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Google

10/17/2010 Nativegrl77

Official Google Blog

–Posted: 16 Oct 2010 11:37 AM PDT–

**This is one of a regular series of posts on search experience updates. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. – Ed.

Search is always evolving, and we’re excited to share the latest this week—from Google Auto complete to our fun homepage doodles—as well as a glimpse at what the U.S. is searching for. Here’s this week’s round up of updates:

A birthday surprise
Because doodles are such a fun part of the search experience, we thought we’d share a fun little way Google will help celebrate your birthday. When you include your date of birth on your Google profile, you may notice a special treat on the Google homepage on your birthday (be sure to sign in). Click on the doodle for another birthday surprise!

Renaming Google Suggest
We first launched Google Suggest in 2004 in Labs to help people enter their searches faster. Suggest has been a very popular feature, and some people have been asking what happened to it. Never fear, it hasn’t gone anywhere—we just renamed it to “Google Autocomplete.” As part of our launch of Google Instant, we thought “Autocomplete” fit better with the new functionality—automatic queries and automatic results.

Google Instant in new countries across Asia
We’ve been rapidly expanding Google Instant around the globe. Last week we launched Instant in Australia, India, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. Now that it’s been a few weeks since our initial release, we’ve been finding that people are really learning how to get the most out of Instant. For example, in just two weeks, we saw an increase in the fraction of searches performed without hitting enter or clicking search. This is a very demanding launch for our infrastructure and we’re expanding around the globe as soon as we can.

Eurostat data in search
We’ve also rolled out some improvements our public data search features. We’ve been working closely with Eurostat to surface some really useful and interesting data about unemployment rates, government debt, minimum wage and broadband penetration across Europe. Try searching for [arbeitslosenstatistik deutschland], [smic france] or [deuda publica españa] to see examples of this data visualisation in action. The data is available across 34 languages. We’ve also internationalized data from the World Bank. You can learn more on our European policy blog.

The week in searches
Curious to know what Google Searches skyrocketed in the U.S. this week? Check out the Google Beat, where you’ll find an inside look into what people are clicking on Google. This week, we cover everything from Columbus Day to Brett Favre and the buzz around “Cigar Guy.”

We hope you find these updates useful. Stay tuned for more next week.

Posted by Johanna Wright, Director, Search Product Management

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

FORECAST: Right-wing money to rain on Mass – severe flooding expected

10/17/2010 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Today, the Washington Post reported that “the final two weeks of the campaign will not be for the faint of heart. A torrent of money, much of it from outside groups whose donors are not disclosed, will rain down on states and congressional districts, disproportionately for Republican candidates. The money will underwrite a barrage of ads, almost all of them wholly negative and highly personal.”

The congressional district I represent will not escape this gloomy forecast of right-wing “rain.” Yesterday, a shadowy political organization based in Nevada announced that it will spend approximately $200,000 to defeat me and one of my Democratic colleagues in Massachusetts. Last week, the Tea Party Express announced that I would be one of their top targets in the entire country. Can outside right-wing organizations rain enough money on Massachusetts to alter the outcome of an election? Sadly, they can.

You can help me fight this dark, threatening storm which threatens free elections.

The right is not only trying to defeat me personally; it wants to undermine many of the things I have spent my career fighting for. It would like to roll back a new law to prevent abusive practices by credit card companies, eliminate safeguards against predatory lending, revoke new regulations on risky practices by large financial firms, block new rules on executive compensation, privatize Social Security, prevent reductions in excessive military spending, and restrict a woman’s right to choose.

Please help me ride out this storm so I can continue to fight for the things we care about most. I will be grateful for your help.
Barney Frank

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

From the Field Updates …a message from Jon Vogel

10/17/2010 Nativegrl77

I can’t thank you enough — because of you Democrats are surging in these final weeks.

With your help, we reached our goal of $500,000 for rapid response and wired urgent support to our campaigns for television ads for next week and to send even more on-the-ground support.

While shadowy outside GOP front groups continue to barrage our candidates with attack ads, we have planned for the final two weeks, a $40 million wave of television ads for Democratic campaigns nationwide and to continue our $20 million voter contact program.

So far, our efforts are paying off and we are seeing poll numbers move, BUT we can take nothing for granted. The margin of victory on many of these races are small and this is the time to go all in.

For the final two weeks, my strategists and I see about a $300,000 gap for what we need before Tuesday’s two weeks out deadline. Can you help us again with another generous gift? Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

Some other updates from the field:

Another Bad Week for the GOP

This week, Republican candidates have been consumed by one media firestorm after another:

First, there was news that police are investigating one of their most highly-touted candidates for an alleged sexual assault of a potential campaign volunteer.
Then, photos surfaced of one of their tea party candidates dressed as a Nazi in World War II reenactments.
Lastly, NBC News reported that GOP candidate Allen West has ties to an infamous motorcycle gang and crime syndicate, the Outlaws.The Department of Justice has said the Outlaws are a gang known for making and distributing meth, committing homicide, and prostitution. The Outlaws have a history of denigrating women and considering women property – actually branding women like cattle.

