Message From Michael -- September 22, 2008

WHILING AWAY THE HOURS

THOSE STEREOTYPES ARE TRUE

THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST

THE TECHIE SIDE OF TECHCRUNCH 50

THE TECHIE SIDE OF SARA PALIN’S E-MAIL

POLITICAL PALAVER IS POPULAR

COCKTAIL CHATTER – CANDIDATE’S CARS AND A VIRAL EMMY


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WHILING AWAY THE HOURS. When they do, Americans spend more than half of their total leisure time each day (5.1 hours) watching television (2.6 hours). Conversely they spend 19 minutes on an average day playing games on computers – the same amount of time they spend “relaxing and thinking.” That’s according to the annual ‘time use survey’ produced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The second biggest leisure time activity is ‘socializing and communicating’ which takes up 46 minutes of time each day for the average person over the age of 15. Somewhat surprisingly, people in this study spent more time reading (22 minutes) than participating in sports, exercise and recreation (17 minutes) on an average day. Just for a little perspective, “employed persons” worked an average of 7.6 hours a day. As a side note, and as a factoid that says a lot, the report says one in five Americans (21%) did some or all of their work at home.

THOSE STEREOTYPES ARE TRUE: Married moms working full time outside the home still spend more time doing housework and child care than married dads working full time. Yep. Married dads spend more time at the office than married moms employed full-time. Yep. The “yeps” all come from the same report. Nearly three quarters (71%) of employed married moms spend time helping the kids compared to just over half (54%) of those dads; moms also spent more time (1.2 hours) with the kids than the dads (49 minutes) each day. Married working dads spend about an hour more per day (6.1 hours) at work than the married working moms (5.1 hours), in part because more women work part time and because of child demands. Just under half (43%) of married moms were employed full time compared to nearly nine out of ten (88%) married dads.

The stereotype you probably didn’t need the federal government to tell you – yes, that teenager sleeps longer. Boys 15 to 19 sleep an average of 9.7 hours, slightly more than girls in the same age group (9.3 hours). Despite the reports about sleep deprivation, the report says on average, Americans aged 15 and over sleep 8.6 hours a day. If you want to do some more digging into the data, the website is http://www.bls.gov/tus.

THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST: Are television websites when it comes to growth and newspaper websites when it comes to worth. Normally I don’t cite reports in MfM that have been widely circulated, but this one which appeared in Broadcasting and Cable is too interesting not to note. According to a joint report by BIA Financial Network and Borrell Associates, TV websites tapping into the fast-growing video and search advertising have seen their Web advertising grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 67.2%, compared to newspapers’ 33.5%. But, because newspaper websites have been around longer, they’re valued more – anywhere from $500,000 to $30 Million compared to television’s $500,000 to $9 Million. TV and radio websites only generate about 3% of the station’s gross revenues compared to just 6.5% for newspaper websites, but both are expected to grow – television to 5% or 6% by 2011 and newspapers to 10%.

THE TECHIE SIDE OF TECHCRUNCH50: There were so many interesting, entrepreneurial websites from the Techcrunch50 show that I had to re-visit it. For example, Tingz produces widgets that operate across all platforms from iPhones and Blackberrys to Macs and Windows. Not only that but the widgets interact with each other so that your recipe widget will connect to your shopping widget to make sure you get the ingredients. Website Imindi.com has set a goal of augmenting human intelligence via computer science using neuroscience and cognitive psychology through a search engine mechanism that introduces people to new ideas and thoughts instead of just new information. In place of Descartes Cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I am), Imindi says Cogitamus ergo erimus – We think therefore we shall be. A little more mundane but no less interesting is icharts.net which acts as a portal for people to develop interactive charts on various subjects that they can share. Japanese corporation Tonchidot has developed “Sekai camera” which translates to “world camera” and is “a real-world interface for the iPhone that connects real and virtual worlds, allowing anybody to create, experience and participate in both.” Website videosurf.com promises to help you find exactly what you want in the growing online video world by teaching computers to “see inside” video (whatever that means) so that you can use visual content instead of text to search online. Finally, my favorite, birdpost.com, which says it is leading the burgeoning field of “citizen science” (I didn’t even know it was a burgeoning field) by helping birdwatchers find new bird species using satellite mapping technology.

