Google search gets answer highlights and events

Google began rolling out an improved version of its search result highlighting and rich-snippet features.

Both improvements bring more visibility to kinds of data that would otherwise require clicking through to the source site. Google now does much of that work for users by bringing relevant, formatted data directly to its search results pages.

Between the two improvements, the highlighting one is the most interesting. It now highlights what Google calls "answers" within page summaries. These are matches to a user's query, so if a user looks up something like a math problem, or a semantic question such as, "what is the capital of Haiti?" the answer would be made bold right on the page.

The tech that powers this comes from Google Squared, which can take data from search results, find matching sets, and chart it out automatically.

While imperfect at times, Google says the technology works well for this application, when users are looking for a single piece of data, as opposed to a broader query better served by something like a subsection of a Wikipedia entry.

The other new feature introduced alongside the answer highlighting is an additional rich-snippets format for events. This will take properly formatted event information from pages that contain events listings and put them within Google's search results. This lets users eyeball things like upcoming tour dates before ever venturing onto the site that lists more detail about those events.

In order to get the new rich-snippet style to work, site owners need to add a small bit of formatting to their content that will make it easier for Google's search spiders to take that data. It's a similar type of effort that was required to be included in the company's other rich-snippet styles for review ratings, videos, and people.

The events rich-snippets feature has been pushed live. Google says answer highlighting will be introduced to users over the next few days.

Automated Transportation (Video)

Today I found a Video in YOUTUBE about the future use of technology in transportation field. The Automated Transportation. they designed the car which covers lesser space, totally automated 5 seater no need for driver. Watch this video give me your comments

Apple, labels talk music in the cloud

Apple executives have spoken to the top four recording companies about plans to offer a streaming music service free of charge to consumers, multiple music industry sources told CNET.

Apple's managers haven't revealed many details about their plans but did discuss offering iTunes users a means to store copies of their music libraries on Apple's servers. The benefits to an iTunes user would include the ability to back up music and access songs off the Web from any Internet-connected device and conceivably from anywhere in the world.

Google Releases Open Source Tools

GOOGLE has decided to release as open source several of its key application development tools, hoping that they will prove useful for external programmers to build faster Web applications.

     Google has used the tools in some of its most popular Web applications, including Gmail, and Google Docs,    Google Maps, said Amit Agarwal, a Google product manager. “By enabling and allowing developers to use the very same tools that google uses, we hope that they can not only build rich applications but also make Web really, really fast. That’s our primary motive in getting these tools outside to the global community,” he said.


        The tools include Closure Compiler, which streamlines, optimizes and consolidates Javascript code to make it run faster and more efficiently, the company announced in November.

         Google is also releasing Closure Library, a Javascript library that contains a set of standard application services and components that run across different browsers.

Google Chrome Beta Gets Bookmark Sync

                THE latest beta version of Google’s Chrome Web browser is making it easier for you to keep track of your entire favorite Web sites across multiple computers. The search giant introduced bookmark syncing this week as a feature of Chrome’s latest trial version.

    Once you’ve downloaded the Chrome beta, you can access the new feature by clicking on the wrench icon on the far right side of your browser window. Then select “Synchronize my bookmarks,” and a pop-up window should appear asking you for your Google Account information. Sign in, and Chrome will store your bookmarks in your Google Docs account.



     When you add, delete, or edit your Chrome bookmarks on any device, those changes will be updated across all your computers. You can also add bookmarks from other Web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer by importing the data into Chrome.

      If Google Chrome is not your thing, but you like the concept of bookmark syncing, you can also get the same functionality on other popular browsers. Internet Explorer users can download the Windows Live Toolbar to store and sync bookmarks with Microsoft’s online storage service, SkyDrive.

     Firefox users can download the Xmark add-on that allows you to synchronize your bookmarks and passwords. And Opera users can get in on the syncing action through Opera Link. If you don’t want to be tied down to a specific browsers brand, try out Delicious, the social online bookmarking site.

Hot gadgets at show: Wireless charging, iPhone TV

At the International Consumer Electronics Show last week in LAS VEGAS 3-D television, electronic readers and little laptops captured much of the attention.

There were plenty of other interesting ideas on display, too, from 3-D printing to a wireless cell phone tether. Here are some of the gadgets most worth keeping an eye out for this year, and some that best deserve an arched eyebrow of amusement:

TV on the iPhone — Qualcomm Inc.'s FLO TV service has been limited by the fact that only a few AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless cell phones can receive the signals, which carry about 15 news, sports and entertainment channels. Now, Qualcomm has teamed up with phone accessories maker Mophie to create an external battery pack for the iPhone that doubles as a FLO TV receiver. It's expected in the first half of the year.

