BlogCadre - google

What keywords do countries google the most?

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:54:05 -0500

What keywords do internet users google the most? Here is a list of commonly searched keywords by country*:

"sex" - Egypt, India, Turkey
"gay" - Chile, Mexico, Colombia
"Hitler" and "Nazi" - Chile, Australia, United Kingdom
"Jihad" - Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan
"Terrorism" - Pakistan, Philippines, Australia
"Hangover" - Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
"Burrito" - United States, Argentina, Canada
"Iraq" - United States, Australia, Canada
"Taliban" - Pakistan, Australia, Canada
"Tom Cruise" - Canada, United States, Australia
"Britney Spears" - Mexico, Venezuela, Canada
"Homosexual" - Phililppines, Chile, Venezuela
"Love" - Phililppines, Australia, United States
"Botox" - Australia, United States, United Kingdom
"Viagra" - Italy, United Kingdom, Germany
"Car bomb" - Australia, United States, Canada
"Marijuana" - Canada, United States, Australia

(*The countries are listed from first to third.) Link. [via MonkeyFilter]

What Google Won't Find

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:42:17 -0500

Scott Aaronson spoke at Google Cambridge a month ago on the topic of quantum computers, the limits imposed by physics, and search. His position is that there are probably fundamental physical limits to the problem of search, much like the limits to cpu speed or hard drive density. In fact, the latter provide a really nice illustration:

In particular, one of the few things physicists think they know about quantum gravity — one of the few things both the string theorists and their critics largely agree on — is that, at the so-called “Planck scale” of about 10^-33 centimeters or 10^-43 seconds, our usual notions of space and time are going to break down. As one manifestation of this, if you tried to build a clock that ticked more than about 10⁴³ times per second, that clock would use so much energy that it would collapse to a black hole. Ditto for a computer that performed more than about 10⁴³ operations per second, or for a hard disk that stored more than about 10⁶⁹ bits per square meter of surface area. (Together with the finiteness of the speed of light and the exponential expansion of the universe, this implies that, contrary to what you might have thought, there is a fundamental physical limit on how much disk space Gmail will ever be able to offer its subscribers…)

--more after the break--

Gmail: A Behind the Scenes Video

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:33:51 -0500

Gmail: A Behind the Scenes Video is a collaborative video in which the folks over at Google asked its users to help them imagine how an email message travels around the world. You can read more about the project over at the Official Gmail Blog.

Google Baby

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:56:08 -0500

Jason and I are expecting our second baby boy and have not yet come up with a name for the little guy. I know there are a few names that we DO NOT like -- "Metallica", "4real", "Urhines Kendall Icy Eight Special K", and "Google".

Elias and Carol Kai named their baby boy "Oliver Google Kai". It's not a surprise that the father is a Search Engine Marketing Specialist.

[via Neatorama]

Picasa, Upload images to Google Maps

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:30:25 -0500

Picasa is a new web application brought to us by Google which lets you upload images to a locations on a map. This would be a perfect way to journal about your travels and maybe suggest cool sites to friends and family.

[via meshly]

Guy fed up with Google's automated customer service

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:05:19 -0500

Robert Sollis emailed Google a detailed message regarding an inaccuracy he found on Google Maps and received this automated message:

Thank you for writing. This is an automated response to let you know that we've received your feedback regarding Google Maps. While we're unable to respond to each note individually, please know that we use all the feedback we receive to improve Maps.

If you have other concerns, and you're unable to find answers to your questions in the Google Maps Help Center, please feel free to respond to this note with additional details. It's important to keep in mind that we'll only be able to respond to your inquiry if we can provide additional information that's not currently available on our Help Center.

We appreciate your taking the time to write.

Regards,
The Google Team

In reply, Sollis complained to Google that he already sent all the "additional details" necessary in his previous email and decided that he would take matters into his own hands. And what reply did he receive from Google? The same automatic response as above.

Click here to see the complete correspondence and what Sollis did to resolve his problem on his own. Priceless.

[via digg]

Tall Eye, Walk in a straight line around the world

Sun, 06 May 2007 21:05:05 -0500

Tall Eye is a Google Maps mashup where you can plot your location, choose the direction you are going to walk, and the map will show you what you will pass while on your walk around the world.

[via The Presurfer]

Avian flu virtually spreads through Google Earth

Tue, 01 May 2007 16:20:38 -0500

Biomedical researchers take a virtual look at the spread of the avian flu virus through Google Earth.

With Keyhole Markup Language on Google Earth scientists were able to trace the course of the disease over the past decade.

The Google Earth project animates the spread of avian flu virus. In addition the data contains information on all known strains of the evolving flu virus plus all its host organisms. So far avian flu has not proven highly contagious among humans with fewer than 300 known cases worldwide. However, medical research is watching the virus's spread and evolution.

To view the virus virtually, you will need to download Google Earth and then copy this link into your browser.

[via meshly]

Google vs. God signage

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:49:30 -0500

This sign from the North Shore Assembly of God cracks me up. I don't know... Whenever I use Google I get some pretty good results. [via digg]

Here's more Google sign humor from St. Giles Presbyterian Church.

Previously:
Church sign generator (LwL)

Darfur crisis mapped out on Google Earth

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:11:37 -0500

When you scan the globe using Google Earth you will notice a large portion of Central Africa outlined in orange. Zoom in closer and you will see the words "Crisis in Darfur".

Google has teamed up with United State Holocaust Memorial Museum in hopes people around the world will be able to visualize the vast devastation and genocide occuring in the Darfur region.

"It's our hope that by combining this up-to-date satellite imagery with authoritative data and evidence from the ground in Google Earth we can make it harder for people to stand idly by when genocide happens,' " said Lawrence Swiader, the museum's chief information officer.

The Holocaust museum has also begun using Google Earth on their site to map Holocaust locations in Europe during WWII.

Previously:
'Dying for Darfur' Online Game, Ayiti: the Cost of Life

Howto: Look good when recruiters google you

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:57:43 -0500

So how many times did you google yourself this month? Probably at least one or two times. I venture to guess you also googled old classmates or ex-loves. It's okay. We've all done it.

So, if you're googling him or her then who is googling YOU. Don't be surprised if a potential employer asks you about those risque Spring Break photos you posted on your Myspace account at your next interview because anything on the internet is everyone's business.

Don't be caught off-guard. Here is a howto on how to look good when your recruiter googles you.

[via digg]

Search Engine Smackdown

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:29:22 -0500

Search Engine Smackdown is a flash game in which you choose your player and your opponent among six computing big-wigs: Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jerry Yan, David Filo, Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

How do you play? Answer a series of search-related questions in order to score hits, but if you answer wrong your opponent will pummel you.

Give it a go and see if you can make it to the high score board.

[via The Presurfer]

Download Youtube and Google Videos

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:10:01 -0600

Jason wrote up a great post over at Hackszine on how to download Youtube and Google videos using Safari or Firefox:

There are a few different ways to get at the FLV file that the video player application is downloading. Safari users can use the Window->Activities feature to locate and download flv files as they are playing, and Joshua Kinberg put together a couple nice Greasemonkey scripts for Firefox that make downloading pretty simple.

Dig a hole with Google Maps

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:44:07 -0600

If I were to dig a hole in Minneapolis that went straight through the Earth I would end up in the Indian Ocean.

Use this Google Maps application to find out where a hole in your hometown would lead you.

Sorry, not all holes lead to China.

[via reddit]

X-treme Programming in the real world

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 01:05:57 -0500

Stevey, a Google employee/programmer type talks about life at the company. More importantly he debunks the fad-diet equivalent programming mantras with some real world experience of what works and what doesn't in the software development world.