ANOTHER FACTOID: From a study by the Pew Research group noted in a previous MfM, the percentage of Americans with cell phones has risen from half (53%) in the year 2000, to about three quarters (74%) two years ago to now when four out of five (83%) Americans have one. Relatively few people get their news on these phones, according to the survey, but more than a third (37%) of those using iPhones and Blackberrys use them to get news.

THE TECHIE SIDE OF SARA PALIN’S E-MAIL. In the category of you heard it here first, (okay, that may not be true for all of you) regular readers of MfM will recall a discussion about website 4chan.org. It is a cutting edge site of weird and wonderful and not-so-wonderful memes that often end up presaging happenings on the Internet. Well, it turns out that the hacker who broke into Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s e-mail was a member of “anonymous” -- a group of ‘online troublemakers” who hang out on sites such as 4chan.org. Warning/ Disclaimer: If you visit the site, tread carefully.

SIDENOTE: Website Silicon Alley Insider, using data from online video measuring service TubeMogul, reports that videos of Sara Palin are being viewed more (38 Million) than her running mate, Sen. John McCain (25 Million), or Sen. Barack Obama (29 Million). No mention, oddly of Sen. Joe Biden. As you may have heard, ABC anchor Charlie Gibson’s interview with Palin on 20/20 drew 7.9 Million viewers – the highest number for the show in six months. And despite complaints to the contrary, an analysis of campaign coverage by LexisNexis found that coverage of Palin has been quite balanced with more than a quarter (26%) of the 6,000 stories analyzed being deemed ‘positive’, less than a quarter (22%) being deemed ‘negative’ and more than half (52%) being deemed ‘neutral.’ The analysis also notes that Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden was, as the analysts put it, “tossed into the discount bin” receiving only 683 stories to Palin’s 6,027.

POLITICAL PALAVER IS POPULAR: If any of you have any doubt about the unusual interest in politics this year, Nielsen Media reports that two thirds (64.5%) of all U.S. households tuned in to one or the other of the two political conventions. A third (33.9%) reported watching both conventions. An estimated 15% tuned in just to the RNC and another 15.7% tuned in just to the DNC. The 18-24 demographic had the lowest percentage of viewing – less than a quarter (24%) watched either convention. Plus the report notes that the cume percentages for the two conventions were similar across all adult age breaks even though the Republican convention was shortened a day by Hurricane Gustav.

COCKTAIL CHATTER: As long as I’m talking politics and just to prove that there is nothing too mundane for researchers to study, research firm BigResearch reports that McCain voters are more likely (68%) to drive domestic brand cars than Obama voters (54%) and that Obama voters are more likely (36.6%) to drive a Japanese brand car than McCain voters (26.7%) and nearly twice as likely to drive a European brand (9.4%) than McCain voters (5.3%). McCain voters are also more likely to drive SUV’s (19.1% vs. 14.9%) and trucks (14.2% vs. 8.3%) One in five hiring managers (22%) say they use social networking sites to research job candidates – double the figure just two years ago (of 11%). The hiring managers told Careerbuilder.com that many of the candidates talked about drinking and using drugs on their site or posted ‘provocative or inappropriate’ photographs or information, although, on the good side, nearly half of the hiring managers (48%) say the social networking background check showed the candidate was qualified for the job. Beer maker Anheuser Busch has won its first ever Emmy for a commercial that has never aired on television. The spot, titled Swear Jar, is, as its name implies, about a company that keeps a swear jar for its employees who have to put in money every time they swear. The money is used to buy a case of Bud Light. The spot has become a hot viral video online with more than 12 Million views and the award, according to AdGabber.com. I should warn anybody wanting to watch it that the language is very profane.

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