Archive for February, 2010

I have really mixed feeling about Google Books. I lost a lot of books a few years ago, I really should have picked some good long distance movers.

Changes that Google Inc and the Authors Guild made to an ambitious plan to create a massive online library were inadequate because they fail to address antitrust and copyright concerns, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

Google’s plan to put millions of books online has been praised for expanding access to books but has also been vociferously criticized on antitrust and copyright grounds.

The deal was amended last year after the Justice Department recommended that the original settlement be rejected but more changes were needed, a Justice Department official said on Thursday, on background.

On one hand I can understand the copyright issues, but on the other hand, there are many books that people would otherwise never know about, let alone read, that could benefit a lot of people. I’m still not sure how to feel about the whole thing.

I would help if I could drag myself away from my cockpit over here in the Alligator Pit, and if they bought me an xbox 360.

Internet search firm Google is finalizing a deal that would let the National Security Agency help it investigate a corporate espionage attack that may have originated in China, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The aim of the investigation is to better defend Google, the world’s largest Internet search company, and its users from future attacks, the Post said, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the arrangement.

Does this mean, if someone hacks into my servers, I can call on the NSA to help me figure out who is behind the attack as well? It’s only fair, isn’t it?

I don’t get it… Why would someone follow someone else if they had no idea who that person was in the first place?

Twitter pushed out a password reset Tuesday evening to accounts that were following suspicious users. The move comes in the wake of a revelation that phishers were attempting to steal usernames and passwords using fake BitTorrent sites.

This goes the same for ’spammers”. No one can spam you on Twitter if you don’t follow them. Even so, if they send you a message, you block them. Problem solved. If someone keeps running through the neighborhood ringing doorbells, that doesn’t mean anyone has to let them in!

Thank goodness I don’t need to jailbreak my iPhone.

Apple released version 3.1.3 of the iPhone operating system (OS) on Tuesday, much to jailbreakers dismay. The update, which is available now via iTunes, fixes a number of known bugs, patches known security issues, and improves various iPhone features. However, despite the good news for the majority of regular iPhone owners, the upgrade has posed something of a problem for those who have taken the notorious jailbreaking route.

With progress comes setbacks, I suppose.

The Goole App Store is coming! I’d much prefer a new cigar app store though.

Google may open as early as March an online store to sell third-party software that complements its Google Apps collaboration and communication hosted suite, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Google would let customers purchase the software from its store and charge the third-party developers a commission, according to the Journal, whose article was based on anonymous sources.

A Google spokeswoman reached via e-mail declined to comment specifically on the Journal article, but she pointed out that Google already has a site called Solutions Marketplace where it features applications and professional services from third-party developers that complement Google Apps and other Google enterprise products.

Pardon me while I don’t get too terribly excited. I’ve heard the Nexus One is a nice “entry” model, but several people I know have ditched theirs because it’s too “entry”. If you know what I mean.