Metrics company Hitwise writes a sensational blog post showing the dramatic rise of Google Blog Search against competitors Technorati and Sphere. Their data is saying that this week, for the first time, Google Blogsearch surpassed Technorati in total visits. Google Blog Search just passed 0.0025% of total internet traffic, according to Hitwise, v. 0.0023% for Technorati. The reason for the surge seems pretty straightforward: Google linked their Blog Search product to Google News in October, which had a immediate and significant impact on traffic. Google also added a Blog Search link in the “More” section on the Google main page. It was not enough to take the lead, but a recent Technorati decline in traffic put Blog Search on top. It makes sense that the extra attention Google is giving BlogSearch would result in a spike in traffic, but we looked to Comscore for confirmation. What a surprise. Comscore tells a much different story, and one that makes little sense given the facts. The most recent Comscore data (November) says Technorati had 3 million page views v. Google Blog Search’s 1 million. But Comscore also shows highly erratic Technorati data over the last twelve months, swinging from a high of 22 million page views in April 2006 to a low of 1 million in December 2005. We’ve seen situations where Comscore showed erratic traffic swings before. In August Comscore showed a significant decline in Del.icio.us traffic, when Hitwise said it was increasing. Yahoo showed disclosed some internal traffic stats and it turned out Comscore was dead wrong. In the case of Technorati v. Google, it looks to be wrong again. → Read More
Google made a clarification today to their much criticized list of most popular queries in their search engine. The list raised eyebrows because it included some fairly unlikely terms. “Bebo” for example, was the number one term on the list. In the original announcement, Google said: “Google today announced its annual Zeitgeist, featuring lists and charts of the most popular and fastest-rising global search terms that people have typed into Google.com.” It turns out that while that statement was literally accurate, it was still somewhat misleading. In the clarification today, Google said: “we do not simply retrieve the most frequently-searched terms for the period — the truth is, they don’t change that much from year to year…Instead, we looked for those searches that were very popular in 2006 but were not as popular in 2005 — the explosive queries, the topics that everyone obsessed over. To come up with this list, we looked at several thousand of 2006′s most popular searches, and ranked them based on how much their popularity increased compared to 2005. (“Bebo”, for example, had very little traffic in 2005.) We also gave a bit higher score to searches with more traffic. Similarly, our “what is” and “who is” lists are not necessarily the absolute most frequent searches, but rather those that best represent the passing year.” I agree with Liz Gannes at GigaOm. If at the end of the day Google is taking the top few thousand searches, subjectively picking a handful that are interesting and then redetermining the order based on velocity of growth rather than overall rankings, we end up with a list that is, in the end, completely meaningless. → Read More
This slipped by me earlier in the month, but it’s a pretty cool little drive of special interest to shutterbugs. It’s an upcoming storage device developed in a partnership between Polaroid and Storage Appliance Corporation. Called the Polaroid Media Backup Photo Edition, it’s essentially a portable 40GB hard drive designed for backing up your photos—and only your photos. I haven’t tested it out yet, but if the $129 drive works as promised, it’s definitely some of the best tech for the clueless that I’ve seen. Storage Appliance has a ClickFree technology built into the drive that, as soon as it’s connected by USB to your Windows 2000 or XP computer (Vista support will be ready at launch in Q1 2007), hunts down any image file (more than 60 different file types are supported) and automatically backs them up. No software to install, no setup process to go through. Nothing. It just finds them and saves them to the drive. Even if they’re in compressed folders. → Read More
Just a week after I wrote “Uh Oh, Gmail Just Got Perfect” a number of users started complaining that all of their Gmail emails and contacts were auto deleted. The first message, posted on the Google Groups forum on December 19, stated “Found my account clean..nothing in Inbox, contacts ,sent mail..How can all these information residing in different folders disappear? ..How to write to gmail help team to restore the account..is it possible?..Where to report this abuse?.Any help ..Welcome..Thanks in advance ps101″ Other Gmail users then added to the conversation, saying that their emails had been deleted as well. Most of the users reported using Firefox 2.0 and that Gmail was open in their browser when the deletions occured. The cause of the problem isn’t clear. One user wrote that after the deletion they received the following message: “This is not a mistake. All your emails and contacts have been deleted on purpose. This was a malicious attack and not an error. Have a nice day. =)” One user pointed to a known security issue with Firefox 2.0, which was fixed in 2.0.0.1. On December 22, four days after the initial incident was reported, a Google representative posted this message on the thread: Thank you all for reporting this issue. We apologize for the scare and inconvenience that it’s causing. We’re actively investigating as we speak, and we’ll follow up individually with users in this thread as we get to the bottom of the problem. