Microsoft to open-source fans: It's all about the love - by Charles Cooper from CNET News.com - "The advance billing had the audience assuming Daniel was about to enter the lions' den. What they got was more along the lines of Mister Rogers talks tech. Brad Smith, who is Microsoft's top lawyer, went out of his way during an afternoon talk before a gathering of open-source die-hards to portray the software company as ready to turn a page in its relationship with the developer community."

Blasphemy! Google Debuts Video Ads in Search Results - by Adam Ostrow from Mashable - "Since the ads do not appear to be immediately obvious, Google purists might not freak out completely over the inclusion of video ads in search results. However, as I said back in February when I learned of the initiative, it certainly marks a significant shift from Google’s once barebones interface."

Should Open Source Projects Accept VC Backing? - by Michelle Dively from OStatic - "[Benchmark Capital's Rob Bearden] says open source companies should strive to become the 'enterprise standard' in their market space in order to effectively monetize their commodities. He also notes that if companies are willing to embrace the idea of making money off their open source projects, then they might be rewarded with an infusion of venture capital cash."

MARINE CITY, MI (March 19) - In a sad and pathetic attempt to linkbait, New Tech Heroes editor Tom Kephart today ran a story about several "A-List" bloggers filling up blogspace with comments about each other. The feces-flinging began with a post by Michael Arrington on TechCrunch, and was soon followed by over two dozen blogonistas weighing in on venture capital, snobbery and corporate murder.

"I just wanted to be part of this moving human interest story," Kephart told his own blog in a post written by himself. "If there's navel-gazing to be done, I certainly don't want to be left out." Kephart added that he has recently lost over 30 pounds, which allowed him to find his navel to gaze at for the first time in years.

The TechCrunch post and the many posts reporting about the post (which oddly didn't include The Huffington Post, despite being mentioned in Arrington's post) were the lead story on Techmeme on Wednesday afternoon.

Kephart added that he was in complete agreement not only with what Arrington had written, but everyone else who had weighed in on the subject, even though everyone disagreed with each other. "I can't risk alienating any A-List bloggers - or venture capitalists - who might accidently read my blog," Kephart said in a separate interview with himself. "Although New Tech Heroes is only valued at a bit over US$2,000 (€1,281), I'm always willing to listen to offers, especially those in the low to mid seven figures."

No one else contributed to this report, not even some anonymous blogger at $5.00 per post.

PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Kephart, New Tech Heroes.