Mitt Romney is #9, Ron Paul #10, and Newt Gingrich is #17.  It is interesting to see these 3 but not see Rick Perry or Herman Cain on the list..  Is that because people already know about Rick Perry and Herman Cain but want to find out more about Romney, Paul, and Gringrich?  Or does it mean there really is more interest in these three?

Actually, looking at wikipedia, there are quite a few GOP presidential candidates that are missing:

• Michele Bachmann, U.S. Representative from Minnesota^[33][34]
• Herman Cain, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO, former National Restaurant Association CEO, and businessman from Georgia^[35][36]
• Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives from Georgia^[37][38]
• Jon Huntsman, Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah^[39][40]
• Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico^[41][42]
• Ron Paul, U.S. Representative from Texas^[43][44]
• Rick Perry, Governor of Texas^[45][46][47]
• Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts^[48][49][50]
• Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania^[51][52][53]

^{Why have these three made it into the Google Trends top 20?}

^{Doing a Google News search for Romney doesn’t suggest much:}

It does probably indicate why Newt made the list.  Apparently at the recent debate there was some interest in the interaction between Romney and Gringrich.

Google News search for Ron Paul does not generate many clues either:

A little bit more about Newt Gingrich in Google News:

Interesting headlines:

Palin: Gingrich won the debate

Go, Newt, Go! Gingrich Super Committee Slam Highlights GOP Fashion …

Newt Gingrich Under Your Mistletoe? Merry Caucus Campaign, Iowa!

Definitely the most advocative results of the three. 

Romney related tweets of interest:

kathygriffin Kathy Griffin
Wow watching @CNN @AndersonCooper host GOP debate.Romney/Perry girl fight reminding me of a "Bad Girls Club" spring break

GlobeMCramer Maria Cramer
Perry v. Romney: The story that started it all: Illegal immigrants toiled for governor – The Boston Globe shar.es/b7feu #WH2012

thinkprogress ThinkProgress
Romney reveals details of Medicare plan: "We’re going to give people vouchers." thkpr.gs/nJggly

stevebenen Steve Benen
Romney last night: "I want to reduce taxes on middle-income families." Problem: he really doesn’t bit.ly/qjDWVe

RonPaul Tweets:

RonPaul Ron Paul
"I say we replace the income tax with NOTHING" #CNNDebate #RonPaul #GOP2012 #tcot #tlot #teaparty #economy

lewrockwell Lew Rockwell
‘Ron’s Best Night’: Writes Todd McAdams: "It was Ron’s best night so far since the "heavyweights"… bit.ly/o9lqh2 #tcot @ronpaul

ketelsen Katie Ketelsen
First political tweet: The more I hear #RonPaul speak the more I like him. ht.ly/72ob4

Gringrich related tweets:

SuPerlative73 Sudan Life |718
…Gringrich & Santorum were not invited to the after debate party festivities… Because they were described as quote…"Not Ballers!"

thesportsexpert Riker Kasamoto
Love reading all these tweets about the #GOP. Gringrich is getting a lot of support and everybody hates Rick Perry.

PullOutKing Money Mitch
Dog there’s no way I would vote for a candidate named "NewtGringrich" naww get’em outta here

tdkelly Tim Kelly
If we have to listen to Newt Gringrich for seven 3-hour debates, the terrorists have already won.

Still not much insight into why these three are suddenly of interest and the other ones are not..

Soulja Boy is #8 in Google Trends.   He is an rapper: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulja_Boy 

Background information

Birth name: DeAndre Cortez Way

Also known as: Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em

Born: July 28, 1990 (age 21) Chicago, Illinois

Origin: Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Genres: Hip hop

Occupation: Rapper

Years active
2007–present

Labels: Stacks on Deck/Interscope

Associated acts:  Arab, Mr. Collipark

Website: thedeandreway.com

Looking at his Wikipedia History:  Lots of edits in October and September.  Only one in August, and lots in previous months as well.

en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soulja_Boy&limit=500&action=history

Jason Campbell is #7 on the Google Trends.  This is another NFL star.  He was playing as the Raider’s quarter back, but he breaks his collarbone, and the Raiders then acquire Carson Palmer.

Now we know that Google Trends #1, #2, #3, and #7 are all related to NFL.

World Series schedule:

Wednesday, October 19th: Game 1 – Rangers @ Cardinals, 8:05 p.m.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)

Thursday, October 20th: Game 2 – Rangers @ Cardinals, 8:05 p.m.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)

Saturday, October 22nd: Game 3 – Cardinals @ Rangers, 8:05 p.m.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)

Sunday, October 23rd: Game 4 – Cardinals @ Rangers, 8:05 p.m.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)

(Monday, October 24th: Game 5 – Cardinals @ Rangers, 8:05 p.m.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)

*Wednesday, October 26th: Game 6 – Rangers @ Cardinals, 8:05 p.m.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)

*Thursday, October 27th: Game 7 – Rangers @ Cardinals, 8:05 p.m.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter)

*if necessary

World Series in the news

#3 on the Google Trends chart is “Ronnie Brown”?  But who is he?

