Mike's List
Verbing Google

ONE OF THE UNUSUAL FEATURES OF ENGLISH is that nouns can evolve into verbs.

Linguists call it "conversion" or "zero derivation." Flip newsletter writers call it "verbing."

Silicon Valley geeks, venture capitalists and technology marketers instinctively use and abuse this unusual characteristic of the language. One of my favorites, for example, is "bucket," which is a verb here in Silicon Valley that means "to categorize conceptually," as in "we're going to bucket visitors to the site according to region."

It's no surprise that people around the English-speaking world instinctively started verbing Google, clearly the most popular search engine ever. People say things like, "I'm going to Google Janet to find out where she used to work," etc.

It's also no surprise that Paul McFedries, editor of Wordspy.com (and longtime Mike's List reader), picked up on the trend for his excellent web site, which, according to the Word Spy home page, is "devoted to recently coined words and phrases, old words that are being used in new ways, and existing words that have enjoyed a recent renaissance."

But what is surprising is that Google sent Paul a polite letter asking him to delete or modify the entry. It's surprising that they would send what is essentially a cease-and-desist to a web site that merely chronicles actual usage -- and also that the letter was polite.

Paul objected, but agreed to add trademark language to the entry.

It's interesting to note Google's special power when it comes to protection of its trademark. In addition to its phalanx of lawyers, which it can employ to sue the pants off of small businesses like Paul's, it can also easily drop web sites from the Google index, which would be totally devastating to any web-based business.

To paraphrase David Mamet's Capone, you can get further with a kind word and a search engine than just a kind word.

To its credit and to my surprise, Google has been fairly responsible about its power to muzzle web sites, and lists even web sites devoted to criticizing the company and search engine.

Still, it would have been nicer to have left Word Spy alone.

Click here to Google WordSpy
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Click here to Google WordSpy and Mike's List

The Power of USB

The internet grapevine is buzzing about a photograph apparently showing a USB toothbrush on a Japanese web site. Information is sketchy on this "product," but it appears that a store in Japan retrofit a battery powered electric toothbrush to run on electricity supplied through a PC via the USB port. Here's something real -- and almost useful -- for the blogs to buzz about: a USB coffee warmer! And how about a USB electric blanket?

Don't Try This At Home

While pundits predict "ubiquitous computing" in our future, classic arcade game enthusiast Peter Bridger (owner of the thisstrife.com web site) is making ubiquitous gaming a reality now by building what he calls a "carputer." His vision is a GPS-enabled, voice-and-touchscreen controlled, DVD-compatible Windows 2000 system built into the dashboard. Keep your eyes on the road, Peter!

Terrorism Threat-Level System Tray Icon

A new Windows utility called the Homeland Security Threat Monitor places a user-configurable icon in the system tray that displays the current "threat level" color. When it goes up, the icon blinks the new color, so you know it's time to break out the duct tape.

Geeks Just Wanna Have Fun

Venerable consumer print PC publications are struggling with circulation growth, according to new data released by Advertising Age magazine. PC Magazine grew just 0.1 percent (currently at 1,230,600 readers) and PC World Magazine's circulation dropped by 12.7 percent (currently at 1,101,056 readers). Meanwhile, Game Informer Magazine grew faster than any publication on the magazine's list of top 200 publications with a whopping 192 percent growth since last year. And PlayStation Magazine grew 37.6 percent during the same period.

New Goggles Reduce Glare

The Sumacke is a set of goggles that limits your field of vision to your PC monitor. Unlike products that reduce montitor glare, the $49.95 Sumacke from Suma Brand limits all glare except for monitor glare. The goggles come in blue and purple.  

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Found Video

Check out what Industrial Light & Magic is currently doing.

Proof You Can Buy Anything on the Web

This might be the wildest "Proof You Can Buy Anything on the Web" I've ever published. Yes, thanks to the internet, you can now have a message personally delivered to the dead. Terminally ill volunteers will memorize your message and promise to pass it along after they die to the person you specify. Afterlife Telegrams does not offer express delivery or return receipt options.

The Art Gallery

Before Theodore Seuss Geisel became the world's most beloved children's author and illustrator (Dr. Seuss), he was an ad guy. It turns out his advertising cartoons were as cool as his children's pictures.  

