Does Facebook deserve to own the Web? Maybe not

Facebook announced several new features this week at its F8 conference showing grand ambitions to become the authoritative source for people’s identities online. However, a recent report from research security experts at VeriSign iDefense, found some 1.5 million Facebook accounts hacked and for sale online. Which raises the obvious question: Do we really want to give Facebook this much power and authority?
According to eWeek, the VeriSign report states that a hacker, known as “kirllos” and somewhere out of Eastern Europe, had posted the sale of 1.5 million Facebook accounts to an electronic fraud forum. The going price? 25$ for 1,000 accounts. For those that had more than 10 friends, $45 per 1,000.
Facebook did recently update its security center to make it more user-friendly and provide active tips to keeping user account’s safe. But with the new plans that let web pages connect and share users’ information, the company may have to revisit its security and privacy policies all together.

source: http://asurl.net/k1m

Google blocks Blippy credit card search

This is why you must always take screenshots. Overnight, a VentureBeat tipster discovered a simple Google search that turned up credit card numbers for a few Blippy members. As of a few minutes ago, Google blocks any search for site:blippy.com with the bogus claim, “your computer or network may be sending automated queries.” Oh, come on. Shouldn’t part of Google’s Don’t Be Evil modus operandi include being honest and accurate in error messages? “You’re a reporter, go away.” That would be cool.

source: http://asurl.net/kIb

China Company Plans to Appeal Microsoft Decision

BEIJING—A Chinese insurance company said Friday it will appeal a court order to pay damages to Microsoft Corp. for intellectual property infringement, and accused the software giant of acting in a monopolistic manner.

A Shanghai court on Thursday ordered Dazhong Insurance Co. to pay 2.17 million yuan ($318,000) to Microsoft for using unlicensed copies of the U.S. company's software. Microsoft said the verdict was its biggest legal victory in China, the world's second-largest personal-computer market after the U.S. but one where software piracy is rampant.

source: Wall Street Journal

Apple Sued For Fraud over “Wet Sensors”

A class action lawsuit claims that an overly sensitive liquid sensor in the iPhones can void the warranty.

A woman in San Francisco has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the liquid contact indicators (LCI) – that void the warranties of iPhones when activated – are faulty and makes the promised warranty fraudulent.

source: http://asurl.net/k3l

Credit Card Numbers Of Blippy Users Show Up on Google

Blippy, is a social network for shoppers. Blippy users share with each other what they have just bought and socialize around their purchases. Apparently, some users got much more than they signed up for when there credit card numbers showed up on Google recently.

When a power user entered search term site:blippy.com “from card” , Google showed him a number of recent purchases by Blippy users along with their credit card numbers. As reported by VentureBeat, most of them were Citibank issued master card numbers. Investigation is still underway to determine how this happened, but Google has meanwhile blocked all searches for the site Blippy.com

What makes the event more interesting is the reply by Blippy Co-Founder Philip Kaplan, who says it is not as bad as it looks. According to him, we hand our credit card to waiters and cashiers all the time and the 4 users affected by this incident need not worry since they are not responsible for any purchases made without their permission. He further explains how the credit card numbers go back during Blippy’s beta days when the data was on HTML pages and somehow those pages were still in Google cache.

Even though, the incident didn’t cause much damage, it is still shocking to see how vulnerable sensitive information has become due to it being accessed by every mom and pop social network. It is also interesting to know that Blippy had raised $11 Million of funding just a day before this credit card fiasco.

source: http://asurl.net/kuY

Google Makes One Change Per Day To Search Algorithm

Google’s Matt Cutts just posted a video on YouTube answering the question, “how many search algorithm changes were made in 2009?” In response to that question, Matt said Google likely makes a change per day to the search algorithm. They don’t necessarily release those changes each day, but they will release them in batches. But overall, he hopes to average at least one change per day to the algorithm. He said in 2009, they probably had between 350 to 400 or so changed to the search algorithm.
A few months ago we covered a Wired story on Google’s algorithm where Udi Manber, Google’s head of search said Google has introduced 550 “improvements” to the search algorithm in the past year alone. So I guess Matt was being conservative with his math?


source: http://asurl.net/kND

Ticket Industry Spam Takes Over Google Maps

Finding tickets for your favorite concert or sporting event can be hard enough, but if your search starts with Google, chances are good that your first challenge will be getting around the veritable spamfest that ticket affiliates and second-tier ticket resellers have created.
A reader contacted us last week to point out what’s going on. Have a look at these Google.com search results, all of which show spam-filled Google Maps Oneboxes. (Note: current search results may differ from when we took these screenshots.)

source: http://asurl.net/kJR

Guide to Facebook Changes, and How to Block Them

Facebook launched some fairly impressive new features and services at its recent f8 conference, but some of them were also more than just a little scary. Since a lot of what the company talked about was introduced in either “developer speak” — involving terms like API and JSON — or involved social networking jargon such as “social graph” and “activity map,” we thought it would be handy to break it down for those who aren’t as well versed in such things (maybe your mom, maybe your brother-in-law — maybe you). What do these changes mean? And what should you do if you don’t like the prospect of automatically sharing your activity with everyone you know on Facebook?

source: http://asurl.net/k4s

Matt Cutts & Other Google Engineers Close Facebook Accounts

Matt Cutts indicates he’s “deactivated” his Facebook account.

