Great video. See how the World Searched with Google’s 2011 Zeitgeist: http://googlezeitgeist.com
Google Zeitgeist 2011: Year In Review
| December 18, 2011
Category: News
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Sesame Street
| December 17, 2011
1. Oscar The Grouch Was Orange In Season One
2. Kermit The Frog Was On Sesame Street For Many Years
3. Elmo Is The Only Puppet To Testify Before Congress
4. James Earl Jones Was The First Celebrity Guest On Sesame Street
5. Big Bird is 8’2″ Tall
6. The South African Version Of Sesame Street Has An HIV-Positive Muppet Named Kami
7. Roosevelt Franklin Was A Popular Early Character, But Was Discontinued
8. “Sing A Song” Was Originally Going To Be The Show’s Theme Song
9. Cookie Monster’s Real Name Is Sid
10. Sesame Street Was Once Sued For $5.5 Million Over Their “Let It Be” Parody “Letter B”
Free Calls Within The US And Canada Through 2012
| December 17, 2011
In case you haven’t seen this yet, Google has extended free domestic calls within the US and Canada for 2012.
As the holiday season approaches, we’re happy to announce that we’ve extended free domestic calls within the US and Canada for 2012. This is our way of helping you connect with friends and family across the country. And you can still call the rest of the world from Gmail at our insanely low rates.
Italian cat inherits $10m fortune
| December 17, 2011
Tommaso, a four-year-old, one-time stray from Rome, is thought to have become the world’s richest cat. Since the death of his 94-year-old mistress last month, he has become a property magnate — or perhaps mognate — with flats and houses worth an estimated €10m scattered from Milan in the north to Calabria in the south.
In a handwritten will, signed on 26 November, 2009, Tommaso’s mistress — the childless widow of a successful builder — gave her lawyers the task of identifying “the animal welfare body or association to which to leave the inheritance and the task of looking after the cat Tommaso”.
The Origins of 11 Big Box Stores
| December 17, 2011
Sam Walton opened his first discount store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962 and the company was officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores seven years later. The first Walmart distribution center opened in 1970. In 1983, Walmart introduced People Greeters in its stores and Walton opened the first Sam’s Club in Midwest City, Oklahoma. By 1987, Walmart had more than 1,000 stores. Today, there are nearly 9,000 locations worldwide and the company boasts revenues of more than $400 billion. And in case you were wondering, a single Walmart grocery distribution center can store four million bananas.
Is reading on the toilet bad for you?
| December 17, 2011
From the moment Ron Shaoul took it upon himself to investigate the practice of reading on the toilet, scouring medical literature and turning up nothing of note as to its public health consequences, the situation became clear that here, on his hands, was a big job.
Shaoul’s curiosity was driven by his work as a doctor specialising in paediatric gastroenterology. He mustered some colleagues, drew up a questionnaire and had hundreds of people of all shapes and sizes complete it. What resulted was perhaps the most scientific attempt yet to shine light on a habit that rustles unseen behind closed doors.
