Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Paul Allen, a Google+ watcher whose estimates about the social network’s growth have proved accurate in the past, claims that the site now has 62 million users and is adding 625,000 new users per day.

“It may be the holidays, the TV commercials, the Android 4 signups, celebrity and brand appeal, or positive word of mouthmor a combination of all these factors,” Allen wrote on his G+ profile page Tuesday, “but there is no question that the number of new users signing up for Google+ each day has accelerated markedly in the past several weeks.”

Allen, the founder of Ancestry.com, takes an unusual approach to come by his estimates: He and his staff run hundreds of queries on surnames they’ve been tracking since July and then extrapolate the size of the network.

At this rate, Allen writes, G+ will reach 100 million users by Feb. 25, 2012 and 200 million by Aug. 3. By this time next year, G+ will have close to 300 million users.

Allen, however, doesn’t address how many of those 62 million are active users. Experian Hitwise, however, found that those users are on the rise as well, though they represent a fraction of G+’s base. Hitwise found that total visits to G+ hit 9.4 million for the week ending Dec. 17, the most recent full week it tracked. That was a nice jump over the 7.2 million visits G+ experienced in the comparable week in November, but below the 15 million visits to G+ for the week ending Sept. 24, when Googleopened the previously invitation-only site to the public.

Google’s last official acknowledgement of G+’s membership came during a conference call with analysts, when CEO Larry Page pegged the figure at 40 million.

Engineers from the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo have developed a novel biometric automotive anti-theft system that uses the unique shape of your butt to identify you.

The driver’s seat is fitted with 360 sensors that measure pressure according to a scale of zero to 256. Each reading is plotted to create a 3D image — essentially a topographic map of your ass — used as a personal identifier. Anytime someone gets behind the wheel, the system analyzes the shape of their behind. If it isn’t your rear end in the seat, the car isn’t going anywhere.

The engineers behind the gadget say it was able to identify six different testers with 98 percent accuracy. We can’t read the report (.pdf) because it’s in Japanese, so we don’t know how the system might react to, say, having a wallet in your pocket or packing on a few pounds during the holidays.

Business newspaper Nikkei says the researchers hope to commercialize “a highly reliable anti-theft system” through a collaboration with automakers within two or three years.

Image: Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology

Charity work and non-profits are getting a shot of reality-TV inspired, crowdsourced, social gaming goodness just in time for the holidays. Yoxi, pronounced “YO-see,” is a new website that challenges teams of everyday people to create solutions for pressing social issues such as food, health, education and the environment.

Yoxi picks a social issue and teams submit videos for their ideas. An online audience then gets to vote for their favorites in a manner similar to voting systems on reality shows like American Idol. However, instead of creating the next Kelly Clarkson, Yoxi hopes to create some real change. Rather than just a crowdsourced free-for-all, the teams will receive guidance from famous judges and industry experts.

Once chosen by the audience to advance to the final round, two teams will receive marketing support from top advertising agencies. The winning team will receive a cash prize from $5,000 to $40,000.

Teams are currently facing off in the first competition called, “You Are What You Eat,” challenging them to reinvent fast food. There are no limitations to the ideas, which can range from ad campaigns to technology, or even proposed school programs.

Yoxi has also added incentives for the audience to vote by introducing a social gaming aspect to the site. Users start at level one, with one vote and a limited amount of “energy,” a way to pace participation. As they continue to participate, they rise in levels and receive more votes, influence, and “energy” to perform more actions on the site.

The ties to online video and reality shows shouldn’t come as a surprise; Founder Sharon Chang worked closely with the teams behind both American Idol and Hulu. She and her team have taken those two worlds and blended them into social good. “One of the reasons started this is because people don’t do things,” Chang says. “It’s like pulling teeth to get people to want to take action.”

Wary that people are constantly asked to vote or rate things like concerts or restaurants, Chang wanted to make those votes special again. “You only have one vote,” she says. “And it’s very important. You have one, you have to choose.” It’s also a smart move; projects will need to recruit a wide base of fans rather than relying on spamming the site or trying to game the system.

