Internet Stats

Internet Stats is a website for stats about the internets. Pretty dry, unless you're into geeky web stuff.

By election day, fully 25% of people who pulled the lever for Obama were already connected to his campaign electronically.New York Magazine, January 2009

Social media use has taken off in the UK. eMarketer estimates that 39% of UK Internet users - more than 15.4 million people - will use social networks at least once per month in 2009.eMarketer, April 2009

According to Nielsen, 67% of the global online population visited a "member community" site in Dec 2008.Nielsen, March 2009

20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.YouTube, May 2009

Although men and women follow a similar number of Twitter users, men have 15% more followers than women.HarvardBusiness.org, June 2009

In mid-2008, social networking accounted for around 10% of worldwide online time. This is a category that didn't exist 3 years ago.Nielsen, March 2009

Social networks have a penetration of nearly 75% among European Internet users.Comscore, February 2009

5% of all time online is spent on Facebook.Comscore, April 2009

Of the 282.7 million European Internet users age 15 and older who went online via a home or work computer in December 2008, 211 million visited a social networking site – representing a penetration of 74.6%. Comscore, February 2009

eMarketer estimates that 39% of UK Internet users - more than 15.4 million people - will use social networks at least once per month in 2009. By 2013, the social networking population will reach 21.9 million and represent 50% of UK Web users.eMarketer, May 2009

Globally, social networks have enjoyed a 25% growth in unique visitors in the last year. Some sites have doubled their user base.Comscore, August 2008

In May 2009, YouTube reached 15.4 million unique users in the UK.Nielsen, May 2009

93% of Brits are making major financial cutbacks in the home to survive the economic turmoil. The top 5 ways to beat the downturn are: 'buying cheaper food' (65%), 'savvy initiatives to keep fuel bills down' (65%), 'cutting down on takeaways/eating out' (50%), 'switching energy suppliers' (39%) and 'shopping around for cheaper home insurance' (32%).Legal & General Report, November 2008

In January 2009, JP Morgan estimated that 2008 worldwide retail eCommerce spending, excluding travel, totaled $438 billion - of which one third ($152m) was in Europe.JP Morgan, January 2009

41% of Europeans claim to have changed their mind about what brand to buy as a result of researching choices online, according to EIAA's latest Mediascope survey.Mediascope Europe, November 2008

In the UK, searches for "discount vouchers" grew by 94% between November and December 2008.Google Insights for Search

In the past year, UK female Internet users have made an average of 17 online purchases of products/services and spent an average of £600.eMarketer, February 2009

97% of UK female Internet users research products online and 92% of UK female Internet users buy products online.eMarketer, February 2009

In February 2009, Eurostat reported that 32% of citizens in the EU-28 had purchased an item over the Internet during 2008. (Figures for big markets: UK 57%, FR 40%, DE 53%, IT 11%, ES 20%).Commission of the European Communities, February 2009

According to Forrester, nearly 45% of European Internet users say that in the past three months they have researched a product online and then bought it in a shop.Forrester, March 2009

33% of shoppers in the UK shop a lot more online since the recession.Media & Marketing, March 2009

Online spending in the UK grew 25% to £18.4 bn in 2008, outperforming the 2.1% increase in total retail.Verdict Research, May 2009

Price has become a less significant determinant in online purchasing: online shoppers citing price as the deciding factor in choosing a retailer has fallen to 44.0% in 2008 from 50.0% in 2007.Verdict Research, May 2009

Despite the recession, UK online shoppers had spent an average of £10 more per site visit in April 2009 than this time a year ago. (April 08 to April 09)NMA, May 2009

34% of Brits spend a whole day trying to find the best holiday deal online.Greenbee.com survey, January 2009

20% of Brits will spend at least 8 hours trawling the Internet for a cheap travel-related deal. Greenbee.com survey, January 2009

YoY from the 2007 to 2008 Christmas Sales period, online sales increased by 31% while in-store sales decreased by 1.3%.Retail Week, January 2009

50.1% of online shoppers who placed items in their shopping carts did not go on to place an order.Core Metrics, March 2009

