Google

In a move that will surely please many privacy campaigners, Google has changed its cookie policy dramatically. How so? Instead of having cookies expire in the year 2038, they will expire two years after the page has last been viewed. (Source: ... betanews.com ) The announcement comes shortly after the search engine giant revealed that it will erase search logs after 18 months, a reduction from the previously uncapped time limit. The cookie reduction announcement came via an official Google blog entitled "Cookies: Expiring Sooner to Improve Privacy." In the post, Global Privacy Counsel Peter ... (view more)

Many people have turned to Google to answer various questions, like how to loop a necktie or how to change a tire. As it turns out, the helpfulness of Google is not limited to law abiding citizens; two robbers in Colorado used Google to help them ... crack a safe and take off with $12,000. Here's how the heist goes: The burglars had broken into an indoor amusement center known as Bigg City. Although the robbers knew the codes for the safes, they were unable to get them open after several tries. To solve their problem the bandits consulted a computer in the next room and searched "how to crack a ... (view more)

Google has lost the Gmail name battle in Germany. The winning party, German entrepreneur Daniel Giersch, has had his own Gmail trademark in the country since 2000. Google, on the other hand, launched its Gmail service more recently in 2004. This ... specific trademark case is not the first of its kind. In 2005, Google quarrelled with a U.K financial firm that had been offering a Gmail service to currency investors since 2002. It is not surprising that Google lost this overseas case as well; after all, Google's Gmail "does not appear to be an active domain in a number of countries including ... (view more)

On Friday, Google employee Lauren Turner created a post on the official Google blog which criticized Michael Moore's new film "Sicko." The post caused so much outrage that Turner has since posted another note which apologizes for her controversial ... suggestions. In the original post, Turner not only panned the movie but also offered health care advertisers a way to fight back by placing Google ads so that when a user searches for Sicko, their health care ad pops up. "We can place text ads, video ads, and rich media ads in paid search results or in relevant websites within our ever-expanding ... (view more)

Two of Google's Antiphishing and Antimalware employees have announced that the company is releasing its Safe Browsing API to the public. Meaning? The public will be able to access Google's updated blacklist of suspected phishing and malware-infected ... websites. Brian Rakowski and Garrett Casto explain that developers could use the API to prevent users from posting phishing links on a blog, or to notify users that links lead to sites with malware. "The API is still experimental, but we hope it will be useful to ISPs, web hosting companies and anyone building a site or an application that ... (view more)

After a haze of uncertainty further blurred by the acquisition of YouTube, Google Video is beginning to resemble a legitimate video search engine. When Google Video was first announced, its plans and purpose remained a mystery; not only to the ... public, but also to Google. Even Google co-founder Larry Page admitted, "We're not quite sure what we're going to get, but we decided we'd try this experiment." (Source: outer-court.com ) However, the ambiguity was cleared up in January, when Google announced its plans to mould Google Video using one of the company's definite strengths: search. Months ... (view more)

Google vice president Laszlo Bock testified before Congress on Wednesday, urging the legislative body to allow for more foreign hiring. Bock, vice president of people operations at Google, said that the company may not exist if co-founder Sergey ... Brin and his parents had not been able to flee from the Soviet Union to the US decades ago. Bock's testimony was part of a hearing focused on business community perspectives of immigration law alterations. "Within Google, there are countless examples of immigrants and non-immigrant foreign workers playing a vital role in our company," Bock said. "It ... (view more)

While it's heating up outside across North America, it seems there's nothing hotter than the battle being waged between Google and Microsoft. In recent weeks, months, and in some respects years, both companies have been forced to defend themselves ... for their impressive places within the search and software spheres. Now the two are at each other's throats, with Google alleging that Microsoft's Windows Vista is hurting competition and should be adjusted for antitrust purposes. (Source: washingtonpost.com ) So, what's got Google so hot under the collar? Google is upset over the way Vista runs ... (view more)

Millions of people use free online software programs that deliver news, email and a host of other services on a daily basis. While these programs make information and communication easier than ever before, they are still limited in their use to only ... when the individual is online. (Source: techmeme.com ) That's all about to change! In an effort to test the limitations of the Internet once again, Google is attempting to make many free online applications, like their popular G-mail and spreadsheet programs, available offline for users who experience trouble connecting to the Internet. (Source: ... (view more)

Ever heard of Google Street View? The new service is raising eyebrows within the online community and elsewhere, as it threatens worldwide privacy. For example, while searching for her home, Ms. Kalin-Casey was able to see her cat in the living-room ... window of her second-floor apartment building. Kalin-Casey ultimately wants to know "where you draw the line between taking public photos and zooming in on people's lives." (Source: net-security.org ) Discussion about the confidentiality issues of Street View has been all over the web since Kalin-Casey recently voiced her concerns in an email to ... (view more)