Admit it. You've done this before. You're doing some simple research on the internet -- in this case, you're wondering, "why is there such a thing as a spork, but no such thing as a knork?" -- but you can't figure out what search terms to enter. Rather than futz around with quotation marks, minus signs and "advanced search" methods, you just type your question, in its barest form, into Google.
As AutoComplete works its magic, you get a rare glimpse into the soul of the internet -- Google's most popular searches. All you have to hit is "w," and the search engine will give you the weather. "Why" yields answers to well-intentioned parents, desperately trying to find answers to "why is the sky blue?" Then, this happens.
Groupon. Livingsocial. Now Google is finally jumping on the Daily Deal bandwagon with Google Offers.
The site is currently in beta testing and is offering discounted deals on places to eat, shop, stay and play in NYC, Portland, Oakland/East Bay and San Francisco.
Many more major cities are being added soon, so sign up to receive Offers when they become available in your area.
According to Mashable, Google Offers will be powered by Google Checkout. It also includes Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Google Buzz and e-mail sharing options. Google famously tried to buy Groupon for $6 billion just a few months ago in order to bolster its local advertising business. Groupon rejected the offer though and is instead preparing for a $15 billion IPO.
Remember a few years ago, Christian Dior attempted to have their own "DiorPhone?" Well it somewhat worked. Not really. Christian Dior is back again with the latest Dior mobile phone.
For a luxury branded mobile phone, it is not too shabby! The phone is your everyday chic and sleek touch-screen. The operating system on the phone uses Android. Therefore we can assume the phone has 3G, camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Google Maps.
Here is where the twist comes in, the phone comes in Glamorous Black, Dazzling Red, Pure White, and Shanghai Blue. And it is chiseled with sapphire crystals. You can find the phone at Colette. for €3900 or $5,000USD. Pretty cheap, huh?
Hey Ladies (and gentlemen?), contrary to popular belief, there are still single eligible men left. Well, at least according to New York Observer ,who released their '2011 50 Media Power Bachelors' list a couple days ago. If you're like me and you have a predisposition for loving nerds, you will dig this list. It includes well-knowns like Anderson Cooper, Shepard Smith, and the extremely drool-worthy "Brad Pitt of Media," Pete Cashmore of The Mashable. (Who would be my #1 stalking choice if I was still single.) Honorable mentions go to lesser-known cutie patooties, Jeff Bercovici (Forbes), Tyler Hicks (NYT), and Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch).
Once upon a time speech-to-text programs were rudimentary and could rarely pump out a fully correct sentence. The same could be said of online language translators. We were warned not to use them in high school because their too literal translations of sentences yielded gibberish or poorly metered baby talk in the goal language. It was also cheating, but that’s neither here nor there.
However, these programs have come a long way, and while not perfect, they’ve left their predecessors in the dust. Google may be onto a plan that could break down speech barriers as we know them with their new eBook feature. This feature allows for instant translation of any body of text selected. Translation is, no doubt, not perfect, but much better than one would expect from a seemingly minor feature. The news comes with quite a bit of excitement because automatic translation is an ever-evolving technology. It would be no surprise if a few years down the line Google sported a near perfect translator, which could be applied beyond literature—socially.
For those of us who just can’t let go of those screen names we made as teens, a team-up with Google shows promise of reviving the use of our old AOL Instant Messenger contact lists. The new feature to both Gmail and AIM is an added option of talking to buddies across both clients. Frequent Gmail users can import their buddies from AIM and chat them up on Gmail and those still using AIM can add their Gmail buddies to their buddy lists.
The merge was a largely quiet one and many speculate that it is a sign of the slow death of AIM. The messenger, which was one of the internet’s first social networking devices before the social network was even invented, was once more popular to exchange than phone numbers. It was simple and efficient. Users chose a screen name and away message status if they would be away from the computer. Profiles were a simple text box. However, this simplicity is what lent itself to a great deal of customization. Fonts and backgrounds became a big deal. Profiles were tinkered around with to the users’ liking—mostly by messing with easy HTML code. Icons and emoticons were a big deal.
It should come as no surprise at this point that the internet has opened up a whole new world of pranking, especially on April Fool’s Day. Bigger websites have even made a tradition out of these practical jokes based on all of the positive feedback they’ve received over the years. All in all, people have come to look forward to new surprises from their favorite websites today and often make the effort to find as many as possible.
Heres hoping the following list of pranks helps readers out.
Google, as usual, heads the pack with not one, but four pranks. Try out the Gmail Motion, a new way of organizing your e-mail via body language. Docs Motion followed suit by applying the same technology to documents and PowerPoint presentations. If you’re tired of waking up to find you’ve drunk called and texted people you don’t even know, there’s the Google Voice-alyzer. If the Voice-alyzer determines a person is too drunk to make a call, it will prevent it from going through and instead make a hasty call for a cab for its user. For the sober person looking for some decent employment, Google’s also raised a signal in search of a few new Auto-completers. Spend your days guessing the endings of users’ search enquiries in the exciting world of Auto-completing. Finally, for Google, head over to their main page and search for ‘Helvetica’ for a bit of a frustrating surprise.
In the wake of the recent earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami, people around the world have been looking for ways to help and hoping for any news that aid has reached Japan and that efforts are being made to salvage as many people as possible during this dire time.
Although it will take so much more to help the situation and the danger Japan and many places globally face right now is far from over, news from Engadget indicates some aid is coming in from the technology community. Thomas Ricker, writer for the site, expains:
In the wake of the devastating quake that hit Japan last night and the tsunamis to follow this morning, the internet once again plays a key role in aiding a country in a time of need. The quake, an 8.9 on the Richter Scale, is the strongest quake on record to hit Japan and results were horrifying. Although the U.N. and Australia were quick to send aid, many were and are lost without methods of communicating with their families and friends.
Luckily, search giant, Google, has stepped in with a tool for locating information on lost people. Only a few thousand records are up in the database, but entries are growing as the day goes by. People can quickly search for information on a missing person or enter in information either for themselves or others present that were thought to be missing or have no other way of reaching people they know.
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