AOL has shown off a new logo, which it considers a significant part of its new "brand identity." That is of course to go with its newfound independence from Time Warner. The logo is simple. Aol. That’s it – capital A, lower-case o, lower case l, and a period.

Google’s Matt Cutts discussed how the search engine handles sites that that are "in the cloud" with regards to how listings are affected. Matt’s explanation was a response to the following user-submitted question:

Google is going to start letting webmasters know when the software they run on their site is outdated. Through Webmater Tools, Google will begin alerting users of new versions of software when they are released.

The "virtual fifth label" is now friends with MySpace.  Merlin, an organization that represents independent music companies, is supposed to have signed a deal with the social network that should nicely complement MySpace’s existing partnerships with EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner.

Euro RSCG released some interesting findings from a study exploring the different ways Americans are using social media to "redefine their lives." The study looked at 1,228 social media users in the United States.

uSocial is a controversial advertising company that specializes in social media.  For a fee, it promises to get stories on the front page of Digg, direct followers to a Twitter account, and/or find someone Facebook fans (among other things).  But Facebook’s put at least a temporary stop to the sale of friends.

Barnes & Noble said today it has sold out of its new nook e-reader due to high demand and shipments will not arrive in time for Christmas.

“nook continues to be the fastest-selling product at Barnes & Noble, and pre-orders have continued to exceed our expectations,” Barnes & Noble said on its eReading blog.

Sometimes you just have to know when to call it quits, and a new report indicates that Bebo has decided now’s the time to cut its losses in Australia.  Bebo is supposed to end its operations in the country before the end of the year.

NBC said today "The National Dog Presented by Purina" will be available online Thanksgiving Day (Noon – 2 p.m. in all time zones) at NBCSports.com.

The television broadcast will also be available online after 2 p.m. ET on Hulu.

To complement the TV special and showcase all the breeds, NBCSports.com will feature video of the walks, examination and judging of all the breed-winning dogs with commentary from announce Wayne Ferguson, President of the host Kennel Club of Philadelphia.

Amazon.com has announced that Susan Boyle’s upcoming album, "I Dreamed a Dream," has become its largest global pre-order in the history of the online retail giant.

The album will be released by Sony Music Entertainment on November 23. Boyle became a reality show and Internet sensation after her April 11, 2009 appearance on the TV show "Britain’s Got Talent," where she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables."

Google has added some new real estate search features to Google Maps. Earlier this year, Google expanded this functionality by letting you select "real estate" from the "more" menu. Now you can just search for "real estate" or other real estate-related geographical queries and get listings.

Sony has plans to launch a new online service next year that will allow users to download music and movies to their televisions.

"I’d like it to get off the ground as quickly as possible," said Kazuo Hirai, executive vice president of Sony and head of its Networked Products & Service Group, in an interview at the company’s Tokyo headquarters. "Earlier in the year is more preferable."

It looks like the eBay-Skype spectacle has finally come to a close.  Despite all of the arguments (legal and otherwise) that cropped up at one point or another, representatives of both companies announced last night that the sale of Skype to an investor group is complete.

Back in the summer, Twitter announced that it was working on an API to give developers the ability to geotag tweets. The company has now made that available.

There is no geotagging on Twitter.com yet, but Twitter apps will now be able to support it. So potentially, you will be able to geotag tweets and show the location from where you tweeted.

There’s a lot of change going on with Twitter these days. Recently we got the highly-anticipated Lists feature, which helped us to organize our streams and discover new, interesting people to follow.

For all of the great opportunities that can come from social media, there are plenty of negatives that come with it as well. This is of course why many businesses are hesitant to adopt social media strategies and/or let their employees engage with different social networking tools. It is also why many of the companies that do have social media strategies in tact, and do allow employees to use these tools have guidelines in place.