Mar 22

China: We Didn’t Hack Gmail

Posted in: Gmail, Google, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

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Google yesterday revealed suspicions that its Webmail client Gmail had been hacked by the Chinese government. Users in that country had been reporting a number of technical problems, none of which could be attributed issues on Google’s end. The company told the press, “Relating to Google there is no issue on our side. We have checked extensively. This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.”

The invasion is thought to be a preemptive strike against potential dissidents spurred on by the rising pro-democracy protests springing up across the Middle East–a local movement known as the “jasmine revolution.”

China today responded to Google’s comments during a press conference held earlier today, telling the press that it “is an unacceptable accusation.” Government spokeswoman Jiang Yu also called the claims “groundless.”

This isn’t the first Google has accused the Chinese government of interfering with its services in the county. In January of last year, the company told the press that it believed the company had hacked Gmail in order to gather information on human rights activists.

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Mar 21

Google Introduces New, Spimpler Chrome Icon

Posted in: Chrome, Google, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

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Today, on its blog, Google introduced a new, simpler Chrome icon. Overall, the icon is basically the same thing, but redesigned to be less complicated and more abstract. On its blog, Google said, “A simpler icon embodies the Chrome spirit — to make the web quicker, lighter, and easier for all.” (Plus, not it looks even less like the old Simon game.)

Can’t see the new icon in your browser yet? That’s because it’s only available to those on Chrome’s “early release channels,” but Google said that as it brings new features to the beta and stable channels over the coming weeks, the new icon will be reflected in your browser.

What do you think of the new icon? I’m guessing you either love it or hate it. Let us know in the comments.

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Mar 21

eBook Sales Grow in the US, Paper Books in Decline

Posted in: ebooks, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

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The Association of American Publishers recently released figures for the past year ending in January 2011, and the results are startling: eBooks have taken off in a large way, with sales of eBooks from various book stores doubling year-over-year from January 2010; close to 115%. The report also cast gloom over sales of traditional paper books, which declined approximately 30% over the same period. Hardcover sales were the biggest loss, dropping over 11% from January 2010 to January 2011. 
That all sounds fairly remarkable, but it’s also important to note that while the eBook market is now a $70 million dollar industry, traditional paper books are no slouch, coming in at just under $50 million, even though fewer people are buying them overall and are moving to electronic formats. 
Back in January we noted that eBooks were outselling paperback books, and last summer we noted that eBooks were starting to outsell hardcovers at Amazon. The trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down considering the explosion of tablet devices, stand-alone, and eBook apps and download services on the market. There will likely always be a place to traditional paper books, but you have to wonder where that place will eventually be.
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Mar 21

.XXX Domain Green Lit After Protests

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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After much delay–and plenty of controversy–the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has finally given the go-ahead to the .XXX top-level domain for porn sites. The proposed TLD has seen protest from pretty much every side, from politicians, to conservative groups like the Family Research Council, to porn site owners, to free speech advocates like the Free Speech Coalition.

In fact, a strong opposition to the proposal may be the one thing that all of those groups have in common. Of course, they’ve all expressed very different reasons for coming out against it. The Family Research Council was worried that it would help porn sites “expand their evil empires on the Internet.” The porn industry on the other hand, was worried that it would curb its free speech rights, perhaps leading to something of a ghettoization of the adult industry. 
Stuart Lawley, CEO of the ICM Registry–the organization tasked with reviewing the newly created domains–argued that the .XXX domain will help better regulate porn sites. “At the moment, the consumer has no way of knowing who is operating to good standards or has viruses. This new domain allows webmasters to associate with best business practices.”
Registration for the domains will be limited to sites with adult content. 
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Mar 21

Google: China Hacking Gmail

Posted in: Google, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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According to Google, the Chinese government has hacked Gmail over fears of a “jasmine revolution” inspired by string of anti-governmental protests across the Middle East. Users and advertisers alike have complained about usage problems with the popular Webmail service, making it difficult to send messages, mark messages as read, and use other features.

Google insists that there’s are no issues with the service on its end. Said a Google spokesman, “Relating to Google there is no issue on our side. We have checked extensively. This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.”
This isn’t the first that Google has claimed to have been attacked by the Chinese government. In January of last year, the search giant revealed findings that the government had hacked its services in an attempt to find evidence of human rights activists in that country. 
The Chinese government is apparently looking to cut out the middle man altogether. Late last month, it launched search engine Panguso through state run China Mobile Ltd. 
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Mar 21

Accused Polygamist Busted Over Facebook Pics

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

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Tales of people getting fired from their job, broken up with, and passed over for work due to online content are as old as social networks themselves. This, however, may well be the first polygamist marriage busted via Facebook. So we’ve decided it needs a good nickname. How about “Big Like?”

