Sophos urges caution on Facebook apps

Facebook users have been advised to exercise caution before downloading applications on the social-networking site, after an application was identified as downloading adware onto users’ PCs.

According to IT security vendor Sophos, the discovery concerning the Secret Crush application underscores the need for Facebook users to be careful about the kinds of third-party applications they install.

The application invites unsuspecting Facebook users to find out which of their friends have a secret crush on them. After installing the application, however, users are instead directed to an external website inviting them to download applications such as MyWebSearch, which allows for pop-up advertising.

Details: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39291981,00.htm

Data Portability: Connect, Control, Share, Remix

Data portability is about you, the user, being able to move and use your data across space and across time.

• your data – whether you created it or purchased it
• across space – different websites, different devices, different media, different applications, space-shifting in general
• across time – archiving at one point in time, retrieving at another point in time, time-shifting in general 

Philosophy: As users, our identity, photos, videos and other forms of personal data should be discoverable by, and shared between our chosen (and trusted) tools or vendors. We need a DHCP for Identity. A distributed File System for data. The technologies already exist, we simply need a complete reference design to put the pieces together.

Details: http://www.dataportability.org/

Google and Facebook join data-sharing alliance

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Google and Facebook have signed up to an alliance, DataPortability, which aims to unify identity and data management across various social-networking platforms.

According to its website, DataPortability exists “to put all existing technologies and initiatives in context to create a reference design for end-to-end data portability [and] to promote that design to the developer, vendor and end-user community”. Other organisations that have signed up include the social-networking sites LinkedIn and Plaxo.

“As users, our identity, photos, videos and other forms of personal data should be discoverable by, and shared between, our chosen tools or vendors,” reads the founding “philosophy” on DataPortability’s website. “We need a DHCP [a protocol used in IP networking] for identity. A distributed file system for data. The technologies already exist, we simply need a complete reference design to put the pieces together.”

Details: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39292024,00.htm  

Asus shows off terabyte laptops

Asus has been showing off what it claims are the world’s first laptops with hard-drive capacities of 1TB (terabyte).

The new Asus M50 and M70, both on show at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, each contain two of Hitachi’s 5K500 hard drives. The 2.5-inch SATA drives each boast a capacity of 500GB, marking a new record for single-drive units that are usable in laptops, Hitachi has claimed.

Asus is promoting the M50 and M70 as entertainment laptops, saying their large hard drives mean the laptops can hold sizeable amounts of high-definition video content. There were no specific availability details at the time of writing, although an Asus spokesperson said the M50 and M70 would be released towards the end of March.

Hitachi’s 5K500 drives will be made available worldwide in February.

Source: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/  

Google software makes it easier to share

 Google Inc. is introducing an online business software package designed to make it easier for people in the same organization to share documents and information.

The free “Team Edition” software, scheduled to debut Thursday, represents the Internet search leader’s latest attempt to attract more users to free applications, which poses a potential threat to rival Microsoft Corp.’s highly profitable word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and calendar programs.

 The launch marks the second time Google has upgraded a business program this week – a week when Microsoft awaits a response to its bid to buy Yahoo Inc. in an attempt to undermine Google’s dominance of Internet search and advertising.

 Details: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080207/ap_on_hi_te/google_software;_ylt=Asb5H.bBB0miB5pnohtvZsz6VbIF

Aamir Khan on Internet

 

“The past few months have been quite a ride. And the last month the most exciting, nerve racking, exhausting, rejuvenating, draining, enriching. Am I ever going to recover? I feel like I’ve been stuffed into a washing machine which doesn’t have an off button. After this I really need to be put out to dry in the sun and left alone. But no such luck. I start shooting for GHAJINI on the 22nd”

Aamir Khan posted this on 21st January on his official blog. Yes, he interacts with his fans through his blog.  If you want to take a look as what Aamir is doing these days, visit his website. You will get all the information. You can also talk to him and express your feelings. He also replies to questions thrown at him.

 Aamir Khan’s official website: http://www.aamirkhan.com/

Ravi Shastri on ibibo

Social networking site ibibo.com has roped in Ravi Shastri, a former Indian cricketer and now a cricket commentator, to start a cricket-related blog on the ibibo platform. Ravi Shastri is currently in Australia to cover the ODI (One Day International) Triangular series between India, Australia and Sri Lanka. Ravi Shastri will blog about each match on ibibo.com.

Ravi Shastri will also answer questions from the ibibo community and will adjudge the winner on the basis of the most number of interesting questions asked and answered. Six lucky winners will get to meet Ravi Shastri in Mumbai, Ibibo has said.

For more details visit: http://www.ibibo.com/ravishastri