Online Literacy Makes Information Warfare Easier
October 21, 2011
If you are a fan of information warfare, disinformation, and weaponized data—you will find that opportunities for “shaping” content are going to become more plentiful.
Common Dreams reported on a thought-provoking study about just the opposite of that. The article entitled, “Study: Many College Students Not Learning to Think Critically,” provides an overview of research that once again says U.S. education isn’t making the grade.
New York University Sociologist Richard Arum conducted a study which followed 2,322 traditional-age students from the fall of 2005 to the spring on 2009 from 24 different colleges and universities–all ranging in selectivity. He took into account their testing data and survey responses.
Fort-five percent did not have any significant improvement in critical thinking, reasoning, or writing skills after the initial two years. Even after four years the percentage held strong at thirty-six percent remaining stagnant.
These depressing results are not because the curriculum has stayed the same in changing times: a common misconception. In fact much of education theory centers around collaborative learning. However, Arum’s study shows that independent students make more gains.
The article states:
I’m not surprised at the results,” said Stephen G. Emerson, the president of Haverford College in Pennsylvania. “Our very best students don’t study in groups. They might work in groups in lab projects. But when they study, they study by themselves.
The fact that this is the first study that has followed a cohort of undergraduates to determine if they are learning specific skills is meaningful in and of itself. We as a society don’t feel the need to analyze and research what we perceive to be successful. Everyone from teachers, taxpayers, politicians, to students are spending too much time criticizing and analyzing our education system instead of investing in it–emotionally and financially.
Interesting and somewhat disconcerting. But since we don’t do news and are owned by an addled goose, the Beyond Search staff wouldn’t know good information if it fell in the goose pond. That’s okay for us in rural Kentucky. For others, hmmmm.
Megan Feil, October 21, 2011
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Baidu Gains International Ground
October 16, 2011
Baidu, the leader in Chinese search, is launching itself into the international market. Quietly but surely, the Asian giant is gaining international ground. “Baidu Launches International Marketing Efforts,” explains more.
The article provides details:
Last month the company branched out to Egypt and Thailand, in addition to their presence in China and Japan. Now it appears they are reaching further abroad, looking to get advertisers to buy paid search and “Brand Zone” advertising.
Brand Zone is their partner product, aimed at allowing brands the opportunity to advertise in China with Baidu. Online advertising is clearly an emerging market in China. With both internet access and personal income growing exponentially, China is expected to be an investors playground in the coming years. Baidu and its newest venture could be worth a look for investors interesting in tapping China’s potential.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 16, 2011
Can the Sum of Digital Media be Classified?
October 13, 2011
The ALRC Discussion Paper released today contains 44 proposals relating to a proposed new National Classification Scheme. It suggests that at its heart will sit a new Classification of Media Content Act. It will identify what content needs to be classified, who should do it, and who has responsibility for breaches of the guidelines.
How Do You Separate the Information From the Disinformation?
October 13, 2011
A healthy dose of skepticism is always beneficial. From Scienceblogs.com comes a post by Orac entitled, “The architects of a ‘disinformation campaign’ against homeopathy are revealed.”
In this entry, Orac critiques a recently published Huffington Post article, “Dana Ullman: Disinformation on Homeopathy.” His main problem lies in the author’s reliance on ad hominem fallacies to take the place of a logical argument.
Orac goes back and forth quoting Ullman’s article and throwing jabs at it in addition to homeopathy:
[S]cientific experiments are designed primarily to falsify, not to prove, hypotheses. That’s where Ullman gets it wrong. He wants an experiment to “prove” homeopathy…If homeopathy can stand up to such hypothesis testing, then that’s an indication that the hypotheses that represent the central concepts of homeopathy might have some validity. They didn’t.
Our position is to remain cynical of anything without empirical evidence. A disinformation campaign seems like it would fall under the category of things I’d question.
The problem with searching for definitive answers on topics such as this, especially in the arena of science, is that non-biased research and reports are hard to come by.
Megan Feil, October 13, 2011
Google Predicts Video Games’ Successes
October 11, 2011
An increase in searches for game titles on Google and YouTube signal an awareness of the titles and the desire to acquire them, providing insight into sales. Google analyzed search activity for title terms of the top 15 games of 2010 and 2009, such as “Call of Duty,” “Black Ops,” and “COD Black Ops,” on Google and YouTube. The average search activity per title in 2010 rose 24% on Google and 28% on YouTube, jumping 25% in overall search activity.
About.com Staff Lay Off: Slow Ad Sales Lead to Changes
October 10, 2011
Google’s search algorithm changes are hurting more than just the average search user.
