Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/10646
SHORT TAKES Google Becomes a High Roller in Washington, DC Lost and Found Network Builds Members Recently launched TigerTag has grown to include 29 countries in just 90 days, calling itself “a true global network of Good Samaritans”. The free network offers small stickers with unique ID numbers that can be applied to cell phones, iPods, BlackBerries, etc. The tag says: “Do good. Return.” and according to the company, most people do. So far 75 percent of lost items that carry a TigerTag ID sticker are returned. “In addition to countless other items, more than 10 million mobile phones and 2 million laptops are lost every year in the U.S. alone, and though most of the finders would like to do the right thing and return them, until now it’s been very dif- ficult to track down the owners,” says Eric Lagier, CEO and founder of TigerTag. “We make it easy for these folks to be Good Samaritans and return these lost items.” “THE SITUATION TODAY, in which records are inaccessible, disorganized, often paper-based, and spread over many locations, is an absurdity and very bad for patients.” Comments Ferris Research in an observation on how healthcare business is technologically unsophisticated. 6 MESSAGING NEWS MAY/JUNE 2010 Google is increasing its lobbying spend- ing in the hopes of influencing law- makers and regulators. According to lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate Office of Public Affairs, Google spent $880,000 (USD) in the first quarter of 2009, this year first quarter expenses rose to $1.38 million (USD). Lobbying expenses for all of 2009 totaled $4.03 million (USD). Google’s lobbying disclosure form includes both money it spent itself and money paid to outside firms to lobby on its behalf. The increased interest in Washington started five years ago, when Google’s lone public policy guy wrote in the then-new company public policy blog: “We’re seeking to do public policy advocacy in a Googley way.” Many surmise the jump in spending this year for its own staff lobbyists, plus additional outside help, is due to increasing criticism of the company’s privacy practices. Texting Etiquette Guess it was only a matter of time before we need- ed to be told how to keep out of texting trouble. According to Susanna Theo, author of Keeping Civility While Texting handbook, texting is no longer just for teenagers, but grown-up texts are the cause of auto accidents, nasty breakups, and busted business deals. Theo says that texting, while it can be a useful commu- nication tool, is also beginning to cause problems in modern society. The head of Virginia-based Protocol and Etiquette Services says that the handbook “can give you some 21st Century protocol tips on texting that Emily Post would never have dreamed of.” The handbook reviews such things as when it is and isn’t appropriate to send a text during a business meeting; if a face-to-face takes priority over a textee; and places you should refrain from texting (including movies, concerts, lectures, classes, driving, participat- ing in group activities, meetings, and dates.) The handbook is free.