So why do you blog? Why do you spend so much time writing away to make - if you're lucky - a $1 a day? According to the latest Pew Internet survey, 77% of people blog  to express themselves creatively rather than for fame or fortune, while 7% of people blog to mostly make money. Rather than focus on the 77% who blog simply because they can, I'm curious about the 7% looking to put some cash in their jeans. These people must be very optimistic or naive because the blogosphere is a beast with plenty of content chasing far too few advertising dollars. Sure, you can make a few bucks a day using Google AdSense if you're really lucky or if you're really, really lucky and quite famous, John Battelle might ask you to join his Federated Media empire. But for the vast, vast majority (99.99%+), there's little or no money in blogging. So why do it? Well, if you like to write and feel the need to express an opinion, rant, provide insight, build your brand, learn or just talk about the weather, the barriers are almost non-existent. So blog away. It doesn't mean you'll be famous or make a fortune (let alone a $1 a day) but as Sheryl Crow sang "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad". For more on Pew and blogging for cash, check out Publishing 2.0 and Reuters.

Here's an intriguing idea: GigaOm is encouraging Google to buy Vancouver-based Lion's Gate Entertainment, the leading indepedent movie studio outside of Hollywood. Why. It's based on the idea Google needs distribution rights for movies and television for its up and coming video service. For only $950-million (chump change for Google), GigaOm says the search engine giant could snap up Lion's Gate, which has a 5,500-title library featuring films such as “The Blair Witch Project” and “Crash”, and the hit TV show, “Weeds”. Lion's Gate would give Google a large library and, as important, some bargaining clout with other video producers and distributors. After all, it's easier to trade when you've got something other people want, right?.
   One of the many fascinating things about Google-watching is speculating on its next move. With billions in the bank and a $122-billion market cap, Google can buy or do anything it wants. Lion's Gate would be an interesting strategic foray to enhance its video strategy. If you want to be really extreme and truly speculative about Google's video plans, maybe Google should buy YouTube and/or Tivo and/or Sling Media. Think of the what any or all of those moves would mean. A Google-YouTube deal, for example, would be truly fascinating. Google's power infrastructure could help YouTube address its growing distribution issues (100M video downloads a day has a strange way of making life more complicated), while YouTube could give Google lots of video content to enhance Google Video. The possibilities are endless.

It's the ultimate mobile showdown these days: the Motorola "Q" vs. the Blackberry 8700. I've been using both recently - and the hands down winner is the 8700. Perhaps the decision has to do with the fact I've been using a Blackberry for a couple of years, but the Blackberry is still a user-friendly device that simply works well. The "Q", however, suffers from trying to carve out a niche by being all things to all people. There are so many features that none of them stand out. It is particularly frustrating to select an application, and then have to wait and wait for it to launch. And to make matters worse, there doesn't appear to be an escape button to quickly bail on the process. Meanwhile, the 8700 chugs along doing a couple things well (e-mail and voice). The 8700 has a colour screen and a new keyboard but it's still not sexy. It does work and that's what matters. For ahead to head review, check out Blackberry Cool.