For web browser market share on desktop platforms, 2011 was the year of Google Chrome, which saw its largest year-over-year gains since its beta release on September 2, 2008 – gaining 6.70% in usage share stats for 2011 over 2010. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer continued its drop in desktop market share, albeit less than previous years, but a -5.33% decline nonetheless.

Apple’s Safari was the only other desktop browser that saw gains, with +0.67 over 2010, while Mozilla Firefox and Opera, among the top market share browsers, all declined.

Firefox saw its first decline ever yearly decline since Net Applications began reporting stats in 2004. Net Applications, located in Aliso Viejo, California, collects and provides valuable insight into significant trends for Internet usage rates on a month-to-month basis.

The following chart illustrates the top average usage share statistics of the desktop web browsers that recorded stats over 1% across the Internet between 2010 and 2011, as collected from Net Applications:

ACESS Netfront, Mozilla, and Obigo remained the same, year-over-year, below the top browser usage category above 1%.

Below is a table showing percent increases and decreases between 2010 and 2011 of every desktop web browser that recorded an yearly average market share:

2010-2011 Yearly Average Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

Here is a summary of the yearly average desktop web browser market share between 2010 and 2011.

2010-2011 Desktop Web Browser Market Share (+/- over previous year):

• ACCESS NetFront: Yearly average desktop web browser market share even 0.00% from 0.02% (2010) to 0.02% (2011).
• Apple Safari: Yearly average desktop web browser market share up +0.67% from 3.89% (2010) to 4.56% (2011).
• Flock: Yearly average desktop web browser market share down -0.02% from 0.06% (2010) to 0.04% (2011).
• Google Chrome: Yearly average desktop web browser market share up +6.70 from 7.50% (2010) to 14.20% (2011).
• Konqueror: Yearly average desktop web browser market share down -0.03% from 0.05% (2010) to 0.02% (2011).
• Lunascape: Yearly average desktop web browser market share down -0.01% from 0.01% (2010) to 0.00% (2011).
• Microsoft Internet Explorer: Yearly average desktop web browser market share down -5.33% from 61.57% (2010) to 56.24% (2011).
• Mozilla: Yearly average desktop web browser market share even 0.00% from 0.02% (2010) to 0.02% (2011).
• Mozilla Firefox: Yearly average desktop web browser market share down -1.53% from 24.24% (2010) to 22.71% (2011).
• Obigo: Yearly average desktop web browser market share even 0.00% from 0.01% (2010) to 0.01% (2011).
• Opera: Yearly average desktop web browser market share down -0.42% from 2.35% (2010) to 1.93% (2011).
• Undetectable: Yearly average desktop web browser market share down -0.06% from 0.26% (2010) to 0.20% (2011).

Google Chrome continues to rise in usage market share for desktop web browsers, with experts estimating it could become the most used browser by the end of 2012 if Internet Explorer continues its spiral.

Microsoft could see a slight revival before the year’s end though when the company releases Windows 8 along with Internet Explorer 10 – a new version of the browser that will be re-imagined, taking full advantage of HTML5 as a “Metro style app” for both standard PC and tablets.

The following chart illustrates the top average usage share statistics of the top desktop web browsers that recorded stats over 1% across the Internet between 2010 and 2011:

Below are tables between 2010 and 2011 of every desktop web browser that recorded a market share:

2010-2011 Yearly Average Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

Source: Net Applications

Terry Gene Bollea (born August 11, 1953 in Augusta, Georgia, USA) is a professional wrestling performer in sports entertainment. He was trained by Hiro Matsuda, before making his wrestling debut on August 10, 1977. Bollea has also enjoyed success as an actor, television personality, and musician.

Better known by his ringname Hulk Hogan, the 12-time World Heavyweight Champion currently wrestles for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, which airs “IMPACT WRESTLING” every Thursday at 9 PM EST on Spike TV.

World Wrestling Federation:

Bollea rose to prominence during the mid 1980s, after starring in Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky III” in 1982. Working for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at the time, Bollea’s all-American character, Hulk Hogan, would see a major rise in mainstream popularity. Hogan’s rise to stardom with fans having “Hulkamania” fever gave WWF promoter Vince McMahon the platform to launch “WrestleMania” in 1985, which is a yearly extravaganza event still held today.

