Social Networking Website Software Proves To Be Safe and Secure

Most of the internet users of today are members of one social networking website or the other. There are many popular social networks like MyTube, Face Book and MySpace which has maximum members in them, which is attributed to the safe and secure social networking website software it uses on the website.

With so many people becoming members of social networks, the quest to find out if the information and data provided to the social networks is actually in safe hands goes on and on. And the answer these people always receive is an affirmative one.

This is because this social networking website software is constantly updated to ensure that people on the site are safe. This does not come as much of a surprise, considering the fact that the sudden rise in people being blackmailed through such information has made it important that safety and security is a priority on the sites.


Social networking sites are a great way of teaching children to keep in touch with family members and friends. However, this can be made possible only if you teach your children all the security features and restrictions available on the site to the child. If the child is not aware of these steps that have to be taken to protect private and personal information, the child may jeopardize this information. As the social networking website software offers all these tools on site, it does not prove difficult to teach your child the basic security features of the site.

However, there is no point in having security features in the social networking website software, if you are not careful in using the computer. There are many people who leave their email addresses, home address, full name and phone number on pages that are open for public to see. Remember it is important that you restrict strangers from accessing your personal information to be successful in the internet, and especially social networks.

It is only on visiting a social networking site do you realize the amount of security the social networking website software maintains in the site. The security features of the software includes encryption, CAPCHA codes, spam filters and even passwords that are used to ensure your safety in the site.

Of course, these safety features may not prove to be something special as practically all websites have these features. However there is some additional security provided with the social networking website software which is, providing users with the ability to block and restrict access to the site by people who are not known or recognized by the site.

One of the most popular social networking sites successfully using this software to day is Facebook, which is presently one of the largest social networking sites catering to high school and college students.

Basically, access to any profile page on the site is restricted unless and up till you are added as a friend in the site. Once you are declared and added as a friend, you can view the pages of your friend, leave comments when required and even send messages. It is also possible to see other friends of your friend; and by registering yourself as their friends, you will be able to see their private pages too. With all this security, personal information remains private and personal.

In the case of another site, MySpace, security issues are handled differently. Here the access to your page can be tailored for only friends and in some situations, let everyone else have a look at your page too. You can also place limitations on who can request making friendships with you. With this feature, it is possible to not only avoid spammers, but also prevent inappropriate people visiting or gaining access to your profile page.

All this does not imply that you have to take this software for granted. Remember that hackers will always look for ways to hack into accounts and gain access to information. This is why no matter how safe a social networking website may seem you should never disclose too much personal information on your profile page.

Remember that if you cannot actually control your personal information on the web, you are the one who will suffer from its consequences. Never actually rely only on the security measures found on social networking website software. It is better to consider them to be additional tools that you can use with your common sense for your own safety.

So it can be said that these features, with the safety steps and etiquette you have to maintain when on the internet all leave you with a social networking website software that is not only safe, but will keep you secure at all times.

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Oracle launches computer hardware

Enterprise software firm Oracle is to sell computer hardware for the first time in partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP). The firm has launched an HP-designed, co-branded database system, as well as a smaller storage system, both of which go on sale this week.

The hardware is designed to speed up data retrieval via Oracle's software products and marks the firm's efforts to offer more comprehensive business software solutions, reports Associated Press. The move expands on a long-standing engineering agreement between Oracle and HP.

The HP Oracle Database Machine is configured for data warehousing, uses 64 Intel processor cores and can store 168 Terabytes of data. It will retail for USD650,000, but excludes the cost of Oracle software, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, the HP Oracle Extradata Storage Servers is aimed at enterprise customers with existing data warehouses. This hardware is designed to enhance data processing and offers 12 Terabytes of storage.

The launch was unveiled by company CEO Larry Ellison during a keynote speech at the Oracle Open World event in San Francisco. The move follows Oracle's USD8.5bn buyout of software rival, BEA Systems, last April. Read More...

3 Theories on Why Fewer eBay Listings Are Showing Up on Google

Ever since 9/16 when fp30 rolled along with a bunch of finding bugs, we have seen sales plummet in many categories with apparel and jewelry being hit the hardest.

While most sellers are focusing in on some of the eBay (eBay) finding wackiness, one seller noticed Google (Google) had all but disappeared as a 'source' of traffic in their advanced store reports.

