Gbuy, Gcheckout, Google Payments etc…. the news has been circulating for months – Google will compete with Paypal. Well, Google Checkout has finally launched and is being covered by most every outlet covering online news (including several of Google’s blogs are talking about this latest product launch from google. It seems to be US only at this point and there are a couple of interesting twists.
Tag: US
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World Cup coverage
For anybody that didn’t notice, the World Cup has gotten underway in Germany. (For those that haven’t heard – every 4 years there’s a world football championship (here in the US we call it soccer).) The US National team is scheduled to play the Czech Republic Monday (the US side is in a tough group this time around.) Anyway, currently Germany/Costa Rica are tied 1-1 and I just tried out Google’s World cup results search. Just searching for world cup at Google yields current match scores and gives info on what match is up next. I was impressed that the update was within about a minute of Costa Rica’s equalizer goal….
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A water magnet
This was too cool not to comment on…. Scientists at MIT have developed a kind of plastic which can attract/repel water (at the same time). Essentially, the article has photos of some of the tests. One where they treated a pattern area and water droplets have accumulated on it. In much of the developing world access to water is a big problem, access to clean, drinkable water is even bigger. It looks as though this plastic could be use to collect water vapor from “thin air”, but could also be used to decontaminate water.
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Federal requirement to disclose database security breaches?
Fines and prison time are among the penalties envisioned under a proposed house bill. The requirement would be that businesses with database holding information on more than 10,000 people (or federal employees) would have to inform either the Secret Service or the FBI of a data security breach. (The maximum sentence would be five years.) Now, on my first read of this, I thought, well sure – any company should disclose the possible loss, theft, or breach of a database holding customer data. I still think that… but I don’t know that the focus of penalty is on the right shoulders.
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More Google Referral links
New category for Google Adsense – I talk about it enough here…. anyway. I’ve noticed today that they’ve expanded the referrals program. When it started, the deal was $1 for Mozilla Firefox (with Google toolbar) referrals and then the Google Adsense referral for which you earned $100 (If I recall correctly), when the signup earned their first $100. Then they rolled out AdWORDS referrals which was $20 when the referral spends their first $100….. Well, now they’ve gone and added a few more options….
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Google Music
Beta news is reporting on Google Music. They say it will make it easier to find artists, album titles and lyrics. Not too long ago there was a report that the Recording industry was going to wage a war on lyric sites… Apparently Google will also provide links to music downloads if the music is available from paid download services.
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More information on Titan Rain (“Hack attacks”)
Earlier this year there was an article or two about a rumored “hack attack” that was ongoing against US Government (and contractor) computer systems. The stories claimed that the attacks seemed to be coming from China. Today I’m seeing a couple of articles on the topic. First up is an AFP story on the problem it sounds as though little attention has been paid to hardening systems. There is speculation that the Chinese military is involved in the breakins. One incident was very neatly and methodically done, planting a backdoor in 30 minutes.
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Self destructing messages
Good luck Jim… this message will self destruct in 40 seconds… A UK mobile (cell) company says it’s developed self-destructing text messages. In the spring they hope to introduce self destructing email/photo and voice messages. The recipient receives a link to the message and once viewed the message “self destructs” in 40 seconds. The good things they claim from this…
ultimately no one will ever have to worry about their messages or pictures ending up in the wrong hands ever again,
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Microsoft sued over software flaw
A South Korean man claims that Microsoft hid information about a flaw in Windows and has filed suit against the Operating System maker.
Jang Young-ha, 47, filed the lawsuit against Microsoft with the Suwon District Court on charges of deception, accusing the US software giant of selling the flawed program for use in handheld electronic devices.
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Sony releases XCP remover
Sony has had a busy day… they’ve released software to remove the XCP DRM program that was the start of all the recent SONY DRM rootkit controversy. Of course, the original DRM software had multiple problems in it’s concept AND implementation, the uninstallers and patches since have also had problems. Today I’ve seen reports that Sony’s uninstaller for the SunnComm MediaMax DRM software (the OTHER approach sony uses for copy protection) has some serious problems.