Google Nexus One gets proper multitouch

Google Nexus One gets proper multitouch

By Tim Conneally

A new software update for the Nexus One Android phone will finally offer the famous "pinch to zoom" functionality found in other "superphones" such as the Apple iPhone, Palm Pre, and HTC HD2. This news came from Google earlier today.

The famous multitouch gesture has been present on Android phones outside of the US (including the Nexus One) but due to unspecified reasons, the American version of Android has not fully supported it.

Google's Andy Rubin, head of the Android project, was asked about the subject in a panel discussion for The Wall Street Journal at CES 2010:

"It's not an America versus outside America kind of thing," Rubin said. "It's a decision that is a result of the OEM model. I personally don't like two-handed operations...there is no conspiracy."

With this over-the-air update, what is described as "a new pinch-to-zoom mechanism" has been added to the Browser, Gallery, and Maps applications. To access the update, users will receive a message that will appear in the phone's notification bar. Like a standard Android notification, when the user clicks on that message, he'll be prompted to start the download. Google says the most users won't receive the update until the end of the week.

If this hotly-demanded feature doesn't come to other Android phones, Google's going to have some explainin' to do.

Source: betanews.com

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Yahoo and AP Make a New Licensing Deal

Yahoo and AP Make a New Licensing Deal

The Associated Press and Yahoo have come to a new content licensing deal.

The Associated Press has signed a licensing deal with Yahoo Inc. that gives the news cooperative a steady stream of revenue at a time less money is flowing in from newspapers and broadcasters. The announcement by both companies Monday didn’t disclose the financial terms of the agreement, which allows Yahoo to continue posting AP content on its site. The AP says it is still negotiating to renew its online licensing agreements with two other companies with far deeper pockets, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Google stopped posting fresh AP content on its Web site in late December.

Stung by the AP’s first downturn in revenue in years, AP’s management has said the cooperative needs to make more money from the online rights to its stories, photographs and video as more people flock to the Web for information and entertainment. It’s unclear whether the AP achieved its financial objectives in the Yahoo deal.

Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., described the AP as an important part of its efforts to keep its nearly 600 million worldwide users informed. “We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with AP for many years to come,” the company said in a statement.

The duration of the new contract wasn’t disclosed. Yahoo has been posting AP content on its site since 1998. Its Web site also relies on other services, including AP rival Reuters, as well as reporters that it employs. The formula has worked well for Yahoo, even as it has struggled in other key areas, such as Internet search and social networking. Yahoo pulls in the biggest U.S. Internet audiences in news, sports and finance, according to the research firm comScore Inc.

The not-for-profit AP finds itself at a critical juncture in its 164-year history because the Internet’s popularity is draining advertising revenue from U.S. print publication and broadcasters, which have been the AP’s traditional funding sources and still account for about 40 percent of the cooperative’s revenue combined.

The ad slump’s ripple effects have prompted the AP to reduce its fees from those outlets and cut its payroll costs by about 10 percent. The concessions to newspapers and broadcasters cost the AP $30 million in revenue last year and a projected $45 million this year. The AP’s 2009 financial statement, which hasn’t been released yet, is expected to show a revenue decline of about 6 percent to roughly $700 million.

Besides pumping Internet companies for more money, the AP also wants more cooperation in its effort to ensure its material isn’t appearing on unauthorized sites. As part of its crackdown, the AP is testing a system that tracks where its stories are being read. Yahoo pledged to enforce “the strictest standards” to protect the AP’s content. Leading up to Yahoo agreement, AP CEO Tom Curley said the cooperative was considering whether to separate its online content into different tiers so exclusive stories might cost more than breaking news reports widely available elsewhere on the Web.

The Yahoo deal doesn’t include such a tiering provision, according to a person familiar with the agreement, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a nondisclosure clause in the new contract. In a statement, New York-based AP said Yahoo “has always recognized the value and importance of original, authoritative news. We are pleased Yahoo and AP will continue that valued relationship.”

