This is a colorful infographic that captures what 60 seconds on the Internet look like.  Not only does it include user activities by category, but it even gets down to the number of iPads and Kindle Fires that are sold.  It also addresses malware infections and sites that get hacked.  Check it out:

Chances are that if you use Facebook and Twitter, for instance, on a steady and regular basis, you are exposed to more ads on a typical day than people who do not, which in turn makes you automatically more informed about deals and sales, promotions, and even the social recommendations of friends of yours who have liked or tweeted some item that they found a good price on.  Let’s take a better look at the shopping science behind social networkers and see if we can make a little more sense of this auspicious phenomenon.

Cyber Monday is the preferred way for many people to shop because often there is free shipping involved, crowds can be avoided, and money can be saved on gas for the car.  With the whole world in some form of economic crisis or another, it is not surprising that Cyber Monday deals have become some of the most popular Christmas shopping venues in the places where they are currently available.  Shoppers can save on shoes and clothing, services like adt home security, and even groceries during the sales events. For more on Cyber Monday, check out the infographic below:

Email has fallen out of favor as the main means of communication, that is true — but it still holds a place that is esteemed above the others.  Click the infographic here to see what we mean.  For instance, there are more email accounts in the world than there are social media accounts:

While many people are hoping that the Kindle Fire table (as it is rumored to be called) will be the first Android powered tablet device to truly take on Apple’s iPad, others insist that the Kindle Fire is more a reaction to the Nook Color, and less a competitor to the iPad.  If some of the rumors turn out to be true, we can expect there to be no camera on this device.  However, it will also abandon the e-ink technology so many Kindle readers cite as the number one reason they would rather read on a Kindle than an iPad.

We haven’t got much longer to wait now, but until then, enjoy the following Amazon tablet rumor video:

Are you worried that books and print newspapers are endangered species? Do you ever wonder what will happen when the last of them crumbles away to dust? It seems an apocolyptic  world, bleak and grey (yes, grey with an “e”) and without the beautiful aesthetic that the dignified printed book brings us.  Well, to some anyway. Not me.

I have no beef with digital books at all, and I hope to have my entire analog library replaced with digital editions within five years. The idea of a world that no longer has time, space, or patience for all that is printed on paper is one I would be all too happy to live in, and a world where I can instantly buy a new book without having to wait in line or compete for limited copies in a store is, to be honest, my kinda place.

With digital books on the rise, and their increasing availability for download via the Internet, most often nowadays with free 3G connections offered by the makers of the e-readers, it is easier than ever to get a great book when you want it.  It saves the planet by preserving trees that would ordinarily have to be cut down in order to make the paper to print the books on.  A messy business all around, the cutting of trees without dire reason.

So where do we go next?

“I believe the time is shortly coming when all school aged children will carry Kindle-like devices around with them instead of school books. It would make the world a much better place,” said Maime Lendon, a resident of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Good prediction.

That being said, there are a few objective realities we can address.  Internet Explorer has more flaws than almost any other of the mainstream browsers out there right now (and we’re talking about Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera, by the way.)  IE is often mistaken for being a good browser just because it’s there.  It’s there, because Microsoft puts it on computers by default when Windows is installed using OEM licenses.   It’s there because it is nested into Microsoft’s Windows operating system versions.  It’s just there.  Does that make it good?  Well, let’s look at it this way:  no.

Mac users tend to prefer Safari, especially if they are using MobileMe to sync bookmarks and settings across multiple devices.  More and more Mac users will be doing this, once iCloud comes out later this fall, since iCloud will now be free, and many people who didn’t want to spend money on MobileMe will now take advantage of the same syncing features now that it comes without a pricetag.

Comparable numbers of both Windows and Mac users seem to favor Firefox, despite the fact that the last couple of versions have been less than stellar compared with versions from the past.   Though Firefox has become a little more of a resource hog than it was, it is still a contender with IE.

Then, you have Google’s Chrome Browser.  Chrome has been lauded as the fastest browser on Earth.  Benchmarks seem to support the claim, at least for the most common tasks people use their browsers for.  Personally, I love Chrome lately.

The choice is ultimately up to you, which browser to use, but if I were you, I would give Chrome a serious look.

One percent is a huge amount of the global Web foot traffic, when looked at alongside a number of other key factors.  In addition to reports of the market share globally, some 2.9% of all Web browsing activity in the United States of America is conducted via iPad, using Apple’s Safari Beb browser for iOS.  This does not include the use of Apple’s wildly popular iPhone, iPhone 3g, iPhone 3gs, or iPhone 4 as hardware devices. On a much broader spectrum, it outstrips the total combined use of the Internet by users of all Android devices combined, which is saying quite a lot, considering the Android OS runs on more devices than most people can count, including certain ultra rustic tablet PCs.

On another note, tablets are now outselling traditional PCs and laptops.  Yes, everyone predicted this, but who would have believed it one year ago? Since a tablet is defined primarily by Apple and its iPad as new and different, the world seems to have accepted that it doesn’t have to be a PC at all. Because of this, the same people who love the tablet (er…iPad) experience are not in the least disappointed that it doesn’t run Mac OS X or Windows.  Now, people expect a tablet OS from a tablet. If they really want a PC, they can get one.

So, that’s the good news today for Apple and iPad.  Rumors for this week include talk of Apple having ordered up some 5,000,000 new iPhones from its manufacturers in China, and a possible new iPad version that could arrive sooner than next Spring.  More, later.

This experiment is the most recent in a plethora of developments by Groupon designed to demonstrate that its “online daily-deal” business model has the most extensive reach as the company prepares for an IPO (initial public offering.) Groupon filed its prospectus just last week, and it was determined that the company was losing money due mainly to heavy marketing spending.  Because of this and other factors, Groupon’s business model had come under substantial scrutiny. The company itself will make no official statement on this, but instead is focusing on what it perceives to be its most promising future:

“The grocery retail industry is a fantastic opportunity for us that has been largely untapped,” Groupn’s senior vice president for sales,Darren Schwartz, said in prepared statement.  Another spokesperson noted that Incentive Targeting has been collaborating with Groupon on the latest effort for the past several months.  If Groupon is able to reach out to the public in a new and massive way via grocery store chains, it could replace the old fashioned couponing model many grocery stores already have in place and offer instead a unified, non-proprietary system for handling in store promotions and new brand launches.

“This could really be big for the world of grocery shopping, and will doubtless bring a social networking aspect into the grocery store isles,” said Linda Bowles, a regional marketing consultant.  ”People now are looking for any opportunity to share almost any experience, and groceries — even localized bargain shopping in general — can be a part of that.”

Experts agree that this will be something to watch. Keep your eyes on Groupon in coming months, and look for them in your favorite grocery store.