Google Apologizes for Offensive First Lady Image, Twitter Could Go Public
by Warren Riddle on November 24, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....
- Our beloved freedom of speech obviously entitles people to criticize government officials without fear of reprisal, but it also entitles people to be racist morons. Google has posted an apology over such behavior -- specifically for an offensive and juvenile photograph of the First Lady that wound up in the site's image search results. [From: Search Engine Land]
- Twitter's monetary worth was recently valued at an astounding $1 billion, so it seems that it's probably time for the three-year-old site to actually start making some money. Co-founder Biz Stone says that while he has no plans to sell the site, going public is certainly an option. [From: The New York Times]
- Roger Avary, the screenwriter behind 'Pulp Fiction' and numerous other hits, is currently serving time in prison on vehicular manslaughter charges. He also seems to be tweeting about his stay. Although impostors abound on Twitter, Wikipedia says it really is him, so it must be true. [From: The Los Angeles Times]
- The unofficial rules of the Internet already exist, but the U.N. is apparently investigating the implementation of the Net Ten Commandments. The organization is currently laboring on the intense and grueling project from Sharm el Sheik, one of the most beautiful resort towns on the Red Sea. Must be nice. [From: Ars Technica]
- Wikipedia claims to be the "free encyclopedia that anyone can edit." The site, though, has reportedly trimmed 50,000 editors from its ranks, leading to a flood of complaints about the editing process. Apparently, the remaining editors are also, by and large, white males. Someone needs to give Howard Zinn a call. [From: Gawker]
- The University of Stirling in Scotland recently conducted a survey which found that adults are fooled by optical illusions more often than kids. This, the researchers think, is because kids don't recognize visual context to the same degree as adults. If you'd like to experiment with your own susceptibility, you can check out these trippy illusions. [From: Wired]
- Automotive services like OnStar and SYNC have been around for years, but the technology is steadily and significantly evolving. The Economist recently profiled that evolution, highlighting one particularly impressive instance of a thwarted car-jacking. [From: The Economist]
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Comments
2
Subscribe to commentsibnYusratNov 24th 2009 11:59AM
Nevertheless, Google rocks. They shouldn't have apologized. Google cannot be held responsible for what their spiders and robots do.
http://www.muhammadbinyusrat.com
RobertNov 26th 2009 6:26AM
I agree, every time someone morphs a photo of one of the Obama's it's deemed racial. I distinctly remember President Bush's photo modified to depicting him as many different animals yet the media remained silent, why?
Google, relax and apologize no more; in fact retract the initial apology and title it;"having fun with politicians"