As you probably noticed (or, understandably, didn’t notice), Huntsman barely made a blip in last week’s Iowa caucuses as he had a solidly poor showing of only receiving 0.6% of all votes cast. The results can largely be chalked up to Huntsman’s campaign itself since he has essentially put all of his election eggs into the New Hampshire basket where he hopes to establish himself as a legitimate contender against Romney’s all-but-foregone coronation as the Republican presidential nominee.

And whaddya know, it appears to be working! Shortly after the dawn of today’s election, Google Elections & Politics made an update on their Plus account citing a post-debate (the Republican candidates had a twofer this past weekend) swell of interest in Huntsman. Google explains:

We compared search traffic for each of the candidates on Saturday to searches for their names on Monday during the same time period. Though there are fewer searches on weekends, we found a wide variation in the degree of search volume for each candidate. As you can see in the first graph below, Jon Huntsman saw the sharpest increase in search traffic at 50%. He was followed by Newt Gingrich (+21%), Mitt Romney (+18%), and Ron Paul (+8%). Rick Santorum was the only candidate who actually saw a decrease in search traffic (-35%).

And like that – SHAZAM! – Huntsman’s got a dog in this fight. It’s too bad the campaign season didn’t start this past weekend or else Huntsman might have a real chance of crushing his opponents in one swoop. Unfortunately for him, election cycles don’t ever really start or stop, so he’s got his work cut out for him. Still, part of his appeal to New Hampshirers may be due to his Rudy-like moments in this past weekend’s debates, which his campaign shared on his website:

Seriously, with that dramatic music and the way the other nominees are standing off to the side in their nearly-submissive repose, you halfway expect mobs of supporters to circle Huntsman at the end of his speech and triumphantly hoist him up onto their shoulders. One reason we probably didn’t see that dramatic conclusion is that Huntsman is still a relatively fresh face among a field of candidates that have thus far been taking turns in a roulette of Not Romney candidates hewn to a surge-and-decline pattern. Google compiled the trends of searches on the Republican candidates and it appears that Huntsman’s star is rising:

The numbers all appear really promising but… these are all search trends gathered from the past couple of days. But who knows, he might fall as quickly as he has ascended since that’s been the fate of every other single Not Romney candidate. Previous to the New Hampshire primaries today, it wasn’t too common to hear much about Huntsman as he was pretty obscure among his fellow candidates. As encouraging as it must be for his campaign to see this kind of increase in attention, the benefit is negligible at best and a treasure chest of pyrite at worst. If the nation’s interest in Huntsman before the New Hampshire debates was hovering around the Hardly Anything point, a 50% boost of search trends on Hardly Anything is still Hardly Anything.

Incredibly, WebProNews was able to get an exclusive reaction from Mitt Romney, who took a moment from his very busy schedule today to offer the following assessment of Huntsman’s climb in the polls:

Today’s videos feature a reporter who was pushed too far, a ceiling fan fail, and a man who’s simply trying to let the rest of us know how awesome Iowa actually is…biatch. Enjoy.

Every reporter who’s had an unruly mob, or even one person behind them acting goofy just jumped out of their chair and pumped their first.

You think you’re better than Iowa? This guy has come to set you straight (Warning: language)

Christopher Nolan is such a hack. I knew upon viewing The Dark Knight Rises trailer that I had seen this movie done before; now I know what it was…

All I can think upon viewing this video is that Bob Barker never had to rely on celebrity appearances when he was hosting the show. Snoop does know his prices though.

I guarantee your Lego creation doesn’t come close to matching the awesomeness of this one.

I really hope the tagline for this movie is “This summer, things are about to get topsy turvy”. I think Kirsten Dunst has set the record for upside down make out scenes in film as well. (Trailers have been taken down, so this one might not last).

The sound created in this video should be used in movie sound effects. So righteously painful.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul has won the first ever Online Iowa Straw Poll, and won by a wide margin at that. Out of over 6,000 votes cast, Congressman Paul received 44%. The poll has been open for about two weeks.

