Google now allows users to block sites from search results, allowing for a more personalized, more relevant search experience. When you run a search, each result should have a "Block all example.com results" link beside it. Clicking that button will hide the domain in your future searches. When Google hides a result you've blocked, you'll see a "blocked results" message at the top of the ... Read more »

Google has made some improvements to the way Twitter accounts show up in search results. Rather than just a link to the account, you'll now see improved snippets featuring the Twitter user's icon and most recent tweet. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but the new enhanced snippets are particularly useful when you're trying to distinguish between two people with the same name, or when you're ... Read more »

Rdio, a streaming music subscription service, has just added a native Mac app to its web-based and iPhone-based players. Both web and mobile subscribers will be able to use the new Mac version of Rdio. The app offers easy access to your Rdio stations, top artists, queue and listening history. It's also slicker and faster than the existing Adobe Air app for Rdio, with none of the Flash issues ... Read more »

Google Maps has included traffic data for some time, but now Google Maps for Android takes that traffic information into account when it's giving you directions. The latest Beta version of Google Maps Navigation uses the alternative routes Google Maps has always suggested, and automatically picks the fastest one, based on real-time and historical traffic information. There's an awful lot of ... Read more »

If you've got a jailbroken iPhone, you can easily remove the annoying new "quick bar" from the official Twitter for iPhone app. A free app called Twizzler does the trick, and it's available in the Cydia store right now. Just install Twizzler, relaunch Twitter, and the quick bar is gone. No fuss necessary. Now, if only Twitter would add this option to the official app's settings ... ... Read more »

Twitter's iOS apps have been updated with several new features and UI tweaks. The first thing you'll notice in the iPhone version is the new "quick bar" at the top of your timeline. It displays a rotating list of trends, including promoted trends, and can't be disabled. It's a feature if you like trends, but it's just a pesky ad banner if you don't. The quick bar hasn't appeared in the iPad ... Read more »

Apple released the latest version of iTunes, iTunes 10.2, today, and it's now available for download. iTunes 10.2 introduces support for the iPad 2 (due out March 11) and is required for syncing devices running the new iOS 4.3 (also due out on the 11th). iTunes 10.2 also features improvements to Home Sharing, including support for streaming media to iOS 4.3 devices using Home Sharing. ... Read more »

The iPad 2 launches on March 11th, with a new dual-core A5 processor and HDMI Out capability, but what about the software? Apple announced that the iPad currently has 65,000 apps (compared to 100 for Android Honeycomb tablets), and that the iPad 2 will run the new iOS 4.3. iOS 4.3 features performance improvements in Safari, thanks to the addition of the Nitro JavaScript engine. It also brings ... Read more »

If you've started to notice your Twitter friends looking a little blocky lately, it's probably because they've got trendy 8-bit avatars from Eightbit.me. This site lets you create a full-body 8-bit avatar in your own image, from hair color, glasses and facial hair down to the outfit you're wearing. The plan is eventually to let all these personal avatars participate in some kind of game ... Read more »

Tiny Wings is an iOS game from Andreas Illiger starring a bird, but it doesn't have much else in common with Angry Birds. For one thing, it's a lot prettier. For another, gameplay is less destructive and more relaxed. You control a bird with tiny wings who dreams of flying. All you have to do is put your finger on the screen to gather speed on the downhills, and then let go to watch your bird ... Read more »

Angry Birds hasn't been officially ported to the BlackBerry, but a company called Smarter Apps got tired of waiting and produced an unofficial "alternative" called Angry Farm. The gameplay is virtually identical to Angry Birds, but you control farm animals instead of birds, and your opponents are foxes instead of pigs. Angry Farm has 30 levels and free upgrades for life, and it works on ... Read more »

Sparrow, the slick-looking Mac email client that rocked the Mac App Store's sales charts earlier this month, isn't for everyone. But how do you know if it's for you without shelling out the $10 price of admission? That's where Sparrow Lite comes in. Sparrow Lite is a free, ad-supported version of Sparrow that's designed to give you a feel for the app's unique approach to email. It's practically ... Read more »

Popular iPhone photo-sharing app Instagram has just released a real-time updates API that allows developers to use Instagram photos, tags, and locations in their own apps. The announcement wasn't all theoretical either: you can already see the new API in action with apps including Foodspotting, Dropbox and Momento. Other trendy apps will be launching Instagram integration soon, Flipboard and ... Read more »

Facebook's Android app has some serious security issues, according to a computer science professor at Rice University. Professor Dan Wallach and his students set up simple sniffers using freely-available software (including Wireshark and Mallory) and found that Facebook for Android sends a lot of data in the clear. That means it's possible -- easy, even -- for people to eavesdrop on your Facebook ... Read more »

Google's latest search trick is recognizing recipes in search results, and showing you a quick overview of a recipe before you even click through. Thanks to some XML tricks, you'll soon be able to see ingredients, ratings and thumbnail images for recipes right in your search results. Google's recipe search also has some advanced options (found in the search sidebar), including filters for ... Read more »