Google and Skype could be hit by India data curbs

India's clampdown on telecom firms is likely to affect Google and Skype.

 

India has toughened its scrutiny of telecoms firms with a directive demanding "access to everything".

An Indian Home Ministry official told the BBC that "any company with a telecoms network should be accessible".

"It could be Google or Skype, but anyone operating in India will have to provide data," he said.

BBC News : 30 Aug 2010

Facebook Sues Teacher Resource for Using the Word "Book".

Does Facebook Have a Case?

Original Article: Facebook is suing a company called Teachbook, which operates a social networking site for teachers, apparently because it has "book" in its name and "competes" with Facebook. Teachbook is described as "a professional community for teachers". Sounds like a threat to Facebook's existence doesn't it? 

Read more :

Google offers free voice calls via Gmail .

By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley 

Google's Craig Walker said the product promotes "cheap easy communication"

 

Google is taking on internet telephone companies like Skype by allowing users to call from its free web-based email service.

For the moment only users in the US will be able to make calls from inside their Gmail account.

Facebook COO - Sheryl Sandberg

at Nielsen Consumer 360.

June 15, 2010  |  The world now knows a little more about Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's Chief Operating Officer. She runs in Nike shoes, wears Covergirl mascara and her kids eat Cheerios.

Sandberg delivered a personal glimpse into her own association with brands and communities as she delivered a keynote address to Nielsen's Consumer 360 conference today. Video below:

Australia warns Facebook users

AlJazeeraEnglish — June 05, 2010 — Australian police are urging teenagers to take their personal details off social networking websites, after an 18-year-old woman was murdered.

Police believe teenager Nona Belomesoff befriended her killer through the Facebook website.

Belomesoff's body was found on May 14, two days after she embarked on an excursion with a man she met on the website, who told her that they were going to rescue hurt animals.

Christopher James Dannevig, the 20-year-old man charged with the murder, is alleged to have established a fake Facebook profile and claimed on it to work for an animal welfare organisation.

He is believed to have offered Belomesoff a job and to have encouraged her to take the camping trip with him.

Belomesoff's body was later found at a creek south of Sydney.

Web revolution sweeps Whitehall

By Brian Wheeler
Political reporter, BBC News

Work is under way to update departmental websites

Never mind the events in Downing Street. There is a revolution going on in cyberspace too.

Government web activity was frozen during the general election campaign but now that the new coalition Lib Dem/Conservative government is taking shape it has exploded into frenetic life. 

Mouse-wielding civil servants across Whitehall are engaged in a frantic rush to archive old pages full of defunct policies and pen portraits of now departed Labour ministers and to replace them with shiny new web pages that reflect the priorities and personalities of their new political masters. 

Facebook downplays privacy crisis meeting

By Maggie Shiels | Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

Facebook was started as a way for students to share information

Facebook has downplayed the significance of a company-wide meeting to discuss privacy issues.

The blogosphere described the meeting as a panic measure following weeks of criticism over the way it handles members' data. 

Several US senators have made public calls for Facebook to rethink its privacy safeguards. 

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, launched a petition directed at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. 

10 ways to get the most out of your IT training

TechRepublic - April 26th, 2010 | Author: Don Whitnah

In an unstable economy, information technology professionals — whether employed or searching for work, new to the field, or nearing retirement — should always be looking for ways to keep their skills current. Many companies still require IT certification training or some form of continuing education for that very purpose. Some include this necessary training as an employee benefit, but unfortunately, many others have cut these training programs completely over the last few years to trim costs. Fortunately, according to a survey of 100 business leaders by The New Learner (released in March), training and development in the workplace should increase by 50 percent during 2010, “with the main learning medium straying away from industry-wide conferences and being replaced by alternative online solutions.”

What is Digsby?

GoDigsby — September 20, 2009 — Digsby helps you save time by letting you manage all your IM, email, and social network accounts from one easy-to-use free application. http://www.digsby.com/

Instant Messaging

digsby is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list.

Twitter festival focuses on education.

Twitter fans are being urged to meet and give money to good causes as the social network hosts its second annual festival.

Google takes aim at Microsoft with acquisition

SAN FRANCISCO (Yahoo) – Google Inc stepped up its assault on Microsoft Corp's productivity software business with the acquisition of a small start-up company that allows Microsoft users to edit and share their documents on the Web.

Google said on its company blog on Friday that it has acquired San Francisco-based DocVerse. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Google TV search - Coming to a screen near you

By Faisal Alani |  computerweekly  |  March 9, 2010

Google is slowly taking over your life, so much so that now I refer to everything as 'Google'. I Google in the morning, get a quick Google done before lunch and always make sure I have at least one Google before bed. Sounds terrible, I know.

But now the search giant wants to cross over from your computer and phone to your TV with a programming search service it's been testing.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has been testing its "television programming search service" for the past twelve months.

The idea is that viewers will be able to search by typing on a keyboard, instead of using a remote control. Google hopes to link the service up with its nascent TV ad-brokering business, allowing it to target ads to individual households based on viewing and TV search data.

Google Search Tricks and Tips

For Tips and Tricks

This video shows various quick tricks on how to utilize Google to the fullest. There are many search features that can enhance your experience online.

Use Google as your:

- Online Dictionary with define:word

- calculator for formulas and conversions

- World Time

- Local Movie Showtimes

About Google

Google primarily provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of tools and platforms including its more popular products: Gmail, Maps and YouTube. Most of its Web-based products are free because Google makes its money from highly integrated online advertising through its AdWords and AdSense platforms. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing them with a rich source of information. 

Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft.

And It's Made of Chrome. | by MG Siegler on Jul 7, 2009

Wow. So you know all those whispers about a Google desktop operating system that never seem to go away? You thought they might with the launch of Android, Google’s mobile OS. But they persisted. And for good reason, because it’s real.

In the second half of 2010, Google plans to launch the Google Chrome OS, an operating system designed from the ground up to run the Chrome web browser on netbooks. “It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be,” Google writes tonight on its blog.

The Future Will Be Captioned: Improving Accessibility on YouTube

Thursday, March 4, 2010 | Tens of millions of people in the U.S. experience some kind of hearing impairment and recent studies have predicted that over 700 million people worldwide will suffer from hearing impairment by 2015. To address a clear need, the broadcast industry began running captions on regular video programming in the early 1970s. Today, closed captions on video are more prevalent than ever. But generating captions today can be a time-consuming and complicated process.

Facebook - its history

Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 400 million users.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskowitz and Chris Hughes to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks.