It might be fair to say that the results were a bit skewed, though their sample size was enormous (billions of searches), and the presence of Google+ is a bit suspect. Sorry, Facebook. Obviously, many who read this might not have cared (cared enough to search) about any one of these items. Must have been your coworkers.

We often wonder what a future alien race (join me in my presupposition) will think of us when they find artifacts from our civilization (eg a thigh master). This is one of those things. What will they think of us when they pull up our collective browser history?

Again, these were the fastest rising searches in 2011. This is not a list of the most often searched terms. That list would have to include things like weather, porn, poker, flights, etc…. Nevertheless, there are some remarkable things from 2011 missing from this particular list. If you visit the page, you’ll see other collections such as fastest falling and category specific lists of fastest rising searches. They also break it down geographically, so you can see the United States specific lists. Seems I should have been paying more attention. Who is Ryan Dunn?

Fascinating stuff. The numbers tell a story.

FYI: Google Zeitgeist 2010

Image Source: http://www.googlezeitgeist.com/

I FOUND IT!

Donate a book to the Richmond Book Drive via Amazon and get the album. This is such a fantastic idea. I’ve already donated my book. The process was easy and only took a couple of minutes. You should do it.

If you’re one of those people who haven’t heard of Pomplamoose…tsk, tsk. How does it feel being left out? Do something about it. Go listen.

Mr. Poteet addressed the friendly crowd of social media and blogging experts at Blog Indiana 2010 (#BIN2010). Very entertaining. Quite savvy. Paul seems to be nearly omnipresent, at least omniINDYpresent, and he’s all over the webz.

www.paulpoteet.com
http://twitter.com/paulpoteet

There is more than corn in Indiana. We gots blogs!

Tomorrow is my first Blog Indiana. I’m looking forward to stewing in some especially creative juices. As at any conference, the informal, hallway sessions will probably be worth the price of registration. Let’s hope the coffee is good.

There are many great session on the schedule and I’ll probably have a tough time sitting in one place for very long. It’s still interesting to me that conferences like this one, full of ADHD types, still have formats where people sit still, face forward, and hold their questions til the end. But hey! If you can sell tickets, more power to ya.

BTW, the first person who comes up to me at the conference and says, “Gerald Ford”, will get some sort of drink on me.

Our first time seeing the team play will be in Chicago the first weekend of September. I can’t wait!

Chicago is definitely as far north as they come. Most everything is down south, though there is a weekend in Nashville.

Notice the big game on September 18. They’ll be taking on Ohio State (I love to see the Buckeyes lose.) They’re a big time team and will be the toughest match of the year. It’s a sign the program is already starting to get more respect.

Here’s Emily’s roster pic. She stays with #11. (like the amps in Spinal Tap)

I spent a couple of years working for Starbucks when they first came to town. 10 years ago or so. Before that I was a regular customer at the location in my neighborhood (Disclaimer: i might still be the Mayor http://foursquare.com/venue/564244).

I remember hearing all the arguments about why they weren’t going to offer free internet access. Because of that, I spent a lot more time at the Panera at the other end of the strip mail. At that point they didn’t even have wi-fi. I was plugging in. How quaint!

Not everyone likes the taste of Starbucks coffee. I realize that. Though I’m not a rabid fan, I do prefer it to Panera’s coffee. Had the ‘Bucks provided a free connection I would have spent a lot more money (emphasis on “more”) and time with them. They would have had a greater opportunity to sell me more music and pastries (the big money maker). They would have truly been my third place (blogged about this on Smaller Indiana.)

Two questions.

Do you think Starbucks would have been much better off going this direction years ago?

Why doesn’t Einstein’s have wi-fi? (just curious, as I do like their coffee)

(my dad with my brothers, not sure why Jason is muggin')

For many people, it is a painful reminder of their own experience of fatherhood. Perhaps a good dad was taken too soon; perhaps a horrible father wasn’t taken soon enough; perhaps there was not one at all beyond the initial biological instigation.

Remarkably enough, the U.S. Congress delayed any sort of official recognition of Father’s Day out of a concern that it would become commercialized (we need that Congress now!). The cynic in me agrees with that sentiment. However, as someone who has begun to appreciate the role of tradition (i.e. holidays) in human life and culture, I’m grateful for the opportunity to say THANKS! to my dad and for the reminder to give due consideration to my own efforts to be a good father.

As a father to two incredibly, amazing, marvelous daughters, I am humbled by the enormity of the responsibility, intimidated by the scope of the task, and thankful for the grace given by The Father that has, so far, enabled me not to completely botch the assignment. Though they are now adults, I will continue to work at being the father they need and a dad who’s easy to love. (or, as the Scriptures command, one who doesn’t exasperate his children)

To all those dad’s doing their best – keep up the good work! Nothing else matters as much. To all those fathers hurting their children – may God have mercy on you because the rest of us won’t. To all those young men who might risk giving me a grandson – you’d better think twice. (I’m not afraid to go back to prison.)

my two beauties

A Few Fast Facts on Father’s Day (from the great Wiki):

• Holiday (or version of) observed in 55 countries
• Idea originated with a Presbyterian woman
• First observance in 1910 in Spokane, WA
• Became a national holiday in 1972

More interesting stats on fathers and Father’s Day from the Census Bureau.