Malware delivered by Yahoo, Fox, Drudge, Google ads

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

These charts show incidences of malware distributed by a number of ad delivery platforms over a six-day period last month that were detected by Avast. Yahoo and Fox have the highest counts. (Credit: Avast)

Drudge and ClusterFox make us sick enough already. Now we have their computer viruses to contend with:

Malware that exploits holes in popular applications is being delivered by big ad delivery platforms including those run by Yahoo, Fox, and Google, according to Prague-based antivirus firm Avast.

Viruses and other malware were found to be lurking in ads last year on high-profile sites like The New York Times and conservative news aggregator Drudge Report.com, and this year on Drudge, TechCrunch and WhitePages.com. The practice has been dubbed "malvertising." [...]

Users don't need to click on anything to get infected; a computer becomes infected after the ad is loaded by the browser, Avast said.

More here.

Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks

About damn time. I've been saying since 9/11 that the government should have gone straight to Microsoft after the attack and told them to design a program that would integrate all the various agencies in a cohesive way yet gave them that "stand alone" vibe that they covet. And told Bill Gates that it was a freebie for his country. Not using these resources is the crime.

The world's largest Internet search company and the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity.

Under an agreement that is still being finalized, the National Security Agency would help Google analyze a major corporate espionage attack that the firm said originated in China and targeted its computer networks, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the matter. The objective is to better defend Google -- and its users -- from future attack.

Google and the NSA declined to comment on the partnership. But sources with knowledge of the arrangement, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the alliance is being designed to allow the two organizations to share critical information without violating Google's policies or laws that protect the privacy of Americans' online communications. The sources said the deal does not mean the NSA will be viewing users' searches or e-mail accounts or that Google will be sharing proprietary data.

Google To Let News Groups Set Daily Reader Limits

By GottaLaff

Breaking:

Google said [...] it will let publishers set a daily limit on the number of articles readers can view for free through the Internet giant's search engine. The change, which will let publishers limit readers to five free articles per day...

I hope I have enough money to stay informed.

Google won't remove distorted Michelle Obama image from search engine

By GottaLaff

I just clicked over to the Google image search (Safe Search: moderate) in question and found nothing questionable on Page 1, 2, 3, or 4 and then stopped looking. Question: Where is the questionable photo in question? Answer: Glad it disappeared:

A crudely altered photograph of Michelle Obama, which often comes up as the first result on a Google image search of her name, will not be removed from the company's search process despite protests that the depiction is racist and repugnant.

"It's offensive to many people, but that alone is not a reason to remove it from our search index," Google spokesman Scott Rubin said. "We have, in general, a bias toward free speech."

I have a bias against racist images of the First Lady... or anyone else, for that matter.

If you're wondering, the image is from a blog and it depicts a Photoshopped Michelle as monkey-like. Nice, huh?

A different website containing the same depiction was banned by Google several days ago, but only because the site was deemed to contain malware that could spread a virus or similar online malady.

Coincidentally, racism is viral, too. It might be worth considering spreading race hatred an online malady.

News Corp may get paid to take its news websites off Google

By GottaLaff

Rupert the Pirate wants us to pay to access his sites? Good thing I don't go anywhere near them:

Microsoft Corp has had talks with News Corp about a tie up, which would involve News Corp getting paid to take its news websites off Google Inc, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. [...]

News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has said he wants to make people pay for access to his news websites. Other publishers including The New York Times are also searching for ways to charge for news online, convinced that they must not give news through search engines such as Google and Yahoo Inc.

I'll miss Frank Rich.

Google: Murdoch can keep his stories

By GottaLaff

Arrrr you really going through with this, Rupe? Say aye. Please say aye:

Google said on Tuesday, in response to threats by Rupert Murdoch to ban the search engine from listing content from his news empire, that any company could ask to have stories taken off. [...]

"Publishers put their content on the web because they want it to be found, so very few choose not to include their material in Google News and web search. But if they tell us not to include it, we don't."

It added: "If publishers want their content to be removed from Google News specifically all they need to do it tell us."

Nothing would make me day like Murdoch content walkin' the Google plank, mateys. I'd be tempted to pay many a doubloon for that to happen.

Video- Online digital memorial to troops

Competing sad vs cool.

Geithner and his Jewish Demon Horns

By GottaLaff



Do I make you horny, baby?

A little back, I wrote a post noticing that there are a lot of Google searches for “is Geithner Jewish?” and similar questions. [...]

First things first: No, Tim Geithner is not Jewish.

Moving on: The original blog post is in the top 10 on Google for the search “geithner jewish” and probably a host of similar searches. And because of this, the post is receiving some traffic for these searches, which gives me a little more data to look at. Here are the top 10 searches containing “geithner” that delivered traffic to this blog this week:

The list, unfortunately, doesn’t reveal much about the intent of the searchers. (with the exception of “geithner creepy jew?” HOLY MOLEY, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried). But when the list starts filling up with “geithner jewish demon horns,” I’ll be sure to let you know.

Yours,

The Google Pollster

"Geithner a creepy jew"?? Questioner a creepy jerk bigot?

First ever 'Google alphabet' formed using satellite images

Am I a geek for thinking this is something I would have liked to do?

The first ever 'Google alphabet' has been created using the internet giant's satellite service. Graphic designer Rhett Dashwood picked out natural features and building which resembled each of the 26 letters. The Australian did not even have look outside his home state of Victoria to find the full set.

(snip)

'I found them exactly as you think I might have,' he said. 'Slowly moving from page to page over the maps and visually scanning.' 'I did it in my spare time - it was better than doing a sudoku,' he said.'I set a little puzzle for myself.''I put some simple restrictions on my project, like sticking to my home state of Victoria and not manipulating (rotating or Photoshopping) the images in any way.

Click to enlarge or go here for a bigger version.

Google goofed

By GottaLaff

When Google goofs up, the whole wide world(wide Web) is affected:

Google’s Internet search service malfunctioned for nearly 55 minutes Saturday morning, upending users around the world with search results that carried false safety warnings and Web links that did not work.

The company acknowledged Saturday that all searches produced links with the same warning message: “This site may harm your computer.” Clicking on any of the links led to an error message stating that the desired site could not be reached.

“What happened?” Google explained in its blog. “Very simply, human error.”

One of their employees entered a typo on a Web address suspected of carrying dangerous software that could harm computers. That did it.

A little unnerving, when you think about it.

5 Hottest Inauguration Day Google Searches in the U.S.

You gotta love the google.

Looking at the U.S. Google searches that soared most in popularity on January 20

1. Inaugural Website
2. Inaugural Luncheon Menu
3. Inauguration Day 2009 Streaming
4. Left - Handed Presidents
5. Senator Kennedy

Deep Thought

Exactly how long do we have to wait for the Great Googley Intertubes Gods™ to fix it so we don't get an error prompt or replace word prompt (Osama) every time we type Obama?

McCain Beats Obama on Ad Prices

Don't quite understand it, but it seems underhanded.

"According to data from the Google AdWords website, advertisements targeted to users searching for 'John McCain' on the Internet cost nearly twice as much as those targeting users searching for 'Barack Obama,'" Politico reports.

"What's more, Google predicts that the term 'Barack Obama' will generate 153 to 191 clicks per day on related advertisements. But 'John McCain' does much better as advertiser bait: Google estimates that those ads get 213 to 266 clicks per day."

The most likely reason: The McCain campaign is bidding up the price by trying to direct more traffic to their campaign website.