Spicing it Up
EXT
How do you show your love of America? Speechifying? Shopping? Flag-waving?
Celebrating the country’s birthday usually means minding your p’s and p’s, like parades??and pyrotechnics. However, nothing??can quell a Buzz upswelling of “patriotism.” Indeed, people simply seek out “patriotic” (+102%) and see what the searches bring. While in the “patriotic” mode, a few people also take the time to salute the “flag,” “stars and stripes,” and “god bless america.”
After a decline, public interest in the “patriot act”??is up??over the past few weeks and that interest has??pushed it??to the top of our patriot-related searches.??Perhaps the spate of news stories of FBI surveillance errors and the ongoing Alberto Gonzales drama may have revived scrutiny for “patriot act summary,” “patriot act pros and cons,” and “patriot act vs. bill of rights.”
As for the last item on our Buzz patriotic call-out, yes, people proudly sport their love of country on their vehicle. In America, the mighty mobile rules. Have a happy Fourth.
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Excuse Me, Your Patriotism Is Showing
After landing a coveted iPhone, a few geeks weren’t content with just pinching the screen over and over. No, they immediately felt the urge to take the device apart and tinker with it. Searches on “iphone hacks” jumped 137% yesterday, propelled by the primal geek urge to tinker.
Related queries on “how to unlock iphone,” “iphone teardown,” and “iphone crack” showed the determination of those looking to understand the inner workings of the must-have gadget.
With the iPhone at the forefront of hackers’ minds, we wondered what else those restless souls were working on. Here are our top 20 hack searches over the last week…
Two final notes following our hack attack…
?How can you hack a book? The Harry Potter Hacker (#3) claims to have secret plot details about the 7th and final chapter in the wizard’s saga. Did he glean the info from a computer at Rowling’s publisher? Spoiler alert, indeed.
?The PS3 is losing the sales race to the Wii and Xbox 360, but it’s the most popular console with hackers. We were surprised to see the gaming machine place so high, mostly ’cause of its high sticker price. Do hackers have the disposable income to risk breaking a console?
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The usually-staid History Channel is responsible for this summer’s surprise reality hit. The frigid tales of “Ice Road Truckers” debuted three weeks ago and the frigid flipside to summer heat has viewers enraptured. Searches on the show have spiked on three consecutive Sundays and revved up 80% this weekend.
Related queries on “ice road truckers drivers” and “ice road truckers episodes” are also melting the Buzz. The show is one of the few summer diversions that appeals to an older audience?half of all searches come from the 35-54 age bracket.
We’re also hooked on the chilly drama, but we won’t be booking plane tickets to scenic Yellowknife anytime soon. However, a few curious (or crazy) folks have been inspired by the high-risk, high-reward duty as evidenced by searches on “ice road trucking employment,” “ice road trucker jobs,” and “ice road trucker pay.”
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