Reveille and Hyperbole:
SumTotal Systems Inc. (SUMT.O) said it acquired privately-held MindSolve Technologies Inc. for about $12 million in a cash and stock deal. The provider of business performance technologies said in a statement it would pay about $5.2 million in cash and 925,000 shares of SumTotal Systems common stock.

Plateau, a leading provider of software for developing, managing and optimizing organizational skills and talent, today announced that SkillSoft, a top provider of content resources and complementary technologies for integrated enterprise learning, will make SkillSoft courses and Books24x7 content available through iContent's portal. With the addition of SkillSoft and Books24x7, iContent now provides customers with a single point of access and service to more than 20,000 pre-validated content assets as well as hosting and services for any company-specific custom content.

A new service that provides jobs and other resources to transitioning service men and women has just been unveiled by Makibie and ARS Staffing to widespread acclaim at the 2006 American Staffing Association Convention. The service, called the Armed Forces Connection (AFC), is dedicated to helping military personnel and their families make the transition from military life to civilian life. Components of AFC include: a national job search, housing relocation, and continuing education information. AFC's services are free for any veteran to use, and are in high demand for all those facing the challenges of transitioning to civilian life.

Healthcare Republic includes dedicated sections for GPs, nurses, pharmacists and practice staff and features daily news, clinical guidance, drug records and education articles. Key among the website's features is the archive of articles from Haymarket Medical's other titles - GP newspaper, Independent Nurse magazine and eMIMS, the online edition of prescribing reference guide MIMS.

AdStar, Inc. (ADST), a provider of e-commerce transaction software and services for the advertising and publishing industries, today announced operating results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2006. For the three months ended September 30, 2006, AdStar reported net revenues of $1,396,000, compared with net revenues of $1,393,000 in the third quarter of 2005. ASP revenues increased $5,000 from $491,000 in the third quarter in 2005 to $496,000 in the third quarter of 2006. Licensing and software revenues increased 3% to $657,000 in the third quarter of 2006 from $640,000 in the same period in 2005. The increase in ASP and licensing and software revenues were largely offset by a decrease of $19,000 in customization and other revenues.

GMT Corp., an industry leader in enterprise workforce and cash optimization solutions, today announced its newest solution, GMT Performance Management, that delivers affordable, easy-to-use, and rapidly- deployed capabilities that were previously available only to the high-end market and through complicated implementations. Together with the GMT Planet workforce optimization solution, the new offering completes a fully-integrated performance management and analytics system for enterprise-wide visibility down to the individual employee level.

Deck Chairs:
CareerBuilder.com  has appointed Jeffrey K. Cordes, 48, to Managing Director of its new Human Capital Consulting Division. Cordes will drive the strategic direction and manage operations for the new division, which is focused on delivering sustainable, measurable results for customers across all areas of human capital consulting with a focus on talent acquisition....

Web 2.0 for the Rest of Us
When the dotcom era hit, wide eyed start-ups looking for gold popped up faster then paparazzi at a J-Lo / Jennifer Aniston bar fight. Investors scrambled to invest in anything that smelled like HTTP. And almost every ISV in existence invested heavily in figuring out how to re-invent themselves for the web paradigm. There were billions of dollars to be made and lost just as quickly. But beyond startups, ISV's and investors, the other 99% of the business world had to figure out what this all meant to them, how to properly invest their company resources, and how to take advantage of these technologies as part of their road maps to driving shareholder value. (TechLinks)

Web 2.0, the European way
Google buys YouTube? Wikipedia explodes? Europe must react to the challenge of the second generation of the Internet
Scrooge 2.0, Chad Hurley (Photo: JD Lasica/Flickr) 1,650, 000, 000 billion dollars. This was the record sum shelled out by Google for the purchase of YouTube, the online video site which receives more than 65 thousand clips per day. The announcement came at the beginning of October. And, only days later, the Economist gave column space to the Venice Project, Skype's founders latest project, which aims to provide television over the internet thanks to peer-to-peer technology. This is all news, which until a short while ago, would have just appeared on a specialist blog or a magazine for IT specialists, and which increasingly concerns Web 2.0. (CafeBabel)

Web 2.0 - It's Already Happening, What's Next?
Session Topic: Web 2.0 Predictions and Pithy Analysis
Speakers: Roy Desouza, Zedo.com Charles Buchwalter, Nielsen NetRatings
Roy started off his part by looking into the difference between the web 1.0 bubble and the new dynamic world of web 2.0 websites. Charles would seamlessly jump to slides that looked at various data points in internet traffic that clearly showed that these new web 2.0 websites were growing at erratic rates, faster than the big brands and getting more coverage therefore.
- Web 1.0 - built in 97-99. Single user events.
- Web 2.0 - defined these companies by their apps and as tools.
(Digital-Telepathy)