Mike's List on the Radio

Craig Crossman's Computer America features Mike Elgan every Thursday night. The show runs from 7pm to 9pm SVT (Silicon Valley Time). Listen to Computer America on your local Business TalkRadio station or over the Internet every weeknight. Don't miss Computer America!

Reader E-Mail

I got a ton of mail on last week's "Film Sampling" piece. Here's a small subset:

Mike,
Do you remember the movie "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" with Steve Martin. He played a gumshoe who interacted with classic film stars from the 30s and 40s. Sounds like this Mike Myers movie is similar in concept. Also, there was an episode of Star Trek Voyager a few years back where the Voyager crew went back and got themselves involved in the classic Star Trek episode "Trouble with Tribbles" with some small level of interaction. Love the list! 
Jeff

Mike,
I think [film sampling is] a great idea, and can make some movies hilariously funny. I think the first film to 'seriously' do this was "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist." That took a classic kung fu flick and made it VERY funny. Knowing Mike Meyers, the ones he does will be great.
Adam

Mike,
Well, I think that the crux is that we all still have the choice to go to see these "sampling" movies. That will be the proof whether this will make money for the producers!
Ray

Mike,
You mentioned Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lilly", when the first movie I thought of was "Zelig." Then there's "Forrest Gump"... and I loved both movies. The insertion business only added to my enjoyment of them, but it was cleverly done. What about movies that inserted live news footage as part of the storyline, such as the war flick "Midway"? I'd say that's pretty much the same thing, and helped give the film a more authentic "feel." I really couldn't agree with you more. The worst usage of the technique was for commercials, but probably only because there were shown to death and back. We'll certainly be seeing more of them.
David

Mike,
You ask if film sampling is a threat or a menace. It's not a very good choice, is it? I would say it's a threatening menace, primarily because it hasn't happened yet, so it is still just a threat. Soon, though, it will become a menacing threat, as these absurd insertions loom around us. I would prefer to categorize the whole thing as just a downright nuisance. Mike Myers should have stuck with Coffee Talk.
Chris

Mike,
You mentioned dead celebrities...since when is Art Carney dead!?
Jerry

Gotta-Get-It Gadgets

A new wrist watch from Citizen Watch Co and Super Wave Co. sends wireless signals to your PC telling it that you're authorized to use it. When you walk away, the watch locks your PC to prevent others from gaining access. The watch could also be used to lock the doors of cars and buildings.

Hitachi plans to introduce next month a very small and light video camera that records directly to DVD. At 57mm x 89mm x 134mm, the $1,000 DZ-MV350 is half the size of the previous model from Hitachi.

Wacky Web Sites

Clandestine Radio tracks, chronicles, records and posts illegal radio propaganda from around the world.

The Internet Traffic Report shows you at a glance how fast and reliable internet connections are worldwide.

Here's a wacky way to get your news. NewsQuakes shows a map of the world with red circles representing the source of news stories. Click on one of the circles and you'll be taken to the story. A similar site gives you the weather.

Draw a graph and watch the economists freak out.

Everyone is talking about the possibility of war in Iraq. Here's one picture-snapping blogger who writes about it from a unique point of view: Baghdad.

Fetchfido is a web site that gives you strange shapes, colors and sounds to play with. Click to move on to the next one. Here's another strange, arty and ultimately useless site. And yet another.

Get the time spoken to you. By Yoda.

If you're terrified of marriage, then you've got a bad case of Gamophobia. If you fear long words, then -- unfortunately -- your psychiatrist is going to say you have Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. And you don't even want to contemplate the meaning of Helminthophobia. The Indexed Phobia List tells you the names of all fears.

Twisted Games

Gutterball

The Arse Race

Drugster

17 Keys

Cups

Internet Tennis

Last Week's Mystery Pic

No, it's not "Michael Jackson's face in the shop for repairs," "George Stephanopoulos with live coverage of the re-animation of Ted William's head" or even "the first real Stepford Wife" as suggested by some readers. In fact it's Dallas PhD student David Hanson gazing at the "socially responsive" robot head he created during a press conference at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (news - web sites) in Denver on February 16. Congratulations to Russell Gilbert of Sydney, Australia, for being first with the right answer! 

Mystery Pic o' the Week

What is it? Send YOUR guess to [email protected] (be sure to say where you live). If you're first with the right answer, I'll print your name in the next issue of Mike's List!

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