A cellphone operating system designed to encourage web surfing on the go could trigger a fresh assault on privacy.On 5 November, Google and 30 partners unveiled a joint venture called the Open Handset Alliance that aims to develop a Linux-based open-source cellphone operating system to be called Android. Anyone will be able to write applications for Android, and Google hopes this will lead to applications that free users from today's clunky handset browsers and web portals.

"They are trying to take the 'mobile' out of the mobile internet, making it as close to the experience on a PC as possible," says Ben Wood of telecoms consultancy CCS Insight in Solihull, UK.

What worries some privacy experts, though, is the combination of Google's policy of retaining users' search histories and a cellphone's ability to reveal your location and store the numbers you have called. Simon Davies of the watchdog Privacy International in London says that if Android merges location and calling data with that gathered by search engines, Google will be able to retain more detailed information on users. "Android has the potential to be a privacy Chernobyl," he says. Ian Brown at the Oxford Internet Institute agrees: "I wouldn't want Google having a day-to-day history of my searches, where I have been and who I am phoning. I wouldn't buy such a phone."

It doesn't have to work out this way. "With the right combination of user controls, privacy safeguards and responsible action, it could create privacy gains," Davies says.

Source: this information is based on the article "Google cellphone software poses privacy risk"

You can easily use Google to find thousands of Mp3s, Ebooks, Images and Movies that are stored in unprotected directories on the Internet.  By the term "unprotected" we are not just referring to "not password protected" directories but also to directories that don't have an "index" file. If you try to access a non-password protected directory that does not have an index file, the webserver will show you a listing of files that are within that directory.

Examples

Find any movie files in AVI or MPG format
[-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(mpg|avi)]

Find audio files in WMA or MP3 format
[-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(wma|mp3)]

Find images files in JPG or PNG format
[-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(jpg|png)]

How To Be More Specific ?

Find any types of files about Jennifer Lopez
[-inurl(html|htm|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +" Jennifer Lopez"]

Find the infamous Paris Hilton video tape
[-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(wmv|avi) "paris hilton"]

You can combine different search terms and experiment with something more interesting for you (those were just examples).

Google just published a new patent application that takes payments much further than the world of online ecommerce. As you can see from the filing's screenshots the name is Gpay.
Google's CEO insisted that Gpay was "not made to compete with PayPal or to replace existing peer to peer payment systems but that it's meant to be a new solution to a new problem."

If this new patent application is any indication of what problem Gpay was intended to solve, it is a much broader payment method than Paypal. The patent is detailed in:

Text message payment
Invented by Ramy Dodin
US Patent Application 20070203836
Published August 30, 2007
Filed: February 28, 2006
Description: A computer-implemented method of effectuating an electronic on-line payment includes receiving at a computer server system a text message from a payer containing a payment request representing a payment amount sent by a payer device operating independently of the computer server system, determining a payment amount associated with the text message and debiting a payer account for an amount corresponding to the amount of the payment request, and crediting an account of a payee that is independent of the computer server system.

The description in the patent provides a look at four different examples of payments that could be made using this system. Interestingly, none of them are online transactions, but rather involve the use of text messages for the purchase of goods or services with a payment made by the person making a purchase, and verification received by the seller.

Payments to vending machines, and to community honor systems (for example, an office lunchroom snack program) are also included within examples in the document.

The patent provides a lot of information on how this system would work, and well as giving us some screenshots of the system. It provides information on how an API could be used with the system for even more flexibility in how people make purchases, as well as other innovations. Here's an image of payment and verification screens:

The reasons that led to the "GMail account lock down" can be so many that one wonders how most of the GMail accounts are still working:

Thanks for your report. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience. For your security, we may temporarily disable access to your account if our system detects abnormal usage. It will take between one minute and 24 hours for you to regain access, depending on the behaviour our system detected. Abnormal usage includes, but is not limited to:

• Receiving, deleting, or popping out large amounts of mail (via POP) in a short period of time
• Sending a large number of undeliverable messages (messages that bounce back)
• Using third party file-sharing or storing software, or software that automatically logs in to your account and that is not supported by GMail
• Multiple instances of your mail account opened
• Browser-related issues. Please note that if you find your browser continually reloading while attempting to access your inbox, it is likely a browser issue, and it may be necessary to clear your browser's cache and cookies.

If you feel that access should not have been disabled, please visit http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=53897 for troubleshooting tips. Sincerely, The Google Team