Monthly Archive for January, 2006

Google-Funded ‘Badware’ Coalition Forms

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Web search powerhouse Google has joined with Sun Microsystems to fund a new anti-spyware coalition that is on tap to launch on Jan. 24, according to information reaching eWEEK.

The nonprofit group is setting up shop at StopBadware.org to help computer users deal with the scourge from adware, spyware, rootkits and other malware threats.

Sources say the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School will run the operations of the coalition with help from Consumer Reports WebWatch, a consumer advocacy group.

Vint Cerf, the renowned technologist who was recently hired as chief Internet evangelist at Google, is on board as an adviser to the coalition.

Former ICANN board chairman Esther Dyson, who publishes the influential Release 1.0 newsletter, is also involved.

Source

Google Execs Keep $1 Salaries

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders and co-presidents Larry Page and Sergey Brin will retain the $1 paid salaries from 2005, according to a filing this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The three will instead rely on stock options and grants for their pay.

The action, approved by Google last week but only made known yesterday came during a week in which Google’s stock lost 14 percent amidst fears stemming from a flap with U.S. Justice Department. However, don’t expect to see these men on the streets any time soon. Google’s stock recovered 7 percent yesterday, meaning that Schmidt’s stock value alone increased $413.8 million in a single day of trading. His total wealth in shares is estimated at $6.3 billion.

Google’s policy of paying top executives $1 started in the second quarter of 2004, leading up to the company’s initial public offering in August 2004.

Read More

Disney buys Pixar in $7.4bn deal

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments


Walt Disney has agreed a $7.4bn (£4.1bn) deal to buy Pixar, the animation firm behind films including Toy Story and The Incredibles.

The all-share deal will see Pixar chief executive Steve Jobs join Disney’s board of directors.

Under the agreement, 2.3 Disney shares will be issued for each Pixar share.

Disney’s distribution deal with Pixar was due to end this year, and it seemed the two would split after failing to agree on how to divide future profits.

However, Disney’s new boss Robert Iger has been working to revive relations between the two companies.

Read More on BBC NEWS

Google censors itself for China

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .


Leading internet company Google has said it will censor its search services in China in order to gain greater access to China’s fast-growing market.

Google has offered a Chinese-language version of its search engine for years but users have been frustrated by government blocks on the site.

The company is setting up a new site – Google.cn – which it will censor itself to satisfy Beijing’s hardline rulers.

Google argued it would be more damaging to pull out of China altogether.

Read More on BBC NEWS

Official Google Blog: And now, News

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments

We’re taking Google News out of beta! When we launched the English-language edition in September 2002, we entered untested waters with a grand experiment in news browsing – using computers to organize the world’s news in real time and providing a bird’s eye view of what’s being reported on virtually any topic. By presenting news “clusters” (related articles in a group), we thought it would encourage readers to get a broader perspective by digging deeper into the news — reading ten articles instead of one, perhaps — and then gain a better understanding of the issues, which could ultimately benefit society. A bit more than three years later, we offer 22 regional editions in 10 languages, and have a better sense of how people use Google News….

Read More on Official Google Blog

New year, new imagery

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

We’re always trying to improve the imagery in Google Earth and Google Local, but our latest update is bigger than usual. Not only have we added extensive 6-inch imagery for many parts of the U.K., but we’ve updated the Google Local database to match the coverage we have in Google Earth, and (drum roll, please) … we’ve added two more zoom levels in Google Local’s Satellite mode! Now for many areas around the world you can see a lot more detail than you could before.Take a look at people standing at the gates of Buckingham Palace in London, or jump over the pond and see the Statue of Liberty in New York, and then maybe drop down to the southern hemisphere and check out the boats sailing past the Sydney Opera House.

Source: Official Google Blog

Pixar buyout for $7 billion

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

On Tuesday, board members for Pixar Animation Studios will meet to approve a $7 billion buyout by Disney.

The buyout will make Steve Jobs, the company’s chief executive, around $3.5 billion and the single largest shareholder in Disney. Jobs, who co-founded Pixar in 1986, is also the chief executive of Apple Computer, Inc.

