google

Renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand has entered into an arrangement with Google to display his work in the web portal's Google Earth. Close to 500 photographs are included in the free program, as well as on a gadget made for the search ... company's customizable home page iGoogle. Accompanying the pictures are facts and figures about issues and challenges across the globe. (Source: google.com) Google Earth's innovative and highly popular program uses a layer system which allows users to see separate categories of data, such as roads, terrain, hotels, restaurants, and building information ... (view more)

Have you been charged with libel for what you've posted on your blog? If you have, don't expect Google to protect your identity. On Wednesday, the search giant agreed to hand over the Internet Protocol (IP) address of a Blogger user accused of ... posting defamatory comments against three members of the Israeli Shaarei Tikva council currently bidding for re-election. (Source: techcrunch.com ) Shaarei Tikva, which means 'Gates of Hope' in Hebrew, is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank. The anonymous blogger accused the council members of receiving bribes, committing tax fraud, and ... (view more)

Google has removed more than 40,000 sites from its index after discovering they were fronts for malware (software that infects a visitor's computer). The sites used the fake codec technique. This is where a message appears on the user's screen ... saying they need to download an update to their system in order to view an image or video. For instance, it may claim they need a newer version of ActiveX, which can be used to show animations on web pages. Unfortunately, the link actually downloads a virus. It appears the people behind the scheme were deliberately flooding search engines with the sites ... (view more)

Representatives from Google recently revealed the company's 2008 initiative to research, fund, and supply energy resources to replace coal, a major culprit in global warming. "We have gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, ... energy-intensive facilities by building efficient data centers," said Google cofounder Larry Page. "We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper than from coal." (Source: Technewsworld.com ) The Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal (RE<C) ... (view more)

Personal DNA profiling now has an official place on the web, thanks to the Google-funded company 23andme . (Source: reuters.com ) Last week, 23andMe launched a web-based service which, for $1,000, will allow users to access and interpret their ... genetic information. The company name refers to the number of chromosomes in the human genome. (Source: nzherald.co.nz ) Users submit their DNA by mail in the form of saliva samples, and can view their results on a personal homepage within the 23andMe site. The results include information about the user's ancestry, inherited personal traits, potential ... (view more)

Google is introducing an innovative service to customers, this time targeting web mobile users. The 'My Location' feature in Google Maps Mobile 2.0 is currently undergoing beta testing and will attempt to provide mapping services via user cell ... phones. The concept of mapping technology in mobile devices is not particularly ground-breaking, as several smart-phones currently on the market have Global Positioning System (GPS) technology embedded into them. However, the advantage of this new service will be to provide access to mapping services to web mobile users whose devices do not have ... (view more)

Google has confirmed it's entering the mobile market, but not with the much-rumored Gphone. Rather than launching a branded handset, Google is developing an open source software platform for all mobile devices. They'll be providing their 'Android' ... software free of charge to handset manufacturers, which could pave the way for cheaper phones. As part of the launch, Google has formed the Open Handset Alliance, bringing together 34 partners. This includes handset producers Motorola, HTC, Samsung and LG, plus carriers such as T-Mobile and Sprint. (Source: BBC ) The software should be with ... (view more)

An Indian man has spent 50 days in prison after his Internet service wrongly accused him of posting images that insulted a historical figure. Police swooped on the home of Lakshmana Kailash K, a 26 year old technology worker, after offensive ... pictures appeared on Orkut, a social networking site run by Google. The images depicted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the 17th century founder of India's Maratha empire. Officials asked Google to hand over the IP address of the poster, then checked with ISP Airtel to find the person behind that address. Airtel incorrectly told them it belonged to Kailash. ... (view more)

Just weeks after Microsoft made a big score by buying up part of rising web titan Facebook, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has now stated that it will be clamping down on Internet advertising. It's a measure the group hopes will ... reduce the amount of user tracking associated with the practice. According to John Leibowitz, the FTC's commissioner, the initiative is meant to keep children safe while they're clicking around online. If Mom or Dad views a not-so-appropriate site, there's a chance that marketing tools custom-designed for the individual and his or her tastes will pop ... (view more)

As if social networking site Facebook wasn't already enough of a titan on the web, it's about to become even more powerful. Why? Because the Redmond gods have just injected it with $240 million bucks. That's right, Microsoft recently purchased a ... minority stake in Facebook, which accepted the bid over another from search engine giant Google. The deal with Microsoft will lead to an expansion of social networking services (as if Facebook didn't already have enough), and, sigh, more advertising. For those of you who have yet to dabble in Facebook -- and that number continues to dwindle every day ... (view more)