Yahoo also has formed a business bond with the U.S. newspapers that own the AP. More than 800 U.S. newspapers have joined forces with Yahoo to sell more advertising on their Web sites.

By contrast, many publishers believe Google has profited unfairly from their newspapers by drawing upon snippets of their stories to attract more traffic to its dominant search engine so it can sell more of the ads that generate most of its income. And the AP bickered with the Google over how its stories were summarized for several years before finally striking a licensing agreement in 2006.

Google says it helps drive more traffic to newspaper sites and honors any request from a publisher that doesn’t want to be included in its search engine. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., has said it believes U.S. law allowed it to excerpt AP stories even before it obtained licensing rights.

Source: digitaltrends.com

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Google to Launch App Store for Google Apps [REPORT]

Google to Launch App Store for Google Apps [REPORT]

App stores are all the rage these days, it seems. Now The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google’s about to launch a new one for businesses, focused around creating software for Google Apps.

According to the report, Google’s plan is to sell software built by third party developers to enhance Google’s suite of apps (e.g. Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Sites, GTalk). These outside apps could be for adding more security, enhancing word-processing features, or porting information into Google Apps.

A Google Apps store would work in the same fashion Android or the iPhone App Stores operate: developers set a price and Google and the 3rd party share in the revenue. It’s a model that has proven very successful. If it took off, it could create a whole new marketplace and a new revenue stream for the world’s largest search engine. It could even pave the way for app stores within Google’s consumer products.

The announcement is slated to come in March or so, although now that news has broken, it’s likely an official blog post from Google will come sooner. However, The Next Web points out that Google already has an “app store,” known as Google Solutions Marketplace. However, what the WSJ reported on seems to be far more robust and better integrated with Google Apps itself than Solutions Marketplace.

Do you think a Google Apps Store is a good idea? Would you pay for certain features? Which ones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: mashable.com

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Google Chrome Steals Users from Firefox, IE

Google Chrome Steals Users from Firefox, IE

Google's Chrome gained browser market share in January at the expense of both Microsoft's Internet Explorer and IE's biggest rival, Mozilla's Firefox, according to data published today.

Chrome, which only recently grabbed the No. 3 spot from Apple's Safari, ended January with a share of 5.2%, up 0.6 of a percentage point, said Web metrics company NetApplications.com. The increase, although slightly less than Chrome's jump during December, was the browser's second-largest since Google debuted the program in September 2008. Chrome has doubled its share since July 2009.

IE, meanwhile, lost half a percentage point to end January with a share of 62.2%, another record low in a long decline that cost Microsoft 's browser 10% of its share in the past year alone. If IE maintains the pace of the last three months, the browser will slip below the 50% mark in April 2011.

Firefox's share also dropped in January, the second monthly decline in a row. This was only the second time in more than two years that Firefox had lost ground in two consecutive months. Firefox ended January down 0.2 of a percentage point, to 24.4%. According to NetApplications, Firefox has yet to hit the magic 25% mark, having come closest in November 2009 before growth stalled.

Although Firefox 3.6 , which Mozilla released Jan. 21, grew by 0.7 of a percentage point and ended the month with a 1.1% share, the new version's launch couldn't stem the losses for the open-source browser overall.

Safari's share was up slightly, to 4.5%, while Opera Software's desktop browser was down slightly to 2.4%.

Microsoft's IE6 -- which Google recently announced it would stop supporting in some of its services -- again lost share last month, dropping 0.9 of a point to 20.1%. The newer IE7 also again fell, losing 1 percentage point and finishing January with a 14.6% share. Both declines were somewhat under the torrid pace of the last three months, when each edition lost more than a point per month.

IE8, the browser Microsoft issued in March 2009, captured some but not all of its siblings' losses: IE8 ended January with a share of 22.3%, up 1.5 points.

