As we noted last night, Twitter has significantly expanded the rollout of its new “Lists” feature over the past day or so.
The feature looks to accomplish a couple different goals: for one, it lets you organize the people you follow into groups – for example “co-workers,” “social media experts,” or “celebrities” – serving as a filter of sorts for tracking updates. This is similar to the functionality already available in clients like TweetDeck or Seesmic.
Additionally, and perhaps more exciting, it’s a way to discover new users by exploring the lists that others have created. However, the only way to find these currently is going profile-by-profile or looking at the lists you’re already on (assuming you have the feature enabled).
In the future, perhaps Twitter will build a “most followed lists” feature or something similar to help you find Lists, but for now, we figured we’d open up our comment section to let you share the lists you’ve created and discover those created by other Mashable readers.
So, drop some links to your lists along with a brief description in the comments! One thing to note – if you don’t yet have lists enabled, you won’t be able to see any of them (sorry), but we’ll continue to reference this post in the future.
Source:
http://mashable.com/2009/10/29/twitter-lists-share/
Professional Web Design
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Yahoo and Microsoft Extend The Deadline to Close Search Deal
The companies originally planned to finalize the deal by October 27; they now say the deal will be done by early 2010
Yahoo and Microsoft have missed a deadline for finalizing their search and advertising deal and have now extended the deadline for an unspecified period.
When the companies announced in July that Microsoft's Bing search engine would power Yahoo's search results, they said that they planned to finalize the deal by Oct. 27 or use an arbitration panel to hammer out their differences.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Yahoo said the companies have agreed to extend the period to negotiate and execute the deal.
"Given the complex nature of the transaction, there remain some details to be finalized," Yahoo said in the filing. "The parties are working diligently on finalizing the agreements, have made good progress to date, and have agreed to execute the agreements as expeditiously as possible."
The filing does not provide a new deadline for finalizing the agreement.
In a joint statement, Microsoft said it was committed to the agreement and that the companies had mutually agreed to extend the deadline.
"We plan to do this as expeditiously as possible. Both companies are optimistic that we will be able to close this deal by early 2010," Microsoft said.
Yahoo and Microsoft initially estimated it would take them two years to fully implement the deal, which also involves Yahoo providing premium Search Advertising Services for both companies.
Source:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/yahoo-and-microsoft-extend-deadline-close-search-deal-986
Professional Website Design Services
Yahoo and Microsoft have missed a deadline for finalizing their search and advertising deal and have now extended the deadline for an unspecified period.
When the companies announced in July that Microsoft's Bing search engine would power Yahoo's search results, they said that they planned to finalize the deal by Oct. 27 or use an arbitration panel to hammer out their differences.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Yahoo said the companies have agreed to extend the period to negotiate and execute the deal.
"Given the complex nature of the transaction, there remain some details to be finalized," Yahoo said in the filing. "The parties are working diligently on finalizing the agreements, have made good progress to date, and have agreed to execute the agreements as expeditiously as possible."
The filing does not provide a new deadline for finalizing the agreement.
In a joint statement, Microsoft said it was committed to the agreement and that the companies had mutually agreed to extend the deadline.
"We plan to do this as expeditiously as possible. Both companies are optimistic that we will be able to close this deal by early 2010," Microsoft said.
Yahoo and Microsoft initially estimated it would take them two years to fully implement the deal, which also involves Yahoo providing premium Search Advertising Services for both companies.
Source:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/yahoo-and-microsoft-extend-deadline-close-search-deal-986
Professional Website Design Services
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Google Launches Social Search
As promised at the Web 2.0 Summit last week, Google has introduced a new Google Labs experiement called Google Social Search, a way to find online content authored by friends and personal contacts using a Google Search.
To try it out, visit Google Labs and click the designated button to join the Social Search Experiment.
Google Social Search requires you to be signed in to your Google Account. It integrates blog posts and other online information authored by friends and associates into Google search results.
Google looks for people in your Gmail or Google Talk contacts lists, Google Reader articles, people linked to through your Google Profile -- from sites like Twitter and FriendFeed -- and people listed in Google Contacts. Then it includes posts and commentary written by these people, when appropriate and relevant, in your Google searches.
In a blog post explaining the new Social Search exeriment, Google technical lead Maureen Heymans and Google product manager Murali Viswanathan emphasize that this isn't some new form of privacy invasion. "All the information that appears as part of Google Social Search is published publicly on the Web -- you can find it without Social Search if you really want to," they said. "What we've done is surface that content together in one single place to make your results more relevant."