Kody Brown, a 34-year-old Michigan resident, was busted on charges of polygamy after images from his second marriage discovered on Facebook. The images were discovered by Adina Quarto, Brown’s first (and still current) wife. After Brown unfriended Quarto before marrying his second wife in July of last year, images of the second marriage started popping up on the site.

“I didn’t think he deserved to get away with it,” Quarto told the press. “I’m not a bitter person and I’m not trying to destroy the guy. If he wants to start a new life, more power to him, but he got married when he shouldn’t have gotten married.”

As for Brown’s second wife? She’s reportedly “absolutely shocked” by the news.

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Mar 20

This Week’s Best YouTube Videos: Nuclear Boy, Black Friday, First Person Mario, and More

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili, videos, YouTube

Emerson is Scared

Have you ever wondered what Super Mario Bros. would look like as a first person shooter? Maybe you’ve watched coverage of last week’s earthquake and the ensuing tsunami in Japan and wondered exactly how terrifying it would be to be there? Maybe you’re not quite sure about the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, and could use a primer. There are videos for all of those questions and topics in this week’s YouTube roundup.
An adorable animation that describes the nuclear issue in Japan so clearly that a child could understand it (and that probably needs to be run on major news networks here in the US,) an amazing video from a driver’s dashboard camera as the tsunami comes up over the seawall next to his vehicle and engulfs him (he manages to escape,) a baby who is honestly terrified of his mother’s nose, and a video of some lady singing that no one really noticed until the Internet converged to make fun of her. Stay classy, Internet.
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Mar 18

Kevin Rose No Longer Digging Digg

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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Here’s a troubling signpost about the state of Digg–Kevin Rose is apparently not all that into the service anymore. The site’s founder didn’t submit a single story for a stretch of 22 days at the end of last year, and is currently averaging around one submission every four days. Rose submitted seven stories in 30 days–versus 181 tweets. Or, as TechCrunch puts it, “He’s 26x more active on Twitter than the company he founded.”

Is Rose over Digg, or is he just taking a bit of a break? Things are a little better for current CEO Matt Williams, who is submitting a story a day on average. Better, but not great.
Of course, all of this comes in the wake of a redesign last summer that caused a massive backlash against the service. Digg insists that all is peachy on the site, and so of the disgruntled users do appear to have returned, but things are definitely down overall..
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Mar 18

Yahoo Selling Delicious – Report

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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The future of Yahoo? It may well not include social bookmarking site Delicious. The once mighty search company is reportedly the final stages of a deal that would sell off Delicious for between $1 and $2 million.No word on who such a buyer might be, though it’s reportedly a “strategic partner,” according to an anonymous source. Business Insider points out that StumbleUpon seems to fit the profile, flush with cash after raising $17 million.

Yahoo has reportedly been looking to sell off Delicious for some time now–rumors of such a sale first hit back in December. The bookmarking site, while much beloved, is apparently not really much of a money maker for Yahoo. Perhaps a site with a bit more knowledge on the working of social bookmarking would have a better idea what to do with the company. 
StumbleUpon has yet to comment on any such rumors. 
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Mar 17

Western Digital Drops 6TB of Storage in the MyBook Studio II

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, storage, Today's Chili

WD MyBook Studio Edition II

News of the death of traditional, spinning hard drives may be more than a little bit exaggerated: today Western Digital announced the new MyBook Studio Edition II series of hard drives that top off at a dizzying 6TB. The drive system will set you back $549.99 retail price, and if you don’t need a full 6TB you can pick up 2TB and 4TB versions for less. 
The MyBook Studio Edition II is designed to provide instant access to large media and a safe backup solution for people who have lots of large files they need to move off of their computer regularly. 
Western Digital is specifically targeting businesses and creative professionals who work with huge amounts of data with the drives, and offers four different interfaces to connect your computer to the drive, including Firewire 400, Firewire 800, eSATA, and USB 2.0. It’s surprising that Western Digital didn’t drop USB 3.0 or Intel and Apple’s new Thunderbolt interface technology on the MyBook Studio II.
The drive will mount immediately in MacOS, and is compatible with Apple’s Time Machine backup software. Windows users will have to run Windows 7 or Vista to use the drive since Windows XP won’t support drive sizes larger than 2TB, and the drive includes backup and setup software for Windows users. The drive even sports an e-ink display on the front that shows you how full the drive is so you can tell when it’s time to buy another one – assuming you can fill one, that is.
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