When NetApplications accounted for IE8's "compatibility view" -- a feature that lets users display sites as rendered by the older, and often Web standard-incompatible IE6 and IE7 -- Microsoft's newest browser owned a 25.1% share, making it the most popular single edition of any browser by a five-point margin.

The persistent decline of IE has long been a bane to Microsoft and a boon to rivals. But in the last two months, Firefox -- normally the browser to reap the most from IE's fall -- has been shoved aside by the newcomer Chrome. Over the last three months, Chrome has outgained Firefox by 5:1, posting an increase of 1.62 points to Firefox's 0.32 point. Even over a longer run, Chrome has boosted its share more than Mozilla's: Over the last 12 months, Chrome has gained 3.68 points, Firefox 2.3 points.

Chrome has already met the first goal that Google set last year when the browser's engineering director said Chrome would own 5% of the market by September 2010, and 10% by September 2011. If Chrome can keep up the pace it's made during the last three months, it will break the 10% mark in November, 10 months ahead of schedule.

NetApplications.com measures browser usage share by collecting systems data from the computers that visit the 40,000 sites it monitors for clients.

January's browser data is available on NetApplications' site.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld . Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer , send e-mail to gkeizer@ix.netcom.com or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed.

Source: pcworld.com

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How to make the iPad a better music device

How to make the iPad a better music device

I was at Apple's iPad launch on Wednesday, and maybe it was just Steve Jobs' reality distortion field, but I don't quite understand why the haters are piling on. A lot of PC-centric commentators are dismissing the iPad as an overpriced gadget, wondering why it's lacking features that are standard on even the cheapest notebook computers, like Flash support, multitasking, USB inputs to connect peripherals, and video outputs (HDMI would be nice). These are legitimate complaints--for a notebook replacement. But the iPad isn't a notebook replacement, and I don't think users will carry it with them on business trips. (Apple's iWork demo confused matters, admittedly.)

Instead, I agree with CNET's Ina Fried and Business Insider's Henry Blodget: this is a consumer electronics device for puttering around the house and leisure time--reading books and Web sites on the couch, showing pictures off to friends, catching up on the latest Web videos. And, yes, listening to music.

It's also a golden opportunity for Apple to fix some of the glaring shortcomings in its portable music experience. Here are five things I'd like to see the iPad incorporate, perhaps through the next update to the iPhone OS (which it uses).

Wireless sync. The iPad is not a Mac. That means it doesn't run the full iTunes client, so you can't share music from another computer over your home network. Instead, like an iPod or iPhone, you must physically connect it to the computer on which your music is stored, then wait for the music to travel over the wire. This is, frankly, absurd. If you want me to use the iPad to listen to music in my home, don't make me walk over to my computer and attach it every time I want to load some new tunes. Wireless sync would also be great for syncing other material like pictures, videos, and apps. How hard can it be? Microsoft's Zune player has had wireless sync for three iterations and more than two years.

Cloud-based music service. Even if the iPad had wireless sync, the most affordable model has only 16GB of storage. This isn't enough for most music lovers' digital collections, especially if they're going to use the iPad for other functions like electronic books and photos. So how about taking that Lala acquisition and using it? Instead of having to load music onto the iPad itself, I could sync it from my computer to Lala's online music locker service, then stream it over the Web directly to my device. Bye-bye, storage limits. Best of all, every time I update my music collection, it's updated everywhere simultaneously. This is such a no-brainer I'd be stunned if Apple doesn't make it available shortly after the iPad launches.

Music-sharing with third-party apps. There are some surprisingly sophisticated DJ apps for iPhone, like TouchDJ and DJ Mixer, that let you play two songs at the same time and mix them together like a mulitrack DJ set-up. These apps would be much easier to use on the iPad's 9.7-inch screen. But they all share one big shortcoming: they can't just play songs that you've already loaded onto your device. Instead, you have to re-load songs into the DJ apps, either from a sync application running on your computer or over a Web server. This isn't the fault of the app designers--it's a limitation that Apple places on the iPhone and iPod Touch. I hope Apple figures out a way around it soon.

