Greg Conti -- a West Point instructor in computer science and information war -- has taken a long, hard look at the amount of information Internet users explicitly and implicitly disclose to Google and the results, collected in his book Googling Security: How Much Does Google Know About You? are sobering. Conti enumerates all of Google's (often fantastic) services, describes how compelling they are, and then notes what information you disclose when you use them -- even when you only use them inadvertently (say, when you send email to someone with a Gmail account, or when you load a...
Is it one of those days where you are, too? Let’s make your day brighter with a little linky goodness, shall we? Improvements in paid search from Google as AdWords is testing a new user interface Another Googly test: YouTube and HD Videos. Can we all cross our fingers for this one? Don’t go unplugging your home computer yet: a three year study concludes that casual Internet use is good for kids. Good news for me—I’ve been online since I was like twelve. Consumer Watchdog asks Eric Schmidt about user privacy, and as Valleywag puts it, “Google engineers have thought...
Last year around this time, I brought you a list of some airports in the US that offer free WiFi. Since many of us will be traveling this holiday season — with laptops and cell phones attached at our hips — it's helpful to know which airports won't be charging hefty rates for Internet use. Many new airports have been added to the WiFi FreeSpot directory, so I suggest heading on over the site to see if the airports you'll be visiting this year will give you net access for free. Source...
The ways young people use the internet everyday are transforming learning in ways that adults often fail to understand but represent major new opportunities that need to be taken advantage of by supportive educators. That's the conclusion of a major new study by 28 researchers over three years released today by the University of California at Berkley and the MacArthur Foundation. Titled "Living and Learning With New Media," the study articulates the value of social networking, text messaging and other forms of new media use better than anything we've seen yet. It's a major contribution to our understanding of the...
In 1998, Carnegie Mellon university’s research predicted that heavy internet use was going to make us “socially isolated, lonely, and depressed”. What they didn’t account for is that (most) human beings are inherently social and have an innate desire to connect with others, be it offline or online. If anything, internet has shrunk the world and the ’social’ (not to be confused with socialism) revolution has made us all more connected. Thanks to the genius that is marketing/branding, the social tools and underlying technologies like blogs, wikis, bookmarking sites, social networks, etc. have all collectively come to be known as web 2.0. Jargon aside, social media enables you...
Buttons are on their way out. Five years from now, it is likely the mobile phone that you will be holding will be a smooth, sleek brick--a piece of metal and plastic with a few grooves in it and little more. Like the iPhone, it will be mostly display; unlike the iPhone, it will respond to voice commands and gestures as well as touch. "So much of how we understand technology is visually driven," says Rachel Hinman, a strategist with Adaptive Path, a user experience and design consulting firm. "Mobile interface design has to mimic the touch, sight, gesture...
AT&T customers who obsessively play World of Warcraft while downloading dozens of movies: your days of online impunity may be numbered. AT&T has joined the ranks of telecom companies exploring the idea of limiting the amount of their data subscribers can use each month. The company began this month to apply such limits, testing the policy first in Reno, Nevada. Subscribers to AT&T's slowest Internet service there will be limited to downloading 20 gigabytes of data per month. Those who subscribe to the fastest plan will be able to download up to 150 gigabytes per month. Anyone who goes...
French pirates may want to think twice about downloading that episode Entourage off the Pirate Bay. A new law just passed the Sénat that would cut file-sharers off the Internet. Those caught illegally sharing material, be it music, movies, software, or whatever else, will be warned, both by e-mail and regular mail. After two such warnings your connection is shut off. Under the law, a new government body would be created to help patrol the France’s Internet use. The law now has to be approved by the lower house of Parliament, the Assemblée nationale, which is directly elected by...
