World Philosophy Day: Something to think about.

Philosophy was one of my favourite subjects in school. Today it is world philosophy day (so I just learned) and the BBC has a thought-provoking article with 4 questions guaranteed to make you think... twice.

iPhone Google application baffled by British accents

"The free application, which allows iPhone owners to use the Google search engine with their voice, mistook the word "iPhone" variously for "sex," "Einstein" and "kitchen sink". AFP.
I can't imagine what my French accent would have produced...

The Long Tail: When faith meets facts

Thought-provoking article from Tom Slee in the Register. Is the long-tail a theory that flies in the face of real-world evidence? More on his long tailed debunked blog.

The economics of Spam: 0.00000008% response rate = $3.5M turnover

Academics at Berkeley used the "Storm botnet" network to blast 350 million emails for "male enhancement products" at a cost of about $80 per million emails sent. 28 sales resulted with an average purchase price of $100. They estimated that such campaigns when fully utilising the network could mean gross revenues of $7,000 to $9,500 a day, or $3.5 million a year for the spammers.

First read in The Register.

Full study here.

How to monetize bloggers' ego?

1. Create an award for "Best Blog". Include as many categories as possible so everyone stand a chance.
2. Mass-email bloggers to enter the award.
3. Charge $275 per blog for entry ($195 if you enter before November 14, $250 before December 15).
4. Mass-email bloggers to vote for their favourite blogs in the proposed categories (less work for you).
5. Laugh all the way to the bank. Repeat next year.

Chapeau!

Monks brawl at Jerusalem shrine

BBC video. So much for "turn the other cheek"...

The World has voted: Change we can finally believe in

Across the World, Obama won 9,115 electoral colleges vote against 203 for McCain. The only countries where McCain overtook Obama were Iraq, Algeria and Congo. See full results on the Economist website (Courtesy of El Blogador). In the U.S., the race was narrower with 52% of votes to Obama v. 47% for McCain (CNN).

Obama and McCain: Dance Off!

Awesome.

Skiving Aussie busted on Facebook

On the Register.