The second place finisher was Herman Cain with 16% of the vote and Michele Bachmann came in third with 10%. 4th place went to Texas Governor Rick Perry as he garnered 8% of the vote. Of course, Rick Perry is not an official candidate for President yet so he will not appear in the real Ames Straw Poll tomorrow. It is speculated, however, that Perry will announce his candidacy as soon as Saturday.

The other finishers, in order, were Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney (tie), Sarah Palin (also not officially running), “Someone else,” Rick Santorum, and John Huntsman and Newt Gingrich (tie). Yes, the “someone else” option beat Santorum, Huntsman and Gingrich.

The first ever online poll was sponsored by Iowa Republican congressman Tom Latham, who represents their 4th congressional district. In a statement to KCAU in Sioux City Iowa, he said this:

I congratulate Ron Paul and his campaign on this victory. Regardless of the results, the most important message of this online poll is that Iowans are united in their motivation to bring common sense back to Washington. And it’s clear why. Americans are tired of paying for Washington’s failed and costly policies. They are ready to fight for leaders who will put people before politics and progress before partisanship to change the way Washington works and the work that Washington does to restore the confidence in the American Dream.

Although the results of the Ames Straw Poll have no official effect on the primaries, many see it as the first big test of the candidates. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see whether or not Ron Paul can duplicate his online success at the real event.

"These state-wide agreements enable schools and districts to benefit from centralized resources such as deployment support and training materials, paving the way for an easy transition to Google Apps—including Gmail, Docs, Sites, Calendar, Video, and Groups—in their classrooms, immediately," says Google Apps Education Manager Jaime Casap.

Colarado Governor Bill Ritter had this to say: "I’m pleased to see the Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) continue its tradition of bringing innovative tools to members of the Colorado public. By leveraging the Internet, educators are able to bring new ways of learning to the classroom and connect with students in exciting and challenging ways."

Google has also announced the extension of its free Google Message Security service to K-12 institutions, as well as a new training solution.

This includes a free online training center, a set of qualification exams for teachers, and a Certified Trainer and Partner program.

 Arne Josefsberg

A piece of land that Microsoft already owns in West Des Moines, Iowa should stay undeveloped for some amount of time as a result.  Arne Josefsberg and Michael Manos, who are general managers of infrastructure services and data centers at Microsoft, respectively, explained the decision on the ms datacenters site.

The pair wrote, "We measure everything in our data center operations to the point of obsession, and continually analyze our measurements to identify areas where we can improve efficiency and increase ROI."  Advances have been made in the areas of virtualization, capacity allocation, and power density, so "we will be able to delay the construction and opening of some of our facilities, which will save Microsoft and its shareholders significant operating expenses . . ."

Josefsberg and Manos then mentioned data centers that are under construction in Dublin and Chicago, although the would-be data center in Iowa’s the only one to be affected so far.

Current Microsoft employees probably prefer data center delays over more layoffs, anyway.

We imagine the various political bloggers and webmasters must be in ecstasy today, now that the state of Iowa has its primary underway. To complement those fevered bloggers, we took a look at some of the resources available at the major search sites about the primary.

At Ask.com, a search for the Iowa primary brings up a Smart Answer block atop the search results. They link to the state of Iowa’s list of sites about the primary; the left sidebar of the Ask results features options for narrowing the search.

Google occupies the other end of the spectrum. They have been a fixture thanks to their presence in the YouTube debates held in 2007. Tonight, a Google Maps mashup will show live results of today’s voting in Iowa.

Yahoo goes farther with its election coverage than Google and its News section for the election. At Yahoo, features like their Election ’08 Political Dashboard offer a unique look at the various campaigns.

AOL Elections ’08, like many other AOL services, mimics the style and look of Yahoo. AOL’s site isn’t as gee-whizzy as Yahoo’s, as they have more of a focus on stories and headlines about the election. They will track primary results, and show them on the main elections page.

At Microsoft, their MSN Election page covers what they have to offer voters. MSNBC News figures prominently, with a lead story on how various outcomes would affect eleven of the candidates (Ron Paul didn’t merit a mention in MSNBC political director Chuck Todd’s piece, though.)

