September 8, 2011
In the News: Obama to Unveil Jobs Plan; Google Acquires Zagat and More
- Obama to Unveil Jobs Plan in a Speech to Congress
President Barack Obama is preparing to roll out proposals Thursday night totaling $300 billion or more to strengthen the shaky economy and stimulate new job growth, according to Democratic sources.
While some sources put the size of the package at roughly $300 billion, one Democrat familiar with the president’s plan said Wednesday that the working figure was growing and could top $400 billion.
- Google Acquires Zagat to Boost Local Offerings
Just weeks after nabbing Motorola Mobility (and dumping some of its older products), Google is adding to its list of acquisitions with the purchase of Zagat.
“Moving forward, Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering–delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights, while enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary) experiences around the corner and around the world,” Marissa Mayer, vice president of local, maps, and location services at Google, wrote in a blog post.
- American Girl Company Introduces New Black American Doll
Until recently, if you wanted to buy an African-American doll from the American Girl Company’s historic collection, you had one choice: “Addy Walker,†whose accompanying books told the story of her escape from slavery and search for her father and brother.
Now, parents who found that educational narrative a bit heavy for playtime, or who simply want to provide their children a broader picture of the Black experience in America, have another choice. American Girl’s latest character, Cécile Rey, is described as “a bold, confident girl from a well-to-do African-American family.” In a series of six books, set in 1850s New Orleans, Cécile and her friend, Marie-Grace Gardner, form what American Girl calls “a unique bond through their shared love of music,” and go on to help their community during the yellow fever epidemic that sweeps through New Orleans in 1853.
- Twitter Has 100 Million Active Users
Twitter has 100 million active users logging in at least once a month and 50 million active users every day, CEO Dick Costolo revealed Thursday.
The microblogging service has a total of 200 million registered users, but how many of those are actually regular users has been open to debate for some time. Costolo, in an informal chat with tech reporters he called his “state of the union,†revealed that exactly half of them log in monthly–a number he says is up 82% since the beginning of the year.
- Street King: 50 Cent’s New Philanthropic Moneymaker
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has made hundreds of millions of dollars peddling everything from music to video games. Now, he’s bringing his viral marketing genius into a surprising new realm: celebrity philanthropy. With his new energy shot drink, Street King, 50 Cent plans to parlay his popularity into selling his millions of fans on helping him feed one billion Africans.