In 1987, Hulk Hogan defeated Andre the Giant in a WWF Championship Match at WrestleMania III in front of 93,173 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan – an indoor attendance record for a sporting event in North America. The record stood until February 14, 2010 when the NBA All-Star Game that year broke the indoor sporting event record with 108,713 people in attendance at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

World Championship Wrestling:

During the mid-to-late 1990s, Bollea worked in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Hollywood Hogan, a villainous leader of the nWo (New World Order) faction. Hogan was a six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion before the promotion that was owned by Ted Turner and operated by Eric Bischoff was purchased and closed by WWF Chairman Vince McMahon in 2001.

World Wrestling Entertainment:

Following WCW’s closure, Hulk Hogan made numerous appearances for the now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), including a spectacle match against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on March 17, 2002 at WrestleMania X8 in front of 68,237 fans at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario. While back in the WWE, Hogan revived his heroic character and even won the WWE Championship once more (bringing his total to six) and won his first and only World Tag Team Championship with Edge. In 2005, Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling:

In 2009, Hulk Hogan made a full-time return to wrestling by signing a contract with TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter. The deal also brought longtime professional partner and producer Eric Bischoff to the promotion, and later the likes of other mainstream wrestling stars like the legendary Ric Flair, Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, and Ken Anderson.

The “Hulkamania” fever and “Hulk Hogan” persona that Terry Bollea has portrayed all these years are long credited as the foundation for what built wrestling up the the standards of mainstream entertainment today and paved the way for other superstars such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, and John Cena.

Robert F. Roode, Jr. (born January 1, 1977 in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada) is a professional wrestling performer in sports entertainment. He was trained by Sean Morley and Shane Sewell, before making his wrestling debut in June 1998.

Better known by his ringname Bobby Roode, the one-time World Heavyweight Champion currently wrestles for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, which airs “IMPACT WRESTLING” every Thursday at 9 PM EST on Spike TV.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling:

Since making his debut for TNA Wrestling in 2004, Roode has won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship once and is also a 4-time TNA World Tag Team Champion with James Storm as the “Beer Money, Inc.” tag team and a 2-time NWA World Tag Team Champion with Eric Young, while part of the “Team Canada” faction.

Roode is also the winner of three tournaments, including the 2011 TNA Bound For Glory Series, 2010 TNA Tag Team Championship Series with James Storm, and the 2009 Team 3D Invitational Tag Team Tournament.

Personal Life:

While growing up, Roode attended Kenner Kollegiate H.S. and was a stick boy for the Peterborough Petes in Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for future players of National Hockey League (NHL), including Tie Domi, Mike Ricci, and Chris Pronger.

Roode and his wife Tracy have three sons named Bobby III, Riley, and Nicholas

The two new “Blue Marble” images of the western hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere of Earth, as featured on NASA’s Flickr photostream, were taken by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), a new instrument aboard the Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP.

Regarding the Suomi NPP satellite’s current orbit around Earth and how it captured the “Blue Marble” images, NASA states:

The Suomi NPP satellite is in a polar orbit around Earth at an altitude of 512 miles (about 824 kilometers), but the perspective of the new Eastern hemisphere ‘Blue Marble’ is from 7,918 miles (about 12,743 kilometers). NASA scientist Norman Kuring managed to ‘step back’ from Earth to get the big picture by combining data from six different orbits of the Suomi NPP satellite. Or putting it a different way, the satellite flew above this area of Earth six times over an eight hour time period. Norman took those six sets of data and combined them into one image.

NASA also explains the process of capturing the “Blue Marble” images metaphorically with a basketball:

Using a basketball you can get a good idea of how far away the Suomi NPP satellite is from Earth. Take a basketball that has a diameter of 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) and say that’s ‘Earth.’ (For the record, Earth has a diameter of about 7,926 miles (about 12,756 kilometers)).

So to get the same view of Earth as the VIIRS instrument aboard the Suomi NPP satellite, hold the basketball five-eighth of an inch (about one-and-a-half centimeters) away from your face.
The actual swath width of the Earth’s surface covered by each pass of VIIRS as the satellite orbits the Earth is about 1,865 miles (about 3,001 kilometers). On the basketball that’s about two and one-third inches (about six centimeters).

