I have to admit that I finally saw this promo video today, but it now appears that Google Glass will cost less than $1,500, so expect to see these things everywhere. It’s a pretty fair price for what looks like a revolutionary gadget. I think Steve Jobs would be proud, and of course pissed that Apple didn’t come up with this.

This is a pretty fascinating story about a pedestrian bridge built in Rotterdam through crowdfunding when the city couldn’t come up with the money.

Facebook’s IPO certainly netted a ton of money for Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow founders. Here’s a breakdown from the home page of CNBC.com.

What Are Their Shares Worth?

CNBC REAL-TIME WEALTH TRACKER

Mark Zuckerberg – $19,253,605,209
Dustin Moskovitz – $5,111,539,856
Sean Parker – $2,662,984,684

But the stop barely budged from its IPO price by the end of the day. It’s not exactly the home run some expected for day one of trading.

Check this out as the founders of Kout discuss their start-up an their online payment service.

Hat tip – Robert Scoble

Tom Friedman is usually very good at explaining the disruptive influence of new technology and the implications for the global economy, even if he isn’t the first (or second) to notice something.

The latest phase in the I.T. revolution is being driven by the convergence of social media — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Groupon, Zynga — with the proliferation of cheap wireless connectivity and Web-enabled smartphones and “the cloud” — those enormous server farms that hold and constantly update thousands of software applications, which are then downloaded (as if from a cloud) by users on their smartphones, making them into incredibly powerful devices that can perform myriad tasks.

The emergence of the cloud, explained Alan Cohen, a vice president of Nicira, a new networking company, “means than anyone can have the computing resources of Google and rent it by the hour.” This is speeding up everything — innovation, product cycles and competition.

The October issue of Fast Company has an article about the designer Scott Wilson, who thought of grafting the body of an iPod Nano onto colorful wristbands, turning them into watchlike devices that could wake you up and play your music. He had no money, though, to bring his concept to market, so he turned to Kickstarter, the Web-based funding platform for independent creative projects. He posted his idea on Nov. 16, 2010, reported Fast Company, and “within a month, 13,500 people from 50 countries had ponied up nearly $1 million.” Apple soon picked up the product for its stores. Said Alexis Ringwald, 28, who recently founded an education start-up, her second Silicon Valley venture: “I have many friends — they introduce themselves as ‘reformed’ Wall St. bankers and lawyers — who have abandoned conventional careers and are now launching start-ups.”

Some like Rich Kaarlgard have been describing this as the “cheap revolution” for years. Friedman is explaining the new developments in that area. We now have it all at our fingertips all the time. It’s a powerful and exciting development. Kickstarter is a great crowdsourcing example that thrives in this environment.

Friedman uses the column to contrast Wall Street and Silicon Valley. It’s a good read.

The Huffington Post sold for $315 to AOL this week, and Demand Media recently completed an IPO. In many ways, these events validate the strategy of gaming the system. Google is a beast that can be gamed, and both these operations did it very well.

HuffPo is notorious for hysterical headlines and their lefty slant, but they were also very well organized and filled a void in the marketplace. In many ways they deserve their success. But, a big part of their success has to do with gaming Google’s search results. Their editors find interesting stories, do a post on it with a link back, but HuffPo usually gets all the search traffic. The other sites usually don’t complain, because links from HuffPo provide really good traffic as well.

Demand Media also fills a void, as they use their own algorithm to find potential search results that need to be filled with content. Then they pay know-nothing writers (well, I guess some of them know what they are writing about) to create a short article covering the topic. AOL is even trying to copy the strategy. Many now refer to sites like Demand Media as content mills, and Google might be addressing the issue, but Demand Media has already scored their IPO and Google’s search results are littered with lame content at the top.

Gaming the system pays.

A gracious if not a bit awkward Mark Zuckerberg joined Jesse Eisenberg and Andy Samberg, who was impersonating Zuckerberg, onstage for the opening of SNL last night. It wasn’t particularly funny, but Zuckerberg sure helped his image quite a bit with the appearance.

I thought the folks at Groupon were nuts to turn down Google’s offer of $6 billion, but Henry Blodget explains why. The article makes sense and it was frankly an eye-opener.

BusinessWeek has a great profile on Henry Blodget and how he’s fighting back with his web properties after his disgraceful exit from Wall Street after the tech bubble burst.

Henry Blodget is a man who will be neither easily riled nor insulted. When, in March, he learned that a blog had labeled a section of The Business Insider, the gossipy financial website he founded three years ago, “The Hooters of the Internet,” Blodget waited a couple hours before tweeting: “The Hooters of the Internet. I like that.” In May, Blodget predicted on his website that within just a few years, The Huffington Post will take in over $100 million in advertising revenue—more than triple the $30 million the site says it will bring in in 2010—and that by 2015 or so, it would be generating more from advertising than The New York Times. In an endnote, he disclosed that Kenneth Lerer, a co-founder of The Huffington Post, is also an investor in The Business Insider, or TBI as it is known by its readers. “Thank you for the disclosure,” someone called The Truth typed in the piece’s comments section. “Unfortunately, it invalidates everything you write. You’re a mouthpiece.” It took Blodget less than a minute to post his response: “Thank you!,” he wrote, like a fraternity pledge embracing his hazing.

Blodget was busted back then by then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has since had his own problems. Spitzer now has a TV show premiering soon on CNN, so it looks like everyone can get a second chance.

The Business Insider, along with niche areas like Silicon Alley Insider, is an excellent online magazine and news resource, so Blodget appears to be on his way.

I agree that HuffPo will keep growing as well, though at some point they might want to scale back those ridiculous and often misleading headlines.

HuffPo has a cool story about a new niche dating site – You and Me Are Pure. As the article points out, there are all sorts of online dating sites out there covering all sorts of niches, from dating based on ethnicity to things like fitness buffs, cougars and bikers.

The aim of the site, the creators explain, is “to use virginity as a significant compatibility tool to bring people together. Some people may overlook the bonding power of virginity. Virginity as an important common aspect between people can lead to close friendships, or can even serve as a mutual precious gift of marriage.”

The founders of the website, Lety and Jose Colin, explain that they were virgins until they were wed.

We have to admit we’re impressed. With all the niche dating sites out there, they may have found the most exclusive one of all!