The Google 13th Birthday Doodle is a Doodle from Google

Posted on Sep 27, 2011 by Rick to General

Happy Birthday Google, 13 years old and growing like a typical teenager!

After 13 years of service, Google celebrates with a homepage Google Doodle wishing herself a happy birthday. It seems like it was only yesterday that Google was a child playing in my backyard.  Now, Google is the dominant force which essentially drives business on the Web. Despite the bad press, it’s hard to deny this fact and it seems necessary to mention this on her 13th birthday! Here are some cool Google links:

• The History of Google
• An older but great Google Infographic
• Fun Google Facts

On this 13th bday of Google, we look back to many fond memories of Google. Like that one time when Google tried to start a social network. And then tried again later on. Or that one time that you could search for miserable failure and our president’s white house bio appeared.

What is your favorite Google memory?

Tags: google birthday

Baidu Making Gains

Posted on Sep 19, 2011 by Taylor to General, Technology Trends

“…hundreds and thousands of times, for her I searched in chaos, suddenly, I turned by chance, to where the lights were waning, and there she stood.” This search, depicted in an 800-year-old poem, is successful – and the inspiration for a relatively new China-based search engine, Baidu. “Baidu” means “hundreds of times.” It also means huge success for China in the search industry.

Baidu is trading at absurdly high prices, and Robin Li, CEO and China’s richest man, saw his substantial wealth (estimated at $3.5 billion in 2010) double when Google was forced out of China. His little search engine is doing well, too; first quarter net income rose to $164.6 million – an increase of 123 percent. First quarter revenues grew by over 88 percent to hit $372 million. Google, by comparison, saw first quarter revenues of $8.58 billion, but Baidu is no doubt up and coming.

Which stars aligned to give this search engine such incredible growth? Google is a big piece of the puzzle; after refusing to conform to Chinese governmental search restrictions, Google moved out of China, allowing the burgeoning search industry to bloom for Li’s company. There is virtually no competition.

Li says, “Search just became the most popular application for Chinese internet users, and there is still a lot of growth to expect for many years down the road.”

There are also rumors that Facebook may be moving into China and striking up a partnership with Baidu, although this is still very much in the speculative stage. Banned in China since 2009, Facebook would operate under China’s rules, which would almost certainly clamp down on political and social discussion (and criticism), which is the order of the day in the US and many other countries.

All of this has translated into more revenue, growth, and prestige in the fiercely competitive search industry for Baidu.

Tags: facebook

Blekko on the Rise

Posted on Sep 17, 2011 by Joey to General, Technology Trends

From its launch, Blekko has striven to be the outsider, the search engine that could deliver highly accurate, relevant results without the spam. This, of course, is a direct challenge to Google, which, while it is the world’s largest search engine with a 65 percent market share, is known to have a bit of a spam problem. This strategy, and some key news coverage, has worked well for the small startup engine, and they have seen a dramatic rise in visits over the first quarter of 2011.

Blekko rung in the new year with about 500,000 monthly unique visitors, which is not high by Google or Facebook standards, but it is more than respectable. A piece in the New York Times reports that by May, Blekko had increased that figure by another quarter million. Pieces like that published by the NYT help raise Blekko’s profile, as do high test alliances, like the one Blekko has with Facebook. The search engine incorporates Facebook Likes into its results. You can use Facebook Connect to create the slashtag “/likes” and your results will include sites that you and your connections have liked. If, for instance, you are looking for a hotel to book for a trip to New York, you can search the choices made by connections.

Through other initiatives, like the policy of trashing personal information after 48 hours and powering Flipboard RSS feed searchers, Blekko has stealthily moved its way into diverse corners of the search market.

