Is anyone surprised by the fact Nortel is doing yet another review of its financial statements? This time, it's focused on contracts signed last year. And although the company insists it isn't material, the perception that Nortel is still trying to resolve its accounting scandal is troubling. At some point, Nortel needs to have a clean slate so it can move forward strategically. While investors have to give Nortel and CEO Mike Zafirovski the benefit of the doubt, it is difficult to instill confidence if the past continues to haunt you. It is also important to keep in mind that even if Nortel manages to deal with its accounting demons, the future is challenging. This is a company that needs reduce costs and focus on markets where it can succeed - a challenge in a volatile and competitive industry in which the economics are dramatically changing. This year looks to be one dominated by rebuilding a solid corporate foundation. Only when this process is completed can the company really focus on driving growth again.

With a lot of focus on click-through fraud and a $90-million settlement earlier this week, maybe Google is trying to shift the spotlight by unveiling the purchase of Writely, an online collaborative Word-like service. What I find interesting are the comments made by one of Writely's co-founders on the Official Google Blog. It sounds exactly like the one that one of MeasureMap's co-founders made when his company was bought by Google last month. It's almost like Google has a M&A template where you all you need to do is slot in the name of the new acquisition. In any event, Writely is an interesting deal for Google because - as many others such as Mathew Ingram and Paul Kedrosky will provide in more detail - it adds yet another element to Google's strategy to compile a Web-based Office suite to compete with Microsoft. A big hat tip, by the way, to Om Malik, who had this deal nailed before anyone else. Om also has a story on CNNMoney about Google's ambitions to create an online Office-like suite.