Apparently Google, the leading provider of online advertising broker, has no problems over the increasing popularity of ad-blocking extensions on its own web browser, Chrome. During a browser-centered conference in Mountain View, Califorinia Google Engineering Director Linus Upson discussed how online ads - while blocked by many users - are ultimately useful to people when searching for relevant subjects. "It's unlikely that ad blockers will get to the level where they imperil the advertising market, because if advertising is so annoying that a large segment of the population wants to block it, then advertising needs to get less annoying." Upson said that there is an equilibrium between the online ad market and consumers, thus if blockers become an issue, advertisers will rethink their strategies and aggressiveness.

A Christmas gift for the Grandparents?

The technological boundaries that may have once stopped the elderly from jumping on the Twitter bandwagon have now been removed with this fax-to-Twitter service, known as Celery. The service allows users to write short handwritten notes that are then faxed, using their 'celery' machine, which electronically converts and posts them to the users Twitter page. Users can even print off their own Twitter pages to see who has responded to their tweets. The Celery can also be used to send emails. This video shows the Celery at work, and profiles one user who says that the Celery has helped her stay in touch with her grandchildren.

Connecting the elderly to the latest social media website using a device that many of us on Twitter probably wouldn't even know how to use. Now that's what I call irony. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

There is much skepticism in regards to Google coming out with their own phone as early as 2010. Analysts are confused by this decision because they will become direct competitors with cell phone manufacturers that are using Google's Android operating system. Google would be entering into an industry which is extremely competitive and with lack of experience. Some analysts believe that this could end up being a multbillion-dollar mistake. Thus far, Google has had much success with having phone makers adopt its Android software. However, if Google goes through with their decision to develop its own Google-branded Android phone to be sold directly to consumers, then their support will decline. Signal Hill Group analyst Todd Greenwald said, "Google... may figure it is big enough that it can risk upsetting certain partners."

Facebook has released for the first time, the demographics of its users. What is even more interesting is the technique which was used to identify the race and ethnicity of its users. While Facebook has a lot of information but it does not ask you to disclose your race when you sign up but the researchers used a technique combining census data with their information to find trends. This is a great example of how information from primary and secondary sources are combined together.




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Following the success they had with the Windows 7 Launch party, Microsoft is now in the process of recruiting college students to blog about Microsoft products. The criteria is simple, students with established blogs are being asked to talk and act as the peer influencer to introduce the benefits of MS products to others. Sound famliar! Students will be reimbursed with free training on MS products and free trips to conferences in great locations.

Read more here.

The Google Toilet: Supernews!

Facebook recently announced the new privacy settings that they are offering to the public. It encourages Facebook users to share the content you post on your profile, including status updates and photos. The goal was to make Facebook more of an open forum, especially since Twitter, blogs, and MySpace are open to all.  Marshall Kirkpatrick provides a negative argument when arguing with Barry Schnitt, Director of Corporate Communications and Public Policy at Facebook in his article(Click on his name to read it).

How do you feel about being encouraged to become less private and more public for all to see? Was the primary reason you joined Facebook to expose yourself to the world?

PR newswire is a public relations website that posts the latest news releases and updates them frequently. I was browsing the website when I came across this news release about how Mark, the beauty and fashion brand of Avon Products is launching a Facebook application that will connect sales representatives and their customers online. While I know that you can buy pretty much anything online, it is the point that you can talk to representatives and representatives can network and build their customer base through the social networking site and not a website that makes this a unique opportunity.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/door-to-door-selling-moves-wall-to-wall-79068592.html

I stumbled across this website while doing homework (or more like not doing homework?) and proceeded to waste a good 30 minutes being entertained by the site. Trendistic.com functions much like Google Trends does for all Google searches. It tracks the tweets that are posted, removes any recurring ones, and then creates graphs based upon a one-hour time period. This is fantastic because it allows us to see what is (or is not) popular and being tweeted about today, all compiled on a nice graph.

Facebook's recent privacy changes are not quite as nice as they sound. Facebook recently began asking users to refine their settings using a new tool, however the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a privacy watchdog, argues that the general push is for members to expose information and not hide it from others. The sheer complexity of the decisions may not be the right direction for the members of Facebook as it appears that Facebook wants to put much more information out there for the public eye to see, much more than just your name and the network you belong to today. Is this a move in the right direction or is this merely being taken out of content? Read more here and decide.