Two Google Work-Arounds
February 12, 2012
We’ve found a couple of useful tips for Google users. The first one I used immediately: MakeUseOf reveals “How to Turn Off Google’s Personal Search Results & Get Back to Enjoying Life.” Like writer Justin Pot and me, you may find Google’s new Personal Search to be more hindrance than help. The write up asks:
Have you ever looked through your Facebook feed and thought to yourself ‘It would be really awesome if all of this useless [stuff] came up when I was searching for something?’ Me neither! Google seems to think differently though, so last week they started flooding everyone’s search results with a bunch of nonsense. Happily they’re not complete idiots – they did provide a way to turn this [stuff] off.
The way is found under the gear in the top right of the Google screen. Click on that, then Search Settings, then, under “Personal results,” select “Do not use personal results.” Click “Save” at the bottom, and you’re back to your old Googling ways.
LifeHacker supplies the next tip, in “How to Sign Up for a Google Account Without Being Forced in to Google+ or Gmail.” Though the GOOG insists that “Your Google Account is more than just Search,” not everyone wants to be railroaded into Google+ or Gmail or to reveal personal information. Writer Melanie Pinola has two solutions. At the time of this writing, you can still use the sign-up old form found here. You can also sign up from other Google services like Calendar and Blogger to avoid the new form. For now, at least.
Google’s fix? Don’t log in to Google. We think this is a clever response and probably not going to prevent online wizards from figuring out quite a bit about a user.
Cynthia Murrell, February 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
TwitWipe Allows Room for Regret
January 25, 2012
The introduction of Facebook Timeline has made quite a few users uncomfortable. Users of such social media outlets, especially the public forum Twitter, may have second thoughts about postings and revealing their entire past.
A service created in 2009 by Aalaap Ghag is becoming popular with Twitter users. The service, TwitWipe, allows users to easily erase all of their previously posted Twitter messages. The article on Mashable, “TwitWipe Gives You a Fresh Start by Deleting All Your Tweets” tells us more:
Do you feel like everything you’ve done for the last few years is recorded by Twitter’s eternal digital record? A new service, TwitWipe, can get rid of all your carefully crafted (and less carefully crafted) 140-character messages Rather than creating a new account, TwitWipe allows you to keep all of your followers, favorited tweets and people you’re following.
However, if you’re interested, you better hurry. This may be disabled soon. Users should also be aware that all Tweets in the public Twitter timeline are recorded in the Library of Congress, anyway. Hurry. We have heard that there are moves afoot to prevent social content from deletion. Best bet? Don’t post on social media. How’s that sound, you 900 million social media users?
Andrea Hayden, January 25, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Mobile Users May Say No
January 13, 2012
In such a heavy mobile based technology world, businesses understand the need to be in tune with what customers are doing on these devices and readily jump on their ability to collect data from those who are willing to share. However, according to the Ontrack Data Recovery News article “Business Data Collection “May Face Backlash From Mobile Users,” users may no longer be so eager to share. “Businesses’ ability to collect data from those using mobile and pad devices may be short lived, as individuals become more cagey about what they are willing to share.” According to the article business data collection is going to gain even more popularity in 2012 but the importance of privacy and data security is also going to grow. Psychologist Graham Jones makes a bold prediction “Business which focus on tapping into geolocation and so on will probably only have a relatively short life, as human beings batten down the hatches and increase their privacy.” From phone tapping in Congress to sharing on Facebook, privacy is becoming an issue. Seems more and more people have adopted the philosophy “just keep it to yourself.”
April Holmes, January 13, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Big Data in 2012: Reliable Open-Source Software Required
January 11, 2012
Enthusiasm and optimism that Big Data as a concept is the next big thing. We are almost ready to board the Big Data bull dozer. The hoopla surrounding Big Data has not died down in 2012. Instead, the concept demonstrates the continuing environment of processing and analysis.