With online sales up 13.3% in 2009 and 10.9% in 2010, the Internet will take further share from the high street.Verdict Research, May 2009

51% of Internet users purchased a new Financial Services product in the past year.GFK, February 2009

Remote (home) shopping has grown three fold in a decade - from £9.7bn to £26bn. Growth fuelled by the Internet accounts for 74% of the market, compared with 4% in 1998.Verdict Research UK, 2009, December 2008

UK Internet visits to the Insurance category increased by 43% over the quarter.Hitwise, January - March 2009

Moneysupermarket.com received the most traffic from searches in 6 out of our 8 featured insurance and finance product ranges over the quarter.Hitwise, January - March 2009

Searches for health insurance increased by 165% over the quarter.Hitwise, January - March 2009

Searches for ISA’s increased by 176% over the quarter.Hitwise, January - March 2009

Searches for mortgages decreased by 19% over the quarter.Hitwise, January - March 2009

Over 1 in 3 (34%) UK adults have researched a brand that they have seen advertised online.TGI Net Q109 (Oct 07 - Sept 08), Q2 2009

41% of shoppers use search engines to identify new websites.Verdict Research, May 2009

According to the European Commission, cross-border eCommerce remained stable between 2006 and 2008, despite EU consumers shopping online increasing from 27% to 33%.Verdict Research, May 2009

Average spend per head in the UK was £691 in 2008… and is forecast to reach £895 in 2013.Verdict Research, May 2009

For the third successive year it is those aged 25 - 34 who are the most frequent online shoppers.Verdict Research, May 2009

Over half (51.0%) of consumers are using the Internet before making a purchase in shops, educating themselves on the best deals available.Verdict Research, May 2009

Over 8 million people used the Internet for arranging the purchase of a new financial product in 2008.GFK, February 2009

A reported 28% of TV viewing time by UK broadband users (aged 16-55) is now on demand (either recorded for later viewing or using an on-demand TV service or watched on the Internet).TNS/YouTube Media & Audience Study (broadband users aged 16-55), December 2008

The big screen continues to do well in the recession as Cineworld, the UK's second-biggest chain, announced box office takings have risen 19% in the 17 weeks preceding April 17. Cineworld's results follow figures released by the Film Distributors Association UK in March showing admissions rose 1.1% to 164.2m in 2008 with box office takings rising 3.7%. The rise in cinema takings comes as consumers continue to desert UK pubs and clubs. Traditionally the leading place for consumers to spend money socialising, rising taxes and a growth in home drinking have led many pubs to struggle. This was underlined by figures released by PRS for Music, the organisation that collects royalty payments for musicians. It said its takings in pubs and clubs were down 2% to £39.7m for 2008 and blamed this on the recession forcing many venues out of business.Film Distributors Association, March 2009

Many people are forgoing expensive nights out, but are instead willing to pay more for home entertainment. The number of customers using “video on demand” services, which allow customers to watch films on a pay-as-you-view basis, almost doubled last year with an average 45m views a month, according to Virgin Media.Enders Analysis, September 2008

In the three months to the end of December 2008, sales of premium high-definition (HD) TV subscriptions doubled on the previous three months, according to Sky, 39% owned by News Corporation, owner of The Sunday Times. Charlie Ponsonby at price comparison service simplifydigital.co.uk said: “It’s taken a while, but high-definition TV is going mainstream in the UK, with over 1m UK homes now enjoying a high-definition service.”Enders Analysis, December 2008

39% of UK broadband users (aged 16-55) watch TV programmes on the Internet. Among those that watch TV online, on average 16% of their total viewing of TV programmes was on the Internet.TNS/YouTube Media & Audience Study (broadband users aged 16-55), December 2008

Nearly three in five (57%) of youth consumers logged on to YouTube to watch a music video in the last 12 months, compared to 56% who watched a music TV channel.Ipsos MediaCT, March 2009

In 2008 the digital music business internationally grew by around 25% to $3.7Bn. Digital platforms now account for around 20% of recorded music sales, up from 15% in 2007.IFPI, 2008, January 2009

There are 1.5 million business searches daily on YouTube, making it the second-most-visited destination for business searches, behind Google.Google, Forbes, BtoB, June 2009, June 2009