What’s worse? These are just a couple of the Republican extremists running in battleground races. Early voting has already started in many states so we have to act fast to expose the troubling records of the Republicans’ radical “Young Gun” candidates before Tuesday’s TV ad buy deadline.

Check out our GOPMisfires.com website and help us expose these Republicans’ radical records.

Early Voting and Voter Outreach Continues

Your dollars have enabled Democrats in hard-fought races to fight back with ads and launch their state-of-the-art voter contact efforts. But it’s too close for comfort with so many like these running in battleground races.

There is no margin for error and every dollar you give has an impact. We have already been on the air with over $17 million in television ads and it’s working. Our poll numbers in key districts are moving!

Early voting has started and so has our voter outreach programs. Phone banks are 7 days a week here at headquarters and voter outreach programs continue over in 75 districts across the country. It costs $28 to outfit a grassroots canvasser with the proper supplies — consider sponsoring 1 or even 2 canvassers today. Contribute today >>

Together, we can be the difference between victory and defeat for Democrats and keeping these and many other right-wing extremists out of Congress. But we must raise $300,000 before Tuesday’s deadline to wire money to the field to fund next week’s campaign activities.

Just days left: Contribute before Tuesday’s two weeks out deadline so we can raise the $300,000 we need to fund next week’s activities for Democrats in too-close-to-call races.

Onward to Victory,

Jon Vogel
DCCC Executive Director

~ my 2cents ...

Weekend review &some News -The Heritage Foundation

10/17/2010 Nativegrl77

***Lately, cableheads have been giving out sources for their various claims with the preface of who and where they got their accurate, good or great News info lately and for a news junkie it slightly amused me, definitely annoyed me so the rant is on. I watch and listen to all things Political on the tele but i rarely feel any group, single person or guest on cable is truly giving me the truth. It is all opinion News and while we all know this the News just seems different since the first African-American President was elected by 53%. I get the impression from some stations that they are still having a tough time with it and quite possibly the stations who probably are folks leaning to the right of all issues paying folks to those of us left of center tidbits that seems reasonable, fair and balance though i still am not drinking the kool-aid. If you are paying attention you hear what talkingheads consider then spew the news over the course of a 15minute set and all of a sudden a jab, a knock or personal complaint is thrown at President Obama or “The Government” without naming names… which is not just offensive to me but the viewer should get it most cableheads lean right .

The article below was first written February of 2009. I only included a portion of it, so if you want to read the complete article i guess you have to go to their website but it is apparent the article was intended for fellow members of the Heritage Foundation. The problem for me is that this group was on just about every News station all during the 2008 election campaign giving out information that the public was asked to absorb and believe as the truth …We are now about 2 years later and while they are not on main stream tv as much the rhetoric has become nastier and they have taken to CSPAN with what I consider dangerous rhetoric. The point is that the Heritage Foundation is not a neutral organization as many have claimed and even ed shultz had to question their intent last week as well as a few other cableheads. If you are listening to Republicans on any given day on any talk show all you hear are talking points given to them by the Heritage Foundation and these candidates are spewing them almost verbatim…it is offensive. This article grabbed my attention in 2/2009 and it just keeps being played over and over verbally by the right even now.

Welfare Spendathon

Stimulus Bill Abolishes Welfare Reform and Adds New Welfare Spending …

by Robert E. Rector and Katherine Bradley … To heritage foundation members

But overturning welfare reform is just the beginning. In his recent press conference, President Obama explained that the stimulus bill would provide “tax relief” and “direct investment” in infrastructure. He neglected to mention that of the $816 billion in new spending and tax cuts in the House stimulus bill–32 percent or $264 billion–is new means-tested welfare spending, providing cash, food, housing, and medical care to poor and low income Americans.[5] (The figure in the Senate bill is about 15 percent lower.)

I have to ask is what the Heritage Foundation saying truly an American attitude?

jus sayin

Other News …

UW Husky -35 Oregon -34 Dbl OT

Did you know that Olympic College in Wa.State decided they did not like the 1st amendment so they banned it… when will this action be challenged?

Several Hilton Hotels are experiencing worker strikes -3rd day of strikes

11thousand cribs, made in China have rail hardware problems sold in JCP 2003-2007 models

NOW backs candidate Jerry Brown for Gov of California

Candidate Conway Vs. Rand Paul live on CSPAN at 7pm ET

Federal Tax Credit for improvements ends on 12/31

The debate: Sen. Patty Murray V Dino Rossi at 7pm on komo4 online: komonews.com

President Obama and Mrs. O will be in Ohio campaigning