NFL player who was traded for Jerome Harrison.  This is really tied to #2 on the list, Jerome Harrison.  I am sure the numbers are very close between the two:

Mark Paul at Yahoo writes:

The Philadelphia Eagles have already said bye to one of their big offseason acquisitions. Just before the trading deadline on October 19, the Eagles dealt running back Ronnie Brown to the Detroit Lions. In exchange for Brown, the Eagles got back former back Jerome Harrison(notes) and a seventh round pick. As an Eagles fan, the trade is a little disappointing in terms of what the team got back. However, I’m not surprised it happened. Brown has been a major bust since joining the team.

Read rest of article

“Shia Labeouf” is #5 on the Google Trends list. At first, I had no idea if this was a person, place, or something else.  But with 2 seconds of research I see it is the lead character in transformers and that I have seen him act.

IMDB says:

Shia Saide LaBeouf was born June 11, 1986, in Los Angeles, California, to Jeffrey LaBeouf and Shayna Saide, and is an only child. His parents are divorced, and he lives with his mom in Los Angeles. He started his career by doing stand-up comedy around places in his neighborhood, such as coffee clubs… See full bio »

His latest transformer movie came out earlier this year.  But why are people searching for him?  He was involved in a street fight. 

“Man up” is #4 on the Google Trends list.  Why?

“Man Up” is

• “Man Up!” is a new ABC TV show. 
• Third album by the Danish blues-rock group The Blue Van. It was released on October 27, 2008 in Danish music stores and on iTunes under TVT Records.
• Campaign to stop violence against women
• a phrase that means “brave it, be daring.”
• a phrase that means “to fulfill your responsibilities as a man, despite your insecurities and constant ability to place yourself in embarrassing and un-manly scenarios.”
• a phrase that means “to be strong”
• a phrase that means “To work through impediments and obstacles without whining”

(Phrases taken from the Urban Dictionary)

The ABC TV series is probably the idea people have in mind when searching on it. Official website

Of course the CBS news article points out:

Unfortunately, most critics felt that the show’s tried-yet-true genre of men being boys failed to hit a comedic chord. ABC’s new sitcom "Man Up!" only received a 39 out of 100 on ratings aggregate Metacritic, due to what most critics pointed out as an unfunny, overly used premise.

He is trending as #2 at the moment according to Google Trends.

Jerome Harrison is a NFL player.  Born on February 26, 1983 in Kalamazoo Michigan.  He was playing as #36 for the Detroit Lions and is now #33 for the Philadelphia Eagles. He had previously been with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2010 and before that he had played from 2006-2010 for the Cleveland Browns. 

My youngest son has just started to play football.  One question we have been asking ourselves is “What does it take to be a NFL player?”  Not that this is something we are all really interested in, but it is worth noting that to become a good football player requires dedication, practice, and good coaching.

You can see a lot of these changes by comparing the Wikipedia.org article changes from August 10, 2011 with the latest:

en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jerome_Harrison&action=historysubmit&diff=456259812&oldid=444105097

It is interesting to see the date and frequencies of the changes to the article:  en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jerome_Harrison&action=history

January 2011 – 1 edit

February 2011 – no edits

March 2011 – 1 edit

May 2011 – 1 edit

July 2011 – 3 edits

August 2011 – 8 edits

September 2011 – no edits

October 2011 – 5 edits

If you were following a football player or other sports figure at one point in their career, and you needed to see what changes occurred between the time you last knew them and now, then the Wikipedia.org history feature could be a good way to focus on the changes.  

Also, it would be interesting to see how the frequency in edits is changing across wikipedia articles.  Is there a tool out there that does this? 

According to Google Trends, a lot of people are trying to find out.

He was a retired NFL player and now he is going to join the Oakland Raiders.  He plays quarterback (QB) position.  He is a winner of the Heisman trophy, “The Most Prestigious Award in College Football”.

Here is some other basic information:

Born: December 27, 1979 in Fresno, CA

College: USC

Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003 NFL draft.

You can get more information directly from Carson from his blog: Carson Palmer: Official Blog

He is married to Shaelyn Fernandes

This cute video has been making the rounds.  It shows a one year old happily using an iPad that seems to maintain her interest and then happily flipping through a magazine that she quickly loses interest in.  The baby uses the pinching and sliding movements on both items, and the producer of the video makes the comment that the baby looses interest in the magazine because to her there is no difference between the iPad and the magazine other than the magazine appears to be broken.  It is a fun video.

This One Works

This One Does Not Work

Does Not Work Either

Is it Broken or What?

Yet My finger does work.

I’ve had it.  Off to the One That Works.

For my 1 year old daughter, a magazine is an iPad that does not work.

It will remain so for her whole life.

Steve Jobs has coded a part of her OS.

That last slide makes a reference to a concept we talk about called “Digital Natives”.  These are the kids that grew up with technology.  They could not imagine a world without computers, cell phones, email, and the web.  And they have adapted themselves to use it.  Indeed Steve Jobs was one of the enablers of that and in part Steve Jobs has coded a part of this generations DNA.

The comments ranged from cute to mean.  From thoughtful to crass.   One person even suggested that some of the comments were so extreme and hurtful that the parents should consider removing the video.  One eve says ”Wow. People really need to CHILL OUT. It’s just a cute video whether you believe in why the baby’s is doing what she’s doing or not. Sheesh.”  I think that probably reflects my views the best.