Barnes and Noble will now be offering over 500,000 public domain titles with a new agreement from Google Book Search. The titles can be accessed via BarnesandNoble.com as well as B&N's reading applications. B&N recently announced a new eBookstore as well as new mobile reader applications for the iPhone and Blackberry. This isn't the first time Google Book Search has reached such an agreement. Back in the spring, they reached a similar agreement with Sony for their eReader.

The following is part of our series on different ways you can use Facebook to connect with public figures and organizations around the world. Read the previous blog post in this series here . I spend so much time surfing the Web every day that it feels only natural that I shop online, too. With the increasing number of retail websites, email digests and discount codes, it's hard to keep track of my favorite designers and stores without feeling overwhelmed.

YouTube has launched a feature that lets video uploaders share information they collect with YouTube Insight. The shared info is able to be viewed by anyone watching the user's videos. "Now when you watch a video, you can learn even more about it and its audience: on the watch page, under the 'Statistics & Data' section, users will be able to see more information about a video's views over time, its popularity in different parts of the world, the top drivers of traffic,

Android may soon find its way into millions of homes, and we're not talking about entry via the phones in people's pockets. Instead, someone representing a touch device company has stated that a number of Android-powered household products are coming to market this year. Elizabeth Woyke reported, "The devices will fall into three basic categories: home control devices, media control devices and home phones, says Bill Brown, Touch Revolution's vice president of marketing.

I couldn't resist making note of Google's comic book hero-themed logo today, presumably in honor of the annual Comic-Con fest starting in San Diego today. (I'm painfully aware since my better - and nerdier - half traveled all the way from Jersey City to be there this year.) The logo links to Google's new page introducing Comics themes for Google . They're pretty cool - especially the one featuring Kim Deitch's always wonderful, fantastical illustrations .

The Google US homepage today includes a special doodle celebrating the Comic-Con (comic convention's) 40th year. The doodle is created by comic artist Jim Lee, well-known from the early 1990s - an era of comic cover gimmicks and superstar artists - when he left Marvel to co-create Image comics. The logo doodle shows DC's Batman, Plastic Man, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Batman side-kick Robin. The doodle is linked to a new comics theme directory for iGoogle ,

When it comes to Twitter just under half of advertisers (45%) say it is in its infancy and its use will grow rapidly over the next few years, while 21 percent believe it will not move into the mainstream and is something mostly young people and the media will use, according to new LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll.

Google signed a settlement agreement with authors and publishers last year over Google Books. Google says that if it is approved by the court, it will unlock access to millions of books for anyone in the United States. Today, Google has addressed privacy concerns that users and potential users have voiced with regards to Google Books. "We have a strong privacy policy in place now for Google Books and for all Google products," says Dan Clancy,

Posted by Hal Varian, Chief Economist and Hyunyoung Choi, Sr. Economist One of the strongest leading indicators of economic activity is the number of people who file for unemployment benefits. Macroeconomists Robert Gordon and James Hamilton have recently examined the historical evidence. According to Hamilton's summary: "...in each of the last six recessions, the recovery began within 8 weeks of the peak in new unemployment claims." In an earlier blog post ,

The Search Engine Strategies Conference takes place August 11-14 in San Jose. Yep, we're going: social media is taking center stage with keynotes from Clay Shirky and Charlene Li. Even better, a one-day ClickZ conference on the 11th, Social Media & Online Video , rounds things out with best practices and case studies in these (relatively) new channels.