Of course, Blekko’s biggest claim to fame is offering human-curated results, which help eliminate spam. The Spam Clock, for instance, is much like population counters or tickers that allow you to see the national deficit inching up dollar by dollar. It is “designed to give a representation of how quickly the Web is being littered with trash. Honestly, it’s a problem that deserves more attention than it is getting. Soon, surfing the Web will be a worse experience than email. And Spam is quickly becoming responsible for a kind of global sweatshop where people are paid little more than a nickel for creating web pages designed to do nothing but display advertising.”

The engine that “slashes the web” is also hoping to slash into Google’s piece of the market. And if the two should come to be rivals? Blekko CEO Rich Skrenta says, “That’s a problem you want to have.”

Tags: google, search engine

WordPress Security Warning

Posted on Sep 14, 2011 by Taylor to General, Web Development

Despite increased security in versions 3.1.4 and 3.2, there are still risks in running WordPress – as there are to running any CMS, particularly those that are open-source. WordPress recently warned users to watch out for three malicious plug-ins that were available from the WordPress site for more than 24 hours.

WordPress users often depend on plug-ins to extend the functionality of the platform, and, in fact, there are scores of great choices that allow you to do everything from optimize for mobile to analyze search behaviors. It is impossible to harness the potential of WordPress without trying plug-ins, but caution is essential. WordPress recently required all of its users to change their passwords after three popular plug-ins, AddThis, WPtouch, and W3 Total Cache, were discovered to contain “cleverly disguised backdoors.” Hackers could then access accounts, according to WordPress developer Matt Mullenweg.

“We determined the [suspicious] com,mitts were not from the authors, rolled them back, pushed updates to the plug-ins, and shut down access to the plug-in repository while we looked for anything else unsavory,” Mullenweg told users in a blog post. Each of the three affected plug-ins was very popular: AddThis and W3 Total Cache were downloaded about 500,000 times each, and WPtouch, which was free, was downloaded more than 2 million times.

There is no evidence that hackers were able to compromise the WordPress site, but Mullenweg and staff were taking all possible precautions. According to HP DVLabs, 80 percent of all WordPress-related vulnerabilities are due to plug-ins. One of the culprits is weak or reused passwords. Mullenweg says, “make sure to never use the same password for two different services.”

Paul Ducklin, head of technology for Sophos-Asia Pacific, says, “If you’re a WordPress user, you’ll know that the WordPress platform includes a complete and powerful administration interface, password-protected, via a URL such as ‘site.example/wp-admin.’ A WordPress backdoor might offer something with similar functionality, but using a different, unexpected, URL, and using a password known to the hacker, instead of to you.” Use caution and always scrutinize plug-ins for suspicious behavior.

Tags: wordpress, Wordpress Hacks

SEP Risk

Posted on Sep 9, 2011 by Joey to General

Search engine poisoning, SEP, is not new – but it is a growing concern for businesses and individual users. Security firm Blue Coat Systems released their 2011 web security report and indicated that SEP is the single biggest online threat. What accounts for the rise in SEP? And how can organizations and individuals protect themselves?

According to Blue Coat, much of the prevalence of SEP is due to patience. Cybercriminals are often very willing to bide their time and build a façade of legitimacy that allows them to operate with virtual impunity. The report mentions “maladvertising” specifically. “Taking time to develop clean reputations within ad networks, and passing multiple sweeps for malware, cybercrime develops valuable and trusted positions within web advertising structures before launching attacks leads to a very successful campaign.” The developers wait for the optimal time to attack and are able to do so quickly and stealthily.

Standard security systems provide little help because they do not rely on real-time data to make decisions as to the legitimacy of particular sites or ads. In fact, the report says, “If your security system has any kind of regular ‘Click here to update definitions file’ requirement, it will likely fail to protect your users.”

Search engines are the most popular mode of delivery for malware attacks; it is no coincidence that search engines were also the most requested or most used online content. How can people protect themselves? You still want to block those traditional “questionable” sites, like those containing pornography, and gaming, warez or pirated content, and watch out for those with file sharing and free videos. Blue Coat adds that searching for images and pirated media puts searchers are particular risk.

