CAPE Town-based internet entrepreneur Henk Kleynhans, founder of WiFi hotspot service provider Skyrove, comments in his blog on the company’s website that he recently had occasion to use Google Trends as part of his research for a planned online ad campaign.
Unfortunately, he writes, while Google Trends is a great way to see what people are searching for on the internet, it doesn’t tell you exactly how many searches there are for a particular term, so the best option is to compare terms against each other.
And since it is common knowledge that one of the most commonly searched terms on Google is “sex”, he decided to benchmark the word against the term he was interested in: “internet”.
“Incredibly, more people in SA are now searching for ‘internet’ than there are looking for ‘sex’!” Kleynhans writes. “I’m not sure what conclusions to make yet, but it’s certainly interesting!”
And the local organising committee for the 2010 Soccer World Cup should probably be told that Kleynhans also did a comparative analysis of the terms “2010” and “internet” and found that while “2010” recently took the lead in the US, this has not yet happened in SA.
Feeling the weight of age
THE Insider has just celebrated her birthday in the usual excessive style, and ended up contritely back at the gym the following day.
But there was a sobering moment on the exercise bike, when she realised she now had to add another year to her age — and another kilogram to her weight.
Perhaps another year, another kilo is the way it’s always going to be once you get into your 40s.
How Mary became Terry
A TORTOISE’s zookeepers in Cleveland, US, are the ones feeling slow because, after more than 50 years, they’ve discovered “Mary” is actually a male.
Officials at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo say it can be tough to establish the sex of a giant Aldabra tortoise as the reproductive organs normally aren’t visible.
But Mary’s maleness was unexpectedly revealed earlier this month during a routine examination.
Spokesman Tom O’Konowitz said the zoo had decided to rename the tortoise Terry.
When the 180kg reptile arrived at the zoo in 1955, it was assumed he was a she because of a flatter shell, shorter tail and all-around smaller size than most males.
The tortoise is estimated to be between 75 and 100 years old.
Going the distance for news
AN ELDERLY man who went to get a morning newspaper, ended up driving nearly 650km after getting lost and taking a wrong turn onto a n Australian highway, police said.
The man, 81-year-old Eric Steward, eventually stopped and asked for directions after driving for nine hours, from the New South Wales country town of Yass to Geelong in the southern Victoria state. Steward, who did not know where he was, eventually approached a policeman at a petrol station and asked for help late, Reuters reports.
What can you do for web?
THE launch of Wikipedia, the emergence of the iPhone and the election of US President Barack Obama were among the 10 most influential moments on the internet in the past decade, according to the annual Webby awards.
Other events singled out by the New York-based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences were this year’s Iranian election, when protests demonstrated the power of Twitter and other social network in reshaping democracy.
Wise words
“ART is making something out of nothing and selling it.” US musician, singer and songwriter Frank Zappa (1940-1993).
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