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Google’s official policy is that once emails are deleted, they are gone forever. And based on the Google Groups thread, no one has been able to have their Gmail accounts restored to pre-deletion status. Update: A representative from Google just sent the following email: Hi there TechCrunch folks, We saw your post today about Gmail and wanted to let you know what was going on. Regretfully, a small number of our users — around 60 — lost some or all of their email received prior to December 18th. Once we found out about this issue, we worked day and night to confirm that only a few accounts were affected and to do whatever we could to restore as much of the users’ accounts as we could. We’ve also reached out to the people who were affected to apologize and to work with them to restore the email from any → Read More
That fancy GPS unit you just got for Xmas isn’t going to do you a whole lot of good in the woods if its battery dies. No, sadly, you’re to be eaten by a bear. And who wants to lug a handful of AAAs around whilst camping? That’s prime Girl Scout stalking time. You need a solar-powered GPS receiver. It’s just what it sounds like: a GPS receiver powered by the sun. It has built-in Bluetooth to communicate with your PDA and even features a low-power mode, so it only takes the satellites’ pings when needed, saving you precious battery time. Now if you can cook up a solar charger for your Treo or Pocket PC while on the trail, you’ve got a tasty combo. It’s also great for those who want to live “off the grid,” so the FBI won’t find you. You know I’m talking about you, Jeb. Solar GPS [TransSystem] → Read More
As techies, there are few components that affect us more so than our chairs. Sitting in a chair for countless hours every day has a notable impact on our bodies. A crappy chair can cause immediate duress and also lead to prolonged pain. A quality chair, however, can do a lot of good for you. Proper lumbar support, being reasonably adjustable, sufficient padding, all these components play a role in pressure your body absorbs while sitting. Acquiring a proper seat should be a nobrainer, but it seems to be a value many people neglect. In this piece, we’ve taken a look at some of the dominant players in the ergo chair market. There are few better options out there, and thusly few more expensive. But we believe that if these chairs are out of your price range, the present features can serve as a guideline for your purchase of a personally realistic alternative. → Read More
Growing up, NERF guns were my true arsenal. I remember being the first kid on the block to get the Balzooka – a gatling-gun that shot multiple NERF balls at your foes. The best were capture the flag fights and shootouts in public places. So what has NERF been up to lately? Check out the N-Strike Longshot CS-6 rifle. The latest and greatest piece to terrorize your neighborhood with. From the official NERF website: Take your blasting skills to the extreme with this two-in-one blaster! This blaster is more than three feet long and can launch foam arrows up to 35 feet away! Aim with accuracy and precision using the targeting scope. Two quick-reload clips hold a total of 12 STREAMLINE DARTS. There’s even a fold-down bi-pod to help you steady your aim for important shots. Looking for a quick shot at close range? The blaster has removable parts to give you one-handed freedom with a single-shot blaster! In either mode, load up, aim, press the trigger and watch the darts go the distance! It even comes with two quick-reload clips. If you and your friends have a 30-pack of Miller Lite and want to get rowdy, I suggest swinging by Toys R Us and picking up a few. $29.99 each, Flinstones Band-Aids not included. N-Strike Longshot CS-6 Official Page [NERF Website] → Read More
Red Herring and VentureBeat are reporting that Digg closed an $8.5 million Series B round of financing from previous investors Greylock Partners and the Omidyar Network, bringing the the total of capital they’ve raised to just over $10 million. They previously raised $2.8 million in October 2005 from Greylock, Omidyar and several angel investors. In a recent interview with the Digg executive team, they said that they are not yet cash flow positive but should be in the near future, and currently have 18 employees. Digg competitor Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast in October. We mentioned the likelihood of an upcoming Series B round when we wrote about rumors that Digg was also in acquisition discussions with News Corp. back in October. While Digg disputes this, a few sources indicated that they tested the waters to see if they could sell for $150 million or more. When no offers came in, they raised additional capital instead. → Read More
You know what. For today, guns are gear. Enjoy this crazy 90-year old bitch firing off an automatic. → Read More
Amazon.com released its year-end “Best of” lists, which tallies up not only the best-selling items for the site’s various stores, but also the most positively reviewed, most wished-for and most frequently purchased as gifts. Apple’s 30GB 5G iPod nearly swept electronics, only losing “most positively reviewed” to the Sony DSCF707 Cyber-shot 5-megapixel digital camera. Dissappointingly none of the tech best sellers were shocking, with World of Warcraft taking the software category, iPods (various) for electronics and the Nintendo DS Lite in Polar White winning the computer and video game top pick. (Though I’m not sure what the company’s definition of “software” is ’cause WoW is definitely not MS Word.) The more interesting picks are on the Wish Lists. → Read More