As businesses become aware that the Big Data trend is here to stay, publishers are looking for reliable support. The Apache Hadoop project develops open-source software for reliable, scalable, distributed computing. The company offers much in the way of dealing with unstructured data and is setting the pace for consolidation as well as personalization. I came across an interesting article, “State of the World IT: Big Data, An Offer That is Formed” (The original article is in French, but http://translate.google.com works well for this gosling). We learn:
As a recognition of the market in 2011, Hadoop has also attracted the top names in the IT industry who put this framework in the heart of their range of data processing volume. One reason: the cost mainly reminded us James Markarian, executive vice president and technical director of Informatica confirming that the framework ‘helped to change the economic model of the Big Data.’ Adding that flexibility… was as a criterion for adoption.
It is clear that the excess of data will only continue to grow by the minute. Generations of search, publishing, and consolidation will continue to emerge. I recommend staying informed of the products and the specific capabilities of each. However, Big Data which is filtered may pose some interesting problems; for example, will the outputs match the pre-filtered reality? Will predictive methods work when some data are no longer in the stream? So far the cheerleading is using chants from an older, pre-filtering era. Is this a good thing or a no-thing?
Andrea Hayden, January 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Language Found to Reveal Hierarchies
January 5, 2012
Isn’t it great when technology is used to pursue answers to the burning questions of our day? MIT’s Technology Review announces, “Computer Scientists Create Algorithm That Measures Human Pecking Order.” Cornell University’s John Kleinberg, known for his work on the HITS Web page ranking algorithm, and associates have discovered that language usage can reveal power differences between humans. The article states:
They say the style of language during a conversation reveals the pecking order of the people talking. ’We show that in group discussions, power differentials between participants are subtly revealed by how much one individual immediately echoes the linguistic style of the person they are responding to,’” say Kleinberg and co.
Particularly, the researchers look at functional words like articles and conjunctions. It seems that, while top dogs feel no compunction to copy the speech or writing of others, those lower on the totem pole do. Unconsciously, of course.
Though these findings may seem like a simple curiosity, the article points out potential real world ramifications. Companies might analyze email exchanges to determine the leaders among their employees. Also, if done in real time, the technique could influence key conversations like negotiations and interviews.
Perhaps we have another way to explore privacy and manipulate?
Cynthia Murrell, January 5, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Search Engines May Take Action Against Pirate Web Sites
January 3, 2012
From the Sooner or Later Department:
Google has been in the news a lot lately for being biased when it comes to search result ranking. According to a the recent Telegraph article “Google May Give Pirate Sites Lower Ranking,” that bias may be leading to positive results. A new code will force Search engines to automatically rank pirate websites lower than official ones and give priority to those that were certified under a recognized scheme.
The article states:
According to research by the Publisher’s Association, Google searches for the 50 best-selling books in one week in March returned an average of four illegal links in the top 10 listings. The previous year that figure was closer to two.
Under the code, Google as well as other search engines would stop allowing illegal sites to advertise and would step up their efforts in delisting pirate websites as soon as they are flagged by legitimate rights holders.
While the search engines have yet to respond to the proposal, we believe that if this is policy goes into effect, there may be some unforeseen consequences. Exciting to be the one to define “pirate”.
Jasmine Ashton, January 3, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Useful for 2012
December 31, 2011
This is not search related, but we noted the item and wanted to share it with our two or three readers.
Privacy is a luxury that few can afford in the Internet age that we live in. However, technology allows you to use this fact to your advantage. The days of anonymous prank calls are over, thanks to the new reverse phone service WhoIsThisPhone.com.
KillerStartups reported on this free and convenient reverse-phone search service in the article “WhoIsThisPhone.com Reverse-Phone Search.”
WhoIsThisPhone.com allows anyone to research its extensive phone database and find a phone number and exact geographical location from any caller who may be trying to hide his or her identity.
The description states:
People calling you up in the middle of the night and hanging up without speaking a word, people leaving strange messages into your machine, people who keep on calling and requesting to talk to someone that you have already explained doesn’t live there. WhoIsThisPhone.com is going to assist you in all such scenarios. You’ll get to know who’s behind such calls. And once you know as much, you’ll be able to begin doing what it takes to make them stop.