Chang also says that while video quality will obviously be considered, projects are considered based on their merit and the strength of their ideas. The judges and experts can help guide the voting public to see these values over a poor idea with great production values or editing.

Yoxi’s larger goal is to bring social good into mainstream conversation. It’s a refreshing shift away from page views and ad pages. “This isn’t about driving traffic, about creating a destination site,” Chang says. “We want it to be a movement, and a movement has followers, not ‘traffic.’”

Are you interested in Yoxi and it’s approach to social good? How can tech help bring social good into mainstream? Do you think it’s possible or is it already part of everyday life?

Free isn’t always generous. Free can be a legitimate marketing strategy, an ultimately selfish way to increase sales. Once you spread your ideas (and free is the best way to do that), there are all sorts of ways to profit. But don’t be confused. Free samples and free ideas and free bonuses are not necessarily generous acts.

A generous gift comes with no transaction foreseen or anticipated. A gift is a gift, not the beginning of a transaction. When you see a Picasso painting at the Met, Picasso doesn’t get anything (he’s dead). Even his heirs don’t get anything. His art is a gift to anyone who sees it.

Giving gifts is a fairly alien endeavor. In most families, even the holidays are more about present exchange than the selfless act of actually giving a gift.

The cool part, the punchline, is that giving a gift for no reason and with no transaction contemplated is actually incredibly powerful. It changes your approach to the market, it changes your relationship with the recipient and yes, it changes you.

Nintendo may have started the motion controller phenomenon with the Wii, but Microsoft and Sony are taking the console wars to a new level. This holiday season, there will be a three-way war for supremacy of your living room.

On November 19th, 2006, Nintendo launched its seventh-generation console, the Wii. The device was unlike any gaming console ever created, due to the wireless motion Wiimote controllers. While some ridiculed it for its lack of processing power or HD graphics, its tremendous sales and reach among casual gamers have made Nintendo the top dog in the gaming market.

Now Microsoft and Sony are putting the focus on motion controllers with the Kinect and the Playstation Move respecitvely. But how will this three-way battle play out? Who will remain standing after the dust clears?

Proactive vs. Reactive

Even though the Xbox 360 came out first, the Nintendo Wii has been the undisputed winner of this generation’s console wars, at least thus far. Over 70 million units have been sold, compared to 40 million for the Xbox 360 and 35 million for the PlayStation 3.

Nintendo took a major risk with its Wiimote system. Nobody had seen anything like it before in gaming, and nobody was sure that Nintendo’s focus on casual gamers would succeed. Its proactive approach though has paid off beautifully, and Microsoft and Sony are playing catch-up.

Sony and Microsoft are tackling motion control in completely different ways, though. The PlayStation Move (which I’ve tried) uses a Wiimote-like controller and pairs it with a PlayStation Eye camera, which tracks your movement and puts it on the screen. But as I said back in March, Sony played it safe with the Move. My assessment is that it’s just a fancier and more accurate Wiimote.

Microsoft, on the other hand, realized that it couldn’t win by just improving on Nintendo’s innovations — it had to go a step further. I’ve heard nothing but excitement surround Kinect and its controller-free technology. It essentially turns the Xbox 360 into a new console by reinventing the gaming experience.

It’s Still Nintendo’s Game to Lose

In a few month, the PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect will be out in store shelves, along with the Wii and the Wii MotionPlus, which provides more a more accurate motion control experience. You can expect a huge amount of interest from consumers in all of these motion control devices. You should also expect the motion controller wars to last for years, not months.

Nintendo has a huge lead. People still want Wiis and they still fly off shelves, especially around the holidays. The buzz and excitement around Xbox Kinect is going to hit fever pitch before its release. The PlayStation 3 has been recovering from its weak start with a “slim” version of the console, released last September.

Overall, the landscape is becoming more competitive, and the technology involved in motion controllers is still young. However, while the PlayStation Move should fare just fine, don’t expect Sony to win the motion controller war — you don’t win by playing it safe.

The ultimate battle will be between Nintendo and Microsoft, and it will last until the next generation of consoles emerges (prediction: Nintendo will come out with a new console first).

It’s Nintendo’s game to lose, but Microsoft is going to put up one hell of a fight. It should make for some incredible games.