I’m all for hatin’ on deposed murderous dictators as much as the next person. This, however, seems like GSN.com is just asking for trouble now. The Game Show Network’s Web site is host to a number of mini games lampooning people in the news and this week they’ve decided to take on Saddam’s death sentence. The site apparently feels this topic is on the same level as O.J.’s book deal and Mel Gibson’s drunk driving arrest. The game plays just like traditional hangman, but Saddam will taunt you along the way with choice phrases like “Americans can’t spell” or “I laugh at your letters.” Ha. This will likely result in jihad against me and the CG staff, but I just report the “news,” so, and I mean this quite literally, don’t shoot the messengers, m’kay? → Read More
MacWorld is just around the corner, and with it endless speculation that 2007 will not only be the year Apple finally throws its hat into the mobile phone ring, but also the year that the promise of a musicphone that can actually substitute for your digital music player of choice finally comes true. Of course, it’s all déjà vu to us. I’m pretty sure 2006 was supposed the year of the musicphone, and maybe even 2005 before that. There are many good reasons consumers haven’t really embraced music/phone convergence yet, and it isn’t just the lack of one made by Apple. So what would it take to make the perfect (Apple or non-Apple) musicphone? Click the jump to see exactly what needs to be done before we all leave our iPods gathering dust for good… → Read More
You know, guys aren’t the only gadget buffs out there. Girls love to read about gadgets that cater to them as well. I’m not saying all girls love Hello Kitty/Sanrio either; my friend kicked my ass the other day in Gears of War but still has a Badtz Maru doll. So today Spectra introduced the KT4560 Hello Kitty iPod Clock Radio. This cutie-patootie iPod dock comes with built-in controls, video out, AM/FM radio, an iPod dock, and an auxillary jack in case you suck and don’t have an iPod. The dock even features a cute sleeping Kitty on top. No word on pricing, availability, or exact level of cuteness Spectra intros Hello Kitty iPod clock radio [Electronista] → Read More
Why bother playing covers of Quadrophenia on a regular amp when you can kick it 1950’s style? These toaster amps from Hottie Amps come with a hella-sweet paint job and crank out tunes from any instrument with a 1/4” jack (though a guitar is preffered.) They’re pretty basic and are more of a novelty item/practice amp rather than a serious piece of equipment, but they do come with a line-out jack so you can practice in private with headphones. Just think: You, a toaster, your axe, and a Rush mixtape from 1983. Pick one up for $149 and you’ll be the toast of the town! Official Hottie Amps Website [via Sci-Fi Blog] → Read More
Because apparently Kevin Costner did when he chose to do this stupid commercial. It’s funny to reflect back at commercials from tech companies that try to appeal so softly to others. Listen to that cheesy background music and narration! This shit wouldn’t stand a chance on TV today. Oh, and Apple Lisa: You rock. → Read More
Holidays are over and CES is almost here. So what does that mean? It means only a miniscule amount of news is going to be released until the second week of January. But fear not. I shall be scouring the web for cool, odd gadgets, gear-related videos, and things that fall into he category of “kick-assery.” So enjoy the posts. I hope they keep you entertained, happy, and coming back for more. If you want to talk to me and send me some tips to post, feel free to contact me on AIM: Screen name: hardhouse0 → Read More
Meet my new day bag. The Python XM from booq. You might remember its special edition sister the Bianco from a few days ago. Both versions are identical in terms of functionality, but one comes in black while the other comes in a dubious white. The bag is all sorts of stylish and a versatile packer to boot. It’s designed specifically for use with Apple portables, but other laptops could be crammed in its pocket with zero effort. → Read More
. What does this mean for us and, by extraction, you? Not much, but it’s extremely important to realize that the stalwarts like ZD are hitting a wall thanks to skanky little bloggers in their pajamas. Go us! Anyone have any insight on PE companies like Lehman work? Ziff Davis’ Two Units Being Hawked by Lehman; Enterprise Division Status Unclear [PaidContent] → Read More
In this era of 60-hour video games and Cell processors, it’s easy to forget a small band of dedicated geeks who kept us from touching ourselves too much in high school. People like Richard Garriott created computerized worlds that not only paved the way for games like World of Warcraft and Custer’s Revenge but singlehandedly built the computer gaming industry into the cultural and economic behemoth it is today. Say all you want about Doom and Quake, friends. Akalabeth was the real grandaddy of gaming. The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part I: The Early Years (1980-1983) [ArmchairArcade] → Read More
Chess player Umakant Sharma has been banned playing in All India Chess Federation tournaments after judges discovered a Bluetooth headset sewn into his cap. A friend had been playing a computerized simulation of his games and relaying moves via the headset. Sharma has been banned from competition for 10 years. Judges discovered the headset during a random sweep during a December 4 tournament. Chess Player Banned 10 Years For Cheating With Bluetooth, Computer [InformationWeek] → Read More
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