While the basic site is free, there are marginal charges that can be incremented by having reports generated.
Jasmine Ashton, December 31, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
New People Search: Just What You Wanted
December 10, 2011
Killer Startups reported on a new search engine designed specifically to find people in the post Zopeo.com Online People Search.
Zopeo seeks to be a global white pages and according to it’s website, has a mission to provide the most comprehensive people search on the web and to empower and enable people everywhere to search for their family and friends on the Web. The new system allows users to search by inputting the name of the person that you are looking for, along with the place where you think that they may live.
the article states:
The search will take just a couple of seconds, and if it’s indeed successful then you’ll be learning not just that person’s whereabouts and contact information but also a detailed 20 year history. So, catching up with any friends that had vanished from your life is a piece of cake.
In addition to getting the current address and phone number of long lost friends or family members, you can also use Zopeo to run background checks on potentially shady characters. The background checks are interesting, and if you have not probed an individual, you may want to dive in and check out the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker. Zopeo delivers known aliases / maiden names, relatives, current and past roommates, property ownership, nationwide criminal records, bankruptcies, tax liens, civil judgments, assets, Web site ownership, and more. Put on your tin foil hat and give Zopeo a go.
Jasmine Ashton, December 10, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
A Surprise: Google Employees on Privacy
November 8, 2011
That Google lacks privacy protection should be news to no one. However, that a couple of its employees admit it is surprising. In his Slight Paranoia blog, Christopher Soghoian reports, “Two honest Google employees: our products don’t protect your privacy.” He opens,
Two senior Google employees recently acknowledged that the company’s products do not protect user privacy. This is quite a departure from the norm at Google, where statements about privacy are usually thick with propaganda, mistruths and often outright deception.
The first employee cited is Will DeVries, a privacy lobbyist for the company. In response to an article Soghoian wrote about the need for journalists to learn more about computer security, DeVries commented with wholehearted agreement. He added that journalists should take time to learn about and use free security measures. Soghoian extrapolates: if Google security were tight, wouldn’t DeVries specifically name Google products here? Perhaps, but this may be a bit of a stretch.
The next comment is more straightforward. In a conference in Kenya, Soghoian spoke on the same panel as Vint Cerf, Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist (that’s his real title.) In that discussion, Cerf agreed with Soghoian’s observation that securely encrypting user data fundamentally conflicts with the company’s ad-based business model. That is quite the admission, and confirms that Google is unlikely to put user privacy first anytime soon. Information or disinformation? We will be asking this question frequently in the run up to 2012.
Cynthia Murrell November 8, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google, Search and Privacy
November 2, 2011
With all the excitement surrounding Google+, you may not even know about Google’s first social networking attempt, Buzz. Few noticed the failing service, particularly the privacy concerns being handled by the FTC.
We noticed.
The Federal Trade Commission announced it has finalized a settlement with Google. Complaints centered around Buzz, which created a social network out of people’s Gmail contacts. The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint, and the FTC took action. Google is now required to create a privacy program and submit to independent privacy audits for the next 20 years.
We learn more in the MediaPost News’ story, “FTC, Google Settle Buzz Privacy Case.” It tells us:
Google also promised that it will obtain people’s express consent before sharing their information more broadly than its privacy policy allowed at the time of collection… While Google has been the subject of several complaints by privacy advocates, this case marked the first time the FTC filed charges against the company. The FTC alleged that Google violated its own privacy policy and used deceptive tactics when it launched its social network Buzz.
Several Gmail users have filed lawsuits in addition to this action, a class-action suit settled with $8.5 million. Google announced earlier this month that it was going to end Buzz. Buzz is dead. We think that search may also be on its way out. Google is changing quickly, and like privacy, the notion of precision and recall is undergoing what I think of as revisionism.
Andrea Hayden, November 2, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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