Things have been quiet over at Jaiku since its acquisition by Google last Fall. People worried that Google may have ruined Twitter’s most formidable competitor by requiring the Finnish startup to labor away for months integrating its service into Google’s technology stack instead of rolling out new features. All the while, new signups have been disabled and invitations limited, which has cut the service off from a healthy stream of new users.

But now we’re seeing some signs of life. Jaiku has moved its software over to a Google data center and has given its existing users an unlimited number of invites to send their friends.

As Paul noted this weekend, Jaiku was completely down for scheduled maintenance over the weekend, with very little explanation other than it was a good time to go speak with a loved one. A lot was made of this by the few left in the blogosphere who use the service to fill their status microblogging needs, particularly how interesting it was that a Twitter-ish bird was doing the downtime notice, and how insulting it was to be told by Jaiku that they perhaps don’t spend enough time functioning in meatspace.

They’re back now, and they’re purporting to be offering unlimited invites to the private beta service. I’m still skeptical this is the case, since I’ve been on the “waiting list” to join Jaiku since the months before they were acquired by Google. I even re-submitted my application for an invite the moment I saw their blog post on the re-opening hit my feed this afternoon. Clearly the process hasn’t been fully automated yet, as I haven’t received a confirmation email.

Regardless of the true status of the open-ness, they say they’re ready to handle any volume. The purpose of the downtime was to move the service “to a Google data center,” something “that [they]’d planned to do anyway, as part of the future transition to Google App Engine.”

If indeed Jaiku throws wide open the doors to the service for the masses, this will be an interesting real-world stress test for not only Google’s version of Twitter but the Google App Engine itself.  So far, very little in the way of high profile, high traffic stuff has proclaimed itself to be running on Google’s cloud computing option. Those looking to evaluate it as a solution for their company would do well to watch how Jaiku performs in their “new nest.”

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If Twitter were down for one, two, or even three consecutive days, would you crack? For the heaviest, most avid of users, I think yes. But when the microblogging service Jaiku, acquired some 9-10 months ago by Google, told its users to take a weekend breather the past couple of days, few in the blog world raised the issue. Zach Epstein at the Boy Genius Report jumped on it, made a quick joke. But other than he, there seems to be little in the way of OMGs, WTFs, and various other three- and four-letter caps-sized exclamations.

However, having looked at responses by Jaiku Invites and ZDNet’s Googling Google blogger Garett Rogers, it appears that the service isn’t quite “down for the count,” so to speak. Instead, there’s morsel-sized evidence Jaiku is taking this short hiatus to enact a real shift in performance to give Jaiku that extra umph on the Google App Engine people have anticipated for a number of weeks now.

Indeed, the company did mention earlier this month that it was moving its wares over to the App Engine, and it delivered a few words on the Jaikido Blog about the effort to port the thing as it was underway. But this new memo asking everyone - users, visitors, woops-wrong-turners - to take a breather may well bring about that gleeful and long-awaited phew-ahhh troubled members have been waiting for. Otherwise, it’s just, you know, a few days of downtime. Which even on the Twitter barometer circa Q1 and Q2 2008, would connote doom, gloom, and nasty scarring to boot.

—Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:Jaiku Releases New Microblogging Tool for Nokia S60Jaiku on Your iPhoneA Day Without Jaiku…WidSets to Launch Jaiku WidgetJaiku Hosting Markku’s Channel for Eurovision 2007Will Google Use Jaiku to Collect Data on You?Jaiku’s New Mobile App to be Unveiled at Supernova

I recently wrote that videogame developers can’t follow in the footsteps of Radiohead and give away their wares for free. Wired editor Chris Anderson — known around Valleywag for his theory of the “Long Fail” “Long Tail” — disagrees. He disagrees with Valleywag — “>and with Wired. Anderson’s “free games” manifesto, in which he argues for in-game advertising, virtual item sales, and shareware business models, has one severe flaw: he’s talking about the games no one wants to play. In fact, he didn’t name any titles, which makes me wonder if he ever plays. Mr. Anderson, I’ll be glad to return to this debate if we agree to discuss games that are actually, you know, fun.

Source:Valleywag

In explaining Union Square Ventures investment in Tumblr, Andrew Parker goes out of his way to distinguish the service from traditional blogs. But in explaining how Tumblr does not compete with Twitter, in which his firm has also invested, he makes it clear that, well, Tumblr is a blog — while avoiding the b-word at all costs. Tumblr is a just blog, and doesn’t compete with Twitter. While services like Tumblr, Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce are lumped together as microblogging tools because of their brevity, users recognize the dramatic differences in the software behind them and the experiences they create. They are more than blogs. Brevity may be the soul of wit — but it’s not the ghost in the machine.

Mashable first reported that Google would acquire Jaiku today. It has since been confirmed on the Jaiku blog. Of course with the continued GOOG stock increases, did they even feel the hit?

Sean wonders why they didn’t acquire twitter. I know why. Because Twitter shows an out-of-service bird more than it should.

From the acquisition faq:

Q: Why did Google acquire Jaiku?

A: Activity streams and mobile presence are important areas where we believe Google can add a lot of value for users. Jaiku’s technology and talented team are a great addition to Google’s current application and mobile teams.

While the chatter yesterday was around Twitter’s text advertising, clearly Jaiku is made for Adwords integration. Congrats to the Helsinki, Finland Jaiku team!

The details of the deal are on the Jaiku blog, and the company has put up FAQ for current users. This is indeed good news […]