Queuing. I like to play DJ. As one song plays, it sparks associations with other songs. It would be nice to be able to load these other songs into a "now playing" queue. The Zune's had this feature since its inception, but I can't do it on the iPod Touch or the iPhone--instead, I have to wait for the current song to end, then start up a new song. (And no, I don't want to do this with playlists on the computer and then sync those playlists to the device. That misses the entire point of spontaneity.)

Decent speakers (and amp). Naturally, the first thing I did with the iPad was check out its music playback. I could barely hear it, even with the volume maxed out. It's true that the room was crowded with gadget fans scrambling for their first look at the device, but even so, the speakers sounded no louder than the iPhone's. But this isn't a phone. It's also not a Mac, where music isn't the primary focus for most users. It's a consumer electronics device. It would be great if I could set it up in my living room or bedroom without having to attach it to another device. Peripheral makers might complain--iHome does great work creating audio accessories for the iPhone--but if this is truly going to be a new product category, Apple should treat it like one. Alas, I'm going to have to wait for v.2 for this feature.

Matt Rosoff is an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, where he covers Microsoft's consumer products and corporate news. He's written about the technology industry since 1995, and reviewed the first Rio MP3 player for CNET.com in 1998. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattrosoff.

Source: news.cnet.com

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Colbert starts iPad campaign at the Grammys

Colbert starts iPad campaign at the Grammys

In case you were wondering how Apple intended to advertise the iPad, the answer might just be "very well."

At Sunday's Grammys, Stephen Colbert approached the deeply onerous task of reading out the nominees for Song of the Year with singular glee. Because just as he looked lost, trying to remember where the list of nominees was, he whipped out an iPad from inside his jacket pocket.

It was real. It was on. When he turned it, the screen went from vertical to landscape. And you see how portable it is, people? You can slip one inside your dinner jacket. Even a rented dinner jacket.

Jay-Z joined in the amusement as Colbert wondered whether the rapper and mogul hadn't received an iPad in his gift bag, too. Colbert then asked his daughter, who was also in the audience, whether he finally looked cool. She demurred, with a pleasantly understated performance.

In case any of you might have wondered whether this was a complete coincidence and not a blatant and winning piece of what was once called product placement, might I suggest you cut down a little on some of your evening habits.

The iPad campaign has only just begun

Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.

Source: news.cnet.com

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7 reasons why Apple’s I-Pad may fail

7 reasons why Apple’s I-Pad may fail

Amidst a lot of hype as always, today 27th January, 2010, Apple launches the I-Pad. While it is being viewed as the product that will rejuvenate Apple’s revenues for years to come, a question many staunch Apple fans (and those who are not fans of course) will ask, is it really worth the hype? Apple has always created a market even when there is none. Will it be successful yet again this time?

Image Source: http://tnmg4u.com/i-pad-launch/

1. While it looks sleek and captures the mind of all tech-enthusiasts, every one will admit that this product can not be the replacement of a smartphone or a palmtop due to its size.
2. It has the potential to be a great e-book reader and internet browser, but will users like a gadget only suited for that purpose, given that tablets of that size pack the same features (except the wireless carrier connectivity) and lots of processing power and data storage capacity. Also, colored screen may not increase the overall ebook reading experience on the i-Pad, given its shorter battery support, as compared to the other e-book readers
3. Is it worth the time for serious gamers, given its processing and memory configuration?
4. It does not sport a 16:9 aspect ratio, the standard for wide-screen entertainment, and by not doing so makes the iPad much less interesting for watching movies. This may affect sales.
5. I-phone’s huge list of applications will also run on the I-Pad. But will the usage of I-Pad revolutionize the development of applications as never before? Unless applications are developed custom made for I-Pad, the product will not see the meteoric success of the i-Phone.
6. The users would be keen to experience something radically different from the windows mobile, the Android sets and the ever stable Symbian phones. This the I-Pad may not be able to deliver, given its technical configuration.
7. Lastly, the price tag may appear too high even for the brand exclusivity, even for staunch Apple fans.

