We’ve resisted blogging any of the predictions for 2004 because, frankly, anyone who says DVD-Rs, Google’s IPO, social software and weblogs/videoblogs are going to be “huge” in 2004 is not really telling us anything we don’t already know. However, Salon had two solid predictions we felt merited a link:

1. Bin Laden Captured Investigators Cite Terror Mastermind’s Addiction to Friendster “It’s not easy living in a cave,” Osama bin Laden explains to U.S. interrogators moments after he’s captured early in 2004. “You might learn to put up with the cold, the bugs, the lumpy bed, but it’s the social life that hurts the most. So you go online for a few hours to keep up with your friends. Where’s the harm in that?” But Friendster, the popular online social networking tool, proves to be OBL’s undoing. Through a series of unlikely relationships which folks like Michael Moore have long been whining about but which were not quite clear until Friendster graphically demonstrated them George W. Bush turns out to be connected to bin Laden.

2. Google’s Rise to Real World DominationGoogle ends months of fevered speculation regarding its IPO plans by announcing that, instead of a stock offering, executives have decided that the company will best achieve “increased long-term asset valuation” by taking over the world.