Based on that tip, we started doing some looking and saw some very unusual behavior.

Here's a search for a popular Nike product's model number:

Notice that the second, third and fifth search results are all for eBay international sites and not ".com".

I've run literally hundreds of searches and you have to really work now to find eBay in the organic (and even paid) Google results. Interestingly enough, when I did find the occasional eBay listing in the index, it was an FP30.

Note that eBay's pagerank [PR] doesn't seem to have changed - it's at 8/10.

Theories on what is going on...
I have a couple of quick theories on what's going on:

• Given their track record in the last couple of weeks, it's possible that eBay has done something to mess up the crawlability of the site.
• It could be that eBay has asked Google to not crawl anything but fp30 dramatically reducing the number of eBay listings in the google index (this doesn't seem very smart, but hey anything's possible I guess)
• It could be that Google is using this tough spot for eBay to kick them in the ribs and has decided that eBay listings are 'not relevant' and yanked them from the index.

Personally I think the last theory is the most probable given the near overnight disappearance of eBay's listings from the Google index.

Readers - any insights into what you are seeing/think is going on

Disclosure: Author is long eBay and Google.

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Welcome to the Future

by: David Ewing Duncan

With a little help from Google, secretive Silicon Valley startup 23andMe is betting you’ll want to Web-surf your own DNA. But is the science ready?

Graphic by: Martin Krzywinski
This just in: Illumina C.E.O. Jay Flatley has the “sprinting” gene, a cluster of DNA that is associated with professional athletes and Olympic track stars, those human beings whose muscles twitch fast instead of slow. Flatley, a stocky 55-year-old industrial engineer, chuckles at this discovery.


On the other hand, he lacks a fairly common gene variant linked to Type 2 diabetes. That’s good news, he says, zooming in on a virtual human body that’s now floating on his computer screen. He clicks on the figure’s leg, and up pops a page describing the gene for restless legs syndrome, a malady that causes some people to flail around at night, resulting in sleeplessness. The webpage includes graphics, descriptions, and links to studies and references, including PubMed, an online health science library. “This site will tell me if I have a gene for obesity,” he says, “or whether my earwax is wet or dry. I’m not kidding.”

My fast but fantastic voyage through the inner Flatley comes during a visit to his company’s San Diego headquarters, where he has allowed me to peek at an early version of the site being developed by a Silicon Valley startup, 23andMe, which is named after the number of paired chromosomes in every human. In stealth mode until a launch planned for later this year, 23andMe is using Illumina’s powerful gene-reading chips to build a company that is among several hoping to cash in on personalized genomics—the tailoring of an individual’s health care and lifestyle based on DNA and biomarkers.

When 23andMe goes live, customers will be asked to spit into short plastic tubes or to swab cells from inside their cheeks and mail in the sample. 23andMe will then analyze the data in relation to reams of information about ailments, treatments, diet, and ancestry and compare the results with those of thousands of others who have been tested for genes associated with diseases and other traits.

The cybersynthesis will be channeled into a customized DNA diary on the website. The company is considering a feature that would allow people to then link their personalized pages to those of others who share their DNA—fellow sprinters, say, or people at risk for Alzheimer’s—just as you can now link to college chums on Facebook. 23andMe has not discussed pricing, but competitors are talking about charging upwards of $2,000 a person.

As wonderful as this sounds, 23andMe is plunging into very controversial territory. Scientists and ethicists warn that the understanding of most genes remains a work in progress—and, as a result, users could make life decisions based on incomplete or erroneous science. “Just because we have identified a gene doesn’t mean its function or its impact has been thoroughly understood or that having a gene has any real predictive value,” says Francis Collins, who led the international consortium that sequenced the human genome and now directs the National Human Genome Research Institute.

This admonition, however, has not deterred 23andMe and other online companies from entering what they believe is a potentially gigantic market. “We’ve only scratched the surface of understanding the human genome,” admits a source familiar with 23andMe. “But the company will be very responsible with the information it will make available to consumers. 23andMe is working closely with the research community.”

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New iPhone 2.1 Update!!!!

I’m starting a new positively posh post every Friday that will include some fabulous finds.

For today, we have a special guest, the iPhone 2.1 update! Not only is Apple stating that this update will fix those reputed dropped calls, but also lend a hand in that poor battery life. What could be better news on a Friday, I ask you?

