Even from the after life MJ is causing some problems. Granted it is really not his fault, but he is dead, so we can blame him all we want. It all started with the news of his death. Turns out more people are like me than I thought, when hearing about a major story they turn to Google for the answers.

It was so many searches that Google thought it was an attack on the system. According to the CNET story it took about 25 minutes before Google realized that the story was real. By the end of the day they received 16.4 million visitors, the most of any story in history.

Then the malware and spam starts, from V3:

The message sender claims to have information about Jackson’s death that they want to share with the recipient. Although the body of the spam message does not contain any URLs or other call-to-action links, if replied to it will allow the spammer to harvest the user’s email address, said Sophos.

Rik Ferguson, senior security adviser at vendor Trend Micro, warned that any event of this magnitude would be expected to generate significant amounts of spam and malware.

“It always does – it happens with any newsworthy event, joyous or tragic, and Jackson’s death is probably up there with Elvis,” he said.

“We fully expect to see black hat SEO [search engine optimisation] activity and significant spam runs using the news as bait, because people are hungry for details.”

So watch those emails that you open. Was it Demerol that killed MJ? Your best source for info is going to be Google, not the countless emails you have with “exclusive” details.

(Via V3 and CNET)

I had high hopes for Obama. I was sadden that his presidency was pretty much destroyed by the financial market, but maybe he would go two terms. Then he started really winning me over by taking the entire MPAA/RIAA legal staff and placing them into every public position he could find. So at this point I have became the fair weathered fan, but if you want to see him spin the attacks, and evade the questions he will be all over the TV tonight. And in even more change, he will actually be streamed live via YouTube. Google has this in the blog:

The first three months of the Obama Administration have brought the new American President unprecedented challenges. Back in November, when he was elected, everyone knew the economy and the Middle East would be critical issues for Obama to attack early on. But like every president before him, he’s had to deal with the unexpected as well: who could have predicted pirates off the Somali Coast or swine flu?

As citizens and pundits from all political perspectives analyze the President’s first 100 days in office today, Obama himself will address the nation tonight on the 100-day anniversary of his inauguration — and we’re going to carry a live stream of the conference from the White House YouTube channel. Be sure to tune in at 8pm EDT to watch it live.

We’re also featuring commentary and analysis from top news organizations on our homepage today.

(Via The Official Google Blog.)

I’d like to take this opportunity to say pork is one of the best tasting meats in existence.  Just the mention of pig makes my mouth water.  In fact for lunch, I’m going to eat some baby back ribs wrapped in bacon, sprinkled with pulled pork.  Take that Swine Flu! Nom, nom, nom….

The current H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic headlines read like those flashing through the intro sequence of a post-apocalyptical movie. Now you can see the cases spreading in real time—as the WHO declares them—in Google Maps.

In case you have not been paying attention to the news during the last few days, there’s a pandemia going on. A spike of infections of the H1N1 Swine Flu—a mutation of a pork virus that jumped from pigs to humans—happened in the city of Mexico (103 dead already) and it is quickly spreading through the world now, thanks to airline connections.

Reading the map is very simple: We are all going to dieThe pink markers are suspect, the purple markers are confirmed, and deaths don’t have a black dot in the marker. The yellow markers are negative, but I don’t see any.

Have fun watching. While you can.

Here is the direct link to the Google Map

(Via Gizmodo.)

The Official Google Blog has a piece on Project Spectrum. It is using SketchUp in a more specialized environment for kids with Autism. The blog is below.

Project Spectrum: recognizing the talents of children with autism: “A couple of years ago, the Google SketchUp team began hearing from a new group of users — people on the autism spectrum. After consulting with some experts, we learned the connection between autism and SketchUp isn’t particularly surprising. Many people on the autism spectrum have visual and spatial strengths, and 3D design software plays to them. With this in mind, we started a program called Project Spectrum.

As part of Autism Awareness Month in April, we’ve launched a new webpage showcasing some great SketchUp artists (Rachel, Jeremy, JP and others). We’ve also created a Getting Started with Google SketchUp video for anyone who wants to learn the basic tools to start modeling. More of the Project Spectrum models can be seen in the Google 3D Warehouse collection. Watch the video below to hear the story behind Project Spectrum and meet some of the kids involved:

Googlers around the world are working with the autism community to introduce kids, teachers, parents and adults to SketchUp, and we’ve been inspired by the results. We hope you take the time to look at Project Spectrum and share it with others in your community. For more detail, check out the Google SketchUp blog.

Posted by Tom Wyman and Chris Cronin, Project Spectrum Team

(Via The Official Google Blog.)