What’s the big tech story of the day? Obviously, that would be Google’s announcement of the Chrome OS, a direct shot across Microsoft’s bow. There’s certainly been a lot of chatter about the announcement — unveiled last night in a Google blog post titled "Introducing the Google Chrome OS."

We’ve been tracking the story, but so has nearly every other major technology news source. Here’s a look at some of our favorite headlines and stories that we’ve discovered so far. Also, check out the above screen grab from tech news aggregator Techmeme, which shows there’s an awful lot of speculation, interest and intrigue in this story.

It’s no surprise. The tech industry has always loved a good, old-fashioned fight.

Mary-Jo Foley of All About Microsoft: "Will Google’s Chrome OS look rusty by late 2010?"

MG Siegler of TechCrunch: "Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb on Microsoft. And it’s Made of Chrome."

Dennis Howlett of Irregular Enterprise: "Google ChromeOS: have people given leave of their senses?"

Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb: "10 Things We’re Dying to Know about Chrome OS."

John Oates of The Register: "Google polishes Chrome into netbook OS: The sound of Ballmer hurling a thousand chairs."

Peter Kafka of Media Memo: "Bam! Google goes right for Microsoft’s gut"

John Timmer of Ars Technica: "Google Chrome OS: What it means, why it matters."

Brian Proffitt of Linux.com: "The Newest Linux: Chrome OS."

Alex Pham of L.A Times Tech Blog: "Google to launch operating system aimed at shattering Microsoft’s Windows."

Anthony Ha of VentureBeat: "After Chrome OS, how long can the Google-Apple friendship last?" 

more 
and Cozi links up with Nestlé  

Seattle-based startup Cozi is teaming up with food giant Nestlé to produce a co-branded family scheduling and calendar service geared toward the new school year. Nestlé, maker of Toll House cookies and Juicy Juice, will use the new service to try to connect to families juggling work, school, and shopping.

The free service will be available starting July 15, and will include a shared family calendar, customizable shopping lists, a journal feature and photo collage screen saver, Cozi said in a press release.

Cozi has raised about $16 million from angel investors and newspaper giant Gannett, and has also partnered with consumer products giant Whirlpool. The company also embedded its service on the on the Dell Studio One 19 PC, a touch-enabled computer.

Cozi says it has attracted more than 1.4 million members. Earlier this year, the startup laid off 5 of its 41 employees, citing the tough economy.

READ MORE and COMMENT, more 

and LOLcats, Michael Arrington and the iPhone in a crazy summer day  

Thursday is shaping up to be a big — a very big — night for Seattle tech events. So big in fact, that we’re still not sure how were going to cover all of the activity. We’ll have to choose between Michael Arrington, LOLcats and the iPhone.

First, there’s the blockbuster lineup at The Naked Truth, which includes TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington; The New York Times’ Damon Darlin; Picnik’s Jonathan Sposato; Urbanspoon’s Ethan Lowry and others talking about revenue models for consumer Internet business.

The free event at Seattle’s Sculpture Park is already booked solid, so you might be better off checking out the planned video stream at the Redfin blog. In fact, Redfin — which is hosting The Naked Truth — said that more than 700 people tried to sign up for the party, but only 500 will get in. (Hopefully, they hired some big, burly bouncers.)

There’s also a massive turnout expected for the first ever I Can Has Cheezburger night at Safeco Field, one of the more unusual events of the summer tech event season.

Fans of LOLcats and the Seattle Mariners are expected to turn out in droves, with I Can Has Cheezburger founder Ben Huh saying they’ve already sold more than 1,000 tickets for the game.

(We’re just hoping the Mariners will show some funny cat photos and captions on the big screen).

If those two events aren’t your style, there’s also TiE Seattle’s panel: "Making money in the mobile ecosystem." Ontela’s Dan Shapiro, Zumobi’s John SanGiovanni, T-Mobile’s Sajal Sahay and others will be chatting about mobile applications, the iPhone and other trends in the wireless business.

I am just getting exhausted thinking about the various news angles. But there’s one event we won’t have to worry about Thursday night.

Seattle entrepreneur Dave Schappell — who co-hosts the weekly Hops and Chops happy hour at Linda’s Tavern on Thursday — decided to cancel this week’s meetup

"Hops and Chops cancelled this week - we’ll all be at Naked Truth, at Olympic Sculpture Park!," read a recent message on Twitter.

I asked Redfin’s Glenn Kelman – who has spent time in both the Seattle and Silicon Valley tech communities — what he makes of Seattle’s tech social scene.

"It used to be a little lonelier here, at least for me," he said. "What really struck me when I first got to Seattle at the end of 2005 was how few events there were for entrepreneurs, maybe because the digerati already ran into one another twice a week at the Madison Park Starbucks. Now there’s an event almost every week of the summer, most open to all comers; I hope that greases the skids for a new generation of folks to make their move."

If you cant make it out to any of the events this week, there’s another wave of activity later this month, including the TechFlash Summer BBQ & Ping Pong Tournament on July 23rd. Stay tuned for more details.

And, as always, stay in touch with Seattle area tech events with the TechFlash event calendar.

John Cook is the co-founder of TechFlash. Follow him on Twitter @johnhcook.

READ MORE and COMMENT, more