Google just added to its regular search results the posts, photos, etc. of your social circles, as they appear in Google+ (if you use it), YouTube, and other Google social products*. It's called "Search, plus Your World." Even though you and your kids can opt out entirely to get your Google searches back to the general results you've always gotten, the move has created a fairly predictable fracas. … [Read more...] about Google’s new social search results: Media literacy opp
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Net stimulates the brain: Study
A study presented this month at the Society for Neuroscience found that Internet training "could potentially enhance brain function and cognition in older adults," ScienceDaily.com reports. Researchers at University California, Los Angeles, worked with two groups of "neurologically normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 78." Everything else being pretty equal, one group was made up of … [Read more...] about Net stimulates the brain: Study
Bing: Microsoft’s new search engine
It's not just a search engine, it's "a decision engine," Microsoft says. So it's not trying to replace Google, just offer a different kind of service, one requiring fewer clicks, in some cases. "For example, if you type in the name of a city you get local weather, hotel prices and other information without having to click anywhere," reports ConnectSafely.org co-director Larry Magid in the San Jose … [Read more...] about Bing: Microsoft’s new search engine
Finding bog snorkelers in MySpace
Well, this isn't just about finding bog snorkelers (for the great unwashed, I'll get to what it is in a moment). It's about how easily journalists and other users of search engines (maybe parents too) can find people in any social-networking site. The article in Journalism.co.uk shows how easily reporters can search social sites for case studies and background info and how easily that can turn up … [Read more...] about Finding bog snorkelers in MySpace
We’re all becoming Net-trained info-gatherers
Apparently we're all becoming the rapid-fire, uncritical information hunter-gatherers we had thought only our children were. Yes, they're the digital natives but, according to a new study out of the UK, the Internet is "training" all of us to approach information this way, which may mean we all have to work extra hard now to think more critically and analytically. A just-released longitudinal … [Read more...] about We’re all becoming Net-trained info-gatherers