Zeitgeist: is there a word any more German sounding? At any rate, it’s one of those things everyone loves to ponder as the year comes to a close. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time remembering what I was Tweeting, sharing on Facebook and searching for last week, not to mention in January! Luckily, the ever-amazing Google team has recapped the year in searches here for your pleasure. I like to think of it as the Internet’s year book. Everything from images that trended (One Direction, anyone?) to top searched movies (remember Paranormal Activity 4? Yeah, me neither) can be found in Google Zeitgeist.

The coolest feature though? In my opinion that would be the interactive map in which you can search trending topics in different areas of the world. Take a look and try it for yourself; and if you’re not motivated already, maybe the video below will inspire you to take a peek!

Share your thoughts on it with us on Facebook and on Twitter @RocketXL!

We’re so immersed in our social media worlds on a daily basis that it comes as no surprise that digital habits could impact our mental and physical well-being. Behold, the latest strange (and awesome) news about the intersection of social media and health:

1) Interactive Billboard Makes a Point About Domestic Abuse:

In the category of “Social Media for Good”, we find this gem from the UK: An interactive billboard in a London trainstation allows passersby to stop a man from verbally abusing a woman on a billboard. Viewers watch as a man berates a woman above them in the station, and are encouraged to go to a website where they can “swipe” the man away – who physically gets moved several hundred feet away in the terminal. While it’s an obvious oversimplification of a scary situation, the point is driven home that sometimes, a phone call is all it takes to separate a victim from his or her abuser.

2) Oversharing on Facebook as Satisfying as Sex?

You read that right – in a new study out of none other than Harvard University, 300 participants were asked to disclose opinions and other information about themselves during an fMRI scan. Researchers found that the pleasure centers in the brain were “robustly” activated, as much so as when indulging in a favorite food, getting money, or partaking in… uh, sex. Feel free to drop that little nugget into your next proposal when a client laments, “I just don’t get the appeal of Facebook…”

3) Hospital to Live Tweet Brain Surgery

And finally, under the heading of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”… Houston’s Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital will be live tweeting a brain surgery this Wednesday. Set your alarm – the event starts at 8:30am EST sharp with the first incision expected around 10. The best part? Not only will they be tweeting the event, but the pictures will be up on Pinterest for all to see! This isn’t the first time the hospital has live-tweeted a surgery – their live tweet of an open-heart surgery earlier this spring was viewed an estimated 125 million times. Someone should tell them about the “Overshare” study above…

Google made a viral splash this week by unveiling their latest technological feat: Project Glass. Intersecting augmented-reality technology with a fantastical Hollywood-esque accessory, Project Glass may be a first look at life beyond a cell phone:

The glasses are controlled by voice commands and are capable of streaming information, sending and receiving messages, and allow the wearer to take pictures and videos through a built-in camera. A much-viewed concept video demonstrates some of what Google hopes to achieve with Project Glass:

While many are quick to point out that the glasses would potentially interfere too much with daily life, early testers argue that the glasses actually help get technology out of your way. One tester reports, “If I want to take a picture I don’t have to reach into my pocket and take out my phone; I just press a button at the top of the glasses and that’s it.”

Still not sold? Many aren’t. A critique published by WIRED suggests the video above vastly overstates current available technology. The concept photo shows a small screen off to one side, which experts agree can’t deliver the experience being sold in the video.

Others question the type of technology being showcased. Google touts the glasses as “Augmented Reality”, but the video suggests the glasses rely on location or image-based notifications.

While it may take the glasses years to hit the market, one thing’s for certain: good parody videos only take a matter of hours. Enjoy:

RocketXL Toronto checked out the AndroidTO event this past week to see what people were buzzing about around Android and to learn more about Google’s mobile operating system. This event came with two interesting streams of talks and panels. One focused on the Dev side of things, and the other focused on business and marketing for Android. We had a chance to check out both portions of the event.

On the business side, we listened to a great panel moderated by Mark Reale called “Building Business on Mobile.” Thought-leaders Adil Dhalla, Ken Seto, Andrew Peek and Salman Habib participated in the talk. Best takeaway of the day? The poignant declaration that hustle is the magic bullet when you’re building business around a mobile application.

The developers stream was an amazing learning experience. We had the chance to check out two great talks from this stream. The first, “NFC: Tapping into the Future,” presented by Andrew Carron and Greg Patience of MobiCartel got our brains buzzing around the possibilities of developing for NFC enabled mobile devices. The second, “Hacking UI with Android 3.0″ with Tony Wong and Greg Burgoon, showed some visually gorgeous UI edits and app extensions for the 3.0 tablet platform.

We also snapped some pictures at the event. Check them out below!