google

Google has tweaked its search algorithm after discovering holocaust denial sites were topping the results for some queries. The incident may have highlighted a difference in the way Google and other search engines rank pages. The issue came to light ... when a newspaper reporter experimented with searches for the phrase "did the Holocaust happen" and discovered that the top result returned by Google was a site specifically dedicated to denying the Holocaust. Other journalists checked up potentially controversial queries and found unsettling top results, such as a search for "are ... (view more)

Google has published eight letters sent by the FBI demanding details about its users. Normally the company isn't allowed to even acknowledge the letters exist. The letters, known as National Security Letters, are formal demands from the FBI for ... details about users - in this case, Google users. The letters are controversial for two reasons; first, the demands can be made without a specific search order, something that raises constitutional issues. The second is that Google isn't normally allowed to tell the user about the demand. While it's been argued that doing so may tip off a ... (view more)

Critics of Google say the search engine's algorithm is giving undue credibility to a website claiming to have final voting figures for the US election. The site, which is given prime position when users search for several election-related terms, ... appears to be unauthoritative and rely on questionable sources. As with any story in this year's US presidential election, its likely to prove partisan responses on both sides. However, this specific scenario is about Google's quality control, rather than political arguments. The issue surrounds the way Google doesn't just produce a ... (view more)

Google is to take harsher actions against sites that it determines house malware or attempt to steal user data. Repeat offenders will effectively be hidden from view from many users for 30 days. The changes are to Google's Safe Browsing feature, ... which vets sites for malicious content. The feature is built into the Chrome browser and made available for other online tools. It's also built-in to all the links from Google search results, regardless of the user's browser. When Google detects a site is potentially harmful, it won't take users directly to the page when they click on ... (view more)

Microsoft has criticized Google for revealing details of what the search giant has dubbed a "critical" security flaw in Windows. The two companies dispute whether Google gave Microsoft enough time to fix the problem before going public. The ... controversy lies in the fact that Microsoft has yet to release a fix for the problem and has not even said if one exists. The bug applies to 32-bit editions of Windows and allows an unauthorized local privilege escalation. The effect is to undermine a security feature known as " sandboxing ," which is designed so that if a hacker ... (view more)

Google is to start warning users when flight ticket prices are likely to rise. It adds forecasts to a current system that works with actual price changes. The feature is coming to Google Flights, a dedicated search tool which lets users look for ... flight prices. While several travel sites offer similar tools, Google argues that its is easier to use. It's no secret that ticket prices change over time. While there's an element of last-minute drops as airlines try to avoid empty seats, there's also a broader trend of prices increasing as the weeks count down to a flight, the theory ... (view more)

With smartphones and tablets gaining extreme popularity thanks to low-cost production and ever-increasing CPU speeds, many users are looking at alternatives to Windows when it comes to being able to compute on the go. One system in particular is the ... ChromeBook (laptop) which is based on Google's Chrome operating system. Many major manufacturers produce Chromebooks, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung. As of September 2016 there were at least three dozen Chromebook models on the market. What is Chrome OS? Chrome OS is a somewhat similar, but separate operating system to Android ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jane T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently upgraded to Windows 10 and have been using the Edge browser fairly extensively. One thing that really bothers me is that when I first start Edge, it displays a bunch of photos on the ... screen, including: My News feed, News, Entertainment, Sports, Money, Lifestyle, and Autos. Is there any way to disable these permanently so that only Edge shows up? I really don't care to read any of those items - in fact, I'd much rather just have Google as my home page. Can you help? " My response: By default Edge will display the items you mention, ... (view more)

An attempt to prevent the piracy of Warner Brothers movies has backfired, with several Warner Brothers official pages being reported in violation to Google. It appears to be an overzealous campaign by an agency hired to protect the company's ... copyright. The TorrentFreak site noticed the blunder while looking through a database of filings made to Google to report alleged breaches of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Such reports are designed to persuade Google to remove copyright-infringing sites from its search index. (Source: torrentfreak.com ) This doesn't remove the page ... (view more)

Google says a set of security flaws on Android devices may not be as serious as initially feared. It says 90 percent of devices should be largely immune from what's been dubbed the "Quadrooter" exploit. A security research company found the problem ... in software which works with processors manufactured by Qualcomm, which are used in an estimated 900 million Android devices. The bugs affect the communication between different actions (known as processes) running on the phone at the same time. The name of the exploit (Quadrooter) comes from the fact that there are four ... (view more)