MSN’s continued connection with Slate.com, once a Microsoft property, brings in several stories from that publication. Latino MSN Elecciones 2008 serves the Spanish-language community seeking online election information.

The company goes on to say, “Google is very happy to be constructing a new data center in Berkeley County, South Carolina. . . .  Eventually, we plan to employ approximately 200 people, ranging from technology assistants to experienced data center managers.  We’re confident this $600 million investment will be good for Berkeley County, Google and our Internet users.”

And, there, in a nutshell, is Google’s Berkeley County Data Center site – lots of feel-good, FAQ-type stuff (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  Dan McCue of the Charleston Regional Business Journal interviewed Matt Dunne, Google’s community relations specialist, on the matter.

“There’s no question that this kind of community outreach is kind of new for Google, but I think it’s a reflection of how the company has grown and evolved over the years,” said Dunne, who later added, “As a result of the positive experience we’ve had here, we’re increasing our outreach to communities in Oklahoma and Iowa, where other data centers are being built.”

Google’s always been one of the most communicative companies on the Web; it looks like the search giant isn’t going to lose that distinction anytime soon.

In the meantime, we can digest the details reported by The Des Moines Register.  Area lawmakers have apparently arranged extensive tax breaks for a “Web search portable business” that would put at least $200 million into the local economy, and these same lawmakers “have said the western Iowa city is being considered for a $600 million data center that could create 100 jobs that would pay between $50,000 and $130,000 annually.”

Sounds like the stars are aligning, right?

Then, “[a]n economic development official who asked not to be identified, but who is familiar with the project, said Friday that Google has told the state that it will build its next server farm in Council Bluffs.”

Bingo.

Of course, if tomorrow afternoon rolls around and there’s been no announcement, expect to see a lot of sad faces in Council Bluffs, and also at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which is trying to work out a deal beneficial to both Google and its students.  After all, Google offers what many people would define as dream jobs.

But we expect to hear an announcement.  People of Iowa, polish those resumes.

“We are confident that the settlement is in the best interests of all members of the class and we are deeply grateful for the quality and fairness of the judicial process in Iowa,” said Roxanne Conlin, lead counsel for the class.

“The settlement will provide tremendous benefits for many people throughout the state of Iowa. We are pleased with the results of this litigation and we are pleased that the process worked so well,” Rick Hagstrom, class co-counsel of the firm Zelle Hofmann Voelbel Mason & Gette.

Purchases of Microsoft operating systems from MS-DOS through Windows XP, along with those for Word, Excel, or Office, will be covered by the settlement. That includes buying a computer with any of that software preinstalled.

The settlement covers purchases made between May 18, 1994 through June 30, 2006. Microsoft probably enjoyed a sigh of relief with this settlement; the case has been going on for eight years.

Under the settlement, Microsoft will provide half of any unclaimed proceeds to the Iowa Department of Education to bridge the digital and technical divide in Iowa schools through the purchase of computer hardware and software, the company said in a statement.

—

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl

Bookmark WebProNews:

There’s an Iowa class-action demanding hundreds of millions from Microsoft for stifling competition and forcing them to suffer under Windows, as well as overcharging for the operating system. The lawsuit only remains after other similar ones were settled because the plaintiffs want cash, not vouchers.

“I don’t take coupons,” she said.

Microsoft asked the European Commission to open up its antitrust hearings to the public, believing that the trial has gotten to the point where they can no longer expect fair treatment. Microsoft believes that if the public sees what’s going on, they’ll jump to Microsoft’s side.

The EU said no, saying the law prohibits that type of transparency.

You know, I don’t think you can have a fair courts system if you hold everything in secrecy. Then again, I guess Europe has always had a very different idea of what a “democracy” is.

Finally, Microsoft has filed lawsuits against eight eBay sellers who are selling pirated Microsoft software on the online auction site. Microsoft found the offenders through Windows Genuine Advantage, which replaces pirated MS software with the real thing if the buyer rats out the seller.

Add to | DiggThis | Yahoo! My Web

Technorati:

Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

Visit the InsideGoogle blog.