credits. The company is also still deriving revenue from its advertising deal with Microsoft, signed when Microsoft invested in Facebook in 2007.

If Facebook is a microcosm of the Internet, and they make money off serving ads that lead to other parts of their site (driving up time onsite and possible ad rates), perhaps this is a good sign for the Internet at large.

What do you think? Is Facebook’s cash positive status a sign of a turn around? Or are clever new monetization strategies keeping Facebook ahead of the curve?

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