The NASDAQ yesterday became the scene (virtually speaking) of the best IPO in more than 18 months, with tech and financial industry observers cheering the news as maybe, just maybe, signaling better days ahead.

Can you blame them? With a soaring debut — shares leaped 59 percent during trading — the IPO was the first by a U.S. company on NASDAQ this year and this week’s second initial public offering by a VC-backed technology play.

Oh, yeah. Yesterday’s IPO was for an online restaurant reservation service. Say what?

Keep reading: InternetNews.com blog

Monday morning wouldn’t be complete after a big game without a) Monday morning quarterbacking; and if it’s the day after the Super Bowl, b) a recap of which ads viewers liked the best.

Along with crowds at sports bars and in living rooms across the country, the Web 2.0-savvy could follow along with Super Bowl watchers on Twitter, joining in on the game’s color commentary — and of course, weighing in on the other big game: the ads!

The Web and your daily newspaper are no doubt awash in which brands won and which brands lost the battle for buzz (and ideally, the positive kind.) But it’s the advertisers who generated the most buzz on Twitter, that next-generation arbiter of cool, that we’re most interested in.

One reason why Twitter makes for such compelling marketing analytics: It’s widespread, highly democratic and easily digestible. In mainstream media, you’ve got to listen to a select number of pundits pontificate on their favorite spots, while on Twitter, the only barrier to an average user weighing in is signing up for Twitter and keeping their thoughts to under 140 characters (fewer if they’re using hashtags.)

Keep reading: InternetNews.com Blog.