Google Still Complaining About Bing
Google is still mad a Bing and they want you to know it. Obviously this is a bit funny coming from a company that gathers information on damn near every aspect of your life so that it can target you directly based on your online behavior. We created about 100 "synthetic queries"—queries that you would never expect a user to type, such as [hiybbprqag]. As a one-time experiment, for each synthetic query we inserted as Google's top result a unique (real) webpage which had nothing to do with the query. Ongoing Discussion
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How Do You Pronounce GIF?
How do you pronounce the name of file extensions? The Atlantic says GIF is pronounced like "Jif" the peanut butter. What about JPEG? Or other stuff like SATA and so on? How do you guys pronounce file extensions? In the case of GIF, the pronunciation depends on the term's creators, their intentions. "The people who formulated this new word, they decide," Dr. Labov explained. "People who only read it, they can only guess." So what did the creators intend? All sources point to soft-g peanut butter Jif. Comments
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Gamers Are More Dangerous Drivers Than Non-Gamers
Video gamers suck at driving in the real world. According to the article, gamers "think" they are good drivers but in reality, they aren't. Whatever, they are just jealous of our skillz. Thanks to DemonDiablo for the link. The study on gamers and driving was put together by Continental Tires, who quizzed 2,000 motorists (half gamers, half non-gamers) between the ages of 17 and 39 on their driving habits. Though gamers believe they're more skilled drivers, they admit to taking higher risks and making more claims on their insurance. Comments
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Common Sense Disclaimer of the Day
Fusion Mods did a bit of an energy drink round-up but that isn't what got my attention. What I found so interesting and amusing was the warning label on the side of this can of Cocaine: Comments
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An Open Letter From ASUS
Intel® on January 31, 2011 announced the detection of a design error in the new Sandy Bridge-based Intel® 6 Series support chip, also known as Cougar Point. The shipment of existing Sandy Bridge products has been suspended by Intel®, and the production of an updated support chip has commenced. The design error affects only the support chip, and not 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors such as the i5 and i7. Acting on our philosophy and promise of inspiring innovation and persistent perfection, we've created a comprehensive response to this development to safeguard the best interest of ASUS customers around the world. We will provide total warranty services to maximize computing and usability, as each ASUS product is delivered with an uncompromising quality pledge. This includes the hassle-free return and/or replacement of all affected ASUS products. We're doing all this effective immediately – and as a first step, shipments of current ASUS Sandy Bridge-based products have been halted. The suspension covers all distribution and retail channels — ASUS only sells quality-assured products, at all times and across all product segments. For all customers who already own any ASUS product affected by the design error identified by Intel®, simply visit http://event.asus.com/2011/SandyBridge/notice for detailed warranty and service hotline information. We'll be happy to address any questions or concerns you may have regarding this issue, as well as provide information on future updates to Sandy Bridge technology. ASUS notebook and desktop products are covered by a warranty service that addresses the design error, with both swap and sales return offered as options to customers. Comments
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Totally Obvious Article of the Day
Journalist joins dating site using a horse picture for his profile. Spammy, scammy hilarity ensues. Wait, dating sites are scams? Say it isn't so! Since I've signed up for the site, again with a horse as my picture and in the middle of the night in the United States, I've been receiving a ton of unsolicited emails, direct messages, pop-ups, live chat sessions and alleged visits to my obviously fake profile by hot women. And I only signed up about 15 minutes ago. Comments
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Senators Decry Link Between Egypt, 'Kill Switch' Bill
Politicians are upset over comparisons with what is happening in Egypt and the "kill switch" bill they are pushing. Gee, I wonder why. "Some have suggested that our legislation would empower the president to deny U.S. citizens access to the Internet," said the statement from Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Senator Tom Carper, (D-Del.). "Nothing could be further from the truth." Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Comments
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Intel Increases Renewable Energy Credit Purchase
Building on years of support for renewable energy generation, Intel Corporation today announced that it will purchase 2.5 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits (RECs) in 2011. This commitment is a 75 percent increase over its 2010 commitment of 1.43 billion kilowatt hours and equates to more than 85 percent of Intel's estimated purchased electricity needs in the United States for 2011. In addition, Intel has completed nine solar electric installations at Intel locations in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Israel, collectively generating more than 3.8 million kilowatt hours per year of clean solar energy. Comments
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Microsoft Responds To "Bing Is Cheating" Allegations
Microsoft's Harry Shum had a few things to say about Google's allegations that they caught Bing "cheating." Hit the comments link below to weigh in on the original discussion. To be clear, we learn from all of our customers. What we saw in today's story was a spy-novelesque stunt to generate extreme outliers in tail query ranking. It was a creative tactic by a competitor, and we'll take it as a back-handed compliment. But it doesn't accurately portray how we use opt-in customer data as one of many inputs to help improve our user experience. Comments
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Leaked Copy of "The AOL Way" Hits The Internet
It would seem AOL has a new business plan and the company is seriously trying to turn things around. The problem is, judging by the reaction to this new direction, some editors and content creators aren't to thrilled with the "plan." By April, he wants AOL editorial to increase its stories per month from 33,000 to 55,000. He wants pageviews per story to jump from 1,500 to 7,000. He wants video stories to go from being 4% of all stories produced to 70%. He wants the percentage of stories optimized for search engines to reach 95%. We know all this, because right now, Armstrong's lieutenants are making their way through the company's many editorial divisions, training them on "The AOL Way." Comments
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Girls Who Play Video Games With Dad Are Happier
A new study says that playing video games with your daughter will make her happier and healthier. Your son will still become a homicidal maniac but one out of two ain't bad. Men may have to give up many of their hobbies when they become parents, but a new study is saying they shouldn't toss out their video games, at least, if they play with their children. Adolescent girls who play age-appropriate video games with their fathers are happier, healthier and have better family connections than those who don't. Comments
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Steve Wozniak is Cool
It's official, Steve Wozniak is cool. Why such a likeable guy like the Woz isn't at Apple anymore running stuff is beyond me. Comments
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Google Art Project
Google has a new project out for all you artsy fartsy types out there. You can now take virtual 360° tours of museums around the world, interact with paintings, get information on the art, zoom in and so on. Kinda neat, even if you aren't an art buff. Comments
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The (Scrap) House That Google Earth Built
Check out this house built from mostly recycled material, much of which was scouted using Google Earth. Doesn't look like a house made of junk, does it? "We kept our eyes open for storage places and visited all the factories—where we made sure to go in through the back door," says Jongert. They even scanned Google Earth for brownfields and abandoned-looking buildings, the telltale signs of defunct industry—and possible scrap material. Comments
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