Wikipedia is a wonderful resource, the kind of website that makes you marvel at what the internet can achieve. But it’s only as good as its contributors and, while some are extremely committed, the sad truth is that the project is running out of editors and new admins. More »
Secure messaging outfit TigerText has mixed its sauce with Dropbox’s API to make a private communications goulash that could spell doom for the humble bicycle courier. The technological team-up enables users to share documents with a pre-set lifespan and recall an attachment if you really didn’t mean to send your boss so many cat pictures. Thanks to its HIPAA-compliant encryption, the documents you push around cannot be downloaded, copied or forwarded, making it ideal for law firms, medical agencies and movie studios that currently blow thousands of dollars on using messengers to take secret stuff ’round town.
Filed under: Internet, Software
TigerText adds secure messaging to Dropbox in bid to rid the world of bicycle couriers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
As a top executive and employee number 20 at Google, there wasn’t necessarily a tremendous opportunity for growth at the Mountain View search giant. That may explain Marissa Mayer’s recent decision to jump ship in favor of joining Yahoo as the company’s chief executive — a role the former Google VP of Local, Maps and Location Services plans to assume tomorrow. Mayer joined Google way back in June of 1999 as the company’s first female engineer, and remained employed until her resignation earlier today. There’s no question that Yahoo will be in good hands — its new CEO does in fact have a degree in computer science — but the company’s future still remains in question, following a clear inability to catch up to its chief competition.
Continue reading Yahoo appoints former Google exec Marissa Mayer as CEO
Filed under: Internet
Yahoo appoints former Google exec Marissa Mayer as CEO originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Only a handful of Skype users have reported this problem over at the support forum, but what they’re complaining about is pretty hair-raising. They say that, following an update in June, instant messages have repeatedly and unintentionally been forwarded to random people in their contact lists. In other words, third-parties are seeing stuff they were never meant to see, which constitutes a serious breach of privacy. Skype now tells us it’s aware of the issue and is working on a fix. Here’s the official response in full:
“We are aware that in rare circumstances IM’s between two contacts could be sent to an unintended third contact. We are rolling out a fix for this issue in the next few days and will notify our users to download an updated version of Skype.”
[Thanks, Kuldar]
Filed under: Internet
Skype confirms ‘rare’ bug that sends messages to unintended contacts, promises fix soon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Steam’s Android app has thrown up a selection of new categories that point to the possibility of productivity apps and other types of non-gaming software being sold in the near-future. Ranging from photo editing to accounting, there’s ten categories that aren’t available on the desktop version. It would open up yet another branch for Valve, which already offers books and movies through its online store, but until these categories get fleshed-out — they’re currently empty — we’re left guessing as to what it’s likely to offer.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Steam store reveals a handful of new categories, hints at non-gaming app possibilities originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Breaking up is hard to do, and it took Microsoft and NBC a few more days to hammer out all the details and make it official. NBC is buying the software maker’s half of the MSNBC website for a reporter $300 million, which will be renamed NBC News — a change which has already taken place if you try to hit up the old site. Its HQ will also move across from Microsoft’s hub in Redmond to New York. Following the split, Microsoft is apparently readying its own news service for launch later this year, aiming to hire around the same number of people that were put to work on the previous site — and looking to improve on its recent online fortunes.
Filed under: Internet
It’s official: Comcast buys out Microsoft’s share of MSNBC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 06:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The @ reply has long been cited as an example of Twitter’s organic growth, having birthed from its users rather than a San Francisco office — but who really started it? After some in-depth sleuthing, early adopter Garrett Murray now credits the ad hoc invention to Robert Andersen, who gave kudos to an especially dedicated (and injured) compatriot on November 2, 2006. The origin day most accept as part of the common legend, November 23rd that same year, was more of a happy accident where Murray and others decided to use the now famous shift-2 keypress to clear up their conversation paths. When you see the @ reply front and center in modern Twitter apps, then, raise a glass to Andersen’s unintentionally avant garde microblogging.
Filed under: Internet
Twitter @ reply’s original creator uncovered, did it before it was cool originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 05:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Daring Fireball, The Verge | Maniacal Rage, Robert Andersen (Twitter) | Email this | Comments
Google is doing something interesting at Best Buy stores that seems positively ass backwards: they’re giving away copies of their Chrome browser on CD. What is this?! 1998?! But when you think about it, it makes sense; they’re trying to get less tech savvy users—like our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles—to switch over to a proper browser that won’t load their computers with as many trojans and malware. More »
Before Google there were many search engines worth trying out on the Internet. Technically, many of them still exist. What, you haven’t visited Dogpile recently? Well maybe you should, if only to see what its puny algorithm thinks you’re searching for. More »
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