My Search Term, Myself

Books, blogs popular in recession

(NEWSER) - What with the recession, worldwide poverty, and impending environmental doom, it’s no wonder that bookshelves and the blogosphere are crammed with tales of voluntary privation and experiments in skimp. Last month there was On a Dollar a Day, about a couple's attempt to live on that amount—in San Diego. Last year, it was No Impact Man, and the web abounds with other examples. “It's like everyone is doing their own version of Lent,” a serial experimenter tells Time . More»

Search giant's leaflet designed to encourage Britons to get online

(NEWSER) - The Simple Guide to the Internet is a Google product with a difference: It's three-dimensional. The old-fashioned flier espousing the benefits of getting connected is the search giant's contribution to Race Online 2012, a push to have the whole UK online within 2 years. An estimated 10 million British adults, about one-sixth of the total population, have never been online. Google says it hopes its contribution to the campaign—which does include a website—reaches 1 million people. More»

Web petitioners change actress' mind about case

(NEWSER) - Who says a blog can’t change anything? Not the folks at Shakesville , who assembled a petition opposing actress Emma Thompson’s decision to sign a petition of her own opposing Roman Polanksi’s arrest. Somehow, one member of the community finagled a meeting with Thompson, presented the document…and actually changed her mind. “She said, while she supported Polanski as a friend, a crime is a crime.” More»

(NEWSER) - The blogger at the center of a lawsuit against Google has defended comments calling a model a skank, reports the New York Daily News. "I feel my right to privacy has been violated," said New Yorker Rosemary Porter, 29, whose identity was revealed under court order after model Liskula Cohen, 37, filed suit. "This has become a public spectacle and a circus that is not my doing. Before her suit, there were probably two hits on my web site." More»

(NEWSER) - If you think blogs are useless, think again: Scientists have developed a “hedonometer,” or happiness gauge, that analyzes personal online statements to pinpoint the overall contentment of the US population on a given day, the Discovery Channel reports. The program looks at sentences beginning with “I feel” and then grades the statement based on what follows. “Triumphant” gets an 8.87; “hostage” scores a 2.20. More»