Web 2.0 Summit - where do we go from here?
Various technological shenanigans kept me from live-blogging last week's Web 2.0 Summit as planned so here's my run down of the highlights from my notes. Don Tapscott's workshop and the popular Launchpad session are covered in earlier posts.
The conference has already been covered in depth so I'll try and add my own personal observations that are hopefully somewhat unique. At the keynote, Tim O'Reilly mentioned that some 5,000 people were turned away from attending the conference. The standard admission was north of $3,000 so doing the math on that you can imagine why the organizers have announced a sister show, The Web 2.0 Expo in April 2007, which they hope will catch the folks wanting to attend just to see what all the fuss is about. Tickets will be more reasonable and the sessions will be more like the workshop format that you see at something like MacWorld or PubCon. (Flashpoint)

Gartner's 2006 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle Highlights Key Technology Themes
Web 2.0 technologies and business models dominate emerging technologies together with Real World Web and Applications Architecture
Gartner, Inc., today announced its 2006 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle which assesses the maturity, impact and adoption speed of 36 key technologies and trends during the next ten years. This year's hype cycle highlights three major themes that are experiencing significant activity and which include new or heavily hyped technologies, where organisations may be uncertain as to which will have most impact on their business. The three key technology themes identified by Gartner, and the corresponding technologies for enterprises to examine closely within them, are:(Gartner)

Web 2.0 means one thing ... Google
n Fortune, Adam Lashinsky has a great piece on Web 2.0. Yes, he spent last week at the much-hyped Web 2.0 Summit. His basic conclusion? The definition of Web 2.0 is simple – it's Google. That is, if a Web 2.0 company has a cool idea, Google, Inc.  will buy the company. One of the most recent examples is the purchase of JotSpot. (BloggingStocks)

Global:
OpenAjax
Ajax, which stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a design approach and set of techniques for delivering web applications that are highly interactive and that have a feel and user experience that are more like a desktop application than a conventional form-driven web application. For example, an Ajax application might have user interface features such as "drag and drop," "cut and paste," animated effects, dynamic topic drill-down, "live search," progress indicators, and other UI widgets. Rather than relying on plug-ins, Ajax applications are built using open technologies widely implemented within browsers (JavaScript, HTML, CSS, DOM, XMLHttpRequest, and XML). (HR-XML Blog)

Applicant Tracking Systems : The Job Hunter's Friend or Foe?
Every job seeker wants to gain as much exposure to job openings as possible, so by "snail mail" or email, off go r�sum�s to recruiters, job ads, company web pages, or the companies themselves in the hope that someone will review them. Ah, but unfortunately, in terms of initial screening, that "someone" has been increasingly replaced by an "it": the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You see, thanks mostly to the Internet, companies and recruiters today are being increasingly inundated by r�sum�s sent to them literally at the touch of a button. So given the need for speed, quality, and economy in the hiring process, enter Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), computer software programs that can capture requested information from paper-based r�sum�s or online applications, and then download it directly into an applicant database. (GPS Receiver)

Even My Grandmother - HCM Has A Lot To Learn
Even my grandmother is using the internet on a daily basis. She reads her favorite websites, emails friends and family, orders groceries online, checks weather reports and even emails me pictures of men that would be more appropriate in a firemen's calendar than in my company email. Like other internet savvy 72 year olds, she expects the websites to be user friendly and provide up to date information. It's no wonder that HR organizations are feeling the heat from their customers to provide better employee and manager direct access. People are accustomed to websites that update information immediately and allow them the ability to control their own personal information. You don't have to be a software developer to know that if Delta Airlines can provide accurate on-line flight status, then HR and IT organizations should be able to provide employees and managers with basic HR information and services that are accurate and timely. (Knowledge Infuser)

US:
State job growth predicted
California's job market is expected to expand faster than the rest of the country, a new report says, and analysts believe the East Bay and the rest of the Bay Area could nestle into the vanguard of that growth. Yet the kind of growth that is coming will pose tough challenges for business and political leaders throughout California, according to the study, which was released today by the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. "There are substantial opportunities and daunting challenges," said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based California economy center. (Inside Bay Area)

Taleo Trims 3Q Loss
Taleo Corp., provider of staffing-management software, said Monday it trimmed its third-quarter loss with more customers on its client list. The company reported a net loss of $757,000, or 4 cents per share, compared with a prior-year loss of $2.5 million, or $16.74 per share. Excluding restructuring costs, stock-based compensation and other special items, Taleo said it earned 4 cents per share in this year's quarter, up from a penny in similar comparisons to the year-ago period. Wall Street, on average, expected profit of 3 cents per share, excluding special items, according to an analyst poll by Thomson Financial. (chron.com)