Spanning, which already offers a backup service for Google Apps, is now riding the coattails of Google Drive, promising to help people see, “What’s in your Google Drive?”

Two days after the Drive announcement, Spanning released a free tool called Spanning Stats that analyzes your Google Drive account. The company says its report provides data including the percentage documents in your Google Drive by type, the 10 newest and oldest files, how much of the total storage quota you’re using by file type, the 10 biggest files, and the 10 users using the most storage space.

It sounds like there were people who really wanted to see those charts and graphs. The company now says that people have used Spanning Stats to scan 25,000 Google Drives. The app is now listed as one of the top installs in the Google Apps Marketplace and the number one install in the Document Management category.

That probably also reflects the initial excitement about Google Drive. In fact, after the announcement, the the data uploaded to Google Docs by Spanning users exploded — before the announcement, the average amount per day was 5 megabytes, but on the day Google Drive launched it went up to 36.8 megabytes, and then 22.6 megabytes the next day.

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Spanning Stats Has Scanned 25,000+ Google Drives

Researchers at Northwestern University have found one way to stop a leak: get rid of the liquid. A new variation on the Grätzel solar cell replaces a short-lived organic dye with a solid alternative. The molecular dye the solid substance replaces was corrosive, at risk of leaking and only lasted about 18-months — by replacing it, researchers plan to pave the way for a more affordable (and less toxic) alternative. Northwestern’s new design flaunts a 10.2-percent conversion efficiency, the highest ever recorded in a solid-state solar cell of its type — but that’s still only half of what traditional sun collectors can do. Researchers hope to improve conversion in the long run, but expect that the cost reduction alone will be enough to get the party going. It may not be the greenest solar technology we’ve ever seen, but who are we to judge?

Solid state solar panels are more affordable, say researchers, don’t leak originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 May 2012 12:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solid state solar panels are more affordable, say researchers, don’t leak

When Mark “NASDAQ” Zuckerberg and his longtime belle Priscilla Chan got married earlier this month, we were surprised by how modest the billionaire bash was. It was in a back yard! Turns out, it still required major bank. More »

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Zuck’s Facebook Wedding Cost $7 Million [Facebook]

Oh boy, what does it say about me that I am a member of reddit, Digg, del.icio.us, and G+, but not Pinterest? I don’t know if you can actually say that “chicks rule” just because there are more of them on social networking sites. I don’t even know if there actually ARE more females on social networking sites, since Livejournal, Tumblr, myYearbook, Catster, and other sites are not represented at all, and since what is defined as a “social networking site” varies depending on who is defining. But here’s the data for these sites! If you need a larger version to read, see the full size chart at Information is Beautiful. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy

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Gender Balance on Social Networking Sites

Pop quiz: why does college tuition get more and more expensive each year?
Answer: because it can.

Jacob Goldstein of NPR explains the why the “sticker price,”
that is the full price colleges list in their brochures, keep
on increasing while the “net price” has stayed relatively
constant (the difference is attributable to scholarships and grants):
Link

But what happens if you don’t qualify for those scholarships and grants?
You have to borrow, which explains the crazy growth of student loans that
mirror the growth in college tuition.

Daniel Indiviglio of The Atlantic noted
that student loans have grown 511% since 1999 – that’s 6 times the
rate of the housing bubble.

Of course the big question is: will the student loan bubble pop just
like the housing bubble? Though there are parallels between the student
loan and housing, Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus of The Atlantic noted
one big difference:

With mortgage defaults, banks seize and resell the home. But if
a degree can’t be sold, that doesn’t deter the banks. They essentially
wrote the student loan law, in which the fine-print says they aren’t
“dischargable.” So even if you file for bankruptcy, the payments
continue due. Hence these stern word from Barmak Nassirian of the American
Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers. “You
will be hounded for life,” he warns. “They will garnish your
wages. They will intercept your tax refunds. You become ineligible for
federal employment.” He adds that any professional license can
be revoked and Social Security checks docked when you retire. We can’t
think of any other statute with such sadistic provisions.

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Why College Tuition Gets More Expensive Year After Year