He in turn points to a GigaOM post that explains how to block some of the “instant personalization” changes that Facebook is implementing as part of its Open Graph announcements on Wednesday.
This is a fairly drastic step by Matt; is it a protest or is he personally concerned about privacy?

Source: http://asurl.net/kG2

Google Reader just got even cooler. Now supports video and audio tags.

Google OS blog reports that Reader now supports audio and video tags under HTML5.  What’s that?  More a/v media in my Reader stream?  Where do I sign up?!

Luckily, you don’t have to sign up anywhere.  As long as you have a browser compatible with the HTML5 tags (read that as pretty much anything other than IE) you’ll be able to see the new content as it is added.  Though there is a forewarning even for Firefox and Opera users – presently neither of these browsers support the H264 video standard, so you won’t be able to view video encoded in this manner.

source: http://asurl.net/kc3

Sorry Facebook, you’re not Google

I might very well use Facebook search to find out what restaurant my friends like, or what the funniest cat video of the day is.  Really, there’s probably not a better platform,  for finding things that your friends like or enjoy.

Conversely, if I were searching for the history of the Dvorak keyboard, I’d immediately start with Google.  Why?  Because that’s what Google does.  It takes the entirety of the Internet and makes it present itself in a clean, somewhat-organized form.

When it comes to search, Google does one thing, and it does that one thing exceptionally well.  It will be years before any company can even begin to come close to the results of Google Search.

source: http://asurl.net/k5i

Posterous Releases iPhone, Android Optimized Mobile Sites

Not a week after competitor Tumblr releases a similar feature, Posterous steps up to the plate with Posterous for mobile devices.
As with all things Posterous, it’s designed with simplicity and minimalism in mind. The release also features a few nice touches for the iPhone, specifically “users can swipe left and right to go back and forth between pages. On a blog list page, swiping goes to the next and previous list of blog entries. On a blog post page, swiping goes to the next and previous blog post.”
source:http://asurl.net/koB

Twitter Acquires Cloudhopper, Looks To Become Highest Volume SMS Program Worldwide

Twitter announced this morning its acquisition of Cloudhopper, a startup it hopes will help it "become one of the highest volume SMS programs in the world."
As Twitter notes in its blog post, the service was originally born on the back of SMS and the move looks to further emphasize this distinguishing factor.
The acquisition seems to be a clear signal that Twitter is looking to expand further into areas where cost is a primary factor and the majority of users would interact with the service using SMS instead of desktop computers, smartphones or laptops.
"Twitter's 140 character limit was designed specifically to allow for any tweet to be read in its entirety whether you're using a rudimentary mobile phone, or a more sophisticated Internet enabled device," the post explains. Now, the company processes nearly one billion SMS tweets a month and that number is growing. So how does Cloudhopper fit into this?
Cloudhopper "supplies the underlying software and infrastructure to reliably scale and geographically disperse some of the world's highest volume messaging programs" according to the company's website. The service handles both SMS and MMS (text and multimedia) messaging in North America, Europe and Africa.
[source:http://asurl.net/kYq]

iPad Users Consume 3X Videos As Other Users

Despite the now-infamous absence of Adobe's Flash, video aggregator MeFeedia says that video on the iPad is a flourishing and growing trend according to the data the company has collected over the past three weeks.
The company offers a few stats and postulates that, among other reasons, the "lack of distractions mean people watch more video, for longer."

The company offers the following observations on its blog, noting that the "iPad was only launched a few weeks ago & this sample is for MeFeedia and MeFeedia Network only."

• iPad is now the 5th most popular mobile device* *In terms of unique users, trailing only iPhone, iPod Touch, SymbianOS, and Android (in that order)
• iPad users consume 3X as many videos as web users (up from the 2.5X number that we first reported a few weeks ago)
• iPad users spend 4X as long watching videos as web users (up from 3X)
• iPad users consume 5X as many videos as iPhone users (up from 3X)

[source: http://asurl.net/kqM ]

Mozilla Contacts Releases Facebook-Integrated Version with New "Person URLs"

Mozilla Contacts, the experimental project from the organization behind the Firefox web browser, has released a new version of their Contacts add-on which introduces Facebook integration. Previously, Mozilla Contacts allowed you to import your various address books spread out across the Web (think: multiple email accounts, Twitter friends, LinkedIn colleagues, Plaxo contacts, Mac OS X address book, etc.)

into the Web browser itself - in this case, obviously, Firefox. Once there, the combined address book information could be used in form autocompletion everywhere across the Web and more.
Now, an updated version of Mozilla Contacts (download link) introduces a number of new features, most notably integration with Facebook Contacts and something called a "person URL."

