Google ran a very clever and heartwarming advertisement for its search engine during the Super Bowl called Parisian Love. The ad follows a person's pursuit of a love interest in Paris as they use the Google.com search engine. Google blogged that they created the Parisian Love ad a few months ago. It is part of Google's series of videos called Search Stories.
If you watched the Super Bowl this evening you'll have seen a video from Google called "Parisian Love". In fact you might have watched it before, because it's been on YouTube for over three months. We didn't set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search. Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact. But we liked this video so much, and it's had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience.
Here is the Parisan Love ad. Take a look:
You can find more of Google's Search Stories here.
PC Magazine reports that the FCC is concerned the new iPad could create congestion and clog the Internet. In a blog post, Phil Bellaria, Director, Scenario Planning, and John Leibovitz, Deputy Chief off the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, compare the situation to AOL's decision to offer unlimited Internet use in 1996.
Apple’s iPad announcement has set off a new round of reports of networks overburdened by a data flow they were not built to handle. These problems are reminiscent of the congestion dialup users experienced following AOL's 1996 decision to allow unlimited internet use. For months users had trouble connecting and, once they did connect, experienced frequent service outages. The FCC even held hearings on the problem.
The congestion problem circa 1996-97 revealed an intense latent demand for Internet access. Similarly, wireless network congestion today reveals intense demand for wireless broadband. Widespread use of smartphones, 3G-enabled netbooks, and now, perhaps, the iPad and its competitors demonstrate that wireless broadband will be a hugely important part of the broadband ecosystem as we move ahead.
Apple's iPad has not yet been approved by the FCC but it probably won't be a problem for Apple since they have a lot of time left before the March and April launch dates. Gearlog says Apple likely did not seek pre-approval because they did not want bloggers finding out about the iPad in advance of the Steve Jobs press conference.
Robin Dunbar, professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford University, came up with the Dunbar number in the 1990s. Dunbar's research indicated the brain can only handle about 150 close friends, which is less than the number of friends a lot of people have on Facebook. The Telegraphsays Dunbar came up with the number by studying groupings in everything from neolithic villages to modern office environments.
Dunbar developed a theory known as "Dunbar's number" in the 1990s which claimed that the size of our neocortex - the part of the brain used for conscious thought and language - limits us to managing social circles of around 150 friends, no matter how sociable we are.
These are relationships in which a person knows how each friend relates to every other friend. They are people you care about and contact at least once a year.
These are relationships in which a person knows how each friend relates to every other friend. They are people you care about and contact at least once a year.
If the Dunbar number is accurate then a lot of people have more Facebook friends than their brains can handle. CNN says Robin Dunbar is currently conducting research on social networks and will be publishing his final research later this year. CNN reports that Dunbar's preliminary research suggests that the number of friends/followers most people have on services like Twitter and Facebook is around 150. Twitter may be a little more difficult to measure because people also follow services and news outlets. Dunbar also says most people's Christmas lists are around 150. Take a look:
MySpace hasn't been getting as much press lately as its rivals, Twitter and Facebook, but the service is still thriving. The social networking website still gets 100 million users each month and its traffic recently started growing again. Bloombergreports that MySpace is gearing up to focus on becoming a music, gaming and entertainment destination.
"We will really become relevant, and there's just no way when you have 100 million-plus users a month like we do that you don't have something that's really relevant," Chief Executive Officer Owen Van Natta said in an interview at a music conference in Cannes this past weekend. "Along the path we are going down, we should see increased gains."
Van Natta, the former chief operating officer of Facebook, took over the News Corp.-owned site in April and has since replaced most of the management team, cleared content such as jobs listings, horoscopes and weather updates and made music and entertainment top priority. MySpace posted 7 percent growth in unique visitors from November to December, the first increase since mid-last year, Van Natta said, citing statistics by researcher ComScore Inc.
MySpace's music site grew 92% in 2009 but they face a suprise challenge from upstart Vevo. In video, MySpace is also trying some original content including shows called Famous Hangers and Artist on Artist.
The National Postreports that the The Beaver, Canada's second oldest magazine, is changing its name after 90 years. The Canadian history magazine's name was causing problems on the Internet, especially with spam filters.
But Deborah Morrison, president of Canada's National History Society and the longtime publisher of The Beaver, told Canwest News Service that the unfortunate double entendre has posed serious difficulties for several years as the magazine attempted to attract new, younger, Web-based customers to bolster its loyal but aging base of about 50,000 print subscribers.
