It was another dismal week on the print front, both in newspapers and in book publishing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt told its editors to stop acquisitions of new properties, and while the move seems to be temporary, it's still unsettling. In another sign of problems on the book retailing front, Borders found itself denying the company is for sale. In magazines and newspapers, Time Magazine announced it was shifting and consolidating, the Cleveland Plains Dealer announced layoffs and even USA Today announced it was eliminating 20 positions.

And meanwhile, the march from print to electronic continued, with publishers expressing more interest in E-books, with Random House in particular announcing plans to expand its E-book library. PC Magazine announced it was going online only, saying that its Web site is now more profitable than its actual publication – a trend that we anticipate will catch fire with other publications, and fast.

Social networking continued to be a red-hot topic, although it seems that not everybody quite knows what to do with it. The New York Times claimed to have utilized Facebook to successfully market its election coverage – although there's indications they may have stumbled on the winning formula entirely by accident. Many mainstream businesses seem to be rather skittish about joining hands with Web 2.0, necessitating the intervention of go-between services.

Meanwhile, Twitter was being cited by no less an authority than CNN as the fastest source of information during the Mumbai terrorist attacks. (The microblogging service was also in the news because of a failed merger attempt with Facebook, which apparently happened three weeks before anyone knew about it). And the advertising industry now has to consider social networking, among other types of new media, while attempting to reach an audience – even video games, borne out by Xbox hiring a provider of in-game ads.

The video game world seemed to be thinking outside the box for uses of its technology in other ways. The U.S. Army announced it would sink $50 million into games to be used as training simulators, and we found out a modified version of Guitar Hero was being used to rehabilitate amputees. And games continue to move more and more toward being total entertainment devices, as Sony returning its movies to the Xbox 360 rental lineup attracted attention.

Cell phone technology stayed at the forefront, with VentureBeat noting that iPhone-type apps are reshaping the industry. Two red-hot technologies came together when online video provider Joost launched its own iPhone app, although initial reports indicate it's problematic.

And finally, an interesting up-and-comer seems to have emerged on the technology front: Linux. The Windows alternative has been around for years, drawing a rabid cult following, but during the past seven days, it seemed to be all over the Geekly World News. Blockbuster's TiVO competitor runs Linux. A Linux Left 4 Dead demo was released, and the 2.6 kernel of the OS was ported to the iPhone (shades of Android?). Maybe all those predictions of Linux stepping up to the plate as a real player in the industry and making Microsoft run scared are finally coming true.

– Bonnie