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Google Gets Glam With a Makeover From Fashion's Brightest

A good designer can find inspiration in anything. Similarly, a good search engine can be used to find everything.Yet, beware of Google, good readers. While the super-company has conquered all things virtual from e-mail to maps, the world of high fashion is a tough one to master.

Teaming up with the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund (which basically picks and chooses, based on talent, hype and creativity, what fashion designers we'll be adoring in about four years), Google challenged designers to produce sartorial search engine gear. Young hopefuls, like Patrik Ervell or Sophie Theallet, interpreted Google, creating homepage themes and prints, and then created a garment or accessory infused with The Big G.

Google's three favorites were released last week, and, while the simple search box doesn't exactly scream 'The Devil Wears Prada,' the three creations are actually decently wearable. A tee, by womenswear designer Gary Graham, is a vintage-y shirt with a red Google marker emblazoned on the front. Duo Ohne Titel imbued a cardigan with the Goog's signature primary colors (with a similar scarf for sale), and House of Waris fabricated an antiqued magnifying glass for old-fashioned 'search.'

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Nickelback Vs. a Pickle: Latest Facebook Meme Asks the Tough Questions

Because these are the kinds of things that curious minds ponder, we're sure you've spent many a wee hour asking yourself if Nickelback sucks and how they could've ever accrued over 1 million fans on Facebook. That's twice the size of Boston, for Scott Stapp's sake! Well, the citizens of Facebook have heard your cry of confusion, and they've devised a brand new meme to finally answer the question, once and for all -- random object by random object. Because doppelgangers are sooo last week, the newest trend to take over Facebook mini-feeds has users asking each other questions like: "Is nondescript, everyday household item 'x' more popular than inexplicably popular public figure 'y'?"

As Mashable reports, the latest victim is Justin Bieber, pop singer extraordinaire. According to a recently created fan page, Bieber is less popular than your average onion ring (although, considering how delicious onion rings are, that may not have been a very fair fight). The Bieber v. Onion Ring online tribunal page was created at the beginning of the month, and, before you start feeling sorry for the 16-year-old, you should know that he may stand to make some cash off of his popular unpopularity; several businesses have reportedly approached him about advertising on the platform.

Similar sites have already been set up to take aim at other polarizing pop culture figures, like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (who, by the way, also lost to this apparently unbeatable onion ring). As for Nickelback? Well, they're still pretty far ahead of their dill pickle opponent. We'd like to see them take on someone their own size, though -- someone like the onion ring. [From: Mashable]

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Are the Health Hazards of Cell Phones Being Covered Up?

Are the Health Hazards Of Cell Phones Being Covered Up?Grab your tinfoil hats everyone. We're going on a wild ride through the world of cell phone radiation, industry cover-ups, and government complicity.

If you've been following Switched, or tech news at all, you know that one of the most contentious debates right now is over wireless technology and its effects on the human body. Studies come out nearly every week, alternately declaring cell phone and Wi-Fi radiation safe and announcing its responsibility for countless health issues. GQ's Christopher Ketcham did some digging and turned out one of the most thought-provoking (if slightly alarmist) articles on the physiological effects of wireless radiation we've ever read.

According to Ketcham's article, the lack of a scientific consensus doesn't spring from the difficulty of observing subtle shifts in biochemistry, or from maintaining viable documentation of the long-term effects. Instead, Ketcham, and his sources, most notably neuroscientist Allan Frey, accuse both the communications industry and the Defense Department of actively covering up the truth, and exerting influence over government agencies and the scientific community here in the U.S.

While that might sound like the ramblings of a paranoid Fox Mulder type, it's not as insane as it seems. Private industry has a long and proud history of covering up its own health hazards, while convincing the government to turn a blind eye. The tobacco industry, asbestos manufacturers, and the makers of both DDT and Agent Orange long denied and actively hid overwhelming evidence that their products caused cancer and other health problems.

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Your Choice of Search Engine Says a Lot About You

What does your search engine say about you? Well, if you believe a new study from a group of marketing agencies, it says a lot. A group that included Wunderman, BrandAsset Consulting, Zaaz, and Compete set out to learn about the shopping habits and brand preferences of search users. Google users tend towards Target and Amazon, while Bing users (despite apparently being "early adopters") are more likely to go to Walmart. Oddest of all, Yahoo! users showed a "strong preference" for Sprint and AT&T over Verizon or T-Mobile.

The study claims that your favorite search engine doesn't merely indicate a preference for JetBue or a tendency to buy Toyotas. The companies believe they were able to build complex psychological profiles of the various engines' average users. Google customers are "the average Internet Joe" -- conventional, yet open to trying new things. Yahoo! users, on the other hand, tend to be older, lack imagination, and feel like they can't control their future.

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Even Fictional Characters and TV Shows Need Social Networks

Even Fictional Characters Need Social Networks

The real world has more than enough social networking sites to keep us occupied for decades. The TV world doesn't have the time to address the differences between Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and DoggySpace, though -- not to mention the potential legal issues with placing MySpace at the center of a plot about a child molester. Often, TV shows and movies create catch-all fictional social networks that serve whatever purpose the plot demands.

'Law and Order: SVU' has FaceUnion, '30 Rock' has YouFace, and the novel 'Snow Crash' has the Metaverse. All of these are included in Geekosystem's 'Pocket Guide to Fictional Social Networks'. Our favorite, and perhaps strangest, entry on the list is YouTwitFace; from its beginnings as a one-liner in Conan O'Brien's 'In the Year 3000' sketch, it has spawned a mock developer blog.

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Impressive 'Siri' App Makes Your iPhone a Virtual Assistant

Siri is a new voice search and "virtual assistant" application for the iPhone that takes "natural language" requests and turns them into actionable results. For example, ask Siri "where can I get the best sushi," and it will, using the iPhone's GPS, search Yelp to find recommended sushi restaurants near you. Using Nuance, the same speech-to-text engine that powers popular tools like Jott and ...

Remixing Violence in Super Bowl Ads, Web Celebs Celebrate the Internet

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. whirled interactive flexed its video slicing skills with this insane video mashing up every violent act, and there were tons, from all of the 2010 Super Bowl ads. ...

Keg on Wheels: 'Heineken Bot' Rolls Around and Pours Beer for You

Share It's not too often that we get to write two of our favorite words -- beer and robot -- in the same sentence. So when suds and bots combine to form some unholy creation, it's a good day at the office. Enter the latest amalgamation, the brand-specific "Heineken Bot," which is basically a miniature keg on wheels. Think of it as a Roomba, but way cooler and more drunk. According to Engadget, ...

The Hunchback of Cupertino: Will the iPad Kill Your Back?

Share It's only been a couple of weeks since Steve Jobs revealed the iPad to the world and the naysayers are crawling out of the woodwork. But it's not a bunch of nerds that are criticizing the new tablet's features. Rather, it's scientists who say the iPad could be hazardous to your health. According to Live Science, the iPad's design (and that of some other mobile devices) encourages users ...

Googlemobile Got By German GPS Pranksters

Remember when Google rolled out its Street View feature and everybody was suddenly up-in-arms about their privacy? Well, the tables were recently turned for a day in Germany. According to Mashable, some Berlin artists known as the Free Art & Technology (F.A.T.) group secretly attached a GPS device to one of Google's Street View cars over the weekend. In a hilarious bit of irony, the ...
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