Google Social Search also provides a way to see only search results from one's social circle.
At the Web 2.0 Summit, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said, "There is a very fundamental shift going on from the information Web to the social Web." It's a shift that Google has been participating in for several years, though perhaps not as effectively as the company might wish.
Google's commitment to social computing became evident in 2007, as Facebook and other social sites became popular.
Google has acquired companies with a social focus, like micro-blogging company Jaiku, video company Omniso, and mobile company Dodgeball. It has dabbled in social advertising through a deal with Italy's Dada.net. It has integrated social sharing features into services like Google Docs, Google Reader, and Google Books. It released the OpenSocial API and Social Graph API for integrating Social Network Features with Web sites. It has released social gadgets for its iGoogle home page.
Google launched Orkut, its own social network, in 2004, but the site, despite being quite popular in Brazil, has been overshadowed by Facebook and MySpace in the U.S.
In a separate but related announcement last week, Google said that it had reached a deal with Twitter to index tweets and make them available in searches to improve the availability of real-time information.
Source:
http://www.techweb.com/article/showArticle?articleID=220900747§ion=news
Chicago Web Design
To try it out, visit Google Labs and click the designated button to join the Social Search Experiment.
Google Social Search requires you to be signed in to your Google Account. It integrates blog posts and other online information authored by friends and associates into Google search results.
Google looks for people in your Gmail or Google Talk contacts lists, Google Reader articles, people linked to through your Google Profile -- from sites like Twitter and FriendFeed -- and people listed in Google Contacts. Then it includes posts and commentary written by these people, when appropriate and relevant, in your Google searches.
In a blog post explaining the new Social Search exeriment, Google technical lead Maureen Heymans and Google product manager Murali Viswanathan emphasize that this isn't some new form of privacy invasion. "All the information that appears as part of Google Social Search is published publicly on the Web -- you can find it without Social Search if you really want to," they said. "What we've done is surface that content together in one single place to make your results more relevant."
Google Social Search also provides a way to see only search results from one's social circle.
At the Web 2.0 Summit, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said, "There is a very fundamental shift going on from the information Web to the social Web." It's a shift that Google has been participating in for several years, though perhaps not as effectively as the company might wish.
Google's commitment to social computing became evident in 2007, as Facebook and other social sites became popular.
Google has acquired companies with a social focus, like micro-blogging company Jaiku, video company Omniso, and mobile company Dodgeball. It has dabbled in social advertising through a deal with Italy's Dada.net. It has integrated social sharing features into services like Google Docs, Google Reader, and Google Books. It released the OpenSocial API and Social Graph API for integrating Social Network Features with Web sites. It has released social gadgets for its iGoogle home page.
Google launched Orkut, its own social network, in 2004, but the site, despite being quite popular in Brazil, has been overshadowed by Facebook and MySpace in the U.S.
In a separate but related announcement last week, Google said that it had reached a deal with Twitter to index tweets and make them available in searches to improve the availability of real-time information.
Source:
http://www.techweb.com/article/showArticle?articleID=220900747§ion=news
Chicago Web Design
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Twitter: You Say Transparency, I Say Vulnerability
We received a number of tips early this morning that the majority of web servers at Twitter was exposing server and load-balancer status information to the public. The status page which are an (often default) option in the open source Apache web server dump an output of all connections and state information for a particular server. The information is used by administrators to monitor servers, and the pages are often either removed entirely or locked down to prevent the information from being used for nefarious purposes.
At some point in the past 24 hours (I would more accurately guess 22 hours 28 minutes and 4 seconds ago, based on the status page itself), the Twitter Web Servers introduced a misconfiguration to expose this information to the public. The page includes overall server statistics along with every HTTP requests currently being handled by that server, with the full request URL. The server status page is usually accessed by requesting /server-status for a web server. In the case of Twitter, this exposure allows anybody to see requests that sometimes rely on being secret to remain secure, such as oAuth keys, which are used to authorize applications to access Twitter accounts.
News of the pages being open spread quickly through Twitter, with some calling it “great transparency” while others recognizing it for what it is – a little too much transparency, and unintentional. Twitter were very quick to respond and blocked all access to the page, and the vast majority of the information found is purely informational and can be deduced through other means. Your Twitter account is probably safe again, but that doesn’t mean we can’t geek out while we get a sneak peak at what Twitter looks like behind the curtain.
Screenshot of one such page below with some of the information cut out.
