Here is a cool graphic that I came across over at focus.com,  an online business research and media company. This graphic gives us information regarding several different categories of the internet; such as, how many men and how many women use the internet, age group, income level, education level, blog world, and daily usage. I edited the image so that I do not take up too much space on the home page (Dr. Jim ) but if you want to see the whole image just hit the “click here to read more” link. Any speculations on any of this stuff? Or which mobile providers the last graphic is talking about? Continue Reading »

We have certainly criticized AT&T in the past for everything from poor signal to even worse customer service. But, being the fair-minded blokes that we are (no, I’m not a Brit, just seemed like a good fit for us), we must also give credit where credit is due. As reported at engadget.com, tests conducted by PCWorld in 13 U.S. cities ranked AT&T #1 for upload and download speed on the its 3G network. In many cases, speeds were upward of 25% faster than Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. So, here’s to you, AT&T, for a job well done! Continue Reading »

Some time ago, I wrote a post titled The Blogosphere Jungle in which I described the truly uncivil nature of the blogosphere in which respect for opposing views and dispassionate discourse were out and ad hominem attacks and demonization were in. Yet, as I have followed and responded to many comments to my own blog posts and read many other blogs, I have come to see the "commentariat" in a very different light. Contrary to my earlier belief, it is not another indication of the end of civilization as we know it. Instead, I now see it as a vital force in our democracy that, though not exactly leveling the playing field altogether, it at least flattens it some so that it is not tilted so steeply in favor of the all-powerful ruling class. To paraphrase Bill Shakespeare, today I come to praise the commentariat, not to bury it. Yes, there is enough vitriol in the blogosphere that, if it could be harnessed as energy, would make fossil fuels obsolete. And, yes, some of it comes from ideologues who care little beyond proving the righteousness of their own beliefs and demonizing all those with whom they disagree. But a lot of that anger that we see among the commentariat is really just frustration felt by millions of ordinary people who feel powerless against our country’s powers-that-be. When you peel away the rage, what you hear are voices that want to be heard. Not just one vote every few years, but one voice that can be heard regularly. Before the blogosphere, there was no such platform from which those individual voices could gain others’ attention. The blogosphere platform used by the commentariat is now immense. And I’m constantly amazed at the number of comments that are left on some blogs, many thousands on the most widely read blogs. Does seeing so many comments discourage others from sharing their own perspectives? To the contrary, it seems to inspire people to join the digital conversation, even if they are hardly heard above the commentariat din. What I gather from this high level of involvement is that, though being heard is an essential part of this new technological empowerment, of equal importance is simply having a place to speak out. And this newly found power hopefully energizes people to express themselves in other ways beyond the blogosphere. One thing I love about the commentariat is that it keeps me honest and humble. It was easy in previous generations for commentators, found mostly on television and radio and in print, to feel like they were "all that" when all they heard or read was the self-perceived brilliance of their own words and no one else’s. But the commentariat has changed all that. As I noted in a recent reply to a comment, if I was looking for ego strokes, the blogosphere is definitely not the place to get them. Insults aside, the commentariat is only too happy to expose the holes, biases, and inaccuracies in my thinking, and rightfully so. It also forces me to confront the influence of my own ideology and dogma in the formulation of my ideas. Any time I think I’ve come up with the definitive perspective on an issue, the commentariat shows me that I’m, well, wrong (or at least, that I don’t have The Answer). In other words, the commentariat doesn’t let me fall too far in love with my own BS. Though I may find this "tough love" a bit uncomfortable, this feedback helps me grow as a thinker and a writer by exposing the sometimes yawning gap between what I believe to be true and what may actually true. Before the blogosphere, commentators had a mostly one-way relationship with readers (letters to the editor notwithstanding) that resembled a lecture. Though the recipients of the expressed wisdom may have learned a few things, this unidirectional flow of information didn’t maximum the potential value that those initial ideas could offer. The commentariat now makes blog posts conversations in which ideas are exchanged, challenged, and expanded. In this powerful new role, the commentariat participates in "mass collaboration" and the creation of new ideas in the intellectual marketplace. Sure, there will always be people on the lunatic fringe who are so wrapped in their own ideologies that real discourse is impossible. But for those many millions more who want to join in these cyber conversations, I say, "Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table. We’d love to hear what you have to say." Continue Reading »

Sure, we like keeping track of where we've been, and about every day a new gadget comes along that allows us to better see the virtual breadcrumbs we've spread across the land. But, when it comes to letting the government snoop on our carb-loaded morsels, many of us are a little bit leery. Thus there is a growing debate about whether federal use of those breadcrumbs is legitimate, like the FBI identifying Texan bank robbers by co-locating phone calls made at various crime scenes. For its part the current administration indicates that you have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" when it comes to the location of your cellphone. This has members of the ACLU and EFF on-edge, but we're guessing that this doesn't concern any of you Latitude or Foursquare members in the slightest, yeah? Does tracking your phone's location violate your Fourth Amendment rights? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Cnet  | Email this | Comments Continue Reading »

Today, we're excited to announce our third annual Doodle 4 Google contest in the U.S. Google doodles, created by our talented team of doodlers, have helped us celebrate events and anniversaries from Van Gogh's birthday to Valentine's Day. And since 2008, Doodle 4 Google has given K-12 kids the opportunity to create their own logo and have it displayed on the Google homepage for hundreds of millions of users to enjoy for a day.In addition to the winner's art appearing on Google.com on May 27, 2010, they'll also receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop computer and a $25,000 technology grant for their school.This year's theme is "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." and it's all about pushing the limits, dreaming big, and seeing what you can accomplish in life. When coming up with inspiration for this year's contest, we turned to some of our very own Googlers, including Ed Lu, a former astronaut.Ed typifies this year's theme in action, and shares an inspiring anecdote:On my first mission STS-84, one of my crewmates and I were having dinner aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. After all our work for the day was done, we decided to eat "upside down" on the ceiling, gazing out at the Earth moving by below our feet. As we flew around the Earth, watching the continents go by, my crewmate remarked how amazingly large the Earth really is. But at that same time, it also felt small to us. There we were, flying at 18,000 miles per hour around the Earth in a machine built by humans, with a crew made up of astronauts from all over the world. Both of our observations were true at the same time. The world is indeed a big place with many challenges. But by using science, technology and the power of people working together, nearly anything is possible.So dream big! If you could do anything, what would you do?For even more inspiration, you can see last year's winner, Christin Engelberth, a sixth grader at Bernard Harris Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. She titled her doodle "A New Beginning" to express her wish that "out of the current crisis, discoveries will be found to help the Earth prosper once more."We're happy to let you know that this year, we've also assembled a panel of well-known "Expert Jurors," including creative directors, cartoonists and famous animators ranging from Sesame Workshop to Pixar Animation Studios. Our Expert Jurors will help us narrow down the cream of the crop to 40 regional finalists, who will come to the Google office in New York City on May 26, 2010. For the second year, we'll also be partnering with the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, where the top 40 regional finalists will get to have their artwork displayed in a national exhibit. And for the first time this year, we'll give out eight Technology Booster awards to schools that submit maximum number of doodles per school by March 10th and have students in our 400 State Finalists.Please visit the official competition website for a full listing of all contest rules and requirements. Only students from registered schools can enter, so be sure your school is registered by March 17, 2010. All doodles must be submitted by March 31, 2010.We hope you're as excited about this year's contest as we are. Good luck!Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience and Ed Lu, Program Manager, Advanced Projects Continue Reading »