64% of C-level executives conduct six or more searches per day to locate business information.Google, Forbes, BtoB, June 2009, June 2009

76% of UK adult Internet users find out about local services online.Ofcom, August 2008

76% of Internet users said they had looked up news online in the past month according to a TNS survey of 30,000 Internet users in 16 countries in late 2008. TNS, December 2008

1 in 3 YouTube users are DIYers.TGI Net, April 2007-March 2008

In May 2009, Google had over 4.0 billion search page views in the UK.Nielsen Netview, May 2009

There you go.
(From Guy)

Learn Something Every Day

Learn Something Every Day is a submission-fuelled website that illustrates trivia in thick black line drawings set to monochromatic bright colors. (Though sometimes they use white on black).

They ask for submissions (fact@learnsomethingeveryday.co.uk) and the best fact is be made into a super special poster at the beginning of each month, with the winner getting a free poster. The site runs on Cargo (web publishing and community-building platform.)

(From Peggy Feed)

World Science Festival 2009: Notes & Neurons, Part 4 of 5

World Science Festival 2009: Notes & Neurons, Part 4 of 5 is a video about music and the brain.
In their own words,

"Is our response to music hard-wired or culturally determined? Is the reaction to rhythm and melody universal or influenced by environment? Join host John Schaefer, Jamshed Barucha, scientist Daniel Levitin, Professor Lawrence Parsons and musical artist Bobby McFerrin for live performances and cross cultural demonstrations to illustrate music’s note-worthy interaction with the brain and our emotions."

In my friend Justin's words, "music + neuroscience + a capella + audience participation = awesome. (This is part 4 of 5 - with the other parts being either music theory heavy or neuro heavy.)"

Enjoy!
(From Justin)

If The Internet Named Movies

If The Internet Named Movies is a college humor picture/photoshop article about how movies would be titled if the interwebs had a say in it. Requires some knowlege of movie posters, interwebs speak.

Lovely.
(From Buzzfeed)

In B flat

In B flat is a collaborative music and spoken word project that utilizes YouTube videos tiled side by side. You can play them all at once or set them in motion individually. Very interesting. And soothing.  

According to the authors,

"In Bb 2.0  is a collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls, and developed with contributions from users.  The videos can be played simultaneously -- the soundtracks will work together, and the mix can be adjusted with the individual volume sliders."

The instructions for video submissions were as follows:

-Sing or play an instrument, in Bb major. Simple, floating textures work best, with no tempo or groove. Leave lots of silence between phrases.-Record in a quiet environment, with as little background noise as possible.-Wait about 5-10 seconds to start playing.-Total length should be between 1-2 minutes.-Thick chords or low instruments don't work very well.-Record at a low volume to match the other videos.-You can listen to this mix on headphones while you record.-After you upload to YouTube, play your video along with the other videos on this page to make sure the volume matches.

Enjoy!(From Guy )

The Guild - Do You Wanna Date My Avatar

The Guild - Do You Wanna Date My Avatar is a promotional music video for "The Guild" on Youtube. It speaks of geekyness of the record-breaking type.

As my friend Justin almost cogently explains,
"Felicia Day + Music + Video Game References + Whedon Blood = Awesome... i mean "4\/\/350/\/\3"

Enjoy!

(From Justin)

Google Opt-Out Village

Google Opt-Out Village is an Onion News Network video for wry people.  They make fun of the search giant by reporting on an opt-out option where people are relocated to a village.
 

(From Buzzfeed)

Is Google Voice a Threat to AT&T?

Is Google Voice a Threat to AT&T? is an article by David Pogue about how Apple took away the google application that lets you send free text messages and call internationally for cheap.


(From the NYT)

Ten Things You Don’t Know About the Sun

Ten Things You Don’t Know About the Sun is a Discover Magazine article by Phil Plait with 10 factoids that, among other things, clears up common misconceptions about the sun.

For example, you probably won't actually go blind by staring at the sun, despite what you've heard on 30 Rock (such a solid show, how could they steer me wrong?!). Also, the sun is bigger than your average star, it converts matter into energy, and it's not actually yellow.

