Internet Weekly

Would You Give Up Coffee, Chocolate Or Sex For A Year To Continue Using Facebook and The Internet?

What would your answer be if asked this question?

People in various countries were asked a question. This question was what would you give up for a whole year to continue having access to your normal Internet activities such as Facebook? Would you give up sex? Would you give up fast food? Would you give up chocolate? Would you give up showering?

The group that conducted this survey was the Boston Consulting Group. Their results may surprise you.

In the US, 70 to 80 percent of the people surveyed agreed that they would give up coffee, chocolate and fast food for a year to continue being able to use their Internet regularly. This included be able to use Facebook and Twitter. Most people in other nations fell into this category, as well.

What about sex? Could you really give up sex for the Internet? Twenty-one percent of the Americans surveyed chose the Internet over having sex for a whole year. However, the Japanese love the Internet even more than we do. Fifty-six percent of the Japanese surveyed agreed that they would abstain from sex for a whole year, if they could continue using the Internet. On the other end of the spectrum, only five percent of Brazilians choose the Internet over sex.

When it comes to basic hygiene like showering, it seems like most would choose the act of showering over the Internet. Only seven percent of Americans agreed that if they had to choose between the internet and showering, the Internet would win. While only five percent of French citizens and eight percent of Brazilians felt the same.

What about you? Could you give up these things for the use of the Internet?

Sources:

cbsnews.com

The Kony 2012 Project Is Sweeping The Internet

The Situation Began In Uganda in 1987

The group is called Invisible Children. They are trying to call attention to a situation that is happening and has been happening in Uganda since 1987. They are doing this through websites and videos on the Internet. Their goal is to call attention to the situation and to the plight of the children of this nation and other nations near Uganda as the situation intensifies. The project is known as “Kony 2012.”

What is the situation? The situation began with a man named Joseph Kony. Many are calling him the world’s worst war criminal. In1987, he took over a rebel Army group in Uganda. He renamed it Lord’s Resistance Army. It is generally known as LRA.

This group is known for being cruel. Soon it ran out of soldiers to do its fighting. This is when Joseph began abducting children and making them into his soldiers. He would also rape, mutilate and kill civilians. Often these civilians would be children. He would also take these children to be his wives.

As the years passed, his army of abducted children grew. Soon the LRA army and Joseph Kony controlled areas of Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan. During these years over 30,000 children were abducted and over 2 million people were displaced, without homes.

Invisible Children is a group who is trying hard to stop Kony. They are trying to save the children. They have been working hard for nine years. They are trying to spread the word of what Kony is doing. They are trying to spread the word about his army of abducted children. This is why they have their videos on such sites as Youtube.

Their goal is to stop Kony’s army this year. They are urging the US and other governments to take action against Kony. Will they succeed to get these governments to do something?

To learn more about these efforts yourself, you can go to: kony2012.com

Google Is Still Preferred Search Engine

Despite Misgivings Over Data Collection 83% of Internet Uses Choose Google

Despite possible misgivings about privacy issues, collecting data and advertising practices, Google is still the preferred search engine by most Internet users. This data has been proven by a survey done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The survey results were released on March 3, 2012 and it showed that 87% of those surveyed stated that they still preferred Google over the other search engines. This was a rise of 47% since their last survey that was conducted in 2004.

Yahoo was the second highest rated search engine. It was down by 26% since the last survey.

Google has turned its business into a cash machine. In the last year, it has reported earnings of $36.5 billion. That is an estimated $3 billion more than it was earning in 2004.

Yet, the survey did find that its users did not like its new way of adding personal information from its data collecting. They also do not like being targeted for specific advertising. This means that if Google continues with its new platform, many once happy users may slowly begin switching over to less known search engines as they begin noticing more and more targeted ads, as they begin to turn against Google. This may mean the next survey that is done by the Pew Project may have a completely different outcome. It may even show a decrease in Google’s earnings.

An estimated 2,253 were questioned during the survey. It was taken before Google made its big platform switched on March 1, 2012.

Sources:

washingtonpost

Is Google Tracking You?

Why are they doing this?

Do you use Google’s search engine occasionally? Do you use it all the time? Do you log into your Google account when you are using their search engine? If you answered yes, then starting March 1, 2012, Google is tracking you?

Why are they doing this? They say they are doing this in the attempt to aim their advertising efforts in your direction. By tracking the sites you visit, they can learn more about you and attempt to figure out what types of advertising would appeal to you. For instance, if you are often on sites about classic cars, you do have an interest in automobiles. You will then begin to see more advertising of this nature.

