GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle.com launches for extreme multi-taskers

Google just launched GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle.com.

The quadruple search engine lets users Google four things at once in the same window.

According to Google’s FAQ, the creators bought the domain out of impulse after discovering GoogleGoogle.com was unavailable.

“Unfortunately, GoogleGoogle.com was taken, but Alex pointed out that GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle.com was availavle.  In a impulse buy, they purchased the domain… and someone had the idea of putting four Googles on the page.  Thus GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle was born.”

Rupert Murdoch plans to block Google

Rupert Murdoch – the man behind Fox News and The Wall Street Journal – plans to block Google from displaying News Corp.’s content.

Murdoch told Sky News that his publishers would remove their content from Google’s search index, and start charging readers to view stories on their websites.

“What’s the point of having someone come occasionally who likes the headline they see in Google?  Sure we can go out and say, ‘Hey we got so many millions of visitors…’ The fact is, there’s not enough advertising in the world to go around to make all the websites profitable.  We’d rather have fewer people coming to our website, but paying,” Murdoch told Sky News.

“The people who simply just pick up everything and run with it – steal our stories, we say they steal our stories – they just take them.  That’s Google, that’s Microsoft, that’s Ask.com, a whole lot of people … they shouldn’t have had it free all the time, and I think we’ve been asleep.”

A Google spokesperson said removing News Corp.’s content from Google’s search index would be a simple procedure.

“Publishers put their content on the web because they want it to be found, so very few choose not to include their material in Google News and web search,” she said.  “But if they tell us not to include it, we don’t.”

more about “Sky News – Interview with Rupert Murdoch“, posted with vodpod

Stephen Colbert to sponsor the U.S. Winter Olympic Speedskating team

“Colbert Nation” became the new official sponsor of the 2010 U.S. Winter Olympic Speedskating team Monday night after Stephen Colbert signed up his viewers to provide the team’s primary funding.

The team lost its largest cash provider in October when its No. 1 sponsor, DBS Bank  NV, declared bankruptcy.  “Colbert Nation” will replace the old DBS logo on the team’s new uniforms.

U.S. Speedskating Executive Director Bob Crowley told the Associated Press that it was “definitely an unconventional arrangement,” but he said he thought it would generate exposure for the sport.

“We’re highly optimistic that the country is going to get behind this and get behind the Colbert Nation and support this amazing team,” Crowley told the AP before appearing on The Colbert Report to present the contract. “I don’t have any idea if it’s going to make $5 or $500,000. I couldn’t tell you.”

Colbert is no stranger to raising serious cash.  He already raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Yellow Ribbon fund for wounded veterans.  He once sold a cast off his wrist to someone on Ebay to raise $17,200 for the fund.  Colbert told his audience to donate money at ColberNation.com and USSpeedskating.com.

The U.S. Speedskating team will compete this weekend in the first qualifying round of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  The team has won 75 medals for the U.S. – 35 of them gold.  Colbert told the Associated Press that he was considering taking his show to Vancouver when the team competes in the Olympics.

more about “Stephen Colbert sponsors U.S. Winter …“, posted with vodpod

Give this kid a scholarship

William Kamkwamba is a 22-year-old student from the African Republic of Malawa.   Poverty forced him out of school to help his family at the age of 14.  Using a photo from a book, he built a windmill to power his family’s home.

He went on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night to discuss “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” which he co-authored.  When Stewart asked about his experience leaving his village, he said his most shocking discovery was Google.

“Somebody told me, ‘Do you know the Internet?’  I said ‘I don’t know the Internet.’  He said, ‘Do you know Google?’  I said, ‘What animal is Google?’ They said, ‘You can Google anything.’  And I said, ‘Okay, let’s Google windmill then.’  And when I Googled windmill I found that there were millions of applications and I was like, ‘Where was this Google all this time?’”

He also said he wanted to go to school in the United States.

The KU School of  Engineering should give this kid a full-ride scholarship.

more about “Jon Stewart interviews William Kamkwamba“, posted with vodpod

Newspaper Revitalization Act could save newspapers or threaten First Amendment

A new bill would give tax breaks to struggling news organizations if they restructure into non-profit organizations, but critics worry it could threaten “Freedom of the Press.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., introduced the “Newspaper Revitalization Act of 2009,” on Sept. 17, and conducted a Joint Economic Committee hearing yesterday to “examine the treacherous economic landscape newspapers face.”

“This hearing comes on the heels of my submission of H.R. 3602, a bill which will enable local newspapers to take advantage of non-profit status as a way to preserve their place in communities nationwide,” she wrote in The Hill’s Congress Blog. “I think that the government can help foster solutions for this industry in ways which protect the independence of newspapers and enables their objective reporting to thrive in a new economic and media climate.”

What is the Newspaper Revitalization Act?

The bill gives struggling newspapers tax breaks if they restructure as non-profit 501© (3) organizations.

To qualify for 501© (3) status, an organization must:

1. Publish newspapers for general consumption “on a regular basis.”
2. Publish news stories that are “necessary and valuable in achieving an educational purpose.”
3. Prepare its material following “methods generally accepted as educational in character.”

Concerns

Critics worry the bill could threaten the news industry’s First Amendment Right to Freedom of the Press by prohibiting news organizations from expressing political opinions or commentary. 

Under the Internal Revenue Code, “public statements of position (verbal or written) made… in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office” could revoke an organization’s 501© (3) tax-exempt status and subject it to “certain excise taxes.”

The Daily Times editorial section warned that, under the IRC, “newspapers whose coverage annoyed one political party or the other might find themselves threatened with government action and their tax-exempt status put in jeopardy.”

Support

Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., who introduced a similar bill in March, said the non-profit status would be “similar to public broadcasting” – like PBS and NPR.

