Bob Garfield is the latest author to write a book as a blog. He warns that his employer will own everything – comments and all – but still it’s another example of a book as a living thing being created in public.

Charlene Li, the Forrester analyst, explains why blogs are perfect for recruitment.

A technician for US cable company Comcast who fell asleep in a customer’s home while waiting an hour on hold to his own company’s customer support, has been sacked after a video of the event was posted on YouTube.

Some 300,000 people have watched the video.

According to Resource Shelf “to google ” is now officially a verb as it is included in the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. The definition:

“To use the Google search engine to find information on the Internet. trans. To search for information about (a person or thing) using the Google search engine.”

Paidcontent reports on plans by a North Carolina newspaper to provide local free WiFi.

Publisher David Woronoff explains: “The Pilot’s mission is to serve Moore County and we think the technology has advanced to the point that we can help bind the community together in a dynamic and compelling way with The Pilot’s products and Internet service.”

Says the Association of Online Publishers UK internet advertising spend has achieved a record rise of 62.3 per cent according to official research released by the Advertising Association.

Google’s long-awaited payments system was finally launched this week under the name Google Checkout rather than the much-anticipated Gbuy. The service will be offered to existing advertisers only, at least for now, and Google has announced an attractive incentive to stimulate take-up. Says Wired:

Merchants won’t have to pay processing fees on purchases totaling 10 times their advertising volume with Google. That means an advertiser spending $20,000 per month at Google wouldn’t pay any processing fees on purchases totaling $200,000. After the spending threshold is exceeded, Google will charge merchants a fee equal to 2 percent of the purchase amount, plus 20 cents per transaction. PayPal’s processing fees range between 1.9 percent and 2.9 percent of the purchase amount plus 30 cents per transaction. The model that has proven successful so far. PayPal handled $27.5 billion in online transactions last year, generating $1 billion in revenue for the company. It currently has about 105 million users worldwide.

Update: the official post is here.

Google has announced that its Gmail web email service will be available on mobile phones.

“To access Gmail, users simply visit http://gmail.com through the web browser on their mobile phone and sign in to their Gmail account as they would on the web. Because every mobile device is different, Gmail automatically optimizes the interface for each phone. Users can also view attached photos and documents from their phone, and reply-by-call to people whose phone number is stored in their Gmail account. Gmail messages are automatically synchronized, regardless of whether Gmail is accessed from a mobile device or through the web.”

Update: Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced the formation of The Windows Client Mobility Marketing Team. Says eWeek:

“While small—run by Mika Krammer, director of Windows product management, it currently consists of fewer than 20 people—the group’s existence signals a shift in thinking and emphasis toward mobile computing at the software giant.”

A new shopping comparison site which is slightly different model has launched. Jellyfish.com has signed up retailers who may the site a commission on all sales, at least half of which is shared with the shopper. In a transparent shopping enviornment on the web it is difficult to believe that the discounted rate is truly the lowest on the web, but the psychology might just work – and the interface is really clear and simple to use.

According to WSJ.com Google is set to test its new online payment option Gbuy as early as this week.