Game-controller glove — Iron Will Innovations demonstrated a futuristic-looking black-and-silver glove that replaces a keyboard and lets users control games by touching their fingers together instead. Called the Peregrine, the glove includes five sensors on each finger that replace different keystrokes when touched to the glove's thumb.

Wireless charging — Last year, Powermat USA showed off a mat that charged gadgets that were placed on top of it — as long as the gadgets were equipped with special covers.

Polaroid Instant Cameras — Polaroid stopped making instant film two years ago, but a brave group of enthusiasts and former employees bought one of Polaroid's factories in Netherlands and reinvented the film. Their film is expected on the market later this year, and to go along with it, Polaroid announced at the show that it will be bringing back instant film cameras.

Cell-phone tether — Losing your cell phone is a drag, and a company called Zomm believes it can make it a thing of the past. It has a small device, also called Zomm, that connects wirelessly with your phone through Bluetooth and sets off an alarm if you walk away from it.

3-D camera — The big push from TV makers this year is for sets that show 3-D in the home. Fujifilm, betting that people will want to shoot their own 3-D movies and photos as well, is also selling a digital camera with two lenses, set apart as if they are human eyes.

3-D filter — What if you want 3-D viewing, but you don't want to get a new TV and a 3-D Blu-ray player? Real view Innovations Ltd. has it all worked out for you. The Irish company has developed a film that can be placed over a set to make it look like the flat surface of the screen bulges inwards.

3-D color printing — Shapeways has been offering 3-D printing for a few years, taking data files and turning them into sculptures with the help of a machine that lays down successive layers of a plaster-like material. At the show, the Dutch company announced that they're now offering sculptures in full color.

Mopping robot — It's the battle of the cleaning robots! The vacuuming Roomba robots will get competition this September from the Mint, a square robot that has a pad for a dry or wet Swiffer-type cleaning cloth. Guided by a beacon that projects an infrared light on the ceiling (think Batman signal), the Mint will methodically sweep one room at time.

Nexus One's hardware estimated to cost $175

Google's forthcoming Nexus One smartphone is composed of components worth about $175, according to a teardown conducted by iSuppli.

The new phone, which Google unveiled , offers an inside designed by Google and an outside designed by HTC. The primary interface is a 3.7-inch AMOLED display. The Nexus One runs Google's Android 2.1 operating system, and the WVGA display can show 3G graphics.

While Google has priced the Nexus One at $179 with a two-year T-Mobile service plan ($529 without a subscription plan), the phone has a bill of materials of $174.15, according to iSuppli analysis, which was posted Friday. The report notes that its estimate does not include other expenses such as manufacturing, packaging, and software.

"Items like the durable unibody construction, the blazingly fast Snapdragon baseband processor and the bright and sharp Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) display all have been seen in previous phones, but never before combined into a single design," Kevin Keller, senior analyst for iSuppli, said in a statement.

The most expensive of the 17 components in the HTC-built phone is Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor, which rings in at $30.50, or 20 percent of iSuppli's estimated bill of materials. Snapdragon debuted in February 2009 in the Toshiba TG01, which is based on Windows Mobile. But iSuppli found the ARM-based processor to be better utilized in the Nexus One.

The Android 2.1 operating system used in the Nexus One better capitalizes on the Snapdragon's fast performance, making the user interface and applications run very quickly," Keller said. "This processing muscle also gives the Nexus One some advanced capabilities, most notably high-definition 720p video playback."

The next most expensive component is Samsung's 3.7-inch AMOLED display, which lists at $23.50. iSuppli notes that the AMOLED technology appeared previously in Samsung's Android-based I7500 with a 3.2-inch AMOLED touch screen.

"The 3.7-inch AMOLED display on the Nexus One delivers a stunning picture," Keller said.

Rounding out the top three most expensive components in the Nexus One is Samsung's 4Gbit (512MB) of DDR DRAM, which costs $20.40, or about 11 percent of iSuppli's estimated cost. iSuppli notes that comparable smartphones generally contain no more than 2Gbits of DRAM, but that the extra memory allows for better application performance.

Apple Changes App Store Review Process

Apple has changed the way it deals with iPhone app developers letting them now keep closer tabs on how their software is proceeding through Apple’s strict App Store review process. Many see the move as yet another step by Apple to keep app store developers from defecting to competing mobile platforms namely Android.

As first reported in Wired in November, a software developer can now see precisely when an app is “Ready for Review,” “In Review,” and “Ready for Sale,” Before that, developers only got vague status bulletins from Apple giving the “average wait time” around finding out whether or not Apple has okayed an app.


Software developers began complaining loudly about Apple’s review policies late in ’08, after Apple offered a hodgepodge of reasons for banning apps ranging from the Murder – drome comic book to the “Pull My Finger” fart joke app and Alex Sokirynsky’s “Podcaster” app.

