Archive for September, 2009
Generally you can trust the ads on Google to at least be safe. But that’s not the case right now for the top ad being served on the query “Firefox.”
The top ad says it is linking to “Firefox ® OfficiaI Sit?” at the URL www.mozilla.com/firefox/. And that is indeed the official Mozilla Firefox site. But the link actually goes to the much more sinister firefox.mozilla-now.com, a site that dishonestly tries to get users to pay up to $2.50/month for an ongoing subscription to “24/7 Expert Customer Support” (a screenshot of the landing page is below). The credit card provider is based in the Netherlands.
Even advanced users who hover over the link won’t know what’s up before they click, due to Google’s ad redirect URL.
Most savvy Internet users will know this is a con as soon as visiting the site, but a all those middle-America Yahoo users may not know any better, particularly since they were just told it was the Firefox official site. It just goes to show that not even the stuff Google publishes can always be completely trusted.
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WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–Apple told the Federal Communications Commission last month that it hadn’t rejected Google Voice for the iPhone. Google’s new phone service hasn’t yet been approved for the iPhone app store, but Apple said it is still studying it.
Google, Apple and AT&T Inc. (T) all were asked by the FCC about reports that Google Voice had been rejected for the iPhone store. The iPhone is carried exclusively on AT&T’s network, which allows the telecommunications company to subsidize the cost of the phone.
Google originally kept confidential its response to the FCC’s question about the company’s discussions with Apple. But Google notified the FCC on Thursday that it was lifting its request for confidential treatment.
In a blog posting Friday, Google’s Washington telecom and media counsel Richard Whitt said the company at first asked the FCC to redact that portion of its letter because it “involved sensitive commercial conversations between two companies.”
According to the now-unredacted parts of Google’s letter, Apple informed the company July 7 that it was rejecting the Google Voice application for the iPhone. “Apple believed the application duplicated the core dialer functionality of the iPhone,” Google’s letter said.
Apple told the FCC last month that Google Voice “appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface.”
Apple didn’t redact any portions of its letter.
Whitt said several people submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to the FCC for access to Google’s redacted content.
“In light of Apple’s decision to make its own letter fully public and in the interest of transparency, we decided to drop our request for confidentiality,” he said.
The unredacted version of Google’s letter to the FCC was posted on the FCC Web site Friday.
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Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) on Monday launched an enhancement to Bing that allows users of the search engine to find certain items by viewing images instead of sifting through pages of text-based Internet links.
For instance, a search on HDTVs yields rows of images of flat-panel televisions. The results can be grouped by manufacturer, display technology, screen size, and resolution. Similarly, a query on new cars renders pictures of various models that are sortable by automaker, mileage, price, and vehicle type.
At present, Bing’s visual search engine is in the beta stage and is limited to several search categories predetermined by Microsoft. But company officials believe the technology has big potential and could help Microsoft close the gap with market leader Google.
“It’s clear that images play a big part in helping consumers with a variety of search activities,” said Bing product manager Todd Schwartz, in a blog post Monday. A study by Microsoft found that consumers can process image results 20% faster than text-only search results, according to Schwartz.
“Visual search is a new way to formulate and refine your search queries through imagery, particularly for sets of results that tend to be more structured,” wrote Schwartz. “What you’ll see is an amazing new visual search experience,” said Schwartz.
Bing’s visual search capability, which is powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight Web display technology, is the latest sign that Redmond is pulling out all the stops in its effort to catch Google. The company in July announced a far-reaching deal with Yahoo under which Bing will become the primary search engine on Yahoo’s Web properties while Microsoft gains the right to add search technology previously developed by Yahoo to Bing.
Still, Microsoft has, to put it mildly, its work cut out. Google holds about 83% of the worldwide search market, according to the most recent numbers from market watcher Net Applications. Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) holds 7%, while Microsoft, mostly through Bing, owns a mere 3.5%.
Microsoft isn’t giving up. In his blog, Schwartz said the software maker will roll out more new Bing features—including additional visual search capabilities–in the coming months.
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A Microsoft and Yahoo search deal, announced in July, will face an in-depth antitrust review from the U.S. Department of Justice, Microsoft has confirmed.
The DOJ requested additional information about the deal earlier this week, Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said. Microsoft expected the DOJ to look into the agreement and conduct a “thorough review,” he added.
“When we announced the agreement, we said we were hopeful it would close by early next year,” Evans said.
A DOJ spokeswoman said she couldn’t comment on the Microsoft/Yahoo deal.
Under the deal, Microsoft’s Bing search engine will power Yahoo’s search site, and Yahoo will sell premium search advertising services for both companies.
The agreement took nearly a year and a half to work out and started with an unsolicited bid by Microsoft to buy Yahoo in February 2008. The goal of the deal is to allow Microsoft and Yahoo to provide more search competition to market-leader Google. As of June, Google had a search market share of over 70 percent in the U.S.