A single antivirus program or security firewall isn’t enough to protect your system from malware attacks. Multifaceted real-time protection is a must. A healthy dose of suspicion and common sense goes a long way as well.

Tags: search engine, SEP

Could Bing Overtake Google in World Search Market?

Posted on Sep 3, 2011 by Taylor to General, Technology Trends

Over a year ago, Google left China because of its refusal to censor search results any longer. It found the Chinese government too restrictive and was not willing to filter results. It was willing, however, to leave the country with the most internet users in the world, a step that, thus far, hasn’t affected Google’s supremacy. This may change as Microsoft and Baidu, China’s largest search engine, plan a partnership to provide China with English search functionality. Could this make Bing the world’s largest search engine?

China has over 420 million internet users – making it the largest market in the world. The US, its next biggest competitor, has about 230 million by comparison. There is a growing need for English search capability, which Baidu admitted it needed help to facilitate. In the US market, Bing has been making incredible strides, and has increased its market share 75 percent in the last year. While it has 14.1 percent of the market, compared to Google’s 65.5 percent (as of May 2011), Bing is generating a tremendous amount of interest. Recent partnerships with Facebook and the launch of Bing for iPad, have helped the young search engine gain traction.

Rob Enderle, principal of the Enderle Group, says that it is possible “that over the next few years Microsoft could, on a worldwide basis, eclipse Google in terms of reach. That would certainly hurt Google.” The key is whether or not Microsoft will be able to monetize English-language searches.

Microsoft still has to contend with China’s rigid censoring of results. Besides Google, Yahoo is well aware of the difficulties presented here. The second-place search engine was made to turn over the identity of a user who had posted material relating to the Tiananmen Square massacre anonymously online. This led to the arrest of the user, Wang Xiaoning, and his resulting torture and 10-year jail term. Bing has a tremendous opportunity – and untold challenges – ahead.

Tags: Bing, google, search engine

FTC Probes Google

Posted on Sep 3, 2011 by Taylor to General

Google is no stranger to legal trouble. They have faced it on both domestic and international fronts, but recently, their legal woes kicked into higher gear. The Federal Trade Commission has been interested in Google, or rather its supposed anti-monopoly infractions, for years. The FTC served Google with formal notice in April that they will be reviewing the search engine’s business practices. What does this mean for Google?

According to Google, it doesn’t mean much. Google issued a response to the FTC investigation saying that, while they will cooperate fully, “It’s still unclear exactly what the FTC’s concerns are.” Executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, said that the company has already met with the FTC but he didn’t foresee it having any impact on operations. “We’ve had some meetings internally, (but) we haven’t changed anything.”

At the same time, Google is downplaying the drama publically and proceeding with a big launch of Google+, its new social experiment, and it is increasingly clear that the search giant is not taking the situation lightly. According to various sources, Google has hired no fewer than 12 lobbying firms to represent its interests in Washington.Despite what Schmidt says, the FTC probe and early-stage investigations in New York and Texas do have an impact on Google. Google’s shares have declined by 12 percent so far this year, and Morgan Stanley recently downgraded its rating from “buy” to “neutral.” The market responded immediately. While this is not strictly because of the FTC (Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt cites Google’s increased spending on social as a main factor), it is certainly not helpful to have a government watchdog on your back.

Tags: FTC, google

Blekko’s Zorro Update

Posted on Sep 1, 2011 by Taylor to General, Technology Trends

Blekko is the anti-Google. The small “alternative” search engine made its mark by being the engine that “slashes the web” to produce more targeted, relevant search results. It bills itself as being low-spam, low-malware, and low-content farm. Its recent “Zorro Update” doesn’t focus on “slashing out spam,” like the Panda Update from Google; instead it tackles aesthetic issues and auto-including up to 1000 slashtags. What will the changes on Blekko look like for users?