Also, this article reminds me of how much I hate click through layouts. I much much much prefer seeing everything in one page.

Also, that's it.

(From Guy Danus)

Number of Pirates Killed by Each President

Number of Pirates Killed by Each President is a funny graph posted by Jessica Amason of the blog "big. crush." Pretty self-explanatory, pretty awesome.

(From friend of a friend)

Ninja Ropes Extreme is an online game, where you, the ninja, must cross obstacles by sending out and swinging from ninja ropes.

According Appscout, it was featured in the DVD of the Dr. Horrible sing-along blog,

"About halfway through the commentary, Jed Whedon, Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris sing an ode to an iPhone Web game called "Ninja Ropes Extreme," which they all played during filming and which brought them all together."

Enjoy!

(From Justin, Dr. Horrible).

xkcd

xkcd is a stick-figure strip featuring humor about technology, science, mathematics and relationships, by Randall Munroe. It is one of the best of the best on the web.

My favorite parts are the follow-up jokes that appear when you rest your mouse over the strip. 

(From , Guy, Everyone and their mom.)

Malcolm Gladwell: Geek Pop Star

Geek Pop Star is an article by New York Magazine's Jason Zengerle. He discusses the phenomenal success of writer Malcolm Gladwell, and his new book, Outliers. Gladwell previously wrote The Tipping Point and Blink.

In the article, Gladwell states he does not think of himself as an outlier.  Instead, he thinks of himself as a parasite.

"No amount of self-deprecation can mask Gladwell’s phenomenal success. Since the 2000 publication of The Tipping Point, he has been less a journalist than, as Fast Company once deemed him, 'a rock star, a spiritual leader, a stud.' Business executives seek him out for his insights, adoring fans stop him on the street to shake his hand, and other writers strive to emulate the genre he essentially pioneered—the idea-driven narrative that upends the way we think about everything from cigarettes to ketchup. 'We get scores of proposals each year promising a Gladwellian take on the world,' says Shandler. 'I don’t know any other author who has spawned that kind of adjective in nonfiction.' One Condé Nast editor, struggling to come up with another writer who has occupied as singular a place on the media landscape as Gladwell currently does, finally offers, 'It’s kind of Norman Maileresque, isn’t it?' Forty years ago, all the sad young literary men were trying to find their own armies of the night to mythologize; now they search for their own hipster footwear trend to deconstruct.

     Gladwell’s modesty isn’t entirely a pose. As he’s the first to acknowledge, his writing largely consists of taking the work of academics and translating it in a way that makes it understandable—and entertaining—to a lay audience. His job, as he describes it, 'is to be this intermediary between the academic world and the public.' That has led some critics to dub him not so much a parasite as a pilferer. "

That view, although in the minority, stems from people who don't read carefully enough, and assume that, instead of a skillful editor and translator, Gladwell is some sort of super-researcher that has time to come up with disparate ideas, write books and articles full-time, and walk the talk circuit.  The ideas he presents are generally well-annotated and sourced.

I expect no less from his new book, but I must admit here I haven't read Outliers yet.  (Also, I know that in that book Malcolm tackles the steoreotype about Chinese students, which makes me wary.  I'm not sure how it was handled in the book, and I won't know until I read it.  I digress.)

Jason sums up Outliers as a book where,

"Gladwell examines all the things other than individual merit—the 'hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies'—that produce hockey stars and software billionaires and math geniuses, he builds a brief for a massive reorganization of social structures and institutions that will give people who don’t have those advantages and opportunities and legacies an equal shot at success."

The world probably needs more recognition of that. We need to chop the laces off the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps Horatio Alger myth.  

(From Metafilter)

Create Your Own Snowflake

Create Your Own Snowflake is an application by previously featured blogger, Interwebs guru, and spastic entertainer extraordinaire Ze Frank.

Basically, you make snowflakes by clicking and dragging a blue awkward shape onto a black screen, and the application rotates and spins it. The snowflake can be held still, spun 2d or spun 3d. It makes you think of pretty things like Christmas and how bitter cold it is outside my window. I digress.

