There’s a screen in the lobby of the Googleplex which displays a continuous scrolling record of live searches on Google. Video here, courtesy of Robert Scoble. First thing that stuck me: the number of queries in Spanish. Second thought: it’s clearly been censored to take out the er, adult searches.
Daily Archives: October 21, 2006
A Textbook Answer to School Violence
Truly, you couldn’t make this up…
In the wake of recent school shootings, a candidate for Oklahoma state superintendent of education has announced a bold new proposal to keep kids safe without spending more on school security. Republican Bill Crozier suggests that students can defend themselves from school shooters by using textbooks to stop bullets fired at them. “If elected” he promises that thick used textbooks will be placed at the ready under every school desk.
Crozier recently tested his theory by doing what millions of students only wish they could do: fire round after round into a Calculus and science textbook with an assault rifle and handguns. Even better, he made a home video of his experiment and provided an unedited copy to a local Oklahoma City television station…
I always knew my copy of Samuelson would come in useful sometime.
Google partners with Sun in new power play
Er, before you go out and buy shares in Sun Microsystems, though, it would be worth checking the Official Google Blog…
Soon we plan to begin installation of 1.6 megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels at our Mountain View campus. This project will be the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the U.S., and we think it’s one of the largest on any corporate site in the world. The panels will cover the roofs of the four main buildings of the Googleplex, and also those of two additional buildings across the street. There will also be a portion of this installation on new solar panel support structures in a few parking lots. The amount of electricity that will be generated is equivalent to powering about 1,000 average California homes. We’ll use that electricity to power several of our Mountain View office facilities, offsetting approximately 30% of our peak electricity consumption at those buildings…
YouTube’s copyright liabilities
Here’s something I missed. According to Good Morning Silicon Valley,
Shortly before the acquisition was announced, Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony BMG each received a small stake in YouTube as part of content deals with the video sharing company. The three companies collectively stand to receive as much as $50 million from the deal, which will no doubt make them a bit more reticent than they once might have been to pursue copyright-infringement claims against the site.
Shrewd move by Google.