Are you hooked to “The Book”?

Facebook officially hit the 500 million users mark this week. Hitting this milestone can only mean one thing – people are hooked to “The Book” more than ever.

However, even though users are actively on Facebook, a recent poll conducted by the American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that Facebook ranks in the bottom 5% when it comes to customer satisfaction among private companies. Facebook’s low score is not overly surprising when you consider the recent upsets users have experienced with privacy and interface changes. Although the ranking puts Facebook in the same category as airlines and cable companies – two industries that are notorious for their poor customer service – it shows no sign of slowing down.

Google Image Search gets a lift

Google Images got a pretty sweet makeover this week with Google revealing a very sleek new interface on Tuesday. The new image search lets you scroll through 1,000 images at once, making it easier and faster to find the picture you’re looking for. Google has also ditched the text that used to appear under images (you can still find the meta data for most pictures when you hover over the image) making for a much cleaner look.

If you’re still seeing the old image search, don’t worry – Google is gradually rolling out the new tool this week. And if you’re the boss and reading this, you know how much we love you Maggie.

1945-1998 video highlights nuclear history

This video by Isao Hashimoto is a pretty amazing representation of every nuclear explosion that took place between 1945 and 1998. Hashimoto has scaled down a month of time into one second, with each blinking light and sound representing an experiment. While the subject matter is a bit of a downer, the video breaks down the history of this issue in a digestible way. Plus 10 for this amazing communication about a very serious topic.

Emotional spell check tool hits the Internet

Are you guilty of sending emails in the heat of the moment? Do you hit the send button without checking to ensure you haven’t inadvertently told someone off? If so, you may want to give ToneCheck a try. ToneCheck claims it can help you avoid situations that come out of misinterpreted textual communication by identifying the emotional definition of words and phrases. According to studies quoted on ToneCheck, emails are misinterpreted 50% of the time so it may be worth giving this tool a spin. We’ve spent some time with the ToneCheck guys, and must admit that it is good to see our friends from New Brunswick getting so much buzz.