Under the 10-year agreement, Microsoft will have an exclusive license to Yahoo’s core search technologies as well as the ability to integrate them into Bing.
Microsoft revamped and relaunched its search engine about two months before the deal was announced.
In November 2008, Google called off a search advertising deal with Yahoo after the company was told the DOJ would oppose the deal.
The Microsoft and Yahoo deal must clear regulatory approval in both the U.S. and Europe. It’s still unclear whether the European Union will undertake a formal review, Evans said.
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A dispute over a 2007 traffic ticket that has cost Petaluma police more than $15,000 to defend is now in the hands of a court commissioner, whose ruling could set a precedent for using GPS data to challenge police radar.
The case, which has drawn national attention, stems from a speeding ticket Windsor’s Shaun Malone, then 17, received on Lakeville Highway after a Petaluma police officer using radar said he clocked the teen’s 2000 Toyota Celica GTS going 62 mph in a 45-mph zone.
Malone’s family contends a GPS system they installed in his car to monitor his driving proves he was driving 45 mph at virtually the same time and place Officer Steve Johnson said Malone was speeding.
Malone was found guilty and fined $194. His appeal of that decision has involved several court hearings, the testimony of an expert in satellite technology and re-creations of the events of the morning in question.
It’s also meant a significant cost to police, who spent $15,000 alone for the expert’s three court appearances — one that had to be postponed when Andrew Martinez, the attorney retained by Malone’s family, asked for a continuance.
Police Lt. Mike Cook defended the expense, saying the ticket was based on Johnson’s accurate observations of Malone’s car and subsequent radar reading.
He said the Police Department also is worried about a precedent being set that casts doubt on the accuracy of police radar.
“We can’t back away from a ticket we feel is justified and necessary for traffic safety due to the cost of appeals and prosecuting it,” he said.
All GPS systems in vehicles calculate speed and location, but the tracking device Malone’s parents installed in his Celica downloaded the information to their computer. The system sent out a data signal every 30 seconds that reported the car’s speed, location and direction. If Malone ever hit 70 mph, his parents received an e-mail alert.
On July 4, 2007, Malone was on his way to Infineon Raceway when Johnson said he clocked Malone’s car going 62 mph about 400 feet west of South McDowell Boulevard.
The teen’s GPS, however, pegged the car at 45 mph in virtually the same location.
At issue is the distance from the stoplight at Freitas Road — site of the first GPS “ping” that showed Malone stopped — to the second ping 30 seconds later, when he was going 45 mph.
Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Michael Li wrote in his closing arguments that given the distance, which he pegged at 1,980 feet, and time between pings, Malone would have had to have been traveling at an average speed faster than 45 mph, thus supporting the officer’s observations and the radar.
But Martinez, in his written statement, said the distance was 1,950 to 2,010 feet, making it possible for Malone to travel the two points without speeding.
He said Roger Rude, Malone’s stepfather and a retired Sonoma County sheriff’s lieutenant, was able to replicate the 45-mph scenario a dozen times. Video of the experiment was introduced as evidence, as was video of police conducting their own re-creation of events.
The defense also attacked the accuracy of radar, saying Johnson’s readings could have been affected by everything from reflections off street signs to him erroneously locking on the wrong vehicle.
In an interview, Rude called the effort to contest the traffic citation worth it to correct a “miscarriage of justice.”
“Shaun’s a good kid,” Rude said of his stepson, now 19 and a student at Santa Rosa Junior College. “He’s been very compliant with the restrictions we put into place on his driving. For us to not do our part because we ran into head winds would deliver the wrong message.”
Rude also called the case a “missed opportunity” by Petaluma police to focus on the merits of using GPS to make teens safer drivers.
“That to me is a far bigger issue than the fear their radar ticket might be overturned by new technology,” Rude said.
Commissioner Carla Bonilla is expected to issue a ruling in coming weeks.
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Although many high school students researching colleges head to the web for information, most universities do a poor job of search engine optimization (SEO), according to research from WordStream.
The company says that 15 universities are “excelling at SEO,” while the vast majority of other schools in the country are failing when it comes to using search engine optimization (SEO).
It might not be surprising that some of the top schools using search engine optimization (SEO) are online universities. According to WordStream, Philadelphia’s Drexel University is the top school for its use of SEO, but the online colleges of University of Phoenix, Capella University, Canyon College, Western Governors University American Sentinel University and Northcentral University all rank high.
With the exception of a few traditional schools like Pennsylvania State University and Gonzaga University, WordStream’s Ken Lyons says most schools are losing their online visibility to other websites.
“What I found to be completely bewildering is how the bulk of college websites are outranked by aggregate degree guides or list sites,” Lyons writes on the WordStream blog. “As such, they have to resort to paid search to get listed in the SERPs because they’re inept at SEO. Seriously, college websites (because of their .edu status) are branded, trusted, authoritative, powerful domains and should be able to outrank sites like nursingdegreeguide.org with ease. Yet even with this clear advantage, they still come up short.”
