ShortFormBlogJune 2011 - Page 29 of 29

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It’s the new “like.” Google is expanding its rollout of a way to make searching more effective — the +1 button. Basically, it allows you to recommend search results to your friends and complete strangers in the event they search for the same thing you do. Google seems to think that they can even make searching for things on the web social. Realistically, it should help you sift through the thousands of search results to quickly find the one that’ll help the most. Keep an eye out for it, because a bunch of big sites are going to start using it. source

Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2011 14:50

1,108,000 number of copies of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” sold in its first week, the tenth-largest week of sales in SoundScan history
1,140,000 number of copies 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” sold in its first week back in 2005; Gaga’s album is the largest sales week since then source

» Lady Gaga’s album set a record for digital sales, but Lady Gaga can’t get all the credit. Amazon was selling the album for 99 cents on its first day (even though it kind of backfired), contributing about 440,000 copies in the first week. Not surprisingly, Amazon’s deal upset some retail outlets, namely music stores who lost sales because of the insanely low price Amazon sold the album for. (Best Buy also had a similar deal, where they gave an album away with a cell phone. And it also sold at some kinda weird outlets, like CVS and Whole Foods.)

Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

Sports drinks probably aren’t the best choice for kids, because they could lead to obesity, according to a new study. Researchers suggest that children drink water for hydration instead, because there aren’t the extra calories you might find in sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade. The study also looked at kids that were drinking energy drinks after exercise, coming to the somewhat obvious finding that they’re bad for kids because of the extra stimulants in them — including caffeine. A spokesperson for the American Beverage Association, an industry group, notes that the drinks “are not intended for young consumers.” source

Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

Three years ago I wrote memos talking about this general problem. I knew that I had to do something and I failed to do it. … A CEO should take responsibility. I screwed up.
Google Chairman (and former CEO) Eric Schmidt • Speaking at the D9 conference, put on by All Things Digital, on the topic of Facebook. Specifically, Google’s failure to do anything to stop Facebook while he was CEO, or at least work together with them. It’s just one sign of many that Google is struggling to keep up with the fast-moving rise of social networking. Another example of this: Google Buzz — which just isn’t very good. Anyway, Schmidt also noted that there is a “Gang of Four” that’s currently defining the tech industry. Which companies are on the list? Google (of course), Apple, Facebook and Amazon. See what he did there? He just slighted Microsoft. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

1,500 people, mostly in Germany, have been sickened by E.coli — a dramatic increase
16 people have died in the outbreak; 365 new cases of the disease were discovered Wednesday
??? the source of the outbreak — initially thought to be Spanish cucumber source

» Contradictions and conflict: Despite the findings of new cases by the Robert Koch Institute, a German disease control agency, European Union Health Commissioner John Dalli was recently on record for saying this: “According to the latest information we have available from Germany, it appears that the outbreak is on the decline. Fewer people have been hospitalized over the past couple of days than before.” Uh, not so much. Also, Spain (already struggling with the highest unemployment of the European Union) is very upset that their cucumbers were slandered by Germany, and is considering legal action. Either way, if you’re in Europe — particularly Germany — you might want to be extra-careful when eating food.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink