- The war for domination of the social networking world continues and even though it faces a massive uphill battle in the quest to topple Facebook, Google isn't backing down from the challenge. Following the launch of its Google+ service last week, the tech giant is stepping up its efforts to provide an alternative to Facebook by making it easier for Google+ users to take their data with them whenever they choose, a perk that Facebook users have often wished for. Through the Google Data Liberation Front, the company has added the ability for users to export lists of the Websites they recommended to other users via the Google +1 button. In essence, the +1 button allows users to recommend search results or ads they've like while using Google.com. With the launch of Google+, a social network that lets users share links, videos and photos, the +1 button has taken on an added level of relevance. The Data Liberation Front smartly timed the unveiling of Google Takeout, which lets users export their data from Google Buzz, Google Contacts and Google+ Profile, Circles and Streams, for the same day Google+ launched to limited field testing. The DLF also debuted Picasa Web Albums, which provides the picture storage foundation for Google+. Both Google+ and Google +1 should provide a massive boost for the Data Liberation Front, launched in September 2009 to let users free data from Gmail, Google AdWords, Google Chrome and other company services. Google Engineering Manager Brian Fitzpatrick and his team have taken some unusual approaches in allowing users to move data they create via Google Web services outside those applications, falling in line with Google’s stated “totally open” policy on freeing up user data, something Facebook has been reluctant to do. While Mark Zuckerberg and Co. do allow users to download their data and take it with them, the world’s most popular social networking site is still lagging behind Google when it comes to freedom of information. Because of that reticence, developers have created tools such as Move2Picasa, which lets users shuttle their Facebook photos to Picasa Web Albums on Google+. Taking a page from Twitter, Facebook blocked Facebook Friend Exporter, a Chrome extension that automates the extraction of user data, along with other apps giving more data freedom to users. Now that Google has taken large steps toward giving its users the freedom Facebook never has, it should be interesting to see how Facebook responds…………


- No soccer fans, this does not mean that your sport is legitimately important in the United States or that it is poised to blow right by the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball atop the totem pole of sports importance for Americans. Yes, the Women's World Cup final between Japan and the United States set the record for tweets per second, but that has much more to do with Twitter’s surging popularity than with how much people love soccer. Generating more tweets per second than the wedding of Prince William and Kate and the death of Osama bin Laden is swell and all, but don’t go ascribing world-changing levels of importance to Japan’s nail-biting victory over the favored Americans on penalty kicks after the Japanese rallied twice to tie the game before converting three of their first four penalty kicks to the Americans’ one in the shootout. The victory gave Japan its first-ever world cup and denied the Americans their third, in the process spawning 7,196 tweets per second, according to Twitter. That was enough to break the previous record of 6,939 set just after midnight in Japan on New Year's Day, along with bin Laden's death (5,106 per second) and the Super Bowl in February (4,064). To show the power of Americans loving to boast about things we’re good at (at least while we’re ahead on the scoreboard), Spain's World Cup win over the Netherlands in men’s action in July 2010 garnered a high of 3,051 tweets per second. Twitter is also immensely popular in Japan, so combining that with Americans’ growing embracement of the microblogging site provided something of a perfect storm for the record to be set. Then again, Twitter claims it is adding some 600,000 users per day and its users send 200 million tweets per day, compared to 10 million two years ago, so there are bound to be more tweets than ever on just about every topic, even ones that Twitter users didn’t care about two weeks ago and stopped caring about the instant the game ended…………


- Stop persecuting cyclists, Philadelphia. They’re lessening their potential impact on the environment by not driving, they’re potentially reducing health care costs by remaining in better physical condition and if you have to put up with some minor traffic-related inconveniences to gain those benefits, so be it. Yes, many cyclists openly admit that they regularly break traffic laws while biking in the city, but how big a problem is that really? If you operate based on the approach city officials and law enforcement are taking to this perceived problem, it must be huge. With bike lanes becoming a much more common sight around the city center, police are cracking down on disobedient bikers as part of the Give Respect, Get Respect campaign aimed at promoting and enforcing the peaceful coexistence of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. As part of the campaign, a traffic-enforcement team of bike cops stopped 803 cyclists and motorists from its May 16 launch through Thursday. Cops on bikes hassling citizens on bikes just seems wrong, but 600 of those stopped in the first few weeks of the campaign were cyclists, according to statistics from the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities. "Cyclists seem to be where the educational focus needs to go," said Capt. Alan Clark, who leads the patrol out of the Police Department's Center City District substation. "[Motorists] don't need education. If they ran a red light, they know what they did." Oh, so now cyclists are ignorant too? And no, it doesn’t lessen the sting when Clark claims motorists received more tickets, while cyclists were mostly issued warnings. Of the 600 cyclists stopped, 590 were issued warnings, while three were cited for moving violations, which commonly include running red lights or riding against traffic and carry the same $120.50 fine as they do for motorists. As a quick aside, all cyclists in the Philadelphia area are advised to NOT carry any forms of identification with them and forget their real name if they happen to be pulled over by police. Oh, and what happens if the offending cyclist is some 12-year-old kid? Are police going to hit the kid up with a $120.50 fine? Oh, and seven cyclists received code violations for riding on the sidewalk, which carry a $50 fine. Let’s see, ride on the sidewalk and avoid reckless motorists or ride on the street and put yourself in danger…..hmm. Worse still, Andrew Stober, chief of staff of the transportation office, said he expects the number of tickets given to cyclists to increase in the near future. "That's going to be at the Police Department's discretion, as they see particularly repeat offenders - and that's largely who's been getting the tickets that have been written already," Stober said. All of these tickets are being handed out even though bike patrols typically take place a few afternoons or evenings per week. They consist of eight to 12 officers cruising the city center for three to four hours along planned routes or at busy crosswalks and intersections. Many cyclists in the city have complained about feeling unfairly targeted by the campaign and based on the facts provided thus far, it’s hard to disagree with them………….


