Ulmgrp7's Blog

What is the world curious about? Top Search Terms, 2009.

ulmgrp7 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:33:16 +0000

Recently I came across an interesting article concerning the types of people that use search engines. We’ve all heard by now the pc vs. mac commercials like I’m a PC or Hey! I’m cool, I’m a Mac! .. Well, it’s sorta like that. The top search engines, Google, Yahoo, and Bing recently released the top search terms of 2009! So based off the top search terms, what kind of people use each of these?

Google Top 10

1. michael jackson
2. facebook
3. tuenti
4. twitter
5. sanalika
6. new moon
7. lady gaga
8. windows 7
9. dantri.com.vn
10. torpedo gratis

Ok, from glancing at Google’s top 10 searches, we get 2 people, 3 social sites, an operating system, a turkish online game, a movie, and another 2 rather odd search terms, dantri.com.vn, and torpedo gratis. I can understand Michael Jackson hitting the top, but Lady Gaga? No idea, but it seems to me that the people who use google the most are more worldly users, hence 4 of the 10 terms you won’t see here in America much. Also I’d say from the 3 social networking sites and the new moon movie, there are a lot of teen to young adults that use Google. Gasp! It seems Google is a PC, not a Mac On to the next search engine!

Yahoo’s Top 10 Searches
1. Michael Jackson
2. Twilight
3. WWE
4. Megan Fox
5. Britney Spears
6. Naruto
7. American Idol
8. Kim Kardashian
9. NASCAR
10.RuneScape

Here at Yahoo, It seems we have a rather bleak picture of what people are curious about. It looks like every one of these terms are identifiable here in America, with lackluster results such as WWE (wrestling), American Idol, and Nascar hitting the list. To me, it looks like the people that use Yahoo are mostly Americans who enjoy entertainment since there are 2 singers, a show about singing, an actress or two, a tv show about acted out wrestling, Twilight again (same as New Moon from google), racing (nascar), an online game (runescape), and the last being Naruto, a japanese-based book series that’s popular in America.

Bing’s Top Trending Topics
1. Michael Jackson
2. Twitter
3. Swine Flu
4. Stock Market
5. Farrah Fawcett
6. Patrick Swayze
7. Cash for Clunkers
8. Jon and Kate Gosselin
9. Billy Mays
10. Jaycee Dugard

Lastly, we’ll cover the newest search engine to see what’s happening at Bing. It seems that at Bing, people are at least making more intelligent searches for big issues, such as Swine Flu, Cash for Clunkers, and the Stock Market, so that’s an improvement over the other two. So at Bing, we might have a set of people that are interested in the real world, but then again we have people looking up information on famous people in the news due to their deaths in the past year.

Overall it seems like the userbase of each search engine differs. Based on this, the world isn’t curious about things such as Health Care or how good or bad presidents are doing, although some seem to be aware of such things as Swine Flu, but for the most part, it’s all about the entertainment and social networking terms. What kind of person are you, and which search engine do you use?

Based on articles from:

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/12/top_search_term.html

http://cnettv.cnet.com/2000-1_53-2.html?name=Buzz+Report&type=node&value=12578&tag=hdr

Verizon and Fee Charges

ulmgrp7 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:12:53 +0000

The issue that we’ll be discussing today is interesting. As more and more wireless companies come out with their own smartphones besides Ipod and Blackberrys, business models concerning cancellation fees may be changing along with them. Lately, the FCC has asked Verizon about shady fee hikes when customers terminate their contract early, fee hikes as much as 100%, ouch! According to Verizon, the cost of smartphones is a lot more than phones have been in the past, so in order to subsidize them properly, customers need to stay with them for the full duration of the contract in order to recover these subsidized costs. While this isn’t a huge issue for many people, what is more concerning is that Verizon has been attempting to do this without notifying customers about the cost within the contracts, so instead of cancelling and getting a maximum fee of $175, you could now be charged up to $350! Thankfully, the FCC is currently investigating the issue to ensure that there’s no wrongdoing going on.

So the question is, do you think it’s right for wireless companies to double their cancellation fees without proper notification of the costs?

Blog was based off the following article:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9CCP4TG0.htm

What is Cyber War?

ulmgrp7 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:49:33 +0000

As explained in our textbook, humans use new technology in old ways. At least, in the beginning stages of the technology. It seems that the way humans are now using computers and the internet that we have passed that ‘technical lag’ stage. The newest weapon in today’s society is cyber war, or cyber attacks on the system of an enemy. Not only is it now possible for our enemies to hack into our enterprise and government systems, but it has already been done. We have been attacked by our enemies with cyber war in Brazil a few times already! One happened in Rio de Janeiro, the second in Espirito, and our own U.S. government in 2007! “Jim Lewis, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated that ‘Some unknown foreign power, and honestly, we don’t know who it is, broke into the Dept. of Defense, to the Dept. of State, the Dept. of Commerce, probably the Dept. of Energy, probably NASA. They broke into all of the high tech agencies, all of the military agencies, and downloaded terabytes of information.’” I mean, this problem sounds pretty serious to me!!! That is why president Obama has made it a top priority for our Defense and Security Departments. We have the capability to fight cyber attacks, as long as we use it to its fullest potential!

This blog was based on the following article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/06/60minutes/main5555565.shtml?tag=content

Security Issues With Online Banking

ulmgrp7 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:00:20 +0000

American Realty Co. is a recent victim of a scam that costed them $195,000.00, all because of a misleading e-mail that was opened by an employee. This could happen to any business, and IS happening to many businesses in today’s economy. This particular email opened by this employee had information causing the employee to think that the IRS was contacting them for information. Once the scammers got American Realty’s login password, they were able to make transfers out of the company’s online bank account. Even though the bank said they suspected it was fraud, they still allowed the transactions to go through. How crazy is that? A bank actually admits that they let fraudulent transactions go through without contacting the account holder first? Oh well, the point is that you should never open an email from ANYONE unless you know who it is from. Even if you do open an email you are not familiar with, do not ever give information out about your company. Even if you think the info. is not important, it can enable the scammers to hack into other information! Oh, and um, if the IRS is trying to contact your company, why wouldn’t you just call them and speak with them about the matter personally? Wouldn’t that make more sense?

