Google is giving Gmail users the option to encrypt messages sent using the webmail service.

Users can now select to have their messages sent over a secure socket layer connection (HTTPS) by default, in a bid to prevent messages being intercepted on open Wi-Fi connections or in a net café.

Previously, Gmail users had to manually enter the https://www.gmail.com address rather than the standard http://www.gmail.com address to turn the encryption on.

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Aviram wrote:

Ever wondered what name is behind some obscure gmail address? Maybe your preferred gmail address was taken and you’re wondering who took it?
Here’s a cute vulnerability in the gmail system that comes from the strong tie-ins between gmail, the google calendar and all the other services.

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SAN FRANCISCO, California — Fresh from a failed courtship with Microsoft, Yahoo on Thursday rushed into Google’s arms in the hope an alliance will improve its sagging fortunes and quell a rebellion by stockholders.

Yahoo and Google announced a deal to put the Internet search king’s expertise to work pumping money from advertising posted next to Yahoo Internet search results.

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A start-up company, Powerset, made a search engine that offers a smarter and more efficient experience, according to Scott Prevost, Powerset’s Product Director.

He quotes:

“We’re changing the way information is searched by doing a much deeper analysis of the pages we index.”

read the rest of the story here

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marketingtipsntools wrote an interesting article whether Google is a man or a woman, and he quote:

…is Google a man or a woman in it’s mannerisms, ideas, actions, etc. I believe Google is a woman, and here’s what I came up with:

He got some interesting and fun points that made him decide if Google is a man or a woman, read the rest of the article here

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A new Silicon Valley startup called International Data Security (IDS) has sent some big waves through the data storage industry by announcing (PDF) its intent to set up a fleet of data-serving cargo ships. These floating data centers will come equipped not only with standard storage services like SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network Attached Storage), but also with amenities such as private offices, overnight accommodations, and galley services.

To save money, IDS is purchasing decommissioned ships that were scheduled to go to the scrapyard, then refurbishing them in drydock. According to founder Ken Choi, the first ship—which will also house the new IDS headquarters—is scheduled to come online in April, and it will be parked at San Francisco’s Pier 50 along with its sister ships. Each ship has approximately 200,000 square feet of usable space. The company plans to deploy as many as 22 ships in North America and 50 ships worldwide.

read more | source: Ars Technica

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Google’s AdSense earnings are threatened by a trojan that replaces the search giant’s paid-for adverts with its own, in order to hijack advertising revenue.

Launched in 2005, Google AdSense allows third-party Web sites or publishers to generate revenue from Google’s text advertisers.

AdSense acts as a middleman between an advertiser and a publisher. By crawling the content of publishers’ Web pages, AdSense determines the relevance of a text ad to page content and then places the ad within the page if there is a match.

Trojan.Qhost.WU, discovered by security firm BitDefender, has been designed to replace ads served by Google on third-party Web sites that use Google’s AdSense network. The ads are replaced with alternative ads called from hosts outside the AdSense network.

read more | source: ZDNet Asia

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The group chat feature lets you chat with many friends at once. There’s no limit to the number of people you can chat with, and any participant can invite others to join. To get started, follow these steps:

1. Start a chat with a single person in your Contacts list.
2. Once you’ve started the chat, click Options at the bottom left of your chat window and select Group Chat.
3. In the field labeled ‘Add a person to this chat,’ enter the name of the contact(s) you want to add to your group chat.

To end your chat, click the X at the corner of the chat window. Others in the group chat will get a message saying that you’ve left the conversation. If you want to rejoin, you’ll need to be invited back by a contact who’s still in the group chat. The group chat will continue until all participants have left.

source: Gmail Help Center

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