google

Is Google Earth a threat to world security? According to the head of U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, it is. How exactly does Google Earth jeopardize universal security? It gives Internet clients ... an astronaut's view of the earth. Users even have the ability to zoom down to street level and see very intricate details. Basically, anyone with a credit card is capable of getting a picture of absolutely any place on earth. (Source: zdnet.com ) Although this security threat is a large problem, it is only a recent issue. In fact, Deptula believes ... (view more)

Google has hired more lobbyists to its staff in an effort to create a strong presence in Washington. "We're seeking to do public policy advocacy in a Googley way," said Andrew McLaughlin, Google's director of public policy and government affairs. ... "We want our users to be part of the effort." (Source: imedinews.ge ) The sudden focus on lobbying strength is a vast change from two years ago. At that time, Google only had one staff lobbyist in Washington, Alan B. Davidson, who now heads Google's Washington office. But when Google co-founder Sergey Brin found it difficult to get meetings with ... (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)

Is love brewing between MySpace and eBay? The answer: most likely. MySpace, an online social network, may partner with eBay to enhance its site. How? In the future, auctioneers eBay will provide MySpace with e-commerce features. MySpace founders ... want to offer clients the opportunities and tools to sell their products while socializing, and eBay is a prime candidate for supplying the desired mechanics. However, nothing's set in stone. MySpace has voiced its feelings concerning the partnership, saying "we haven't decided yet, but it would be probably a good bet that someone like eBay could be a ... (view more)

Google and Intel have decided to "go green" and are hoping to start a worldwide campaign that will motivate every computer-maker to do the same. The two technological powerhouses recently unveiled the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a voluntary ... program that they hope will eventually make energy-saving computers the only ones available on the market. (Source: usatoday.com ) Typically, a standard PC wastes about half of the energy it draws. While power-saving technology is available to manufacturers, it costs roughly $20 extra per PC. While $20 may not seem like very much, it adds up to a ... (view more)

The European Union's head justice official has applauded Google on its decision to reduce the amount of time it keeps the personal data of Internet users. "I think it is indeed a good step," said EU justice and home affairs commissioner Franco ... Frattini at a news conference in Luxembourg. His comment was in response to Google's decision to only keep the data for 18 months, a modest improvement from Google's original plan to keep the data for 18 to 24 months. (Source: mercurynews.com ) "I have appreciated the commitment of Google not only to meet our expectations in terms of protection of ... (view more)

A few days ago, I reported on the face-off between Microsoft and Google. Although hockey season's long over, it seems the two were ready to duke it out over the future of desktop searches within operating systems like Vista. At the heart of the ... matter is Google's complaint that Microsoft's Windows Vista breaks antitrust law by making it exceptionally difficult to install secondary desktop search programs, like Google Desktop. Although Microsoft admits these programs run a bit slow, they still run, and thus, break no antitrust laws. (Source: zdnet.com ) When we reported on the rising ... (view more)

Those who own (and survive upon) web pages are well aware that Google controls the universe. For a webmaster, ranking high on its searches, be they organic or paid, can make the difference between driving an Infiniti and an infinitely shop-ridden ... vehicle. That's why it's particularly interesting that one watchdog group is chipping away at Google's monstrous success, attacking the search engine's inability to protect the privacy of its users. The report comes from Privacy International (PI), which recently completed a six month study of 23 different web entities. Google finished dead last, ... (view more)

In an attempt to eliminate and prevent unauthorized distribution of copyrighted video content, Google confirmed Tuesday that it will begin testing video identification software on its YouTube and Google Video sites. The software will identify ... copyrighted videos that have been uploaded by users without the copyright holder's permission. (Source: informationweek.com ) Google will test the video recognition technology along with partners Time Warner Inc. and The Walt Disney Co. Testing will begin next month with hopes of having the technology completely up and running by later this year. (Source ... (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)