Friday, 1 February 2002

Half of Google's revenue comes from selling text-based ads that are placed near search results and are related to the topic of the search. Another half of its revenues come from licensing its search technology to companies like Yahoo.

The catalog search is a good example of a new service, because it was done in six months by two people. Because Google already has the infrastructure, it's relatively easy to add new services.

Wednesday, 30 January 2002

Tuesday, 29 January 2002

"...Intelligence can find solutions where there are none. Psychologists once locked an ape in a room for which they had arranged only four ways of escaping. Then they spied on him to see which of the four he would find. The ape escaped a fifth way."
-- Robert A. Heinlein, Tunnel in the Sky

Monday, 28 January 2002

The Congress Online Project, a venture funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, evaluated the Web sites of all 605 House and Senate personal offices, committees and leadership offices. Just 10 percent received grades of A or B, while 90 percent got grades of C or below.

...lawmakers have a different agenda from the constituents, lobbyists and journalists who are searching the Web. As the report notes, those accessing the sites "are seeking basic legislative information such as position statements, rationales for key votes, status of pending legislation, and educational material about Congress. However, offices are using Web sites primarily as promotional tools -- posting press releases, descriptions of the members' accomplishments, and photos of the member at events."

The best sites, according to the project, correctly identify their audience; provide up-to-date, targeted content; offer opportunities for interaction; are easily used; and employ creative innovations.

The report also outlined several mistakes other lawmakers were making ... includ[ing] engaging in excessive self-promotion, failing to provide fresh content and including so many graphics that visitors have to wait several minutes to download the site.

In August, after President Bush underwent a physical exam, the White House reported that his resting heart rate was 43 beats per minute. ... White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters the day after Bush's fainting spell that the president's resting heart rate was 51 beats per minute.

...up until now, the White House has not volunteered, and the media has not reported, that the president's slow heart rate is due to a heart arrhythmia called sinus bradycardia. But now the White House is confirming this.

Generally speaking, a slow heart rate is a sign of a healthy heart, and many well-conditioned athletes have resting heart rates well below the normal 70-100 beats per minute. ... But one common problem associated with bradycardia is fainting.

Had the press known that President Bush has sinus bradycardia, and that fainting is a common symptom of bradycardia, the story might have been reported much differently. But the press didn't ask the right question, and the White House didn't volunteer the right answer.