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Posts Tagged ‘google’

Beau and Arrow – How do you say Google in Chinese?

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Answer: You don’t.

In perhaps one of the most outstanding media affronts I have seen in my lifetime, Google (aka The UnBing, The Godly One, He Who Must Be Named) has decided to declare war on Chinese censorship. They have already begun rerouting content through Hong Kong. The Chinese have already begun mourning the loss by placing flowers at their Beijing headquarters (not kidding). Of course, no media power can claim similarities to the almighty Google, but it’s important that we clarify what is going on here. A website has decided that its unalienable rights as a search engine supersede the declarations of one of the most powerful countries on Earth. And I, in all my blog glory feel the interminable need to burst out in applause. This is so freakin’ cool! The internet vs. a country – we’re talking 21st century technological warfare. This is Freedom of Speech in a whole new light, one which I’m sure our forefathers would be proud of. Whether Sergey Brin has the chutzpah (he’s Jewish) and bravado to carry this through to the end will definitely be something to keep an eye out for.
Other matters: The woman who helps me pick out clothes at one my favorite Jersey boutiques turns out to be Ashley Tisdale’s grandmother. My niece just informed me of this colossal addition to my A-list list. (In the words of Ashley herself – “I want it all!”)
I started reading Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which I read a portion of in college and it’s totally amazing all over again. Of course, I only read the introductory pages, but if you pick up this book you’ll understand that that’s no slim feat.
My sister created her own heartbreaking work of staggering genius this past Wednesday at an event for Women in the Arts at the 92nd Street Y in Tribeca. Check it out HERE. Also, in another shameless sibling plug, that same sister also has her very own book blog. Check it out HERE.

Happy Passover! I can’t wait…

Rachel Lily

Beau and Arrow – Nielsen

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

If you don’t know who Nielsen is they’re basically the people who know everything. They know exactly how many people bought the first Harry Potter (a shmillion), how many people tuned in to watch Peyton Manning lose the Super Bowl (many millions), and how many people bought Heidi Montag’s solo album (like, 5, including her husband). They’re basically media statistic gods. I heard that they used to have a random selection of American households who they gave a clicker to, and members of the home would click in every time they watched TV. However they do it, they know their stuff. At least, I thought they did until now. Somehow, the intern e-mail address over here at Beaufort is on their mailing list, and they sent us a very interesting update to whoever cares about random media statistics. I will share an excerpt:
“Each week the typical American consumes almost 35 hrs of TV, 2 hrs of timeshifting, 4 hrs of internet, 22 minutes of online video and 4 minutes of mobile video.  Cross-media usage also continues to increase – now 59% of Americans use TV and the Internet simultaneously at least one time per month, spending 3.5 hours each month on TV and the Internet at the same time.”
I have things to say about this. First and foremost, I am not a typical American (woo hoo!). The great majority of TV that I watch is “timeshifted” (which sounds like a term from a sci-fi movie…then again, Tivo sometimes feels a bit Star Trekky). Like I mentioned many weeks back, my father is a tech-guru and felt it was our responsibility to make sure Tivo was a necessity in all homes. It passed with flying colors, but left an indellible mark on my family members – that being, for the past 10 years our patience with commericals has been nil. From my own made-up-on-the-spot statistical data, similar commercial-hating has been reported by 89% of DVR users.
Second and secondmost, 4 hours of internet sounds entirely too little. I just spent all day on the internet. Nielsen needs to have a little chat with a little company called Google. (Which, whoa! big news! was for the first time ever surpassed by another website in the number of people tuning in a month. That website? Facebook. Thank you to a very upset friend of mine for supplying this sad statistic).
Third and thirdmost, it’s about time people start multitasking more. If we can’t check our Weather Channel app while watching Lost, then we just aren’t 21st century kind of people.
Fourth and fourthmost, on a completely unrelated topic, I have added to my celeb-connection list. I was at a copy center yesterday, and a guy came in and started chewing my ear off, asking 21 questions about my life, my future and other demographic information you don’t usually share with strangers. Anyway, he said his father wrote the lyrics to Barry Manilow’s Mandy. I never had particularly positive feelings towards Barry Manilow until I watched him in an interview and he said he used to make up commercial jingles. Ready?! “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is thereeee” – Barry Manilow! And the ultimate commercial jingle of all time, “I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, cause Band-Aids stuck on me!” – Barry Manilow!!! Just that much closer to being famous…
Yours truly,

Rachel Lily

Beau and Arrow – Blogger’s Rights

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Forward movement in the NYC blogger’s bill of rights. A new law was just recently passed allowing bloggers to enter press conferences that have restricted public access. They can receive these press passes only if they have the necessary credentials (having done six reports on restricted events). While the article I read this from took a nice jab of an insult at people like me, who are lacking in such credentials as “any old yahoo with a blog,” I will put aside my pride and applaud my fellow bloggers for getting a one-uppance in the world of journalism. I am not a yahoo!

Speaking of yahoo, who uses Yahoo? Or better yet, who uses anything aside from Google these days? My blackberry has permanently defaulted Bing as my go-to search engine and I am not at all satisfied. Google = Godly.

On another note, my two best friends got married last night. To each other. Ah yes, the joy of being a bridesmaid for the 8th time in a one year period can sometimes drive me slightly over the edge of sanity, but it is a position I am for the most part extremely honored and delighted to be in. People oftentimes come up to me and wonder if I ever wear anything other than a gown. Call me Katherine Heigl, I do have a bunch. But yes, I own other clothing! I just don’t get a chance to wear them that often as I am forever walking down the aisle without an engagement ring. Make no mistake, I am not bitter about this. But my dancing feet most assuredly are.

Toodles,

Rachel Lily