- After all of his (possibly fake) insanity, anti-establishment rants, bizarre nonsense spewing from his mouth and utter stupidity, Charlie Sheen has arrived at his destination, which is……..essentially the same freaking place he departed from when he left the world of sanity as we know it and went off to whatever planet he’s been dwelling on for the past few months. Prior to wrecking his relationship with CBS and everyone associated with its (inexplicably) popular sitcom Two and a Half Men, Sheen was the lead actor in a subpar half-hour weekly comedy and after his explosive departure, string of nonsensical interviews and “Torpedoes of Truth” comedy tour, he is now returning to being the lead actor in a sitcom on the small screen. Sheen is developing a pilot for a new series based on Anger Management, the predictable and mostly unwatchable 2003 film starring Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. "I chose Anger Management because, while it might be a big stretch for me to play a guy with serious anger management issues, I think it is a great concept," Sheen said in a tongue-in-cheek statement. Ah yes, the “it’s a great concept” explanation, the same one everyone in the entertainment industry gives for dredging up a tired, already-been-done concept so they can recycle it and thus have a “new” project without having to cook up an original idea of their own. Nothing screams originality and creativity quite like hijacking and remaking someone else’s idea for a movie or show. In addition to writing, developing and acting in the show, the drug-addled actor will also “retain a significant ownership stake in the series," according to the statement. "It also provides me with real ownership in the series, a certain amount of creative control and the chance to be back in business with one of my favorite movie producers of all time, Joe Roth," Sheen stated. At a minimum, working with Roth might help keep Sheen on a relatively even keel, as he also worked with the producer on the movies Major League, Young Guns and Three Musketeers. Sheen's manager Mark Burg will be part of the project as well through his production company, which is producing the show, and he said the show came together like a dream. "We have been fielding numerous offers for Charlie since his departure from Two and a Half Men, but none were as creatively and financially compelling as Anger Management," Burg declared. One way or another, it should be quite the entertaining train wreck…………


- How was your weekend, Ecuador? Hopefully you entered said weekend well stocked on your chosen brand of alcohol because authorities quickly turned the 72 hours ‘twixt working weeks into a dry one by banning alcohol sales in an emergency measure to stop contaminated drinks from reaching consumers after at least 21 people died. Officials announced the 72-hour national dry law Sunday following alcohol poisoning cases in several parts of the country and no, the alcohol poisoning wasn’t because some epic ragers were going on and attendees simply went overboard on drinking cheap beer and Jell-O shots. Hospitals across the country treated more than 100 people who fell ill after drinking bootleg liquor over the past week, according to the government, and at least 21 people died as a result of apparent poisoning. Investigators discovered dangerous quantities of methanol -- an industrial-grade alcohol not intended for human consumption - in the drinks consumed by many of those who were poisoned. "It is a potent poison that can in small quantities, including a quarter of a cup, cause the death of the individual that consumes it," Health Minister David Chiriboga explained. Oddly enough, the liquor was sold in unlabeled bottles, with no indication of its contents or where it originated. That’s bizarre because people selling bootleg liquor with potentially dangerous or deadly side effects tend to label their products quite well and make it easy to trace their origins. The first cases of alcohol poisoning first appeared last Tuesday, Ecuador's government said, and by Sunday, 103 patients showing symptoms had come to local hospitals. Officials in the affected area, the city of Los Rios, implemented a curfew (not sure how that helped), shut down bars and confiscated hundreds of unlabeled bottles containing bootleg alcohol. Much of the damage appears to have been done during a festival in the town of Urdaneta, Los Rios, when the tainted liquor "was massively consumed," Ecuador's government said in a statement. All 21 fatalities were residents of Los Rios, but similar poisoning cases have also been reported in at least four other areas, the government said. Police have been able to locate and arrest the seller of the liquor and the investigation continues…………