Expanding on a TechCrunch post last month, BusinessWeek has joined speculation that Google is planning an open-source debutante ball for its 67 million-user Orkut social networking site. Wait, what?

Yes indeed -- Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) runs its own Friendster/MySpace/Facebook. Orkut has been around since early 2004, though you'd have trouble finding any users among your own friends. However, the site does a mean, market-leading business in Asia and Latin America, particularly Brazil (Orkut's forums are nearly dominated by Portuguese). If you believe the chatter, Google will make Orkut's source code available to outside programmers, duplicating the third-party-widget blueprint largely fueling the ascension of privately-held Facebook.

Does this do anything to explain Google's recent run-up on the Nasdaq? GOOG crossed $600 yesterday, joining five other shares trading higher than $600 (which just equals six shares aching for splits) and climbed further today, trading in uncharted territory for the search giant.

Call me a party-pooper, or maybe just unimaginative, but GOOG's current climb seems uncalled for, particularly now when Facebook seems poised to change all the online rules, just as it apparently has changed Google's plans. I mean, Google is a dynamite search engine, but don't give it undue credit. Its history is one of acquisitions, tinkering and positioning, and lately it's playing a lot of catch-up, what with Orkut's speculated run at Facebook and all the hubbub about a Gphone platform.

Am I the only one baffled by Google's recent rise?

If you haven't figured out the online video craze is in full tilt, it's time to get with the program. This is becoming the next "NEXT BIG THING," although if you are in the post-college or younger age group, it has been here for a long time. AOL now has launched its developer program on an open platform basis that will allow real-time submissions and search across AOL and third party platforms and video content owners.

This announcement will not have any significant positive or negative financial impact on any of the Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and AOL subsidiaries, but it is one of many focused core strategies that is getting the AOL name ready for the next move. Initiatives are ramping fast now and the company is really trying to show it can be just as nimble as the kids over at Google (GOOG) and as savvy as the competition at Yahoo! (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT).

AOL is essentially saying it will be there for the explosive growth in real-time video search. That may not sound as exciting as it is. If you don't recall how fast video can change public opinion, think back to "American Pie" and how a live video feed changed things. That was in a fictional story of course, but that was based on current technology for the year 1999. Digital video technology has come a long way, and the new video compression standards have only contributed more and more to the viral wave of video on the web. Imagine what happens when near real-time amateur video comes out when a politico makes a comment he or she thinks is off camera, and that is instantly available for the world to see.

Through its new AOL Video Search developer program, AOL has made available a set of open video search APIs (application programming interfaces) as well as implemented a system for video content owners to submit feeds to the AOL Video Search index through new AOL Director Accounts. The AOL Video Search Developer site can be found at http://developer.searchvideo.com.