Google Won't Pursue Yahoo Ad Deal

Podcast 1

Below is the link to the article the above PODCAST is based on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/technology/internet/06google.html?_r=2&ref=technology&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Microsoft looking to China to create new products

Podcast 5

Below is the link to the article the above PODCAST is based on:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story/mpl/ap/business/6096002.html

Voting Machines Cause Few Problems

Podcast 4

Below is the link to the article the above PODCAST is based on:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/05/voting.machines.ap/index.html

Campaings in a Web-2.0 World

Podcast 2

Below is the link to the article the above PODCAST is based on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/business/media/03media.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

30 Seconds to Boot Up? That's 29 Too Many

Podcast 1

Below is the link to the article the above PODCAST is based on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/business/02digi.html?scp=1&sq=Randoll%20Stross&st=cse

Cool Ocean Poem

My partner, Mike, is the best partner in the world!

Google's Super Satellite Captures First Image

Google earth is up, off and even further away from competitor search engines after launching new technology from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Although Google Earth has been around since 2004, its newest satellite, the recently launched Geo-Eye-1, is able to take pictures from space at a resolution of 41 cm. This is close enough to zoom in on the home plate of a baseball diamond! The government has had this high resolution technology since the late 1970s, HOWEVER, the highest resolution available to the "average Joe" is 50 cm. The satellite's sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), a U.S. government agency that analyzes imagery in support of national security, and is paying for half of the satellite's cost: $502 million.

Not so long ago, I remember downloading Google Earth onto my desktop. I also remember being frustrated after searching for my house, which looked like an identifiably fuzzy version of the real thing on the old Google Earth. Regardless, I was still very impressed by the fact that I could searh and see almost anything anywhere in the world. The fact that this new satellite will yield an even more precise, less-fuzy image, both amazes and scares me.

It scares me that much of our government's technology is being made available to the public; although the government is placing regulations on this technology, I feel like there will always be people who are willing and able to bypass regulations in some way, shape or form. In my opinion, Google's huge stake in this new satellite will undoubetedly help the company emerge as an even large conglomerate than it already is. I know I'll be sure to re-Google Earth my house and compare the new resolution with the old.

photo is courtesy of the following article from Wired Magazine online:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/geoeye-1-super.html

Apples stock hit by Web rumor

This article astounds me. It just goes to show you how gullable some people are. Sometimes, I really do believe people demand freedom of speech for the freedom of thought they rarely use. Obviously, in Apple's case, people seemed to have believed the first blog they read, claiming Steve Jobs had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. The blog, which was posted on iReport.com (a user-generated site supported by CNN.com), most-likely caused Apple's drastic stock the day of its posting.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/03/technology/apple/index.htm

This article also goes to show how news travels fast. The stock fell 10% in 10 minutes after the blog was posted.

Overall, I thought this web article did a nice job of being transparent and non-biased, as it voices peoples' positive and negative opinions regarding the accuracy of certain aspects of the internet. I disagree with Jarvis' quote in the article becuase I do think blogs and their like will create larger future problems for journalists especially.

I'm shocked to read that the blog's poster isn't facing any legal ramifications. The user who posted this rumor on their blog had their iReport.com account disabled, and that was the end of it. In my opinion, the more we see new technologies like blogs and web 2.0 be integrated into websites, the more we're going to see incidences like this happen. Actually, with the capabilities and control people on the web have today, I'm surprised we don't see more of this - or maybe this is happening more and more but just ins't being reported!

On the flip side, I think we will see more government agencies cracking down on the internet - especially security and libel concerns - in the future. In Apple's case, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission got involved.

This is a great example of a situation where everyone in this class would be able to apply themselves and not be fooled. Remember, always be pesimistic of anything you read on the internet. When in doubt, remember the following:

08' celebtrity pictures, videos and news

I thought all of the guys in our class might appreciate this mashup (it's the first one I clicked on). Basically, this mashup allows people to check out any celebrity actresses, models or singers. When searching for someone specific, the search terms can be narrowed by nationality, hair color (looks), pictures or videos. Ranked by most popular to least popular - according to how many times they've been viewed - are Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Aishwarya Rai, Alyssa Milano, Angelina Jolie, Anna Nicole Smith, Christina Aguilera and Pamela Anderson. There are additional links to celebrity hair updoos, celebrity wallpapers and shirtless celebrities.

The following is a blurb from the home page of the mashup I chose:
Description

Watch pictures from Yahoo, videos from YouTube and read the latest news about celebrity actresses, models and singers.

APIs	Google Base + Yahoo Image Search + YouTube
Tags	celebrity, models, news, photo, sex, video
Added	02 Aug 2008
Who	pk.internet [Profile]
URL	http://www.sexy-celebrity-pic ...

Mashups combine data from more than one source. It looks like this mashup primarily uses data from google becuase it includes a search, as well as ads, by google. My questions:
1. Is google aware of this maship?
2. If so, does google support it? Does google have any say about what's included from google's search engine on this mashup?