Source:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/21/twitter-you-say-transperancy-i-say-vulnerability/
Chicago Web Design
At some point in the past 24 hours (I would more accurately guess 22 hours 28 minutes and 4 seconds ago, based on the status page itself), the Twitter Web Servers introduced a misconfiguration to expose this information to the public. The page includes overall server statistics along with every HTTP requests currently being handled by that server, with the full request URL. The server status page is usually accessed by requesting /server-status for a web server. In the case of Twitter, this exposure allows anybody to see requests that sometimes rely on being secret to remain secure, such as oAuth keys, which are used to authorize applications to access Twitter accounts.
News of the pages being open spread quickly through Twitter, with some calling it “great transparency” while others recognizing it for what it is – a little too much transparency, and unintentional. Twitter were very quick to respond and blocked all access to the page, and the vast majority of the information found is purely informational and can be deduced through other means. Your Twitter account is probably safe again, but that doesn’t mean we can’t geek out while we get a sneak peak at what Twitter looks like behind the curtain.
Screenshot of one such page below with some of the information cut out.
Source:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/21/twitter-you-say-transperancy-i-say-vulnerability/
Chicago Web Design
Sunday, October 25, 2009
IE Boss Calls for More Honesty about Privacy
Firms profiting from consumers' lack of awareness.
Organisations need to stop profiting from the ignorance of their consumers, and be more clear and honest about the choices that need to be made to protect online privacy, according to Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) chief.
Amy Barzdukas, Microsoft's general manager of IE and consumer security, made the comments ahead of her keynote speech at the RSA Conference show in London tomorrow.
Barzdukas argued that many consumers do not necessarily understand what they give up in terms of privacy when they install a toolbar on their PC, for example.
"As an industry we need to hold to a higher bar and not ask people to make tradeoffs they don't understand," she added. "In some cases, the industry is taking advantage of people's lack of awareness to further their business goals."
Barzdukas went on to explain how the latest version of IE deliberately features a separate address bar and search box with "different underlying privacy models", whereas competitors may be forcing customers to make a privacy tradeoff by conflating the two, she said.
Unsurprisingly, Barzdukas was in a bullish mood when asked whether she thought IE had now caught up in security terms with its rivals in the Browser Market.
"I believe it compares extremely favourably. The most difficult competition is our own past versions of Internet Explorer," she said.
"It's really important to make people aware that, if they're using IE6, they shouldn't be, and that they need to be on the newest version in order to take advantage of the innovations and improvements we've made."
Source:
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/158653,ie-boss-calls-for-more-honesty-about-privacy.aspx
Organisations need to stop profiting from the ignorance of their consumers, and be more clear and honest about the choices that need to be made to protect online privacy, according to Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) chief.
Amy Barzdukas, Microsoft's general manager of IE and consumer security, made the comments ahead of her keynote speech at the RSA Conference show in London tomorrow.
Barzdukas argued that many consumers do not necessarily understand what they give up in terms of privacy when they install a toolbar on their PC, for example.
"As an industry we need to hold to a higher bar and not ask people to make tradeoffs they don't understand," she added. "In some cases, the industry is taking advantage of people's lack of awareness to further their business goals."
Barzdukas went on to explain how the latest version of IE deliberately features a separate address bar and search box with "different underlying privacy models", whereas competitors may be forcing customers to make a privacy tradeoff by conflating the two, she said.
Unsurprisingly, Barzdukas was in a bullish mood when asked whether she thought IE had now caught up in security terms with its rivals in the Browser Market.
"I believe it compares extremely favourably. The most difficult competition is our own past versions of Internet Explorer," she said.
"It's really important to make people aware that, if they're using IE6, they shouldn't be, and that they need to be on the newest version in order to take advantage of the innovations and improvements we've made."
Source:
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/158653,ie-boss-calls-for-more-honesty-about-privacy.aspx
Web Design in Chicago
Friday, October 23, 2009
Google Chrome Browser Snubs Windows 7
Google has pushed back plans to integrate its Chrome browser with Microsoft's new OS
Google has scrubbed plans to fully integrate its Chrome Web Browser with Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system.
The news follows an announcement by the Mozilla Foundation that Firefox 3.6, the next version of the open source browser, would integrate with Windows 7 features such as taskbar thumbnail previews and Jump Lists.
However, according to reports in The Register, Google's internal issue tracking system indicates that work on the features has been pushed back to version 5 of the browser. Chrome is currently on the 3.0 release, while version 4 is currently in development.
Despite the scaled back ambitions, work seems to be progressing on Google's Chrome OS. An early developer build of the operating system has been leaked onto Google's Web site. Stay tuned for more details.