It's just soothing or boring, depending on your mood. Kind of like staring at fish tank. Namaste.
(From reader Thom)
PS: Happy birthday to my mom!

Diesel Sweeties

Diesel Sweeties is a webcomic by Richard Stevens III (R Stevens) that was syndicated between 2007 and 2008.

These are better for the uninitiated reader, because most of the comics can stand alone.

As wiki explains, "The comic depicts a world where robots exist alongside humans, with human-robot romantic and sexual relationships commonplace. Although there is some character development and the occasional story arc, most strips are largely self-contained. Recurring themes include annual Halloween strips, featuring characters from the comic in costume." And in case you're wondering, yes, the characters are pixelated on purpose.

This concludes Webcomic Week here on TOTI. Hope you enjoyed it!



(From Guy, Wikipedia)

Penny Arcade

Penny Arcade is a game webcomic written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik.

Wiki sums it up: "The strip features Holkins and Krahulik's cartoon alter egos, Tycho Brahe and John Gabriel ('Gabe') respectively. ... The two characters spend much of their time playing and commenting on computer and video games, forming the basis of the humor in the strip. Most of the time, Gabe serves the purpose of the comic foil, and Tycho is the straight man. The strip can feature in-jokes that are explained in the news posts accompanying each comic, written by the authors."

Out of this week's comics, while it does dive deep into game-core territory, it's probably the best-drawn comic with the widest appeal. Plus the website is not overly clunky. Most would consider it web-comic royalty, alongside XKCD. Enjoy!


(From Guy, Wikipedia)

Unrelated bonus! Irish Barak Obama song.

Ctrl+Alt+Del

Welcome to Webcomic Week here on TOTI!























Ctrl+Alt+Del is a gaming webcomic by professional web-cartoonist Tim Buckley. Wikipedia points out that since inception, "The comic's focus has gradually shifted away from single strip gags towards longer story arcs and greater continuity." Also, Tim has been able to stay financially afloat by adding a fee-based members-only features and publishing a book. Ctrl+Alt+Del is currently updated on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday schedule.

The comics focus on Ethan and Lucas:

"Ethan currently works in a video game store called Game Haven. Lucas works tech support at a local computer shop. Scott is a freelance web designer. The other characters have jobs as well."

(FAQ)

It's super game-nerd-core, which means to understand the comics, you have to either be (physically or spiritually) a 15 year old adolescent or have lived in close proximity to one. Enjoy.

(From Wikipedia, Guy)

Erin McKean: Redefining the dictionary

Erin McKean: Redefining the dictionary is a TED talk where lexicographer Erin McKean talks about how the paper dictionary is sooooo passé and needs a revamp. Basically she says it's too small, and we should have an inclusive dictionary that records, scientifically, the entire English language.

I know, that sounds as fun as re-filing books. But trust me, it's one of the better ways to waste 16 minutes. What's fun about her talk are the carefully chosen pictures she picked to illustrate her metaphors (and boy are there many metaphors). And they have no qualms about mixing! So try buckle your seatbelt and follow this quirky lady on her bumpy Steam-punk metaphor ride.

I always say that mixed metaphors are like a tranwreck in a sea of trouble; I guess the corollary is they do look pretty when illustrated.

(From Stef, Guy, Joshua)

Arthur Benjamin: Lightning calculation and other "Mathemagic"

Arthur Benjamin: Lightning calculation and other "Mathemagic" is a TED talk that blends lightning-speed magic and math. Ted itself was previously featured on TOTI.

Arthur's talk is pretty neat despite sounding totally lame. It's 15 minutes long and at the end he gives you insight on his jedi math mind tricks. It's still complicated to replicate accurately even after he explains how to be a math whiz.

Best part: the audience guy who gets the "recap" joke way too late. Enjoy!
(From Kottke)

Recurring Science Misconceptions in K-12 Textbooks

Recurring Science Misconceptions in K-12 Textbooks is a poorly laid out, but wonderfully written site about how all the things you learned in science grade school are wrong. Including "facts" about space gravity, the shape of rain drops,  and sound.

(From Metafilter)