Of course, this isn’t about you and your needs. It is about Google’s bottom line. They want to make more money. They want to make more money from your advertising dollars.

Many objectors are not happy at the thought of being tracked. For this reason, they may choose to quit using Google. However, experts say there are things you can do.

A user can log out of their account before they begin using the search engine. Then Google won’t know who is exactly using the computer. You can use your Google account so your history is not being recorded. Of course, if you still are fearful you are being watched you can always use another search engine and hope they aren’t tracking you.

YouTube Videos Are Getting Daytime Fans Excited Over Future Soap Episodes

Yes, Youtube has become a vital source to the many websites that features articles and to the age of the Internet in general.

Yes, there are many changes headed toward the daytime drama, “General Hospital.” Many fan favorites such as Robert, Anna, Holly, and Noah are returning. Plus, a few stars of the cancelled television daytime soap, “One Life to Live” are appearing soon. However, the funny thing is that ABC isn’t broadcasting their promos as much as the internet websites are doing. Yes, the promo for these upcoming episodes has made its round to the highly popular YouTube site. From there it has made its way into many popular television websites.

The websites talks about the changes that will be occurring on “General Hospital.” They talk about the demise of the popular character, Robin. They talk about the possible cancellation of this last remaining soap opera, itself. Yet, all the website articles turn to this video for its big story angle.

Yes, Youtube has become a vital source to the many websites that features articles and to the age of the Internet in general. If one wants to hear a song, see a promo, see a past episode of a cult show, see a past news event, see a cute cat video, or see funny gags, they turn to YouTube. This is why most people have accounts at this popular site.

As for the soap world, or rather the ABC soap world, Youtube has been a great resource for the soapers to help send their messages. Soap fans have posted their pleas on how they feel about ABC and their recent cancellations. Soap fans have posted songs about their beloved soaps. Soap fans have even begun posting actual footage of past ABC soaps to share with other soap fans. For these reasons, it makes sense that YouTube would be the site that is helping to promote the new revamped “General Hospital.” It was one of the major websites that was used to try to help save the soaps. In the end, it may even be the soaps ticket to survival.

YouTube Viral Videos from Fall 2011

Marcel, Sophia Grace and Rosie, Elderly Chinese choirs.

This fall and early winter has been rife with excellent and excellently-bad YouTube viral videos. Whether they’re good, bad or ugly, these videos are wracking up millions upon millions of views, so they’re certainly hitting some sort of nerve. Here are some of the most viral videos of the end of 2011:

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, part II. Marcel the Shell warmed our hearts a year ago with his tiny-sized life and piece-of-dust dog. The second “documentary” about the life of the tiny shell is more adorable, and, perhaps more life-affirming. This time, we get to see where Marcel sleeps (on a piece of bread), learn about the disappearance of his sister (someone asked her to hold a balloon), and meet his arch-nemesis (the family dog). We also get to remember that recognizing the little things—like Marcel the Shell—can keep us smiling all the days of our lives.

Kids’ reactions to parents eating all of their Halloween candy. On Halloween night, Jimmy Kimmel asked viewers to tell their kids that they, the parents, had eaten all of their Halloween candy. He wanted to see what kids would do—would they scream, cry, whine in disbelief? The answer is all of the above. The experiment introduced us to adorable Lance who found a single Nerds box to realize his mom was lying. We also met the New Jersey mom whose boys cried, and wondered why she didn’t just ask for candy before polishing it all off.

Sophia Grace and Rosie on Ellen. These weird little British girls have been on Ellen twice for reasons unknown to me. Both little girls wear pink tutus and sparkly tiaras. The brown-haired girl, Sophia, sings various pop hits—Nicki Minaj is her favorite superstar—in an adult voice, while the blonde one stares vacantly off in space and vaguely pantomimes singing along. When Ellen interviews them, Sophia talks constantly, while Grace barely speaks a word. I think yikes, but over 20 million views seems like they are probably proven cute.

Elderly Chinese choir sings Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” This video is so excellently weird. It starts out with Chinese women in short, white dresses playing instruments that appear to be made of ice. The women leave and we see the choir—in boxes that seem to make up a house. They sing “Bad Romance” in Chinese, but their hand gestures, which look suspiciously like the Macarena, reveal that somewhere this song got lost in translation.

What are your favorite recent YouTube sensations?