Here’s a quick list of what’s included in the iPhone 2.1 update:

* Decrease in call failures & those pesky little dropped calls
* Better battery life
* Supposedly fixes crashes from third party apps! Here I come LOLCats!
* Better text messaging performance
* Faster loading of your beloved contacts
* Improved accuracy of 3G signal
* And tons more!!!

Get you one today! Read More...

Get Now! Email Management Via Gmail

Recently, I wanted to increase the productivity of the management of all my emails. I had been using Outlook for maybe 8 years or so, and was relatively happy. However, I wondered if there was a smoother way to deal with my emails. You see, I get 100-200 emails per day. I need a proper method in place to manage this, otherwise, I lose time which to me is of a great value.

I had switched to Google Calendar, and I was wondering if a similar switch from Outlook to Gmail would actually work. Gmail would have to have all that Outlook offers and then some for me to transfer over. Here is what I found out:

Multiple accounts & label system
I was pleasantly surprised to know that I could fully manage up to 5 accounts + the actual Gmail account from within the same account. This was very good because I happen to have 3 or 4 different email addresses. What’s different about Gmail is that it does not have folders. Within Outlook, I would save and/or arrange my emails in different folders. With Gmail, you put a label on it and then you can retrieve it by searching within that label’s category. It gives you the same result in my opinion. Labels or folders, I find my emails just the same. Labels might be a little cleaner as far as what the screen looks like since it takes less space than to have tons of folders.

Huge archive storage
It is very important for me to save emails and be able to retrieve them easily. With Outlook, the database backup was just enormous in size for what is basically text. Plus, searching through old emails in Outlook takes a embarrassing amount of time. With Gmail, you get about 7 Gigabyte of storage space. I have barely used 1% of it so far (1 month of usage). Searching within Gmail is so easy and so fast. I can easily archive all my conversations, and find what I need to find within a matter of seconds. This saves me a lot of time, because I would get very frustrated when searching for an email for a client and having Outlook take 5 min. or freeze on me.

Great spam filter
The spam filter in Gmail is really good. I was actually very surprised as to how much more accurate it is compared to the filters in Outlook or the ones installed on the web server for POP or IMAP accounts. I usually had about 30-50 spams that would still find their way into my inbox every day with Outlook. Now, after 1 month, I remember 1 or 2 spam that made it into my inbox. The difference in efficiency is clearly obvious.

Star system
One of the best features in Gmail is the fact that you can apply a “star” (or question mark, exclamation point, etc.) to a particular email, so that you can be reminded to follow up on it later. When looking at a screen of 100 emails, it’s hard to remember which ones you need to reply to or whatnot if there is nothing to make them stand out. I have found my ability to properly deal with emails where my attention was required multiple times has improved because of this star system. Sometimes I cannot reply right away, but I put a little exclamation mark next to it to remind me that I need to reply back. I put a little star next to an email where I am expecting a response back. This feature can really boost your productivity.

More features
Just like other emails, you have all the features you need. You can add a signature to your outgoing emails. There is a vacation auto-responder as well. Before, I had to set up 4 different auto-responders for each email account. Within Gmail, just one takes care of everything. What’s also great is that you can have your Gmail in sync with your Google Talk account. I use this chat service often, and it saves my chat history within my Gmail account. So if I discuss something with a client, I can easily find the information back if necessary, and I can do that extremely quickly. Plus, you get notifications on the chat when you have new emails. You can also add your own filters to incoming emails. These are very flexible and highly customizable. There is also an option to create keyboard shortcuts for common tasks that you might do within your account. These features are nothing new, but they make Gmail truly a viable alternative to Outlook.

Best of all, I can access my Gmail account from any computer. Therefore, I can deal with my emails anywhere in the world I may be. With Outlook, I was restricted to one computer. And even using IMAP instead of POP, I would still have to login to each specific email account individually on the server itself. With Gmail, it’s all under one roof, and that’s what I found so powerful. This was one of the main reasons why I switched over. I wanted my work to be more remote and be accessible anywhere. Sometimes I am on the road, traveling, or on a laptop. Sometimes I just need to check something quickly while I am at a friend’s place. In any of these cases, I have full access to my email accounts just like I would if I was at the office. Add in all the other features I mentioned above, and the decision to switch over was very easy to make! To be perfectly honest, it’s been so smooth using Gmail, that I haven’t missed Outlook whatsoever ;)

