FB Status: Scanning a Pint of Guinness

(Guinness reminds you to never scan and drive.)

Explanations, first: Yes, our lead photo (above) depicts a glass of a very dark liquid with a foamy head. And, yes, that pattern on the glass really is a QR code, the fancy computer-generated barcodes you're starting to see just about everywhere.

To be specific, the fluid is Guinness Irish stout beer, made by the world-famous Irish brewers Guinness & Co.; the unusual container is a Guinness 'QR cup' -- a beer glass with etched QR code -- and that's the creation of world-famous New York ad agency BBDO.

So, Ok -- tasty and clever. Got it? But the true genius is harder to see...

Insane Windows Installathon! Week in Tech

What will they think of, next?

Insane Windows Installathon: DOS 5 to Win 8, in Sequence!

...Plus 9 More Surprising Stories from the Week in Tech

The Interface that Made Milwaukee Famous?
Disposable Touchpad Made from Beer Bottle Label

New Record for Wireless Transmission: 3 GBps
Old Record for IEEE Standards Process: 7 Years

GM to Facebook's Zuckerburg: 'Your Site Sucks'!
Analysts Say Google Has 10x Better Click-Through

NASDAQ Open 9:30; Facebook Trades Later

Facebook paper stock certificate (Image: sec.gov)

At 9:30EST today, Mark Zuckerberg will ring NASDAQ's opening bell, but Facebook fans will have to wait awhile before buying a piece of the social networking giant.

NASDAQ offers companies some leeway in the timing of their Wall Street baptisms. The only hard rule for commencement of trading is that it start well before the market's 4PM ET close. So, when will Facebook shares hit the big board? NASDAQ reps declined to comment on Facebook's debut, but we do have precedent to consider.

Facebook Shares Priced at $38 for IPO

Eduardo Saverin, getting a head-start for Singapore...

Facebook is reportedly pricing their IPO offering at $38 per share, at the extreme high end of the previously announced $35-$38 range.

If they get that price, Facebook's total valuation would be approximately $104 billion, with the stock sale raking in some $18.4 billion, total.


via: CNBC; WSJ

Google Bashes Facebook for GM Ad Loss

There's no love lost between these two.

Everybody knows Google's famous internal mantra, "Don't be evil." So, is it evil to kick a competitor when they're down? Less than 24 hours after news that Facebook is losing General Motor's $10 million ad campaign, we were a bit surprised to see one Google executive tweeted a public slam of his employer's social media rival.

And MobilePhonesFan saved a copy for you...

GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Pay Off

General Motors votes with their advertising dollars.

With a long-awaited Wall Street IPO scheduled for this Friday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg must have a million -- or maybe 100 billion -- things on his mind.

Between taking calls from bankers, conferring with lawyers, meeting with staff, fending off reporters, plus killing and slaughtering his own food -- well, we'd guess he's one busy guy. With all that going on, the last thing he needs is word that one of his top customers has taken their money and gone home.

But that's exactly what he got, yesterday...