In the last few years, the giant company has failed to produce an animated hit of its own; however, since 1995, both Pixar and Disney have made six films together, including Toy Story, which has grossed the companies more than $3.2 billion.

News source: Telegraph
View: Pixar | Disney

Source: Neowin.net

20 Years of the Computer Virus

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments

In January 1986 the first ever computer virus was unleashed via floppy disk, and 20 years on the problem is still very much a nightmare situation for the average PC user.

Though it’s origin is still disputed it is thought the virus, known as Brain, was coded by two Pakistani programmers named Basit and Amjad who designed their virus to affect every 360kb floppy inserted into the drive. Four years later a company called Symantec launched the now hugely popular Norton Antivirus.

Within two years the number of malicious programs had increased by 420% to 1300, this was probably helped by creation kits like the Virus Creation Laboratory which was also released in 1992.

Some of the more memorable viruses since then include 1999′s Melissa virus, which executed a macro which sent copies of itself to 50 people in the users Outlook address book, the Love Bug which deleted MP3, MP2 and JPG files as well as sending usernames and passwords to the author and 2004′s MyDoom worm which affected businesses, banks and the British Coastguard.

Today there are more than 150,000 malicious programs and over 25 major companies specialising in anti-virus software for the Windows platform alone.

View: BBC News – Computer Virus Hits 20
View: Computer Virus Timeline

Source: Neowin.net

Bush Administration Versus Google

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Back in 1998 the Child Online Protection Act was passed here in the United States. This act was created to protect children from harmful sexual material on the Internet. This act would have required adults to use access codes, or other methods of registering before they could view pornographic material online. Those distributors who violated this law would face fines of up to $50,000. However, this law was blocked by lower courts and had since then never taken effect.

Late last year the Justice Department issued a subpoena to Google. This subpoena requested that Google hand over a broad range of material from its database, which included one million random web address, and all Google searches from any one week period related to pornographic material. The Bush administration claims that it needs this vast amount of information to determine how often pornographic material shows up in web searches, in the administrations attempt to revive the Child Online Protection Act.

Not willing to be pushed around Google has refused to comply with the administrations request, stating that the release of such information would violate the privacy rights of its users and reveal company trade secrets. The U.S. government has indicated that other unspecified search engines have already agreed to release the requested information. In the end will Google be able to protect their user’s privacy, or will they also give in to the government’s request?

View: More Information

Windows Vienna to follow Vista

Published on 4 years, 7 months ago in Browsing Habits.... 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

That’s right folks. Windows Vienna is the new codename for Windows Blackcomb the successor to Windows Vista.

Not much is known about Blackcomb officially and Microsoft is not ready to talk about it yet. However, Microsoft’s blogging guru, Robert Scoble confirmed in a thread reply to a channel 9 video, “since this video was shot the codename for Blackcomb has indeed changed to Vienna. I haven’t gotten the story on this yet, though.”

While Windows Vista is intended to be a technologies-based release, with some UI changes (in the form of the Aero set of technologies and guidelines), Vienna is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way we interact with our home and office PCs.

For instance, the “Start” philosophy, introduced in Windows 95, may be completely replaced by a “new interface” which was said in 1999 to be scheduled for Blackcomb, before being moved to the Longhorn project, and then back to Blackcomb. The interface involved some ideas based upon truely 3D Windows and an intergration of what is now known as Sidebar.

The Explorer shell is expected to be replaced in its entirety, with features such as the taskbar being replaced by a new concept based on the last 10 years of research from Microsoft’s “Vibe” lab. Projects such as GroupBar and LayoutBar are expected to make an appearance, allowing users to more effectively manage and keep track of their applications and documents while in use, and a new way of launching applications is expected – among other ideas, Microsoft is investigating a pie menu-type circular interface, similar in function to Apple’s dock feature.

All features are speculation and rumour at this point. However, with Vista arriving so late (5 years after Windows XP) – will Vista sell to the masses just as many enterprise customers have moved to XP and many home users are comfortable with XP. Time will tell.
View: Channel 9 Vienna Confirmation