Spammer Ordered to pay Facebook $711 million

    Facebook was awarded US$711 million in damages from a convicted spammer, but the social networking site is hoping a separate criminal action will eventually send him to jail.

     Facebook in Fabruary sued Sanford Wallace with Adam Arzoomanian and Scott Shaw for allegedly obtaining the login credentials for accounts. These were then used to send spam to those users’ friends starting around November 2008.



        The spam either linked to other phishing sites that sought to collect more Facebook accounts or linked to other commercial sites that paid spammers fro referrals.
         Facebook “doesn’t expect to receive the vast majority of the award,” according to a company blog. According to court filings, Wallace filed a bankruptcy petition earlier this year, although this was dismissed.
       
          However, a California court has sent a request to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute Wallace for criminal contempt. The court came up with the $711 million figure by awarding $50.00 per violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.
       
           Wallace is alleged to have violated a temporary restraining order as well as an injunction both granted in March ’09. The orders banned them from phishing and spamming on Facebook.
        
           “In addition to the judgment, he now faces possible jail time,” wrote Sam O’Rourke of Facebook’s legal team. “This is another important victory in our fight against spam.”
        
           Facebook is not pursuing claims against Arzoomanian and Shaw. The company may choose to close the file once the default judgment is entered against Wallace, the court filing said.

Protect Your Privacy On Facebook And Twitter Part-3

If you didn’t read the 1st  & 2nd part of it you can read it here.  Part-1,   Part-2,

Exercise the Privacy Controls You Have

Although the concerns of ACLU and the Canadian government run a little deeper, Facebook does offer privacy controls for restricting or denying access to information. Since Facebook is a social networking site designed for sharing information, many of the settings are open by default. It is up to you to access the Privacy Settings and configure the options as you see fit.
        For each available setting, you can choose to share information with Everyone, with My Networks and Friends, or with only Friends; if you prefer, you can customize the settings to fine tune access further.

Beware of Hijacking and Phishing Scams


By its very nature, social networking is all about socializing, which means that users are more that usually disposed to let their guard down and share information, they come to the network to expand their professional connections, reestablish contact with old friends, and communicate in real time with pals and peers. And for predatory bad guys, launching social engineering and phishing attacks in this convivial environment is like shooting fish in a barrel.
        Most people know not to respond to e-mail requests from exiled Nigerian royalty promising millions of dollars in return for help smuggling the money out of the country. (Anyone who doesn’t know better probably shouldn’t be on the Internet; such prople are a danger to themselves and to others.)
        But what if a good friend from high school whom you haven’t seen in 18 years sends you a message on facebook explaining hoe her wallet was stolen and her car broke down, and asks you to wire money to help her get home? You might be less suspicious than you should be.
        Attackers have figured out that family and friends are easy prey for sob stories of this type. Using other attacks or methods, they gain access to a Facebook account and hijack it. They change the password so that the legitimate owner can’t get back in, and then they proceed to reach out to the friends of the hijacked account and attempt to extort money from those friends through social-engineering cons.
       How do you resist such devious techniques? First you should assume that any relative or friend who is close enough to you to ask you for money in a crisis probably has your phone numbers, and that Facebook or e-mail message is hardly the most logical way to contact you in an emergency. If you receive such a Facebook message or e-mail Please pick up the phone and call the person directly to confirm its legitimacy.

Don’t Let a Tiny URL Fool You

     Another threat that has emerged recently as a result of social networking is the tiny-URL attack. Some URLs are very long and don’t work well in e-mail or in blog posts, creating a need for URL-shortening services. In particular, Twitter, with its 140-character limit, has made the use of URL-shortening services such as Bit.ly a virtual necessity.
     Unfortunately, attackers can exploit a shortened URL to lure users into accessing malicious Web sites. Since the shortened URL consists of a random collection of characters that are unrelated to the actual URL, users cannot easily determine whether it is legitimate or phony.
      TweetDeck, a very popular application for sending messages in Twitter, provides a ‘Show preview information of short URLs’ option, which offers some protection. The preview window supplies details about the shortened URL, including the actual long URL that the link leads to.
      If you aren’t using TweetDeck for Twitter, or if you need to deal with shortened URLs, maintain a healthy dose of skepticism about what might lie behind the obfuscated address that a message points to.

Protect Your Privacy On Facebook And Twitter Part – 2

If you didn’t read the 1st part of it you can read it here.

In my first part of Protect your privacy on facebook and twitter I tell you about taking care before sharing online & remember who’s your friends are. Next you have to recognize the visibility of your posts.

Recognize The Visibility of Your Posts

You’ve thought it through, an you want to shout to the world how you feel about having to work overtime and during a weekend that you had earmarked for recreational activities. You have checked and double checked, and you’ve determined that your boss is not your network, so you let loose on the keyboard and speak your mind.


