On the top 5 search engine charts, Ask.com is the anchor, number five, behind 1) Google, 2) Yahoo, 3) Microsoft and 4) AOL. They're trying to raise their 3% share of the market with a move toward providing more privacy for your searches. It's called "AskEraser" and it launches today. When clicked on, the widget will wipe out the storage of personal information within a few hours. Doug Leeds, senior vice president for product management at Ask.com says "It works like a light switch." Mr. Leeds believes that 'AskEraser' would be a selling point with consumers who were particularly worried about protecting their privacy...
Ma Google stores personal information for 18 months, so too does Microsoft. Yahoo Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL retain theirs for 13 months. Search engines use your private information to help customize online ads aimed at your perceived interests, something that's drawing lots of interest from regulators, lawmakers and privacy rights watchdogs. Other websites are under scrutiny too. Case in point is Facebook Inc. Getting a little hot under the collar, Facebook last week gave its users the right to turn off a marketing tool that tracks their online activities after more than 65,000 people signed a petition to protest the tool. There are other search engines that are now storing data for shorter periods of time...
And just who is policing the retention of all this private information, something search engines and websites promise to keep private? Last month, the FTC held a forum to discuss concerns over online ads that appear to be based on a user's Web visits. Some companies have argued that they are required to keep records of search information for some time to comply with laws in various countries but those arguments are "seriously undermined when their competitors erase data immediately" says Chris Hoofnagle, a senior lawyer at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley...
Do you know what the real problem is? There is no regulatory agency overseeing the Internet but I know a person who can fix the problem. He's fresh off receiving a Nobel Peace Prize. He once claimed he started the Internet. His name is Al Gore and he could take up the inherent problems of the Internet by policing it. The government should name Gore as the network's top cop. That would give him another important problem to attack, to add to his efforts on global warming. Hey, he might wind up as Time Magazine's 'Man of the Year'. A Nobel Peace Prize and Man of the Year. Not too shabby, Al...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1936] Wedding Bells: Britain's King Edward VIII abdicates the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson. Now, that's love...1957] Jerry Lee Lewis secretly marries his 13-year old, third-cousin Myra Gale Brown. It's 'The Killer's' third marriage, the first for Myra Gale...1985] GE agrees to buy RCA for $6.3 billion. Included in the deal is NBC Radio & TV, some old RCA mics, transmitter tubes and Don Pardo's first contract, written on parchment...
- 1946] A useful UN organization: UNICEF (UN International Children's Fund) is established to provide relief to children in countries devastated by war. This is one of my favorite UNICEF PSA's: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DwDy-mEJ3mU ...
- 1951] Yankee Clipper docks: Joe DiMaggio retires after a 13-year career with the Yankees. DiMag is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. His last year marked the career start of another HOFer, Mickey Mantle (who played right field and wore #6 before switching to #7)...
- 1964] "Happy Trails": Sam Cooke is fatally shot at the Hacienda Motel in LA under mysterious circumstances. The legendary singer would have been 34 in one month...2006] The oldest (authenticated) woman in the world, Elizabeth Borden, dies at 116. No reason was given for her death but without her vices she would have lived a longer life...
- 1975] A steal of a deal: In two separate trades the Yankees pick up: Willie Randolph, Mickey Rivers and Ed Fiqueroa in exchange for bupkes...
- 1981] Curtains: Muhammad Ali fights his last fight, losing to Trevor Berbick. Ali retires with a 56-5 record with 37 KO's...
- 1982] Battle of the Behemoths: Ralph Sampson and Patrick Ewing put on a show as Sampson leads Virginia to a 68-63 victory over Georgetown. Sampson knocks down 23 with 16 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Ewing's stats: 16, 8 and 5. Sampson is drafted #1 by Houston in 1983, Ewing #1 with that famous and controversial lottery pick by the Knicks in 1985...
- 1990] 'You're Fired': That's what Ivana tells Donald Trump. The marriage lasted 12 years...
- 1991] Questionable Acquittal: A West Palm Beach jury acquits William Kennedy Smith of sexual assault and battery, rejecting the allegations of Patricia Bowman...
- 2000] Pay-Rod: Alex Rodriguez agrees (who wouldn't) to a $252 million deal with Texas (still paying a chunk of that money). It's the most lucrative sports contract in history. He just recently signed a 10-year deal for about $315 million with the Hankees. He still hasn't been on a team that wins the World Series...
Music Memories:
- 1958] Recorded on this date: "Charlie Brown" - Coasters (This video was taped at a Beacon Theater show in 1980. Earl Carroll of the Cadillacs is singing with the group. They start their set with "Yakety Yak"): http://youtube.com/watch?v=5VzoVF88P00 ...
- 1960] New York Debut: Aretha Franklin at the Village Vanguard. Signed by John Hammond, Columbia Records took Aretha into a 'show-tune' direction. She would not become 'Lady Soul' until she signed with Atlantic...
- 1971] Released on this date: "Anticipation" - Carly Simon does it live in this video from the 70s: http://youtube.com/watch?v=H2A7e3cnG6w ...
- 1988] A tribute to Roy Orbison: Don Henley, Tom Petty, Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt perform a benefit show...
- 1997] Nobel Concert: Jewel, Sinead O'Connor and Emmylou Harris perform the Beatles' "In My Life" at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway...
Commentary:
Two years before Sam Cooke was shot, I met the singer, appearing at a show that my station, WKDA was sponsoring. The talent on that show was tremendous and each one of the jocks brought out a different act. I brought out the Marvelettes. In addition to the Marvelettes and Sam Cooke, Walter Jackson, a handicapped Blues singer, the regal Solomon Burke, Ral Donner and a couple of lesser acts were on the show, presented at the Sulphur Dell, a minor league ball park in Nashville. The acts were assembled in the home dugout of the old Nashville Vols of the Southern Association. The headlining act was Jackie Wilson. I remember talking to Sam Cooke who was very reserved - quiet. Jackie Wilson was not. Jackie was brought out in a white limo from the outfield bullpen. The stage was set up between the pitchers mound and second base. Although we were a top 40 station with #1 ratings, consistently beating WSM, WLAC and everyone else (you could look it up), there was a sizable black crowd at this show. The crowd was in a frenzy when Wilson's limo arrived at the pitchers mound. Out steps a white chauffeur who opens the door for Jackie, all decked out in a white suit. The not-so subtlety of a white opening the door for a black man in the deep South in 1962 was not lost on the crowd who howled at the sight. Even the jocks (all white) loved the moment - a classic. Jackie proceeded to knock the crowd dead as he always did...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Teri Garr (58), Brenda Lee (63), Lynda Day George (63), John Kerry (64), Donna Mills (65), David Gates (67) David performs a medley of his many hits live in this clip from 1997: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bw1ex6CQmuo , Tom Hayden (68) and Rita Moreno (76)...
Timeline Countdown: Tonight is the 8th night of Chanukah, 12 days until winter, 13 days until Festivus, 14 shopping days until Christmas, 20 nights until New Year's Eve and 25 days until the NFL Wild Card Playoffs...
