Category: Op-Ed

Lovers of privacy and of "not doing evil", rejoice! The Google Analytics team just announced they are working on a browser-based opt-out mechanism. In simple terms, this means that a user could install an add-on or a plug-in and simply say "I don't want Analytics to track me, ever". Bam -- done deal. No more Analytics tracking for said user on any site. I think this is a brilliant PR move on ...

Ok, Google, I know your big thing is search. And I know it's a great way to get around my GMail inbox and find stuff on the Internet -- but it's just not that awesome in the Google Chrome Extension Gallery. While the number of extensions available might be catching up to Firefox, the Mozilla site is infinitely more enjoyable to explore. There we can browse by tags, categories, sift through the ...

I've got nothing against the iPad. I haven't even touched one yet, after all, so it wouldn't really be fair for me to rip it apart or sing its praises. There's just one thing I'm curious about after seeing the first commercial on TV last night: why is nearly everyone pictured sitting down with the iPad in their lap? I'll hazard a guess: it's probably a little awkward to use it in most other ...

Six of the twelve browsers chosen to be a part of the EU "Browser Choice Screen" petitioned the European Commission on Thursday, asking politely -- very politely -- that the Commissioners "consider any of the following suggestions which could be easily and quickly implemented and would allow users to exercise choice." "Ok, seriously? Already? WTF!", was my immediate reaction. Browserchoice.eu ...

So I thought Ubiquity was dead. It turns out I wasn't wrong, and now the issue has been clarified with information directly from Mozilla. Besides updating the main project page, Aza Raskin himself posted a reply to my original post. Some choice quotes: Q: As to why Ubiquity is now at the point that it is – are you still the project lead for Ubiquty or have other Mozilla tasks pulled ...

Creative writing is not an easy task, but the web gives us great opportunities to collaborate and get some help. For our own book, my friend and I set up a custom DokuWiki which does the trick quite nicely. But not everyone likes to tinker; some people simply want to get down to business and start telling their story while getting feedback from their writing buddies. This is the purported ...

It's not that I don't understand what Intel is trying to do with AppUp - their angle is pretty clear. There's plenty of potential profit if Intel negotiates distribution deals with OEMs and can get AppUp preinstalled on millions of netbooks. But what's the big selling point for the consumer? There are, after all, loads of great sites you can already visit to download freeware and ...

When I was growing up during the 1960s, just having a remote control television felt a little "science fiction." Back then, access to leading-edge technology was unthinkable. So you can imagine my surprise when I was given a computer for my 13th birthday -- a Digi-Comp II. I vividly remember studying the outside of the box, carefully reading all the text and taking it all in. I had no idea what ...

Ah, Evony. Sweet, sweet Evony. Chances are if you've been online for more than a day or two and you dare step outside the sandbox of Gmail or Facebook and into the seedy underbelly of the beast, you'll have seen the Evony ads. Take a good, long look at the advert to the right --> OK. Now what're you thinking? BOOBS? Voyeuristic pleasures of the flesh? 'You know, it looks like she's ...

Thanks in no small part to an errant Gizmodo post this morning, the blogosphere is once again atwitter with musings of a "leaked" Chrome OS build that we can all download and enjoy. Share Wrong, wrong, wrong. First and foremost, the "build" they're talking about is a fan-built Linux distro with Chrome bolted on created using SUSE Studio. Second, no official Google project is going to be hosted ...

News just in: iPhone users are three times more likely to Tweet or Facebook their sexual antics than BlackBerry users. I'll just put into words what you're all thinking: what a big frackin' surprise. Apple users more vapid and self-centered than other-brand gadgeteers? Say it ain't so! In fact, stereotypical Apple users are a classic example of modern-day 'Napoleon complex' (or 'short man ...

This isn't the first time Microsoft has taken liberties with Firefox users. There's that whole .Net thing that happened back in May of this year. So what gives, Redmond? Why - especially after the fallout from the last incident - would you go and push a Windows Presentation Foundation plugin on my Firefox install? I didn't ask for it, and I don't really want it. Plenty of people consider ...

Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for free applications that help us keep our systems malware-free, provided that they actually work as advertised. Lark Antispyware...not so much. When I see something new and potentially interesting show up on Softpedia, I'll download it to see if it's worth sharing. Most of the time an app is postable because it's useful. Sometimes it's postable because people ...

It's all over the place; Verizon is embracing Android. Google loving apologist geeks everywhere are heralding the 85 million new customers -- who are obviously ready to try Android, if only Verizon would let them -- as the beginning of a new era in mobile phone competition. The cries of panacea are all I've heard all day: "It's going to be a floodgate of new users! " "Death to the iPhone!" ...

What's been on the Internet 12 hours too long, is 5 years too old and demonstrates the gaping chasm between blog journalism and credibility? This Huffington Post piece pointing to a five year old YouTube video as footage from yesterday's tsunami in American Somoa. Are you getting all your news on the Internet? Constantly cruising a mix of major and minor media sites, or sucking them all in at ...