The very first image that NASA named “Blue Marble” was taken on December 7, 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft, at a distance of 28,000 miles (about 45,000 kilometers).

Eastern Hemisphere – Blue Marble 1972:

The original caption for the 1972 “Blue Marble” by NASA read:

View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is Madagascar. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast.

NASA responded to online public demand by releasing a companion image to the original western hemisphere “Blue Marble” photo that was posted on the space agency’s official Flickr photostream last week.

This second amazing HD image released by NASA on February 2, 2012 shows the bottom of Europe, Africa, Southern Asia, and Antarctica in the eastern hemisphere.

Eastern Hemisphere – Blue Marble 2012:

The images continue to receive international attention and trending highly on all social media networks.

dilysamaryllis via Flickr: Thank you NASA, another superb shot of our wonderful home

NASA Astronaut +Ron Garan via Google+: Great view of our +Fragile Oasis from +NASA KSC The “Blue Marble”

+Keith Lauby via Google+: Breathtaking!

According to NASA, the new image was created by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, using a composite from six separate orbits taken on January 23, 2012.

Just like the western hemisphere version of the “Blue Marble,” this eastern hemisphere image was taken by a new instrument flying aboard Suomi NPP – the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

+Laura Manach via Google+: Just imagine how high res the earth will be in another 40 years. #science

Below are several closer views of the new “Blue Marble” image. Like the western hemisphere version, these zoomed in glimpses give away the amazing detail of our planet’s eastern hemisphere, as captured by the NASA image.

Europe and Northern Africa – Blue Marble 2012:

Europe, Africa, and Saudi Arabia – Blue Marble 2012:

Africa and Saudi Arabia – Blue Marble 2012:

Africa – Blue Marble 2012:

Southern Africa – Blue Marble 2012:

South Africa – Blue Marble 2012:

Angola and Namibia, Africa – Blue Marble 2012:

Madagascar, Africa – Blue Marble 2012:

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran – Blue Marble 2012:

Caspian Sea, Middle East – Blue Marble 2012:

Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia – Blue Marble 2012:

Iran and Saudi Arabia – Blue Marble 2012:

India, Southern Asia – Blue Marble 2012:

Asia – Blue Marble 2012:

Indian Ocean – Blue Marble 2012:

Antarctica – Blue Marble 2012:

NASA Goddard scientist Norman Kuring compiled this information about the new “Blue Marble” image in the eastern hemisphere:

This image has the perspective of a viewer looking down from 7,918 miles (about 12,742 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface from a viewpoint of 10 degrees South by 45 degrees East. The four vertical lines of ‘haze’ visible in this image shows the reflection of sunlight off the ocean, or ‘glint,’ that VIIRS captured as it orbited the globe. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, NOAA and the Department of Defense.

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is what enables these NASA’s missions. These missions consist of four scientific endeavors:

• Earth Science
• Heliophysics
• Solar System Exploration
• Astrophysics

Goddard contributes compelling scientific resources and knowledge to advance NASA’s missions and help lead the agency’s long list of accomplishments.

What do you think of this second “Blue Marble” image released by NASA? Sound off in the comments section below, or join the conversations with CYGY.com on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!

As Carl Sagan would probably say, the little place in the Universe that our species calls home is but a blue marble in the vast and wondrous cosmos. In recent human history, our planet has been photographed numerous times from space, but none have been as magnificent as the photo released by NASA on January 25, 2012 via Flickr.

The image instantly gained prominence throughout the Internet with NASA calling it the most amazing high definition image ever captured of Earth. The photo has already garnered over 3.1 million views on Flickr as of today February 2, 2012, making it “one of the all time most viewed images on the site after only one week,” according to NASA.

People from around the world are reacting to the image with high praise and enthusiastic comments through social media.

Barb Francis via Facebook: Without space exploration, we would not be looking at this awesome pic of Earth.

@Myrmecos via Twitter: If you’ve not yet seen NASA’s newest “Blue Marble” earth image, you’re missing out.

+Josh DeVane via Google+: You should stare at it for a while.

The full HD image released by NASA features our planet’s western hemisphere. It shows partial sections of southern Canada, all regions of the United States, Mexico, Central America, and a partial sections of both South America and Antarctica.