         Unfortunately, you’re not home free (figuratively speaking) just yet. Being outside of your network, your boss can’t see your post directly, but if a Facebook friend who is connected with your boss comments on your status update--- even just to say “I sympathize”--- your boss may be able to click on the link through the friend and see your post.

          Go ahead, be social. Share your trials and tribulations with your growing network of adoring followers. But for your own safety, keep one essential rule in mind: Never post or tweet anything online that you wouldn’t be comfortable having everyone you know see--- because eventually they probably will see it.

Define the Boundaries of Your Privacy

Marrying privacy and social networking may seem terribly unintuitive. How can you be social and open, yet protect your privacy? Well, just because you are choosing to share some information with a select group of people does not necessarily mean that you want to share everything with everyone, or that you are indifferent about whether the information you share is visible to all,
         Facebook, in particular, has drawn unwanted attention in connection with various privacy concerns. If you have used facebook for a while, you may have noticed advertisements that incorporate your friend’s names or photos associated with them.
       Facebook does provide privacy controls for you to customize the types of information available to third party applications. If you look at the Facebook Ads tab of the privacy controls, though, you’ll notice that it doesn’t give you any way to opt out of the internal Facebook Ads. Instead, it states (alarmingly) that “Facebook strives to create relevant and interesting advertisements to you and your friends.”

Approach Tattletale Quizzes With Caution

For many users, one of the primary attractions of Facebook is the virtually endless selection of games and quizzes. And part of their allure is their social aspect. In the games, you compete against your friends; through the quizzes, you learn more about them while being briefly entertained.
        The ACLU exposed problems with how much information these quizzes games share, however. Typically, when a Facebook user initiates a game or quiz, a notice pops up to declare that interacting with the application requires opening access to information; the notice also provides the user the opportunity to opt out and cancel, or to allow the access to continue.
           The permission page clearly informs the user up front that allowing “access will let [the application] pull your profile information, photos, your friends’ info, and other content that is requires to work.” Under the circumstances, you may wonder (as the ACLU has) why a game or quiz application would “require” access to your friends’ information in order to work.

Facebook Policy Concerns in Canada

Facebook’s privacy policies have run afoul of the Canadian government, too. Canada’s Privacy Commissioner has determined those policies and practices violate Canadian privacy regulations, has recommended various changes Facebook should make to comply with them.
    One of the commissioner’s biggest concerns involves the permanence of accounts and account data. Facebook offers users a way to disable or deactivate an account, but it doesn’t seem to provide a method for completely deleting an account. Photos and status updates might be available long after a user has shut down a Facebook profile. And like the ACLU, the Canadian government is unhappy about the amount of user information that Facebook shares with third party application providers.

Protect Your Privacy On Facebook And Twitter Part - 1

     WEB SURFING is no longer a solo activity. Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks have quickly become an integral part of the online culture, and with them comes an array of serious threat to your privacy. In this set of articles, I'll identify some networking and offer a few easy steps that you can take to stay safe online & they are necessary for everyone to protect his/her privacy.


              Social networking is built on the idea of sharing information openly and fostering a sense of community. Unfortunately, an online network of individuals who actively share their experiences and seek connections with other like-minded people can b e easy prey for hackers engaged in social engineering  and phishing attacks. It’s important to be aware of the threats and to use discretion in all of your online interactions.


Take Care Before You Share Online

For starters, even in an open community of sharing, you should observe commonsense boundaries. As US President obama warned students in his September address to schools, “ be careful what you post on Facebook. Whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere on your life.”
        The core truth of that statement can be applied to any social networking site, and possibly to the Internet as a whole. As a general rule refrain from posting things online that you will regret later. The odds are good that someone, someday, will stumble across it, and it may come back to haunt you especially if you are planning to run for public office.
        If you think that abstaining from posting embarrassing or inflammatory comments online ruins the fun, you’re playing a dangerous game. Remember who your friends are, and know that a friend of a friend can be an enemy.

Don’t Lose Sight Of Who Your Friends Are

         When you write a Twitter tweet or post a Facebook status update, you have to keep your audience in your mind. More and more these days, we hear stories about people who forgot that their boss was part of their network and then said things online that resulted in their being reprimanded or even fired.
 
        The adverse consequences of posting inappropriate online comments have become so commonplace – at least anecdotally — that they have earned an entry in the urban Dictionary: Facebook Fired. Even announcing something as seemingly innocuous as “I’m bored” in a status update during work hours can have dire consequences if the wrong people see it.
        With services like Twitter, and with the recent changes to Facebook that permit any interested party to view and search your updates, you really have no way to hide.