“Newspapers would not be allowed to make political endorsements, but would be allowed to freely report on all issues, including political campaigns,” Cardin said.  “Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt and contributions to support coverage or operations could be tax deductible.”

In an interview with the editors of the Pittsburg Post-Gazette and the ToledoBlade, President Obama said he would be “happy to look at” bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as non-profit businesses.

“I haven’t seen any detailed proposals yet but I’d be happy to look at them,” he said.

According to the Columbia Journalism Review, newspaper ad revenues have fallen to 1965 levels.

Will Ferrell and friends launch public service announcement on healthcare

As the debate over healthcare reform rages on, Will Ferrell and friends have launched a public service announcement that defends the real victims: insurance companies.

“Why is Obama trying to reform health care when insurance companies are doing just fine making billions of dollars in profits?”  Ferrell asks viewers.  “Join us in the fight to protect our insurance company profits.  They’ve looked out for our best interests for so long – now you should look after theirs.”

MoveOn.org paid for and produced the video, which also stars Jon Hamm, Donald Faison, Jordana Spiro, Linda Cardellini, Masi Oka, Robert Garant and Thomas Lennon. 

The video is featured at FunnyorDie.com.

CatholicVoteAction.org responded to the PSA with a spoof of its own.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/protect-insurance-compani_n_294406.html

Comedy Central to air two-hour marathon of Kanye West as a gay fish on South Park

Kanye West woke up Monday morning knowing full well that he would be America’s joke of the week. Luckily, South Park already had it covered – five months in advance.  Comedy Central will run a two-hour marathon of the “Fishsticks” episode, in which West’s love of fishsticks makes him a gay fish.  It all starts tonight at 8 pm C.T…. (Comedy Central, you owe me)

Kanye West’s single: “Gay Fish”

Brazen Careerist relaunches as career networking website for Generation Y

Students and young professionals who want to ditch the traditional  job market and secure a job in the workforce of tomorrow should check out Brazen Careerist, which launched its new social networking function today.

The career networking website is similar to LinkedIn, but with a more open, personal feel that looks almost identical to Facebook. Users can create and post their resumes, join groups of like-minded professionals and search for jobs. But what differentiates Brazen Careerist from LinkedIn is its “idea feed” (similar to Facebook’s Friend Feed), which allows you to showcase your  work samples, blogs and ideas.  Mashable, Web 2.0 review site, calls it “an intellect’s version of LinkedIn.”

What also makes Brazen Careerist cool is the fact that it was co-founded by two recent college graduates – Ryan Paugh and Ryan Healy.  They originally launched the site as a community for professionals to share blogs, articles and insights about innovative industries.  Now it’s a social networking job site.

It’s too early to tell whether Brazen Careerist can compete with LinkedIn, as it depends on the number of employers who embrace this somewhat underground community. But it already fosters a sizable network of forward-thinking professionals.  And these potential employers are no-doubt looking to tap the young, innovative talent our generation can contribute to the industries of the future.

How Al Jazeera uses social media

What you see on U.S. television is determined by the cable providers who own the air waves.  What you see on the Internet is determined by you.

U.S. cable providers rarely carry foreign news outlets because television is a profit-driven business, and most providers have determined that the cost of carrying these networks outweighs the profit they would generate in ad revenue: the life blood of American television.

The Internet, on the other hand, is a democracy-driven business, in which you determine what you want to see and when you want to see it – without cable restrictions.   It allows foreign networks, such as Al Jazeera (English), the primary news outlet for the Middle East (where I had the privilege of interning last summer), to penetrate the American media barrier and reach viewers who seek an alternative perspective on international news and issues.

Three years ago, Al Jazeera English launched a Youtube Channel to feature its coverage in an effort to repudiate false rumors about its agenda. The channel included a video of anchorwoman Ghida Fakhry asking viewers for feedback on Al Jazeera English in the form of 30-second video submissions.  Her video attracted more than 1.2 million views and prompted a number of Youtube videos from viewers who supported Al Jazeera.  These advocacy videos multiplied across Youtube and generated even more online publicity for the network.

The channel has since attracted more than 60,000 subscribers and nearly 5 million viewers.  It also redirects viewers to Al Jazeera English’s website where they can tune in to its live coverage of international events, such as the Afghan election, Iran protests and Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which Al Jazeera journalists report on from the ground and U.S. media outlets report on from New York.

Al Jazeera English is a perfect example of how social media gives the individual control over what he or she wants to see, diminishing  the restrictions of centralized, corporate, traditional control.

Here is the video of Ghida Fakhry asking for your feedback on Al Jazeera English’s coverage.  I actually had the privilage of working with her in Washington, D.C., where AJE journalists do an incredible job of bringing 3rd world issues to the attention of the English-speaking 1st world.

Huffington Post unveils Social News

The Huffington Post and Facebook have partnered to create a new social networking feature called “HuffPost Social News,” allowing Facebook users to integrate their profiles with the online news outlet via Facebook Connect.

The new site  allows you to create a HuffPost profile, share stories with friends and track content your friends are reading and commenting on. You can also share your reader profile on your Facebook feed.

Huffington Post Founder Arianna Huffington wrote on  her blog that her company’s goal was to make HuffPost Social News the go-to place for Facebook users to share news.

“This new platform lets our community of engaged users easily share stories and post comments for friends to see – it’s HuffPost’s version of a digital water cooler, enriching and deepening conversations around the day’s news,” Huffington said.  “Social media has fundamentally changed our relationship to news.  It’s no longer something we passively take in.  We now engage with news, share news, react to news – news has become something around which we gather, connect, and converse.  HuffPost Social News makes this more dynamic than ever.”