google

Internet Cleanup Campaign Launched by Google, Twitter, and Facebook

June 14, 2012 Leave a Comment

Malware

Tired of all the malware circulating on the Internet? Who isn’t, really?

As a Windows user for the longest time (as countless other people), I have learned to deal with these things by making sure the security programs are updated regularly and not being stupid by indiscriminately clicking. Having switched to Mac several years ago, I was lulled into a sense of safety. Of course, we all know there is really no such thing.

Today, there are still a huge number of Internet users who fall into the malware trap, no matter what operating system they use. I guess the people behind the biggest names in technology are fed up as well.

Enter Google, Twitter, and Facebook, who have teamed up to help rid the Internet of malware.[Read More]

WebRTC: Video Chats in Browser, No Plugin Required!

April 11, 2012 1 Comment

WebRTC

What is your main means of communication? The chances of video chat being up in the list is rather high, especially if you are based in a location far from your family and friends. With the technological advances that we enjoy today, video chat has become a major mode of communication.

There are many different providers which offer video chat services, many of them free. While that is convenient, there is the issue of having to download and install those programs. What if you can do a video chat on your browser without having to install a plugin or any other program?

This is exactly what the creators of WebRTC had in mind when they conceptualized the web standard.[Read More]

Mozilla Add-on Collusion Allows You to Spy on Who’s Watching

March 5, 2012 Leave a Comment

Mozilla Add-on Collusion

We all know that the Internet is anything but private. Sure, there is still the high degree of anonymity, hence the cyber bullies and people who say things that they wouldn’t dare say to a person’s face. However, there is also the known fact that more and more, entities are watching what we do online. They have various reasons, but Google’s updated privacy policy is blatantly all about gathering data from users in order to better target their advertisements. (Nah, it’s not all about the money. Why would anyone think that?)[Read More]

Having a Baby? How About Checking Google for Names First?

November 28, 2011 1 Comment

Baby Names

Apparently, this is what a lot of parents are doing these days. Gone are the days when parents simply pick whatever name they like based on their own criteria – without having to check if other people have the same name. It used to be that people chose names for their babies based on the meaning of the name, or maybe because they have someone in the family with that name.

Today, more and more people are looking to Google to make sure that the name they pick for their baby is “safe”. What does safe mean in this case anyway? The New York Times recently ran a story about how a couple checked Google to see if the names they had picked for their baby girl matched “inappropriate” people online. ((NYT)) For example, they did a search on Kalia, only to see scantily clad women come up in the search results. They immediately discarded the name, as they didn’t want their child to have to “wrestle” with a Google identity.[Read More]

5 ways to save money with your iPhone or Android smartphone

August 10, 2011 Leave a Comment

Even before Apple and Google dominated the mobile software industry, money-saving apps were must-haves for power users of previous generation mobile environments like the Palm OS.

Much of these legacy software, lacking the internet access and tight hardware integration that define the smartphone experience today, were limited to helping users balance their budgets.

That’s definitely changed, especially as the average smartphone buyer places more weight on what apps are available for a phone, with less focus on the gadget’s built-in hardware features. [Read More]