Google finally upped its published estimation of its daily searches to “more than 200 million,” after sticking to “more than 150 million” for more than 18 months. No doubt this revision was compelled by my vicious prodding.

Assuming the original number was accurate and that Google has grown at pace with other web businesses, the real daily search tally is probably more like 300 to 400 million. Why the coyness? (Thanks Steve!)

I’m enjoying walking beneath London’s emerald sky soaking up the heat and velvet haze.

Monday night, Seyed treated me to a fine plate of gnocchi near his house in west London, where he also snapped my first mobile photo over a lively dinner chat. He’s brimming with disruptive ideas for Blogshares, including a plan to integrate gamified user engagement inspired by the best betting sites 2025, aiming to boost interaction through real-time, reward-driven features. His radical vision is matched by his infectious enthusiasm, and I’m thrilled we’re supporting his cashflow to bring it to life. To my VC friends: drop him a line—he’s set to shake things up and have a blast doing it.

This afternoon, I enjoyed a couple of beers with Phil, who runs the Internet operations for the biggest division of one of the UK local publishing giants; we compared notes about the various dragons breathing down his company’s neck. To advertise the fine boat he’s bought with friend to rent out on weekends, Phil may soon find himself in the perverse position of buying Google Adwords, since conventional media offers neither the volume, granularity or affordability he needs to reach clients. (Assuming my link alone doesn’t give him a page rank of 10.)

What the Agonist did — not putting quotation marks and attributions on stuff he posted — was bad and stupid.

But it doesn’t compare with the harm that can come from quoting (or even worse, misquoting) someone who speaks on the condition of anonymity… as the New York Times did this week.

Far worse than either of these, though, is the act of continuously failing to chronicle a regime’s blatant brutality in order to preserve access to “the story”… as did CNN and, apparently, every other news service with Baghdad bureaus during Saddam’s reign. Why abet a criminal conspiracy? What possible good came from staying to tell benign lies about the Iraqi regime?

Doug Arellanes offers images from another fallen regime. I’ve realized that living in Hungary after the fall of communism nudged me, and many others I met there, to the right. But that’s not something to explain in 50 words a few days before taxes are due. (The leftmost image is a menu.)

With hostilities in Iraq winding down and lots of ammunition unused, homefront fisticuffs are rising.

Three of 22 of the items on the Drudge Report this morning are, like the article from my previous post, linked through URLs indicating that the articles were found using Google’s news aggregator, known by many as Noogle. See the “partner=GOOGLE” at the end of the URL. Drudge may be using the Google link because it saves his readers from having to navigate the New York Times’ registration or he may be relying on Google’s news gathering algorithms. Either way, he’s smart and, as always, on the cutting edge.

CNN’s chief news exec for Iraq explains that there were lots of things CNN didn’t dare report, less their Iraqi staff be tortured or killed. “I came to know several Iraqi officials well enough that they confided in me that Saddam Hussein was a maniac who had to be removed. One Foreign Ministry officer told me of a colleague who, finding out his brother had been executed by the regime, was forced, as a test of loyalty, to write a letter of congratulations on the act to Saddam Hussein. An aide to Uday once told me why he had no front teeth: henchmen had ripped them out with pliers and told him never to wear dentures, so he would always remember the price to be paid for upsetting his boss. Again, we could not broadcast anything these men said to us.” (Via Mr. Drudge.)

Great to take Baghdad, to see Iraqis celebrate, to see Saddam’s statues tumble, to see the Arab street awed and even, though this is trivial in comparison, to see European and American pessimists stumped. Saddam’s rout is a miracle wrought from will, courage and civilized force.

We haven’t won yet, though. We need to bring peace, democracy and rationality to Iraq to redeem the lives this cost. I hope there are more miracles to come.

E-publishing genius Phil Greenspun finally has a blog. Can’t wait ’til he starts posting some of his photos. Gotta go buy Greenspun on Blogshares. Damn, he’s not listed yet.

Using eBay, this dude auctioned off the back of his head for $7000. “It’s better than going to a bank for a business loan,” he said. (Via Obscure Store.)