Apple has always been a great marketeer and has added value to the consumers even with products which were present before the “Apple way” became popular. What Apple provides its customers is the ooomph factor of being associated with the company, the exclusivity maybe. This positioning amongst its fans has always been the USP for the company.

Because of its size, processing capabilities and functionality, it may be rejected as yet another gadget which fall in between the mobile phones (iPhone) and the laptops (Macbook), and thus fails to meet both requirements.

But will that be enough to ensure a great reception of the i-Pad from the Apple’s fans? Will the early adopters be inclined to try out the hype? Only time will tell.

Source: tnmg4u.com

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Business Intelligence Solutions With Efficient And Powerful Business Intelligence Software

Business Intelligence Solutions With Efficient And Powerful Business Intelligence Software

Global recession accompanied with growing competition among businesses has forced various firms and organizations to squeeze their budget. This has lead to reduction in investment for business enhancement technology. But it is necessary for these companies and firms to realize that recession is a great time to give priority to investment in technology that can help their business to overcome the impact of recession and lead to the organization’s growth in future.

Every business or an organization is dependent on information and data. Cloud9analytics provides business intelligence software that can help an organization to access data that is crucial for an organization easily. The main role of business intelligence software is to collect all the necessary information and data that is relevant for the organization’s functioning and growth and make it available to the company when it is required.

The products offered by cloud9analytics help in achieving business intelligence solutions by providing right set of data and information when required. This kind of quickness and easy access to information and data, is essential for every organization in their decision making process. This will ultimately help in organization’s growth.

Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator Suite helps a sales leader in an organization to become a “dynamic pipeline management” expert. This suite of tools helps in developing the sales force of an organization by providing them with certain key performance metrics. These applications help them to evaluate “what’s changed” that gives information about minute to minute update on what is happening. It also delivers views on future projections and historical trends. All this information and calculation help sales teams to plan their activities in such a manner that they can perform their job more effectively.

Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator Suite includes Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator- This application helps sales leader to analyze the changes that are taking place in the pipeline.

Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator Reports- This application provides all the management reports and dashboards as multi sheet, multi view excel workbooks.

Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator Mobile- helps to keep track of all the key deals and changes that are being forced in them on any browser-enabled device.

Another ‘Business intelligence software’ as offered by cloud9analytics, is to give business intelligence solutions via the Cloud9 Analyst Suite. This suite is comprised of powerful dashboard and report building capabilities that compiles all the information, reports and data on the Cloud9 data warehouse.

Cloud9 Analyst Suite includes applications such as:
Cloud9 Report Builder- This application enables sales professionals to share and create reports and dashboards from your cloud9 data warehouse.

Cloud9 Dashboard Administrator- This application helps to build dashboards that are meaningful, vital for the operation of the organization and ones that are compelling across any field available in your Cloud9 data warehouse.

Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator- This application helps managers to understand and analyze the changes that are taking place in the pipeline.

Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator Reports- This application provides all the critical and essential information related to pipeline analysis and reports and dashboard to stakeholders automatically

Cloud9 Pipeline Accelerator Mobile - helps to keep track of all the key deals and changes that are being forced in them on any browser-enabled device

The products offered by Cloud9 Analytics are user friendly, efficient and powerful. They can be accessed anytime, anywhere through the Internet.

By: peter s.thomas
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Peter s. Thomas www.cloud9analytics.com business intelligence solutions

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China: We Are Biggest Victim of Cyberattacks

China: We Are Biggest Victim of Cyberattacks

China on Tuesday denied any role in alleged cyberattacks on Indian government offices, calling China itself the biggest victim of hackers.

When asked about Google's allegation that cyberattacks launched from China hit the U.S. search giant, foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Chinese companies were also often hit by cyberattacks.