One change that users are likely to notice immediately is the link color. Once red, Blekko has switched over to blue – a choice that makes its links look very much like those from Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Blekko has also worked on de-cluttering its display. The bar on the left is gone, and the information that would have been contained there is instead placed in a “less obtrusive” location, which is underneath the search box. Here, you can refine your searches and search by /date, /images, or /videos.

On the right side of the screen, users will see one element per page to reduce clutter. The elements are:

• “People who make this search better.” This links you to contributors or editors of the slashtags you’re using.
• Discuss on Facebook.
• Browse or create slashtags.
• Slashtag of the day.
• “Facebook connect with Blekko” option.
• Link to the Blekkogear page.

Zorro also changed some backend features. Until now, only a handful of slashtags have been auto-included in searches. Blekko expanded this to about 1000. What does this mean for users? That more of the results will be hand-picked and “known to have high quality content.” It also produces more relevant results.

According to TechCrunch, “Search for ‘pregnancy tips’ and you’ll see to slash tags, for /pregnancy and /health, and quite good results compared to Google. But on Blekko you’re not done. Click on one of those slash tags to drill down into results relevant to that tag. Answer relevance goes even higher. On Google, you’d have to visit the next page of results, or rephrase your query. Both are time-consuming.”

Blekko wants to distinguish itself from Google; it seems like Zorro has helped them do this even more effectively.

Tags: Blekko, google, search engine, Zorro

Changing the color, shape and size of flattened elements in Photoshop.

Posted on Aug 31, 2011 by Dzmond to General

Video tutorial on changing the color, shape and size of flattened graphic elements in Photoshop.

Climate Change: It’s Your Fault!

Posted on Aug 27, 2011 by Taylor to General, Technology Trends

Maybe you’ve switched to a hybrid and ditched your gas-guzzling Suburban. Maybe you’ve planted your own garden and started to ride your bike to work. Maybe you’ve searched online for ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Climate change is, and has been, a major news issue, and everything from your car to your icemaker to a field of cows has been blamed. But maybe you’re contributing to global warming right now if you arrived here via Google, Yahoo, or Bing. The Vancouver Sun reported that each search engine submission emits a whopping 1 to 10 grams of carbon dioxide, courtesy of your electricity usage.

What does that actually mean? To put it into context, each liter of gas or diesel that is burned emits about 3 kilograms of CO2, or 3000 grams. But according to the Sun, if you add up the hundreds of millions of search queries submitted every day, “you’re making a serious dent in some Greenland glaciers.”

The Sun doesn’t mince words. Whenever you do a Google search, you have “just helped kill the planet.” Hopefully, the Vancouver Sun did not conduct any background research via Google for this article.

Most people would assume that the internet offered a greener way to conduct business. We can dramatically cut down on paper, reduce fuel consumption by having teleconferences or using Skype, and more people can telecommute. But this has led to increased use, which has turned the internet into one of the “fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions” and consumes 2 to 3 percent of the electricity in the world. And, one more for you: if the internet were a country, it would be the world’s 5th biggest power consumer.

Mohamed Cheriet, green IT expert and professor at Ecole de Technologie Superieure in Montreal says, “The internet pollutes, but people don’t understand why it pollutes. It’s very, very power hungry, and we have to reduce its carbon footprint.” While the internet seems to run on ethereal cloud-power, it actually consumes the same coal and fossil fuels that are the major contributors to climate change.

Green IT experts suggest that governments impose carbon taxes, emissions caps, and other initiatives to drive data centers and servers to green up. The GreenStar network, based in Montreal, is an “alternative” internet powered by wind, solar, hydroelectric, and other cleaner renewable energies (which, it should be pointed out, need fossil fuels in the manufacturing and transportation processes).

In turn, climate change may also affect internet access. According to the UK’s Guardian, climate change may reduce range and reliability of signals. Warmer temperatures and more intense storms can cause problems with the infrastructure, and changes in the plants could even influence how radio waves travel.

Who wants to calculate the carbon footprint of this post?