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Affordable Apple: Here Come the Clones

It was only a matter of time after Apple’s switch to Intel and subsequent thriving of the OSx86 project. There were already plenty of hardware guides helping users spec out their own OSx86 compatible PCs. Now you can switch on the cheap without putting in that kind of effort. Psystar Corporation is selling computers with OS X Leopard preinstalled starting at $554.99. Here are the specs on their baseline machine:

* 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor
* 2GB of DDR2 667 memory
* Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
* 20x DVD+/-R SATA drive that is Lightscribe-capable



A significant processor gain and twice the memory and hard drive of Apple’s closest priced Mac mini which is $50 more. Interesting to note that most of the cost for these computers, like PCs today, is in the cost of the operating system. In fact, even more of the cost ($155) is due the operating system in the case of these machines because Apple does not have OEM licensing pricing available. Psystar does make their hardware available without Leopard preinstalled for $399, a move likely to encourage piracy of Apple’s OS X. If Apple can hold back the knee-jerk urge to sue they must be feeling right now, this could be another revenue opportunity. A $90-a-copy OEM licensing deal with companies like Psystar in exchange for the manufacturer agreeing not to sell the equipment without an operating system, similar to deals Microsoft has been known to engage in with Dell and other manufacturers, it would serve both add a revenue stream from a customer base that currently finds Apple’s lineup cost prohibitive and reduce revenue loss via piracy. That would make a lot of business sense. Apple will still be the Cadillac. These machines are large ugly bricks compared to the cool and sleek Mac mini. Of course I’m morally opposed to enforced licensing schemes such as that. ;)

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Google to release Web browser

'Chrome' challenges Microsoft's Explorer

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc. is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine.

The Mountain View-based company took the unusual step of announcing its latest product on the Labor Day holiday after it prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser's arrival.

The free browser, called "Chrome," is supposed to be available for downloading today in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft's Windows operating system. Google said it's still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.'s Mac computer and the Linux operating system.

Google's browser is expected to hit the market a week after Microsoft's unveiling of a test version of its latest browser update, Internet Explorer 8. The tweaks include more tools for Web surfers to cloak their online preferences, creating a shield that could make it more difficult for Google and other marketing networks to figure out which ads are most likely to appeal to which individuals.

Although Google is using a cartoonish approach to promote Chrome, the new browser underscores the gravity of Google's rivalry with Microsoft, whose Internet Explorer is used by about 75 percent of Web surfers.

Google's lead in the Internet search market is nearly as commanding, with its engine processing nearly two-thirds of the Web's queries.

For the past few years, Google has been trying to take advantage of its search engine's popularity to loosen Microsoft's grip on how most people interact with PCs.

The assault so far has been focused on a bundle of computer programs, including word processing and spreadsheet applications, that Google offers as an alternative to one of Microsoft's biggest money makers, its Office suite of products.
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Switching to Gmail IMAP on the BlackBerry

After reading this post a while ago and spending some time thinking about it, I’ve switched over to IMAP for Gmail access on the BlackBerry. Before I had an elaborate setup, using a filter to forward emails to my blackberry.net device email and then setting the device email to set from and reply-to to my gmail address and auto bcc my gmail address. All that because IMAP and POP have historically had much slower delivery times on the BlackBerry than the device and enterprise email. However, as I process more and more email using my device, I always have a pile of unread messages in my inbox whenever I log in to the web interface. I’ve tested IMAP again and it seems to be working much faster than in the past. Here are some notables about my new setup:

* Emails read on the BlackBerry are marked as read in Gmail
* Emails deleted from BlackBerry are archived in Gmail
* After creating a ‘Sent Items’ label in Gmail, emails sent from the BlackBerry appear under this label on the web interface. Conversations stay intact.

Technology wouldn’t be fun without a few caveats:

* Emails read in the web interface are not marked as read on the BlackBerry
* Emails archived or deleted in the web interface are not removed from the BlackBerry inbox
* Any previously archived messages moved to the inbox using the web interface will be redelivered as new messages on the BlackBerry

Now at least messages are marked as read when I view them on the device and I can archive messages from the device quickly to keep them from building up in my inbox. I still have the Gmail app installed but continue to see that as primarily a tool for searching through historic messages and chats, etc. from the device more than a good way to process incoming email and reply to it. Read More...