Western Hemisphere – Blue Marble 2012:

Images by John ‘K’ via Flickr: WOW – just… WOW

@LeeBillings via Twitter: Bask in this gorgeous new full-resolution (8000 x 8000 pixels!) “blue marble” Earth image from Suomi NPP

The NPP satellite, renamed Suomi NPP on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin, was used for NASA’s most recent Earth-observing launch – where the new “Blue Marble” image was taken. Using a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface, the VIIRS (Visibile/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite) instrument was used to take the photo.

@FSPllc via Twitter: Fascinating Technology

The Suomi NPP is NASA’s first of a new generation of satellites that will be used to observe many more incredible facets of our changing Earth.

+Eyal Rotbart via Google+: Don’t forget to zoom in!

Below are closer views of the “Blue Marble” image. These zoomed in glimpses show the amazing detail that NASA was able to capture.

Western United States – Blue Marble 2012:

California, USA – Blue Marble 2012:

Midwestern United States and Canada – Blue Marble 2012:

Northeastern United States – Blue Marble 2012:

Southern United States and Mexico – Blue Marble 2012:

Florida, USA – Blue Marble 2012:

Texas and Louisiana, USA – Blue Marble 2012:

Gulf of Mexico – Blue Marble 2012:

Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico – Blue Marble 2012:

Baja Coast, Mexico – Blue Marble 2012:

Mexico – Blue Marble 2012:

Central and South America – Blue Marble 2012:

Pacific Ocean – Blue Marble 2012:

Atlantic Ocean – Blue Marble 2012:

Antarctica – Blue Marble 2012:

What are your thoughts of this amazing image? Sound off in the comments section below, or join the conversations with CYGY.com on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CYGY.COM DEBUTS NEW OFFICIAL COLOR SCHEME

Vancouver, BC, Canada (CYGY.com) February 1, 2012 – CYGY.com is proud to debut the new blue and green color scheme for the official CYGY.com logo and website, as picked by a majority of voters selecting “option 3” in a poll conducted by CYGY.com.

“When we launched CYGY.com on January 21, 2012, I said we had to involve our audience in the direction of our website, and it started with our official branding colors,” said Marcus Cyganiak, Co-Founder of CYGY.com. “We allowed people to vote on this important decision that would affect the entire landscape of CYGY.com right away because it’s you the people who will drive this brand – so in a sense, we work for you and with you.”

The poll to select the official colors of CYGY.com opened on January 23, 2012 with four options that featured unique color schemes. After a significant amount of votes were cast, the poll closed on January 30, as scheduled, with “option 3” receiving the winning majority of votes.

“It was a close margin between the third and first options,” said Kris Cyganiak, Co-Founder of CYGY.com. “We are extremely happy with the end result and the color combination selected by our audience. I am very excited about the level of participation we received during the open vote and the many well thought out and articulated comments.”

The new color scheme on CYGY.com is now officially live, as of February 1, 2012. The new color scheme also marks the beginning of content production and publishing for the website. Over the next several weeks, visitors of CYGY.com will begin seeing an influx of new sections added to the website.

“We will also soon be rolling out several interactive sections with specific content designed to get you, our audience involved,” said Kris Cyganiak. “We want you to participate in CYGY.com. Voting for our official colors, was just the beginning!”

Please visit the Corporate section of the website to learn about new updates and current events at CYGY.com.

About CYGY.com:

CYGY.com – The Online Web Magazine was founded by Marcus Cyganiak and Kris Cyganiak on January 21, 2012. The website features a wide variety of interesting, informative, and entertaining topics with content from around the world.

The following chart illustrates the average usage share statistics of the top desktop web browsers that recorded stats over 1% across the Internet between 2007 and 2011:

Below are tables between 2007 and 2011 of every desktop web browser that recorded a market share, in order of top average usage shares overall:

2011 Yearly Average Top Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

2010 Yearly Average Top Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

2009 Yearly Average Top Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

2008 Yearly Average Top Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

2007 Yearly Average Top Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

Source: Net Applications

The following chart illustrates the average usage share statistics of the top desktop web browsers that recorded stats over 1% across the Internet in 2011:

Below is a table of every desktop web browser that recorded a market share in 2011, in order of top average usage shares overall:

2011 Yearly Average Top Desktop Web Browser Market Share:

Source: Net Applications