Google and the intruders in the China shop

Web security is too important to be left to Web firms -- or so thinks Google | IslamOnline.net

Back in the day when computers were just computers, rogue code was regarded as a form of vandalism -- denounced, but largely tolerated. Yet as computers became the networks that underlie the operations of everything, from banks and power grids to obsessive real-time social-networking, vandalism is no longer an apt description of acts that disturb networks. That is now called cybercrime. And it’s far from the exclusive domain of law enforcement authorities. Increasingly it’s the business of diplomats and heads of states.

In a recent speech by the United States’ chief diplomat, Hillary Clinton said: “States, terrorists and those who would act as their proxies must know that the United States will protect our networks.” The country’s force, in other words, could be deployed to protect the network if need be.

With Buzz, Google as a search network

Google thinks that now is the time to incorporate the social-network into the search engine | IslamOnline.net

Perhaps surprising to some, Google too makes mistakes. This fact was on display with the February launch of Buzz, Google’s social networking service apparently aimed at competing with Facebook and Twitter.

The problem was not Buzz itself, but the hasty manner with which Google pushed it onto its Gmail users. Like Twitter and Facebook, Buzz enables users to post “status” updates, links, photos, and the whole repertoire of Web-borne distractions.

However, eager to make its presence immediately felt in the new realm, Google decided not to start from scratch. Instead, it tied the new social-networking service to Gmail, its mail service with about 175 million users. And before users knew it, they were, without permission, signed up on Buzz, and assigned lists of “followers” based on the frequency of email exchanges with people in their address books.

What Google Wants

Google’s operating system project is probably the search giant’s most forceful attempt to hasten the end of the operating system era | IslamOnline.net

Technology rumor sites, and probably everybody else, were caught off guard. Google, which is the subject of an ever-revolving rumor mill, announced last Tuesday that it’s working on an operating system, dubbed Chrome OS.

And that was a surprise. After all, it’s no secret that Google has been working to elevate the web browser to be the center of users’ interaction with information. Whether you wanted to compose a formal letter or share your photos with family, Google made sure that a web browser (and a Google account) would suffice.