By Tim Swift, The Baltimore Sun
The cardinals are ready to settle into Sistine Chapel to select the next pope, a grumpy cat, not a gadget, is the star of South by Southwest's tech spotlight and the latest Bachelor, Sean Lowe, has found finally "love." Welcome to your online trends report for Tuesday, March 12, 2013.
Smoke watch begins in earnest today as the cardinals get ready to pick the next pope. While media loves horserace and some drama, the Catholic Church is doing its best to be dull and boring. They have a lot of practice at that.
Meanwhile, Grumpy Cat everyone's favorite bitter meme has stolen the spotlight from all of the tech goodies at South by Southwest in Austin. Now the focus shifts to South by Southwest's bread and butter -- bands and music.
Finally, ABC's "The Bachelor" ended another season last night. Sean Lowe picked his lady love, but if past Bachelors are any indication, the romance is going to be short lived.
— Getty Images, ABC Photo, Handout photo, Mar. 12, 2013
Trending on: National Twitter
Why: Cardinal Angelo Sodano, celebrating the Mass on Tuesday preceding the conclave to elect the next pope, issued an appeal for unity in the Catholic Church, which has been damaged by Vatican corruption and clerical sex abuse scandals. As dean of the college of cardinals, Cardinal Solano delivered his homily hours before the cardinals were to enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave. It was the last major public statement by a Vatican prelate before the church¿s next supreme pontiff emerges.
[ The New York Times ]
— FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP/Getty Images, Mar. 11, 2013
Trending on: National Twitter
Why: The interactive portion of the annual 10-day South by Southwest festival in Austin is starting to wind down, and while the latest in 3D printing has been on display, along with some well-attended talks by tech innovators, there's been little talk of game changers. It appears the biggest star to emerge from the festival is Grumpy cat -- the photo meme feline that replies to mundane statements with cranky one-liners. The cat with an adorably bad attitude was touted the star of the show by several news outlets, and has proven to be a major draw at Mashable's camp at SXSW.[ CBS News ]
— Handout photo, Mar. 12, 2013
Trending on: Google Trends
Why: Unable to resolve a contract dispute with veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin, the Ravens traded him to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation. Talks between Boldin and the Ravens hit an impasse late last week after the Super Bowl champions asked him to take a $2 million pay cut off of his $6 million base salary to lower his $7.531 million hit against the salary cap.[ The Baltimore Sun ]
— Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun, Nov. 11, 2012
Trending on: Google Trends
Why: The Bachelor's Sean Lowe ended his televised journey to find love on Monday night, picking one woman to propose to after the hard feat of getting to know 26. As the show's finale took the bachelor and his last two potential brides - Lindsay Yenter and Catherine Guidici - to Thailand, Lowe, 29, was still undecided.[ The New York Daily News ]
— ABC Photo, Mar. 12, 2013
Trending on: Google Trends
Why: Monday morning's magnitude 4.7 earthquake in Riverside County was the largest temblor to hit the Los Angeles region in three years and has produced more than 100 aftershocks. It caused no major damage, but it was felt over what seismologists said was an unusually large area.[ The Los Angeles Times ]
— Anne Cusack / MCT, Jan. 28, 2013
*Average of the past seven days