"To be perfectly blunt about it, The Beaver was an impediment on the Internet," she said. "People were literally writing us and saying, 'We can't get your e-newsletter because it's being spam-filtered out, can you change the title of the heading?' "
The magazine's name referred to the fur trade when it was launched in 1920. The Beaver will become Canada's History starting with the April, 2010 issue.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that McDonald's will begin offering free Wi-Fi in mid-January 2010. Currently they charge a $2.95 fee for two hours of wireless Internet access.
The free access comes under a partnership with AT&T Inc., which provides McDonald's stores with wireless Internet. Mr. Grooms wouldn't discuss financial details of the arrangement, nor would he say how much McDonald's earned from such charges.
McDonald's hopes the free Internet could encourage customers to hang around during down times between meals, providing a captive audience that may buy some of the chain's McCafe line of coffee drinks. The chain also plans to begin selling items like frappes and smoothies by mid-2010 that aim to appeal to customers during the snacking hours that could get a lift from greater traffic.
Wi-Fi is currently available at between about 11,000 of McDonald's 14,000 domestic locations so this will open up a lot of free Wi-Fi spots. McDonald's will very likely get a boost in traffic as a result.
Twitter has revealed some of the most tweeted about topics of 2009. Topping some of the lists are the Iran election, swine flu, Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle and the Super Bowl. Top movies and tv shows included Harry Potter, American Idol, Glee, New Moon and District 9. Here are lists of the top Trending Topics across several categories.
The Neilsen blog reports that the number of seniors using the Internet has jumped considerably over the past five years. Neilsen Online says the number of people 65 and over actively using the Internet has climbed by over 6 million since 2004. From November 2004 to November 2004 the number climbed from 11.3 million to 17.5 million - a 55% increase.
"The over 65 crowd represents about 13% of the total population and with this increase in online usage, they are beginning to catch up with their offline numbers," notes Chuck Schilling, research director, agency & media, Nielsen's online division. "Looking at what they're doing online, it makes sense they're engaged in many of the same activities that dominate other age segments - e-mail, sharing photos, social networking, checking out the latest news and weather - and it's worth noting that a good percentage of them are spending time with age-appropriate pursuits such as leisure travel, personal health care and financial concerns."
Neilsen says seniors top activities online include email, online maps, checking the weather, online banking and viewing photos. It's probably just a matter of time before they take over social media as well.
Reuters reports that criminal networks are using H1N1 flu fears and Tamiflu shortages to con people out of their personal information and credit card details. They also get people to use their credit cards with a bogus promise of Tamiflu that is never delivered. Sophos, a British security software company, intercepted hundreds of million of fake ads for Tamiflu.
Criminal gangs are making millions of dollars out of the H1N1 flu pandemic by selling fake flu drugs over the internet, a web security firm said on Monday.
Sophos, a British security software firm said it had intercepted hundreds of millions of fake pharmaceutical spam adverts and websites this year, many of them trying to sell counterfeit antiviral drugs like Tamiflu to worried customers.
Tamiflu, an antiviral marketed by Switzerland's Roche Holding and known generically as oseltamivir, is the frontline drug recommended by the World Health Organization to treat and slow the progression of flu symptoms. GlaxoSmithKline makes another antiviral for flu, known as Relenza.
Sophos said some criminals are making as much as $100,000 per day with the phising and spam tactics. The top five countries where people are responding to the spam and getting fooled are the United States, Germany, Britain, Canada and France.
Dolly Parton says she wouldn't know a "gigabyte from a snake bite" but she is ready to weigh in on the browser wars. The browser wars were a big deal a few years when Microsoft was battling with Netscape for browser dominance. Now the browser wars are heating up again with new players. Customers can choose between browers like Firefox, Opera, Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari and Microsoft's leading Internet Explorer browser. Dolly Parton says you should try IE8 so you can use its Web Slices feature. Take a look:
Google has been running Sesame Street Google Doodles for the past several days. Today, Google is featuring The Count. They have also featured Big Bird, Cookie Monster and other Sesame Street characters. You can get a shirt with The Count Google Doodle on it at the Sesame Street store free with the purchase of any Sesame Street 40th anniversary items - see here. Unfortunately, the don't appear to be selling the shirts individually, but maybe they will later.