Although this mashup is relatively simple to use, I would never use it myself since I don't have any interest in its content. Its layout is simple, making it easy to both search and find visual and/or audio images of any famous woman you're looking for. This maship has links on the bottom of its home page, allowing the user to add this maship to any of the following sites: Digg, Delicious, Reditt, Stumbleupon, Slashdot, Netscape, Google, Yahoo, Blinklist, Technorati, Newsvine or Netvouz. Questions, comments or suggestions regarding the mashup can also be shared. All of this together encourages the viewer to actively participate in the website, which adds to Web 2.0's enhancement of creativity, information sharing, collaboration and functionality via the web. Pretty cool.

Google Searches at 63% of the Search Market for August 2008

Microsoft, Yahoo, Ask and AOL lose. Google wins. Wins what? ... for having the most people use it as a search engine for core search sites. 63% of all users in the comScore Core Search Report used Google searches in August; this percentage increased from June.

But not so fast! I'd usually take this data for what it's worth and run with it. However, after hearing Jen-chien Yu speak to our class on September 17 about taking precautions when using data and/or statistics from the internet, I decided to check out the data used in this blog. The chart below is taken straight from the blog, so notice where it says the data came from.

After looking at the data, I decided to check out the comScore Core Search Report too. I found out that ComScore used an online search query, qSearch 2.0, to collet the data used in this blog. comScore uses the following programs to collect its data:

The comScore Media Metrix product suite includes:

• Ad Metrix
• Ad Network Reporting
• Brand Metrix
• Campaign Metrix
• Campaign R/F
• Extended Web Reporting
• Hispanic Services
• LocalScore
• Local Market Reporting
• Media Metrix 2.0
• Plan Metrix
• qSearch 2.0
• Segment Metrix H/M/L
• Video Metrix
• World Metrix

I have a question: how do these programs collect the data from peoples' computers? Through cookies? That's creepy. The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) gave comScore nothing but positive reviews, which is good. Also, the company is publicly traded, so that probably means its site isn't bogus. If anyone has any questions about any data collected by them, they cal call a toll free number for immediate answers to their questions. In summary, it seems like the data used in this article is pretty reputable.

Personally, I'm not surprised that well over half of the people in this survey primarily use google. I have google's homepage on my Mac's bookmarks bar in both Safari and Firefox. It's the first search I usually go to because it usually yields the most results. Plus, I've been using it - and only it - for much of my life, as I grew up in a very technology-oriented world.

Google is currently an oligopoly. Will it ever turn into a monopoly? They sad bad habits die hard. I agree because I know it would take quite a bit of effort for me to begin using another search engine as my primary search engine, which is an example of how the company is turning into a monopoly. If more and more kids growing up in our technology savvy world continue to grow up using Google as a primary search engine, I think Google may eventually turn into a monopoly.

The world will not end this week

This blog is hilarious. Basically, the guy who wrote it, Peter Dykstra, is sarcastically informing the reader about a machine called the Large Hadron Collider (LHD), which is rumored to have the ability of re-creating the "Big Bang". The LHD is a 17 mile tunnel running through Switzerland, and the project is supported by the US Department of Energy - among other participants. According to scientists, there's a chance that the proton particles in the machine could smash together, unite tiny black holes together and eventually swallow up the earth. Rediculous. Some people are so concerned that they're starting online protests and even lawsuits.

As a Christian, I do not believe in the Big Bang Theory, so this blog doesn't worry me in the least bit. It's extremely difficult for me to grasp the thought that particles colliding together have the ability to create and destroy the universe. Someone once explained the God's creation of the universe to me as being like an artist creating a painting, sculpture, you name it; artwork doesn't make itself - just like I don't believe the earth miraculously made itself. Someone had to have thought of the details and placement of everything, right? Anyway, the LHD experiment is set to end in a month. I think we'd be more likely to kill each other off via nuclear war than die because particles united, made black holes and swallowed us all up! What do you think?

Researchers Use Facebook App to Create Zombie Army - Update

Did you know that anytime you download a Facebook application - like Bumper Sticker or World Map - hackers may automatically be allowed to access your computer's information? YIKES. According to the article (whose link is posted below this blog), to make matters worse, once one of these applications are connected with another application, the hackers have even more power over your computer. You'd never know it either.

The article was written for anyone who uses Facebook, which is generally people between the ages of 17 & 25 (according to one of my journalism professors). As a journalism major, I believe this article's point of view is slightly biased. Although the article includes some quotes from Facebook, its overall tone is negative. The writer, Ryan Singel, even chimes in with his opinion when he refers to Facebook as a potential "hijacked social network." He also states that Facebook "downplayed the attack."

I don't agree with Singel's point of view. Before Facebook hackers could ever turn users into into a "powerful zombie army that can attack other websites or scout for vulnerable sites on the net," via Facebook applications, the application would need to be quite large - we're talking millions of users. I also have to believe that Facebook would start monitoring each application's source code much closer if this were to start happening more often. I have a question: does the "hijacking" they're talking about in this article work like an internet spyder, like we talked about last class? Would it gather information from other Facebook application users' computers? Whatever the case, I'd give Facebook the benefit of the doubt!