Alexander, Oliver, and Marc Samwer, founders of a German eBay knockoff, have invested “$10 million to $15 million” in Facebook, joining Microsoft and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing in a financing round that has valued Facebook at $15 billion. We hear Li Ka-Shing could double his investment in the company, bringing the total raised to almost $400 million. [Silicon Alley Insider]

Source:Valleywag
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Today’s most discussed stories are

Introducing the MacBook Air, or at least its ad campaign (13 comments), Macworld 2008 Steve Jobs keynote (5) and The weapon used to beat the man Google helped arrest (5).

If you hadn’t noticed, I got married and went on a honeymoon. Did you miss me? Apparently so. Gizmodo gets banned from CES. Golson asks Calacanis for a job. Our very special correspondent pickets against the new pay system. Where’s was Denton with the “too insidery” warnings? Oh that’s right, blogging for Gawker. Here’s what really happened during the first two weeks of 2008, according to a speed-read of my feeds. On my next honeymoon, I’m bringing a laptop.

• Facebook is slower than a bunch of social networks you’ve never heard of, according to Watchmouse. Yes, Zuck’s baby is slower than RateItAll, Infield Parking, Buzznet and most especially, Consumating. Which is of course everyone’s favorite. MySpace is not on the list.

• The Pew Internet & American Life project discovered that Web video was more popular in 2007 than in 2006.
• Robert Scoble appeared on television. Twice.
• Iminlikewithyou founder Charles Forman told an audience of 450 that, despite what you’ve heard, he’s not actually an asshole.
• Jupitermedia CEO Alan Meckler posted seven times. 6-word version: Things are great. Ignore stock price.
• Jason Calacanis has 11,900 friends on Twitter, LinkedIn, Mahalo and Facebook. And 495 on Mahalo. By the way, he wants to have dinner with all of you.
• Yahoo’s CEO unveiled a new mobile Web platform at CES that will save the company. Just like it did last year.
• And, most notably, the Flight of the Conchords performed at CES:

(Photo by ThrasherDave)

Source:Valleywag
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Leaked Macworld keynote reveals boring reality (17 comments), $4 billion doesn’t do much for Zuck’s wardrobe (9) and Beacon a business failure, too (8).

Working for Barry Diller is a harrowing experience. Just take a look at Jim Lanzone, the former CEO of Amazon.com, before he joined IAC, and after. Even so, we’re reconsidering our sympathetic view of Lanzone. We hear that one big reason he was fired was the slipping schedule on an Ask.com news site. Despite putting 20 people nearly full-time on the project, and getting help from Digg, Lanzone missed a December deadline for the site, now slated for a February launch.

Source:Valleywag

Normatism. No, we don’t know, what the recently fired founder of Vimeo is up to, either. The most entertaining interpretation is that this is the first in a series of softcore geek-porn photo spreads. Unboxing, indeed.

Source:Valleywag
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Julia Allison canoodles with Sequoia moneyman (27 comments), San Francisco is just like Second Life (8) and Robert Scoble’s cell phone number is totally 425 205 1921, people (7).

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Tips from a CES veteran (7 comments), McDonald’s outs Starbucks as fast food chain (6) and How Google controls Apple (5).

Lazy, scummy, and smart. That’s just the way we like them. YouTube-wannabe Veoh has jumped into Hulu’s hoop by adding streaming video from all the Fox and NBC properties we know and love. Only, unlike Hulu, a joint venture between NBC and News Corp., or any of its distribution partners, Veoh hasn’t actually worked out any licensing deals. Rather, it’s following the smarter tactic pioneered by OpenHulu of embedding Hulu videos into its own site.

Sure, some may label it as stealing candy from helpless billion-dollar corporations, but Veoh’s evil genius outweighs its spendthrift sloth. By using Hulu’s embed code, Veoh avoids pesky licensing fees, bandwidth costs, and negotiations. Instead, it gets to create a programming destination for a TV-starved audience. And NBC and News Corp. may well get the last laugh. While Veoh sells bottom-of-the-barrel banner ads around the embedded video, Hulu sells pricey preroll ads right in the video itself.

Source:Valleywag
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What it feels like for a girl (16 comments), Why Robert Scoble got banned from Facebook (9) and Google to display live Iowa caucus results on Google Maps (6).

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Lodwick’s latest project is homeless humor (7 comments), io9 launches amidst largest explosion of self-congratulation in history (6) and The mathematical term for it is “luck” (6).

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Denton to pay bloggers based on traffic (9 comments), Gawker’s new pay system — the 100-word version (3) and Boy wonder posts online novel to kill slow news day (2).

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Immigration limits spur Hindu god’s popularity (7 comments), Venture capital is totally “cushy,” people (4) and Another ex-Yahoo swells the Google ranks (4).