About.com posted weak revenues in the most recent quarter and attributed the lag to changes in Google search and slow ad sales. The site’s revenues dropped 10.2 percent in the last quarter. In hopes for some stability, The New York Times’-owned company recently laid off 15 editorial staffers and will be hiring 10 replacements as they reconstruct the site’s mission.
Yahoo News’ article, “About.com lays off staffers; hires replacements” shares more about the changes.
[Kristin Mason, a spokeswoman for the internet company, said] 10 new full-time positions will be created, with outgoing staff members to be given “first-priority” to apply for the new posts. She said many are expected to be rehired. The organization will be broken into four groups: uide Operations & Recruitment, About Editorial & Quality Review, Site Review and Community Tools. This is intended to improve the site’s focus and quality.”
Even with promises of “first-priority” for outgoing staff members, there will still be five positions completely cut from the company. To me, this doesn’t look like simple reconstruction with hopes for stability. This looks like brute force cost reduction in its purest form.
Andrea Hayden, October 10, 2011
Google Opens Retail Store: Search Engine Identity Crisis
October 9, 2011
After the huge release of Google+, a pretty direct attack on Facebook, Google is now going directly after the Apple giant in the form of retail outlets.
A spokesperson claims it is just something the company is playing around with, but we learn in Business Insider’s article,“Google Just Opened Its First Retail Outlet In London,” there is plenty of room for this “experiment” to grow:
…this is exactly how Microsoft got into the retail game a few years ago: by creating ‘Microsoft stores’ within big outlets like Circuit City, Best Buy, and — yes — PC World in 2008. It learned what it needed to know…Google doesn’t have enough products to sell to justify its own line of retail stores. Yet. But by the time it does, look for a gleaming chain ofGoogle Stores to sell whatever it comes up with.
Is this experiment in retail sales really a core competency of Google? I think not. Search engines seem to be having a major identity crisis these days, with Google in the lead. Attempts to tackle every market available may leave major areas of search engine systems weak. I assume rectifying the realm of search should be at the top of the agenda, but I remain wrong.
Andrea Hayden, October 09, 2011
Craigstant Not So Helpful to Job Seekers
October 8, 2011
If you haven’t figured it out, Craigstant is the combination of Craigslist and Instant. You can search any Craigslist location simply by typing what you want. That’s about all there is to it. The downside of using Craigstant instead of proper search is that you’ll miss out on things like picture previews and additional search filters, but if you just want pure speed it can deliver.
Panda Strikes Again
October 7, 2011
What a surprise! Panda, the Google algorithm that punishes the unworthy and elevates the noble among Websites, rewards its own services. These Google-owned beneficiaries include YouTube and Android.com, both of which gained a 10% increase with the latest Panda release, according to “Google Panda Punishes Some, Boosts YouTube.” The ReadWriteWeb article, penned by Jon Mitchell, notes:
Google maintains that the Panda updates are conducted meticulously with solely the users’ interests at heart, and it backs that up with an extensive list of criteria. But eyebrows always raise when Google makes an adjustment to search that benefits its own sites.
Raised eyebrows? But surely, this must be a coincidence. No “cooking” of search results here, right?
Other results of the recently implemented Panda 2.5 update include bad news for such sites as consumeraffairs.com, savings.com and, interestingly, prnewswire.com. Some consumer sites and tech blogs are also at a new disadvantage. (Uh-oh.) Also, some big names like Myspace, the Huffington Post, and even Amazon have fallen behind.
Some non-Google affiliated winners are Last.fm, Zappos, and the Washington Post. Interesting.
No need to fear, fellow searchers, the Panda has everything under control.
Cynthia Murrell October 7, 2011
Page Views Add Top Dog Credibility
October 3, 2011
Short honk: I wanted to capture the reference to “one billion page views.” This is a big number, and I don’t know if it is accurate. Online usage data are—ah, how shall I phrase it—somewhat malleable. The source that carried the claim was “HuffPost at One Billion Monthly Page Views: More buying, More Launching, More Hiring.” The article contained a hint of what one of the goslings called “page view envy.” I have no idea what the person was talking about. I learned:
Along with the record one billion page views, the site also said it had 37 million unique visitors in August, the largest number it has posted yet, with 5.1 million comments.
This struck me as important for one simple reason: HuffPost and Ms. Huff herself now have some additional ammunition to oust the Googler and take over AOL. In my view, Ms. Huff has what it takes to make AOL grow. The Googler in chief at AOL now has the distinction of making a deal for an acquisition that knows how to generate traffic, capture headlines, and operate in an organized fashion. Am I right? Hard to say. I wanted to capture this thought, however, because “real” journalists are not in this particular game at this time. Real journalists mostly report was Ms Huff is doing.
Stephen E Arnold, October 3, 2011
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