Business
Woody’s probably spinning in his grave, but you too can buy 10 Woody Guthrie-inspired pencils, engraved with “This machine kills fascists,” the same remark Guthrie wrote on his guitar from time to time, for US$22. In a fancy box even.
Internet
Danny Sullivan, writing for search engine land, reports the Texas attorney general has launched an antitrust investigation into Google’s search rankings. The concept of “search neutrality” is an assessment of whether or not Google manipulates search rankings to improve its business at the expense of competitors. According to Claire Cain Miller, writing for the New York Times, “Some companies worry that Google has the power to discriminate against them by lowering their listings in search results or charging higher fees for their paid search ads.” Sullivan notes four vertical search companies—Foundem, SourceTool, TradeComet, and myTriggers—have filed allegations against Google. Google confirmed to Sullivan that the investigation began in July 2010.
Politics
In a last self-serving move of desperation to stop the new federal healthcare law and keep his face in the media as a potential 2012 presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has issued an executive order instructing state agencies to funnel their federal grant requests through his office. Pawlenty’s move could cost the state US$1 billion or more in federal healthcare funds according to Josephine Macrotty and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, writing for the Star Tribune. Pawlenty has already refused more than US$1 billion in grants offered to expand Medicaid coverage in the state; US$68 million for the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association (MCHA), the state’s high-risk insurance pool; US$1 million for an insurance exchange; and US$850,000 for teenage pregnancy prevention. Just about the only federal grant Pawlenty has accepted is US$500,000 for a abstinence-only sex education program that requires US$350,000 in matching funds from the state. Meanwhile, only 37% of likely voters in Minnesota would vote for Pawlenty in his presidential bid.
Privacy
Tailored ads on the web are nothing new, and targeted ads for specific products that follow the user from site to site aren’t new either, but they’re becoming pervasive. According to Miguel Helft and Tanzina Vega, writing for the New York Times, the ad industry calls this practice personalized retargeting or remarketing. Advertisers claim it’s showing customers the right ad at the right time; some users and US politicians claim it’s creepy. Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy told Helft and Vega, “It illustrates that there is a commercial surveillance system in place online that is sweeping in scope and raises privacy and civil liberties issues, too.”
User experience
Luke Wroblewski rounds up initial reactions to Apple’s Ping social media networking built into iTunes and comes away with some pretty solid additions to his social application design lessons.
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