"China is the biggest victim of hacking attacks," Ma said, citing the example of top Chinese search engine Baidu.com being hacked last week.

Google last week said it might exit China after being hit by recent hacking attempts largely aimed at accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. It also said it planned to hold talks with Chinese authorities about whether it could offer an uncensored version of its local search engine.

Ma said he did not know if Chinese authorities had started talks with Google. A Google spokeswoman did not confirm a Bloomberg news report that Google and China had already started the talks. "That's not what we've been saying," she said in an e-mail.

An Indian official has reportedly said local government offices including that of India's National Security Advisor were also targeted last month by hackers believed to be from China.

Ma said the allegation was baseless.

Source: pcworld.com

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TYPO3 version 4.3.1 released

TYPO3 version 4.3.1 released

Just now the Typo3 - Core Team for the stable version of TYPO3 version 4.3.1 released. Originally, the developers had planned the latest version of the popular Enterprise Content Management Systems on Tuesday made public, but deviated from the planned date in favor of some other improvements. The latest version of TYPO3 is both a bug fix release and security release. An update to the latest version is strongly recommended, but not for all users of Typo3 immediately and hastily mandatory. Mainly affected by a serious vulnerability is a system extension that does not always apply.

With version 4.3.0 we have introduced the CMS Typo3 several system extensions. Among these is the system whereby authentication openid extension for the back end with a general OpenID should be possible. This system extension, it had to be activated separately to be used at all. Who has actually done it, and uses this extension, should definitely upgrade to the latest version of Typo3. The vulnerability allows namely, that users can use an OpenID, unauthorized manner, and gain any access rights to the backend.

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Benefits of Outsourcing SEO Services to India

Benefits of Outsourcing SEO Services to India

Search engine optimization is technique that helps in advertising your business online to get customers. With the Business going online the world is rapidly changing with some latest and new advance techniques that is making the businesses surge. A business can adopt many ways that helps it to get popularity. Outsourcing SEO services to India is one such way that helps in making online presence for your. Outsourcing SEO services has become a trend and many businessmen follow it to get more return from their investment. India is one of the most preferred destinations for outsourcing services. It has become the most popular destination for outsourcing services among the others globally. One reason behind this is availability of large technical expertise and innovative, low cost business solutions.

Indian outsourcing SEO services can help both the clients and the service provider. The client can focus on more important business activities while outsourcing the SEO activities to a company that specializes in that work. India has great reputation in providing outsourcing services in the field of information technology. Companies can get business solutions at a nominal rate from India as compared to the other destinations of outsourcing around the world. The professionals here are trained in handling the client’s task efficiently and have experience in handling such work as India has been providing such services for more than a decade now. Here quality of the work is taken highest care as clients hire them for providing the best services. A company desiring to get a high rank in the search engine needs a lot of continues sincere hard work to bring perfection in the business.

Outsourcing SEO services involves lot of activities like maintaining the website uniqueness by providing fresh content and thus keeping it more useful than other competitor’s website. For a business to be successful it is very important to make an effective online presence. A search engine optimization technique helps to bring traffic to your website and so your business gets visibility and popularity. If moving your work to an outsourcing company helps to reduce burden off the owner then why not go for outsourcing? It normally requires huge efforts and finances along with correct business approach to run a business profitably. A business owner should look for outsourcing SEO services from the business aspect considering all its pros and cons. If you want your business to surge ahead in this competitive world then you do need to look for companies that provide outsourcing services at your demand.

Outsourcing SEO services always help you to lessen your workload and you can make business plans and focus on expanding your business. The outsourcing task is handled by people who are skilled and qualified to undertake your task. You might wonder that if s service is cheap then it might not be of good quality .The reason why outsourcing companies from India and other such countries provide low cost solution is due to the fact that labor cost is quite low in the outsourcing countries. There are two types of outsourcing techniques .Either you can outsource your work to an outsourcing company or outsource your work to freelance professional.

