Several days ago, a Google doodle incorporated a picture of Sputnik; this is the way in which Google celebrates many special occasions, including St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, and Roald Dahl’s birthday.  But Joseph Farah, the editor of WorldNetDaily.com, noted a couple of omissions.

“When they ignore Veterans Day and Memorial Day, I think they’re telling us something about the way they view America,” Farah said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Maybe.  Or maybe not.  But the issue of Sergey Brin’s heritage complicates matters even more; Brin, one of Google’s cofounders, was born in Moscow in 1973.

Still, even if penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming, it’s not usually tied to Scotland.  Ditto for radium, Marie Curie, and France (or Poland).  Maybe more time needs to go by before people can let go of Sputnik’s Soviet connection – Thursday was only the 50th anniversary – but Google probably didn’t mean any harm by celebrating the launch.  It just doesn’t hurt to stay on the good side of a country with around 143 million citizens.

“Depending on the data available for a given public transit system, Google Maps now shows the next departure times, what lines serve a specific station, and/or a link to the transit agency to get more detail,” writes Christoph Oehler on Google’s Lat Long Blog.  “Try clicking on one of the little bus or tram icons on this map of Zurich, Switzerland, to see what we mean.  You can also search for stations (for example ‘59th St – Columbus Circle Station, new york’).”

Yet the PR-savvy among you might realize that the “depending on the data available” phrase could act as quite a disclaimer.  Oehler, a product manager for Google, assures readers, “Our transit information is acquired through a variety of means, including transit agencies, geo data companies, websites, and maps.”  And as always, “We are continuously working to expand our coverage.”

Here’s the neat part about this development, though: you can probably ensure that your transit system of choice is included.  “If you are interested in having this data available for your city, point your local transit agency to this website where they can learn more about how to upload their transit data,” suggests Oehler.

For still more information, you might want to check out Jeremy Faludi’s entry on WorldChanging.com.  There are screenshots and explanations galore – far more than Google provides, actually - and Faludi’s own take on the revised Google Maps/Earth/Transit system.  All in all, things are looking pretty good.

Though social networks and social marketing have become the hottest topic in online business these days, Laycock advises that Digg.com is a bit narrow when it comes to audience.

Depending on what a business owner is selling, there’s a high likelihood they are targeting the wrong market. Digg is mostly male, young, IT professionals and engineers – a fantastic audience for certain interests.

(It should be noted though, aside from the traffic Digg can generate, that too much about its audience shouldn’t be presumed. Hunting equipment, most probably, wouldn’t appeal to this Silicon-Valley-and-Star-Wars-minded crowd, but there is a range of things that could surprise the presumptive marketer. For example, a Digger may have a father who likes to hunt; they also have wives, mothers, daughters, brothers, uncles, aunts, and friends.)

Laycock scores, though, with the thought that marketers shouldn’t put all of their eggs in one basket. Focusing all of your attention on Digg, like relying solely on Google for traffic, is a bad idea.

She recommends establishing a business presence in a number of social places like StumbleUpon, Netscape, del.icio.us, and Reddit, and especially MySpace.

A Flickr portfolio can be a great place to market, she says, because it is visual. YouTube, too, is nice for the opportunity to demonstrate products.

Remember, remember the YouTube blender?

And YouTube, well, can you think of another video medium that offers an audience of 34 million people hanging out for nearly a half-hour daily, and the only cost is for production, then you might find another video site just as valuable. You also might find out why the TV networks are so threatened by YouTube – it’s not only about copyrights.

Some Bullet Points from Laycock’s Presentation:

Understand which social networks fit with what you are working with

40% of MySpace users are ages 35-55

Don’t forget other popular destinations like Xanga, Facebook, and Bebo.

Utilize discussion forums; an online community devoted to Corvettes is perfect for select offerings

Enlist consumer review sites like Epinions, Hotels.com, Amazon.

If you have a brick and mortar presence, or a local angle, don’t forget local search, like CitySearch.

Give incentive to review, like coupons.

Have the right story for the right crowd.

Provide lots of information, lots of humor.

You’ll need a catchy title and a buzz-worthy hook with a call-to-action that’s easy to spread via link motivation.

Make the viral part easy. "The less work there is, the more likely that they are to [spread] it." Heh, like creamy peanut butter.

Build relationships with community members