Will Google social media be the fastest growing network in history?

The world is a busy place, and last week was no exception. We saw the last public launch of NASA’s shuttle program, witnessed tremendous buzz in the wide scramble for adoption of Google’s social media project Google+ and a whole lot of candles on IBM’s birthday cake. Here’s the five-minute lowdown on what you missed around the Web last week.

When Cisco killed the Flip video camera, it was a reminder to the industry that the age of specialization is dead and the multitasker is king. However, David Pogue points out that, while Swiss Army knife gizmos can certainly do it all, it doesn’t mean it’s smart to do everything with them.

Start practicing those stories for the grandkids about how you remember a time before Google social media or free cloud hosting, because we smell a trend: Amazon has upped the ante by giving users of its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player access to unlimited music storage space for Amazon MP3s.

Sometimes, the success of a new IT project is a function of timing versus demand, says Vladimir Mazek.

Last week was the final launch of the NASA space shuttle program. Does that mean the next space walk is going to be taken by a space tourist? Are you ready to be the first CIO in space?

Idealab founder Bill Gross predicted that Google+ social media adoption will go from zero to 100,000,000 users faster than any other service in history. We tend to agree. Too bad Andy Warhol didn’t live to comment on the fact that our 15 minutes of fame might come via a social media network.

With so many major companies taking the hit, why has IBM weathered so many financial storms? Kevin Kelly muses on IBM’s 100th birthday.