This image has been circulating the Internet to show what could happen if Net Neutrality legislation is not signed into law. They say that if Net Neutrality is not passed, ISPs will be able to start charging additional fees for bandwith usage by consumer users, which will lead to only the wealthy being able to access all of the Internet because they can afford to purchase the top tier of service and access to a wide array of websites. The phone and cable companies oppose Net Neutrality.
The graphic by a pro-Net Neutrality group shows new, additional fees being assigned for websites and web services. It's sort of like how cable companies assign different fees for bundles of cable channels, in addition to your basic cable bill. You can see a larger version of the graphic here.
Facebook announced that they are redesigning the Facebook Gift Shop. New categories of gifts and additional gifts for charity, music and sports from developers are being added.
We're continuing to enhance the Facebook Gift Shop so you have more ways to express your appreciation for the people in your life. A couple months ago, we took a first step by testing new types of gifts created by developers, including e-cards, charity donations and even real-world gifts where you can buy a friend a physical gift along with a virtual one.
We now are unveiling a newly stocked and redesigned Gift Shop, with new categories of gifts and additional gifts for charity, music and sports from developers. With so many gifts available, we also introduced a new design to make it easier for you to browse and purchase gifts with different gift categories. We will be rolling these changes out to everyone in the coming weeks, so don't worry if you don't see them just yet.
Remember, in order to buy Facebook Gifts, you must purchase credits on the site using a major credit card. Credits cost 10 cents in U.S. currency, and they are available for purchase in 15 currencies. After you select your gift, click "Buy," and we'll walk you through the rest.
Some of the gifts tie-in with actual gifts while other virtual gifts do nothing but appear on a Facebook user's profile. It is unclear why anyone would want to spend money to have a tiny graphic appear on someone's profile but people are buying them. Virtual good sales are poised to hit the $1 billion mark in 2010. However, that total includes virtual games. The exact amount spent on silly Facebook virtual gifts is unknown.
A new study by UCLA scientists
proves that Internet use alters human brains. And at least for older adults that's actually a very good thing. Older adults who had never used the Internet had their brains scanned using a functional MRI before and after weeks of doing tasks using the Internet, such as doing searches and reading articles. After the training, the adults showed increased neural activation which could potentially enhance brain function and cognition.
It only took one week of using the Internet for the changes to be seen in the brain. Mental stimulation has been shown to help slow the degenerative processes that lead to Alzheimer's and other types of dementia in the elderly. In other words, using your brain more as you age will help you retain a higher level of cognitive functioning.
The UCLA team worked with 24 neurologically normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 78. Prior to the study, half the participants used the Internet daily, while the other half had very little experience. Age, educational level and gender were similar between the two groups.
The participants performed Web searches while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, which recorded the subtle brain-circuitry changes experienced during this activity. This type of scan tracks brain activity by measuring the level of blood flow in the brain during cognitive tasks. While the study involves a small number of people and more research on this topic is needed, small study sizes are typical of fMRI-based research.
After the initial brain scan, subjects went home and conducted Internet searches for one hour a day for a total of seven days over a two-week period. These practice searches involved using the web to answer questions about various topics by exploring different websites and reading information. Participants then received a second brain scan using the same Internet simulation task, but with different topics.
The first scan of participants with little Internet experience showed brain activity in the regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities. The second brain scan of these participants, conducted after the home practice searches, demonstrated activation of these same regions, but there was also activity in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus – areas of the brain known to be important in working memory and decision-making.
Thus, after Internet training at home, participants with minimal online experience displayed brain activation patterns very similar to those seen in the group of savvy Internet users.
"The results suggest that searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults," Teena D. Moody, the study's first author and UCLA researcher, said in a statement.
When you search Google for information on the flu or which store has your size in your favorite shoes, your brain is using the ability to hold information in working memory and to quickly process multiple inputs of data. As you search through photos and discard irrelevant results, you are enhancing and preserving the decision-making and memory functions of your brain.
The conclusion is obvious: the more time you spend on the Internet buying shoes the smarter you'll be. Okay, fine, that's not what the scientists said at all. We're extrapolating a bit.
The researchers made it clear that these findings only apply to older adults (those in the study were aged 55-78) and does not apply to children whose brains are in a different state of development. Some educators and researchers are concerned that too much Internet time may impede the development of children's own imagination and creativity, if they don't also participate in activities that don't require a video screen, such as reading and playing "let's pretend" type games such as dolls and Legos.
PC Magazine 
The National Post 