Colleges aren’t the only organizations that can use search engine optimization (SEO) to recruit people. A recent whitepaper from SharkStrike found that using SEO can help companies recruit better candidates for their job openings. 
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While AT&T and Apple have remained silent on the absence of tethering and MMS with the iPhone, a new report provides insight on the effect an influx of bandwidth-heavy mobile users have had on the wireless network.
Digging into customer dissatisfaction with the AT&T network, The New York Times revealed that the carrier has struggled to keep up with demand as iPhone owners use more and more bandwidth. The report suggests that AT&T’s reputation could be tarnished because, for some users, its network is unable to keep up with demand. The bandwidth issues have led to delays of tethering and multimedia messaging, much-anticipated features for iPhone users.
“The result is dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds as AT&T’s cellular network strains to meet the demand,” the report, which compared the device to a gas-guzzling Hummer, states. “Another result is outraged customers.”
The average iPhone user reportedly consumes 10 times the bandwidth of a typical smartphone user, but that is expected to change in the near future. The growth of the iPhone and its impact on the AT&T network has even led to lawsuits. As other mobile devices emulate the iPhone and also use more network capacity, the problem is expected to grow on all networks, not just AT&T.
Even John Donovan, chief technology officer for AT&T, admitted his company’s struggles. “It’s been a challenging year for us,” he told the Times.
But in the face of demand, AT&T plans to spend $18 billion this year to upgrade and expand its 3G network. And the company has no plans to cap data use, whether solely through the phone or via tethering with a computer.
AT&T announced Wednesday that it had improved its 3G coverage in metro New York and New Jersey. The company expects to roll out nationwide improvements with HSPA 7.2 technology, with the upgrade to be completed in 2011. And 1,900 new cell towers are planned for construction in the U.S. this year as well. But expansion isn’t so simple.
“As fast as AT&T wants to go, many cities require lengthy filing processes to erect new cell towers,” the report states. “Even after towers are installed, it can take several months for software upgrades to begin operating at faster speeds.”
Many analysts believe that when Apple’s exclusive contract with AT&T expires in 2010, the handset maker will offer the iPhone on other carriers. The most obvious jump would be to Verizon, the largest carrier in the U.S., ahead of No. 2 AT&T.
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It was only a matter of time: the iPhone swine-flu app.
Researchers in Boston released a new application yesterday that lets users track and report outbreaks of swine flu and other infectious diseases in their areas.
Dubbed “Outbreaks Near Me,” the free app uses the Global Positioning System and maps to pinpoint illnesses in an area and keep people informed about how diseases spread.
Users can set alerts to be notified of new outbreaks nearby – and even if someone with the app who is sick enters their area. They can also submit photos of sick people and at-risk locations.
“We aim to empower citizens in the cause of public health, not only by providing ready access to real-time information, but also by encouraging them to contribute their own knowledge, expertise and observations,” said HealthMap co-founder Clark Freifeld, a Ph.D. student at the MIT Media Lab.
MIT partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital to design the new application.
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UTRECHT, The Netherlands — Bit torrent site Mininova has been ordered to remove all links to copyrighted material, including adult videos.
A Utrecht court decided yesterday that Mininova had the capability to filter links that pointed to commercial videos, as well as other copyrighted material.
The judge in the case gave its operators three months to make the changes or face a penalties equivalent to about $7.1 million.
“We are obviously not satisfied with this ruling,” said Erik Dubbelboer, co-founder of Mininova. “The result of this ruling for Mininova is that we have to reevaluate our business operations.”
Dubbelboer noted that Mininova may appeal the ruling that stemmed from a suit waged by anti-piracy group Stichting Brein.
In a statement late Thursday, Mininova claimed the ruling was a partial victory and that it was working with Brein on a content filter.
“The court did not agree with Brein on all demands,” Mininova stated on its website. “Specifically, it ruled that Mininova does not infringe copyright and neighboring rights. The court also found Mininova can not be expected to remove files that are ‘reasonably likely’ refer to infringing material.
“Remarkably, the verdict does not give any consideration to the fact that Mininova has developed a content filter for Brein, nor to the cooperation between Mininova and other organizations of rights holders. This surprises Mininova, because it has always stressed the importance of cooperation.”
It is the second major infringement case this year involving a European peer-to-peer network. Pirate Bay was found liable for violating copyright law. Its operators — Peter Sunde, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, and Carl Lundstrom — were sentenced to a year in jail apiece and ordered to pay $3.6 million in damages. The conviction is under appeal.
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My name is Kyle Kazak and I am the CEO and President of Kazak Media, a local Internet marketing firm that specializes in web design, local SEO, and pay per click management. We are located in Petaluma, CA, USA.