Source: goeshare.com

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Baidu hacked by 'Iranian cyber army'

Baidu hacked by 'Iranian cyber army'

China's most popular search engine, Baidu, has been targeted by the same hackers that took Twitter offline in December, according to reports.

A group claiming to be the Iranian Cyber Army redirected Baidu users to a site displaying a political message.

The site was down for at least four hours on Tuesday, Chinese media said.

Last year's attack on micro-blogging service Twitter had the same hallmarks, sending users to a page with an Iranian flag and message in Farsi.

"This morning, Baidu's domain name registration in the United States was tampered with, leading to inaccessibility," Baidu said in a statement.

Visitors to the site were greeted with the message: "This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army".

The message was accompanied by a picture of the national flag of Iran.

"In China, Baidu outranks Google as the search engine of choice, receiving millions of visits every day. That makes it an extremely attractive target for cybercriminals," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos.

Political graffiti

It is not yet clear whether the site itself was compromised or its so-called DNS records.

DNS records are like a telephone book, converting website names like baidu.com into a sequence of numbers understandable by the internet.

"It's possible someone changed the lookup, meaning whenever surfers entered baidu.com into their browsers they were instead taken to a website that wasn't under the search engine's control," explained Mr Cluley.

It seems as if the hackers used the attack as an opportunity to create political graffiti rather than inflict real damage.

"If that third party website had contained malware then millions of computers could have been infected and identities stolen," said Mr Cluley.

"Attacks like this are a reminder to everyone that you always need to have security scanning every webpage you visit, even if it's a well-known legitimate website," he added.

Source: BBC NEWS

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10 Search Engine Optimization Tips

10 Search Engine Optimization Tips

Anchor Text: This is basically the words used that link to another URL. For maximum benefit of any backlink you need to have the correct anchor text. The text needs to include keywords of whatever your linking to. An ideal example would be my website, if I was linking my homepage in a forum I would use “how to make money online” as the Anchor text. If you don’t do this the SEO benefit will be minimal

Blog Directories: Blog Directories can be useful but it depends on how much time you have whether it’s worthwhile doing or not. For the average person I would never recommend submitting to more than 30 sites simply because there are other actives that will have a far greater effect for your time. Firstly the PR is shared around each outbound link so if you have a directory with 200,000 sites indexed; your section of the PR pie is going to be minimal. Secondly even a PR8 directory will only give you a tiny amount of PR because the page you have your website linked is probably PR0. So it’s worthwhile as part of SEO is about variation but avoid doing more than 30.
Outgoing Links: The more outgoing links on your page the less Google will like you. If you stick to links that are good quality and relevant to your content, the better it will be. I see too many blogs with 100’s of outgoing links just for the sake of it that are not often content relevant and it’s a complete waste of time. Only create an outbound link when it’s necessary and not just for the sake of it.

Internal Links: This is an absolute must yet very few people do it. Having a good internal link system will be very effective search engine optimization. Every link you create is internally is like having a good backlink. Just make sure you use the right anchor text as mentioned in point 1, otherwise this exercise is pointless. (Think Wikipedia...internal links = 2 trillion gazillion)

Keywords: This is not an absolute definite but generally believed that you should include your keywords no more than 7 times per 100 words. The reason for this is because Google’s spider will thing you are spamming for the sake of SEO. I am unsure of how accurate those numbers are but be wary of it.

Subject Relevant Link Exchange: Link Exchanges are a great way to get your blog/site off the ground and also for the more established ones as well. For best effect be sure to exchange with subject relevant sites otherwise it’s pointless and Google wont respect you for it. Take your time when finding the right exchange and it will benefit you greatly.

Quality Link Exchange: As I mentioned in point 2 about blog directories. PR “juice” will be shared between every outbound link on a site. With that in mind, when acquiring a link exchange be sure to trade with someone with a blogroll bigger than the empire state building. Otherwise your backlink will count for much less than your much more respectable size 10 of the most blogroll.