Import Facebook Contacts into Firefox

Mozilla Contacts' ability to sync with your Facebook Contacts come via the brand-new Facebook Graph API (application programming interface), which allows the Firefox addon to import all your Facebook friends into the Web browser itself as it does with the other services supported.
However, this integration is still a little iffy, warns Michael Hansson, an engineer in Mozilla Labs, on a blog post about the release. "You may need to Refresh your connection to Facebook on occasion to make it work properly," he says.

Person URLs

 

Also new in Mozilla Contacts 0.3 is experimental support for "person:" URLs. This intriguing feature lets you look up anyone in your various contact lists or anyone on the Web just by typing a URL in your address bar. After doing so, Firefox will combine the locally stored information in the Web browser with Web-based information retrieved from the Internet to return a profile page about that person.
You can try it now by typing person:mhanson@gmail.com or person:http://facebook.com/btaylor, for example, into your Firefox browser that has the updated Contacts addon installed.
[source:http://asurl.net/kyp]

Facebook's 'Like' Button Invades Internet

Tech analysts are positively wetting themselves over Facebook's decision to open its social graph to the world and create a web-wide “like” button. “Facebook is basically going to be the web,” Slate's Farhad Manjoo tweeted. The move essentially turns browsing the web from a solitary act into a “sprawling network of connectivity,” says Brennon Slattery of PC World. Go to CNN, and it'll show you sites your friends like—even if you've never been to CNN before. More importantly, Facebook will record and understand your actions. “Like” a movie on IMDB, and Facebook will toss it into your Favorite Movies section. “The implications are enormous … and terrifying,” writes Barrett Sheridan of Newsweek. Facebook would be in total control of a new, context-savvy Internet. And there are privacy concerns—users could unwittingly surrender loads of data. “It's not a matter of 'could be' used for marketing information,” a privacy advocate tells ABC. “That's exactly what it's used for.”

[source:http://asurl.net/kL5]

Apple vs. Google: The Next Battles

Remember those simple bygone days when Google and Apple were friends, united by their common archrival Microsoft? Yeah, those days are gone. This year the two companies declared war. Google released the Nexus One, and Apple released iAd, each a direct assault on the other company’s core business. And that’s just the start, writes Jay Yarow of Business Insider. He peers into the crystal ball and predicts the next big showdowns:

• Google builds an iPad-killer: Eric Schmidt has reportedly been telling friends that a Google tablet is in the works.
• Google releases Chrome OS: Sure, it’ll be aimed at netbooks, but if it catches on as a free OS, Apple’s already pricey notebooks will start looking even pricier.
• Apple kicks Google Maps off the iPhone: One Apple researcher says the company is working on its own map offering.
• Apple creates its own search engine: That same analyst says there’s a 70% chance Apple has a search offering within the next five years.

For the rest of the list, click here.

[source: http://asurl.net/kmV ]

Google Bares Government Demands for Data

Google has won the praise of privacy advocates by rolling out a tool that shows just how often governments ask for information about its users. Of the countries listed on Google Disclosure—which omits China—Brazil leads the way with 3,663 requests for data during the second half of 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. The US is second with 3,580 requests. The tool also reveals demands that certain content be removed. Each request for information is run through the company's legal department, said a Google spokesman. "We hope this tool will shine some light on the scale and scope of government requests for censorship and data around the globe," said Google's chief legal officer. "We also hope that this is just the first step toward increased transparency about these actions across the technology and communications industries."

[ Source: http://asurl.net/kvg ]

The New Facebook: How to Protect Your Privacy

The wily folks at Facebook have made more changes. Now, to protect your privacy, you've got to change, too. Here, courtesy of Ryan Tate at Valleywag, are two ways to keep your profile under wraps without sacrificing too much functionality:

• Cut Your 'Connections' Facebook will now convert data on your city, hometown, interests, and education into pages representing those groups. To keep your interest in pot legalization to yourself, Tate writes, you must opt out of 'connections.' Click here to read the step-by-step guide.

• Ax Your Applications The site recently changed its restrictions on releasing data to developers. Partners can now "hoard" Facebook data, Tate says. The best way to ensure your personal information doesn't get into the wrong hands it to cut back on —or completely ax—applications. Click here to see the full guide.

[Source: http://asurl.net/kfW  ]

For Sale: 1.5M Facebook Accounts

An industrious hacker may have stolen the login and password of 1 out of every 300 Facebook users. Posts made under the name "Kirllos" on a hacker forum advertise a store of 1.5 million Facebook accounts for sale. The logins and passwords may be bogus, or they may be for real accounts that have been compromised. In any case, Kirllos has already sold 700,000, at prices between $25 and $45 per 1,000 accounts. At just 2.5¢ per account, Kirllos is charging the lowest prices security analysts have seen so far. Hackers usually sell Facebook account info for $1 to $20 per account, PC World reports.[ Source: http://asurl.net/kkx ]

Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro

The latest crop of MacBook Pro laptops from Apple has several new features, such as a new generation of Intel processors, improved dual graphics, and increased battery life. Most of the changes, however, are relegated to the 15-in. and 17-in. models. The 13-inch models remain the least expensive of the Pro line, but also remain the most similar to the previous generation.