Source:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/google-chrome-doesnt-integrate-windows-7-409
Professional Web Design
Google has scrubbed plans to fully integrate its Chrome Web Browser with Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system.
The news follows an announcement by the Mozilla Foundation that Firefox 3.6, the next version of the open source browser, would integrate with Windows 7 features such as taskbar thumbnail previews and Jump Lists.
However, according to reports in The Register, Google's internal issue tracking system indicates that work on the features has been pushed back to version 5 of the browser. Chrome is currently on the 3.0 release, while version 4 is currently in development.
Despite the scaled back ambitions, work seems to be progressing on Google's Chrome OS. An early developer build of the operating system has been leaked onto Google's Web site. Stay tuned for more details.
Source:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/google-chrome-doesnt-integrate-windows-7-409
Professional Web Design
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Windows 7 Compatible? Microsoft Provides Answers
Redmond is using online tools and Web sites to help consumers ensure computers can run new version of Windows OS.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has introduced an online service designed to let consumers know whether their PCs are capable of running the company's new Windows 7 operating system.
The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, as the service is called, will scan a user's hardware to determine if it meets Windows 7 system requirements.
It will also provide recommendations on which version of Windows 7 is the best fit for a particular system, and sniff out potential incompatibilities with third-party peripherals.
"If an issue can be resolved, it suggests the next steps for you to take before installing Windows 7," said Microsoft VP Mark Relph, in a blog post Tuesday.
Windows 7, which will be released to consumers Thursday, comes in several home and business editions. Some are engineered to run on higher-end 64-bit processors.
Microsoft is also hosting a Web site, called the Windows 7 Compatibility Center, that lists third-party hardware and software products that have been certified as compatible with the new operating system. "The site goes beyond just telling you what will or will not work.
It also provides links to drivers and software updates to help get your PC running with the latest software," said Relph.
That Microsoft is taking Windows 7 compatibility seriously is hardly a surprise. Conflicts with third-party peripherals and applications plagued Vista, Windows 7's predecessor, in the weeks following its release in January, 2007.
Partly as a result, Vista failed to win the hearts and minds of tech enthusiasts and was virtually shunned by the enterprise market, where only a handful of large enterprises upgraded to Vista from Windows XP.
Microsoft can ill-afford a repeat performance with Windows 7, as the company's software sales have slumped badly in recent quarters.
Windows 7 hits online shops like Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and electronics retailers, including Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), beginning Thursday.
The full version of Windows 7 Professional is $299, with upgrades going for $199. Windows 7 Ultimate is priced at $319, with the upgrade version at $219. The full version of Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at $199, with an upgrade from Vista or XP costing $119.
Source:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220800075&subSection=News
Chicago Website Design
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has introduced an online service designed to let consumers know whether their PCs are capable of running the company's new Windows 7 operating system.
The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, as the service is called, will scan a user's hardware to determine if it meets Windows 7 system requirements.
It will also provide recommendations on which version of Windows 7 is the best fit for a particular system, and sniff out potential incompatibilities with third-party peripherals.
"If an issue can be resolved, it suggests the next steps for you to take before installing Windows 7," said Microsoft VP Mark Relph, in a blog post Tuesday.
Windows 7, which will be released to consumers Thursday, comes in several home and business editions. Some are engineered to run on higher-end 64-bit processors.
Microsoft is also hosting a Web site, called the Windows 7 Compatibility Center, that lists third-party hardware and software products that have been certified as compatible with the new operating system. "The site goes beyond just telling you what will or will not work.
It also provides links to drivers and software updates to help get your PC running with the latest software," said Relph.
That Microsoft is taking Windows 7 compatibility seriously is hardly a surprise. Conflicts with third-party peripherals and applications plagued Vista, Windows 7's predecessor, in the weeks following its release in January, 2007.
Partly as a result, Vista failed to win the hearts and minds of tech enthusiasts and was virtually shunned by the enterprise market, where only a handful of large enterprises upgraded to Vista from Windows XP.
Microsoft can ill-afford a repeat performance with Windows 7, as the company's software sales have slumped badly in recent quarters.
Windows 7 hits online shops like Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and electronics retailers, including Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), beginning Thursday.
The full version of Windows 7 Professional is $299, with upgrades going for $199. Windows 7 Ultimate is priced at $319, with the upgrade version at $219. The full version of Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at $199, with an upgrade from Vista or XP costing $119.
Source:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220800075&subSection=News
Chicago Website Design
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