Hubris - Google claims Adwords were responsible for Obama, McCain wins

Google's Greenberger Ties Obama, McCain Victories to Adwords Spend

That's rich. I realize people are a bit busy these days, but do they really decide how they are voting based upon ads they find beside their Google search results?

The best part of this little rant is attributing Hillary's loss to a lack of Adword spending ... where do they come up with this stuff?? I thought they only hired geniuses at Google. I guess there are marketing geniuses and then real geniuses or something:

Reading Greenberger's statements, you get the idea that spending on search ads will make or break the election. He attributes the success of John McCain and Barack Obama to their paid search campaigns. Greenberger also points out that Hillary Clinton was inconsistent in her Adwords campaign, dismantling it for the last two quarters of 2007 and starting it up again only after the New Hampshire primary.

Google should be thankful Billary pulled back from huge spends, if this New York Tomes piece is to be believed:

For Clinton, Millions in Debt and Few Options

Besides the $11.4 million of her own money that Mrs. Clinton lent her campaign, she had about $9.5 million in unpaid bills to vendors at the end of April, according to her most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.

'We don't want to pay taxes, just like veryone else'

"We're not asking for money or for funding," says association spokesman Steve Lott. "All we're asking for is a level playing field where we get treated like everyone else."

That there is the money-shot from this piece on the airline industry wanting governments to cut them some slack. Clearly ensuring airlines continue to lose money is in the public interest. God how I love peeps who are all up in the 'free market, let the market decide' house until they want government to come in and control competition, and allow them to stop paying their share. After all, we don't need healthcare and education when we have airplanes other people can afford to fly in. I believe Michael Moore coined the phrase 'corporate welfare', and even if he didn't it is most apt.

Computer + Student ≠ Education

Well knock me over with a feather!

I spent a great amount of time at the Internet Governance Forum in Rio, last November wondering aloud exactly WHY it is that "we" need to wire Africa so they can look at naked Russian teenagers like the rest of the world.

Despite the hand-wavery crowd was loudly braying that hooking up Africans would make things all better over there.

OK. Except maybe first we should, you know, fix the problems of a lack of food and electricity? I know, I know, give them computers and they will fix their own problems, and to a degree, that is indeed correct, but they are no a panacea.

So anyway, the computerization of educations appears to be a bit of a flop over in wealthier climes, too.

Thanks for the PC. What do I do with it?

CORONADO, Calif.--This probably doesn't come as a surprise to most parents, but plopping a computer down in front of a student doesn't necessarily translate into academic success.

Don Helfgott of Inspiration Software, Tom Greaves of Project Inkwell, and Jeanette Hammock of True North Logic (left to right) discuss technology in education.
(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News.com)

We've heard a lot in recent years about the One Laptop Per Child initiative, and similar competing programs, which aim to improve educational standards in various parts of the world through computing power. But according to a panel discussion at the Future in Review conference, the computer itself isn't the issue; educators need to find meaningful ways to introduce computers into their day-to-day instructional process.

I think that one thing that should be taught in school is the lesson about "The Internet is Forever". i was out for brunch with a friend and her younger sister, who is precocious but clearly on the verge of nubility and adolescence. .. I tried to give the girl a little advice about not trusting anybody with personal information online, i don't know if any of it sunk in.

The reason I did so was a couple of weeks ago when searching for a friend on Facebook, I found a young girl with the same name as my friend. She's in secondary school somewhere in America. She probably thought it wise and funny to write FUCK and ME on each of her boobs she partially flashed on her FB profile. I'm willing to bet she will come to regret that decision.