Group items tagged

This covers some of the tools and services under development and how to use them. While it is a little bit behind the curve, it covers search blogger, newsgroups, and other tools. It also list sites for Google employee blogging and sites that speculate what Google's next big thing will be.

FROM THE BLOG: As many people have pointed out, my comic about tweets outrunning seismic waves seems to have been widely verified in yesterday's earthquake: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/earthquake-twitter-users-learned-tremors-226481 It's always nice to see real-life confirmation of your calculations! The quake started in Virginia at 13:51:04 EST, where most of my family lives.

And so it begins in the real world and not in a movie, or lab demo. This is a real attack on US infrastructure via the internet. Foreign hackers broke into a water plant control system in Illinois last week and damaged a water pump in what appears to be the first reported case of a malicious cyber attack damaging a critical computer system in the United States, according to an industry expert. On Nov. 8, a municipal water district employee in Illinois noticed problems with the city's water pump control system, and a technician determined the system had been remotely hacked into from a computer located in Russia, said Joe Weiss, an industry security expert who obtained a copy of an Illinois state fusion center report describing the incident. "This is a big deal," said Weiss. The report stated it is unknown how many other systems might be affected.

Facebook appears to have U-turned on plans to allow external websites to see users' addresses and mobile phone numbers. Security experts pointed out that such a system would be ripe for exploitation from rogue app developers. The feature has been put on "temporary hold", the social networking firm said in its developers blog.

Google Maps has introduced usage limits. According to a blog post by Thor Mitchell, product manager, Google Maps API, developers must now reduce their usage below set limits, opt-in to paying for excess usage or purchase a Maps API Premier licence. Update: A Google spokesperson has provided .net with the following statement: "Non-profits are not subject to these usage limits. For example, a disaster relief map is not subject to the usage limits even if it has been developed and/or is hosted by a commercial entity. In addition we recommend that eligible non-profits apply for a Maps API Premier license through the Google Earth Outreach program. This provides a number of benefits, including the right to opt-out of advertising, higher quotas for Maps API web services, and technical support." "We understand that developers need time to evaluate their usage, determine if they are affected, and respond if necessary," said Mitchell, noting that enforcement will only occur as of early 2012. He reasoned as follows on the changes: "[For] continued growth in adoption of the Maps API we need to secure its long-term future by ensuring that even when used by the highest volume for-profit sites, the service remains viable." Developers we contacted were split on the decision. Matthew Budd of Yammayap told us he's "been using the Google Maps API for years and restrictions come and go". He said that Google realises its system is widely used and imposing restrictions is inevitable. "All this restriction does is clarify the reasoning behind using Google Maps as a solution and shouldn't affect general everyday usage, where a whole online application doesn't rely on it," he added, suggesting that if you do need to use Google Maps as the basis for a whole application for a client, it makes sense to purchase a Premier license to lift the restrictions.

yber attacks on the UK are at "disturbing" levels, according to the director of Britain's biggest intelligence agency. Government computers, along with defence, technology and engineering firms' designs have been targeted, Iain Lobban, the head of GCHQ, has said. China and Russia are thought to be among the worst culprits involved in cyber attacks. On Tuesday, the government hosts a two-day conference on the issue. Foreign Secretary William Hague convened the London Conference on Cyberspace after criticism that ministers are failing to take the threat from cyberwarfare seriously enough.