I have noticed that almost everyone I work with, when browsing to a site that they know the name of, searches for a URL and then clicks the first link. For instance, rather than browsing to Amazon.com, they search for Amazon on Google, and then click the first link that comes up.
Question is, what percentage of Google’s daily search activity comes from “searches” like this? Those are (nearly) valueless impressions for advertisers who are in a CPM-based contract, but is this causing a sort of inflation for Google?
What happens to Google’s traffic as users (presumably) get smarter and use the URL bar to browse directly to the site they want? Granted, this will have little to no effect on Google, as they are well-leveraged, but it is interesting to think about.
To protect all Texans’ constitutional rights, preserve the constitutional framework intended by our nation’s founders, and defend our state from further infringement by the federal government, the State of Texas and other states will legally challenge the federal health care legislation,” said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, in a statement.
No, in the end, it really is about freedom. If this law stands, then you have to buy insurance. Not as a condition upon the exercise of a privilege, like driving. But rather as a tax on your very existence. We’ve taxed income, and purchases, and sales, but we’ve never taxed your mere existence before, have we? The fact that you are born—something you have no control over—now subjects you to a tax. And not really a tax—but a mandate that you have to give your money to private companies in exchange for a product you may not want.
Then lobster, a slash of red and white claw meat in a lobster bordelaise so deeply flavored as to recall both veal stock and opium smoke, with cabbage to bind them together
Thanks to Sam Sifton for letting me know that Tom Colicchio’s lobster recalls the flavor of opium smoke. Really gives me a good reference point there.
I can’t remember the last book I stayed up till 2 in the morning to finish. Amanda Peet’s husband weaves a playful, gripping tale about two young men from besieged Stalingrad in search of eggs. So much lurking beneath the surface, and an ending sequence that barrels forward as if Benioff wrote screenplays (he does).
This reminds me of the time (pre-suspension, post-legendary dunk contest) we saw Birdman (then with the Hornets) play the Mavs, and as he exited after the game, yelled at him to come to Dallas. To our disbelief, he turned, and in front of his whole team, yelled back for us to “talk to Mark”, as in Cuban, who could make the trade. His team looked at him equally in disbelief, and realized he had just quit on them.
Since Kickstarter seems to be all the rage lately, I thought I might direct some attention to an artist that is using it to fund his new record. Dylan Sneed moved from Texas to South Carolina, and wrote an album about it, appropriately titled Texodus. This is from his last EP, No Worse For the Wear, and the Paul Simon/Mumford and Sons vibe makes it a keeper.
