Here's a site that is definitely worth your time: the Google Zeitgeist. Basically, the uber-search site Google keeps a running compendium of the items people search for using its search engine. As Google helpfully explains on the Web page, "zeitgeist" is a German word meaning "the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era". With Google's fascinating site, you can acquire an exact reading on what's hot and what's not. If you were a betting person, you could use the Google Zeitgeist like a barometer of our culture's obsessions, fads, and fears.

I'm willing to bet that the topic of security is going to be quite popular this year.

Now, I'm not talking about the word "security". I'm sure that its searched for using Google, but not that much. No, instead I'm referring to any and all of an inter-related universe of terms and concepts. In fact, I would go so far as to say that we are absolutely, completely obsessed with security. And, as with most obsessions, there's a bit of madness mixed in there as well.

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