This blog was based on the following article :

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/

Space Technology Used in Wine Industry

ulmgrp7 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:57:04 +0000

Today’s new technology continues to expand and cover more areas than ever! Satellite technology being used to help farmers in the wine industry grow and harvest a better quality of grapes is one example of technology’s use being maximized. The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company has developed a satellite, named Oenoview, which is being used to keep track of different factors related to the success of crops. Some of these factors cannot be determined any other way than by having these satellites map them out. Oenoview has also helped determine certain areas in fields, or different layouts of grapes, to help grow a stronger, richer, better grape for wine-making. Being able to increase the quality of the wine is a huge advantage over other wine companies, so this technology could really become a breakthrough tool. Also, the fact that this technology was developed in the space industry, but is being used in the wine industry shows how technology can cross over many different kinds of barriers. Technology can be used differently for different kinds of results, as well.

Here is a link to the article I based this blog on:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-newshttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6468029/Britains-burgeoning-wine-industry-is-looking-to-stars-for-extra-sparkle.html/6468029/Britains-burgeoning-wine-industry-is-looking-to-stars-for-extra-sparkle.html

Watch out Itunes!

ulmgrp7 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:29:38 +0000

Sony has unveiled it’s version of the Apple ITunes Store. The executives haven’t given much detail about the project, but music, movies, books, and other mobile applications will be available for download. This will be Sony’s most aggressive attempt in linking Sony products to their own digital library.

After several fiscal years of financial losses, Sony needs to make a bold move. They have relied on hardware for too long. Software might help them boost the revenues since their worst products are the televisions and video games.

New emergency notification for gaming consoles

ulmgrp7 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:46:11 +0000

New York will be the first state to send state emergency messages across the screens of Xbox, Wii, and PlayStation users. Messages related to severe weather, amber alerts, or any other emergency notification can be sent directly to the consoles.

This system is voluntary at the moment, but officials are working on a non voluntary system. In the event of an emergency, messages could be sent to every cell phone and gaming console.

Immortality…Seriously?

ulmgrp7 — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:28:36 +0000

Immortality. Previously only heard of in movies or fiction books, but now being seriously considered as a reality. According to one scientist, Ray Kurzweil, we only 20 years away from the possibility of living forever.

Nanotechnology is making it all possible. According to Kurzweil’s theory, the Law of Accelerating Returns, we should be able to replace our vital organs with artifical organs due to our increasing understanding of nanotechonolgies in about 20 years time. In fact, neural implants and artifical pancreases are currently available.

This technology could basically turn us all into cyborgs. Our blood cells would be replaced by nanobots, we could go hours without oxygen, bionic hearts would be the norm, and our extended mental capabilities would enable us to be classified as a genius. Virtual-reality would take the place of our traveling and holograms would guide us in our daily lives.

You can find the article at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6217676/Immortality-only-20-years-away-says-scientist.html

Be Aware of Malware!!!

ulmgrp7 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:19:24 +0000

While there are many different types of viruses or bugs attacking computers these days, we should all be aware of the current scams. Keeping informed is the best way to prevent these scams from sneaking into your computer system. We all know the damage from these viruses or bugs can be extremely costly, therefore it’s in our best interest to constantly stay protected from them. There is a very common virus breaking into websites with a high volume of viewers, and has caused much damage already. 1. This new ‘malware’ is inserted into ad space that has been rented out by the owner of the website. The ad starts out as a legit advertisement, then is switched with a virus. The virus is disguised as antivirus alerts, or offers to clean up your computer system of all viruses or threats, but they are false. Many popular websites are getting hit with these viruses because they rent out their space to advertisers. That is part of their profit, and is not going to be given up easily. Some more user-friendly websites keep constant track of what is being posted in their ad space. They can then fix any problems immediately, saving many problems and dollars for many people. Just be aware of what you search through online. Never click on any ad on any page!!! If there is an ad for something you want to see, then go to the official website for whoever the ad belongs to. This lowers your chance of clicking on a disguised threat.

Here is a link to the article I based this blog on: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10353402-245.html?tag=mncol;txt

Copyright…What copyright?

ulmgrp7 — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:28:59 +0000

Well,well,well. Seems like Google thought it had found a loophole in copyright law. That is until Amazon publically oppossed Google’s settlement with book publishers and authors this week.

In 2005, Google found itself with a class action lawsuit for unauthorized scanning of out-of-print books. Google claims that they can do so by means of the fair use laws. At the moment Google only shows an excerpt of the material, but after the proposed settlement, entire works will be available. You would think a settlement would be Google getting out of this little snafu without prosection, but no they get to proceed with making those copyrighted materials available for public use. Still, mind you, without authorization by publishers and authors. What kind of message does this send out? Being a powerhouse like Google gives the right to do what they want and think about the consequences later? In this case their are no consequences, they got what they wanted (or so they thought).

Props to Amazon for filing their own brief to the court. Afterall, they have a division that is capable of offering digital copies of books and you don’t see them acting first thinking later. They only offer works that have been given the okay by the owners of those copyrights. Why does Google get special permission by the court to offer copyrighted materials but Amazon can’t?

Finally, what good is a copyright if the judicial system can interfere?

Here’s some articles about this if you want to take a look:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10335976-265.html?tag=mncol;txt

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10321371-265.html?tag=mncol;txt