Good Traffic: When going on a quest to gain more site traffic, it is important to try and get “good” traffic. This may sound obvious but so many people will spam sites with their URL and get a few clicks, but it will bare rare that any bookmark the site because they just don’t care about what you have to say. Try to focus your precious time on gaining good quality traffic by submitting your link to places where they will find your site of interest.

DoFollow: DoFollow basically means it will most likely have a positive effect on your Search Engine Rank. NoFollow means the chances are it won’t have a positive effect on your Search Engine Rank. With that in mind if you want to post your link on forums/blogs ensure they have the status “DoFollow” otherwise it’s most likely your efforts will be futile.

Your Reputation: Although this is not directly Search Engine Optimization, it is still very relevant. Your site reputation is everything, be sure you keep it as high as possible. Avoid link dropping just for the sake of gaining a cheap backlink; take your time to give a positive input with quality info. This will gain you much better results and have a much higher chance in people wanting to view that link in your signature or give you higher forum reputation.

Source From Digital Point Forum

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Hobbled Word Goes on Sale as Microsoft Challenges Court Ruling Again

Hobbled Word Goes on Sale as Microsoft Challenges Court Ruling Again

Tony Bradley Tony Bradley – Mon Jan 11, 12:56 pm ET

D-day has arrived. Per court order, Microsoft has removed technology from Microsoft Word which has been judged to infringe on concepts patented by Canadian software firm i4i from the software effective today. Compliance does not equal surrender, though, as Microsoft also continues legal efforts to overturn the ruling.

The dispute relates to an i4i patent entitled Method and System for Manipulating the Architecture and the Content of a Document Separately from Each Other. The crux of the challenge lies with the way Microsoft separates the XML properties from the actual document content in Word.

Like many patents for technical concepts, the wording of the i4i patent seems too broad and general. The way Microsoft has implemented XML in Word does appear to fit the description of the i4i technology in the patent, but so do a lot of XML implementations. The issue goes deeper than Word, to whether or not the U.S. Patent Office should have issued the patent to begin with.

However, my opinion holds little weight with the United States court system, which apparently doesn't agree with me. i4i has prevailed repeatedly in its legal battle against Microsoft, winning a $290 million judgment and a court order that Microsoft either remove the offending technology or make arrangements with i4i to legally license it.

Microsoft won a temporary injunction of the ban on selling copies of Word with infringing technology, but ultimately lost its appeal of the original judgment. On December 22, 2009 Microsoft was ordered to pay the $290 million judgment, and a new deadline of January 11, 2010 was set to cease sales of the offending software.

In compliance with that order, Microsoft has modified the Word 2007 and Office 2007 software being sold as of today. Microsoft has also issued patches which remove the infringing technology from existing copies of Word for both Windows and Mac, but users who purchased the software prior to January 11, 2010 are not obligated to download or apply the update.

However, late last week it also filed a new legal challenge asking the court to review...again...the appeal ruling.

Kevin Kutz, director of public affairs for Microsoft, said in a statement "The petition details significant conflicts we believe the December 22 decision creates with established precedents governing trial procedure and the determination of damages, and we are concerned that the decision weakens judges' authority to apply appropriate safeguards in future patent trials."

The statement implies some level of altruism and concern for the future of the United States legal system, but it's hard to believe the challenge has any meaning to Microsoft beyond continued persistence in defending its position in this case, or simply an attempt to further delay paying the judgment and dragging i4i through court as long as possible.

The new Microsoft appeal challenges the methods used by the court for calculating damages and expresses concern that the calculation could be used as a precedent for future lawsuits, leading to excessive damage awards. Microsoft is a frequent target of legal challenges and certainly has a vested interest in maintaining damage calculations at the most reasonable level possible.

If Microsoft loses this latest challenge, it can pursue the appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Tony Bradley tweets as @PCSecurityNews, and can be contacted at his Facebook page .

Source: news.yahoo.com

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