The human rights atrocities in North Korea are no laughing matter and Google is doing their part with a different sort of activism, exposing many of the known concentration camps on Google maps and even calling them “gulags” in some cases. As CNN reported, they are showing more than just the monuments now. They’re putting nuclear facilities and buildings known for torture on their service. According to Buzzfeed: The purpose is obvious: to make the existence of these camps known; to point out that North Korea is secretive, and would never release this data on its own; to emphasize that the country…

Everyone knows about Google’s search domination. Most are aware of their foray into social media and other internet-based engagements. Some know that they’ve ventured into hardware with driverless cars, nifty glasses, and various attempts at computers. What many do not realize is that Google is deeply embedded into renewable energy and has just invested in their 10th green venture, bringing the total to 10 with investments over $1 billion. Their $200 million stake in Spinning Spur in the Texas panhandle makes 5 wind projects to match their 5 solar projects. They now have investments that…

Social media is growing so quickly. It seems like yesterday that Ashton Kutcher was trying to get to 1 million Twitter followers ahead of CNN. Now, the new magic numbers are higher. On YouTube, the next great milestone will be one billion views on a single video and “Psy – Gangnam Style” is now the top contender to hit the magic number first after passing Justin Bieber’s “Baby” with over 800 million views. According to Techcrunch: The video made its YouTube debut on July 15 and currently has over 5.3 million likes and about 320,000 dislikes. Bieber’s “Baby” – which had a nice run at the top of…

So, after a couple of weeks, the truth has come out about GM’s sudden Facebook ad maneuver. Or at least some of the story. It appears that there was something of a power struggle between Mark Zuckerberg and GM. And for once, kudos to Mr. Zuckerberg for standing his ground. He seems to remember what his social media baby is all about. And it’s not necessarily just about social media marketing. It seems that GM wanted to place full page ads on Facebook, an idea which was rejected. So like a spoiled child, GM took their ball and went home. GM’s maneuver forces a number of issues into the limelight regarding…

Now that the company is public, the employees are rich, and the CEO is married, Facebook is ready for some serious business. They’ve slayed most of the dragons they’ve needed to face up to this point, but the game has changed. They can’t just sit back and make money as a side effort. They have to generate more revenue and profits for their numbers to stay strong on the NASDAQ. For the first time in their history, they really have to try from a business perspective. Up until now, making money was a side-effect of their efforts to make the most popular and addictive social network on the planet. They are approaching…

Stunning. Intuitive. Brilliant. Worthless? The first three words in the series can clearly be used to describe the CNN #COP17 Ecosphere Project, a real-time visualization of the climate change discuss that led up to the UN Climate Change Conference 2011 being held now in Durban, South Africa. The fourth word in the series is up for debate. CNN is putting much emphasis on coverage of the conference both through their television presence as well as on the web. They have a show dedicated to the event that ran frequently in November and will continue until the end of the year. The Ecosphere project is…

CNN may not be the first mainstream media outlet to create a blog on Tumblr, but their entrance there yesterday means that they won’t be the last. As an unofficial “trendsetter” for mainstream media sites after their (purchased) success on Twitter, others will be watching to see how much success they can have on the site that has traditionally been seen as dominated by hipsters (that don’t like to be called hipsters). The staff of 5 who will be updating Tumblr while still performing their normal duties hope to bring a lighter touch than what is normally found on the CNNMoney Tech News section of the…