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Google has introduced a new feature, Google Finance, which promises to provide up-to-the-minute quotes, financial news, charts, data, and groups. Once again Google, goes head to head with rival Yahoo!, and while Yahoo!’s finance portal offers a few things that Google Finance does not, the product is still in beta. Google Finance still lacks the polished look we have come to expect of Google’s pages, but the information supplied there is formatted in a pleasant manner. Google does not plan on coming up with its own information about financial matters, rather opting to rely on sources such as Reuters, Hoovers, and Morningstar, to provide charts and data.
Read More 
| Google Finance
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Security Hole In IE Vulnerable To Attack
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Internet, Microsoft, Software,
Code with which to exploit a hole in Microsoft Internet Explorer has been published on the Internet, leaving a lot of PC users uneasy about security issues. Internet Explorer is infamously prone to security problems, even with the so-called “fully patched” Internet Explorer 6 running on XP with Service Pack 2. There have been no reported attacks thus far, but all a user would need to do is unwittingly visit a website with the code embedded in it. Yet another reason to switch to Mozilla Firefox, or start using a Mac.
Code that takes advantage of a security hole in Internet Explorer has been published on the Web and could be used by someone to unleash an e-mail virus that could put people’s computers and data at risk, Microsoft and security experts said Thursday.
Read More | CNET
Browser Plugin Converts Prices From Cash to Oil
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Internet, Software,
Oil Standard is a browser plugin that converts prices from US Dollars to the equivilent value in barrels of crude oil. When you load a web page, the script seamlessly inserts converted prices into the page. As the cost of oil fluctuates on the commodities exchange, prices rise and fall in real-time. We’re not quite sure what the point of this plugin is, other than the interesting perspective it provides on money, but it’s sort of neat. Oil Standard is built for FireFox, and instructions for installing it, if you so desire, are on the site.
Read More | OilStandard
Latest Gear Live Videos
Ever wonder how it is exactly that iTunes works? Well, we have your hookup — no need to wonder any longer. HowStuffWorks has published a complete, exhaustive, in-depth article explaining in detail how iTunes actually works.
The iTunes Music Store is composed of XML-based pages, lots of them encrypted using 128-bit AES in CBC mode. AES-CBC is a type of symmetric-key encryption. AES (“advanced encryption standard”) basically takes a 128-bit block of code and reorganizes it into a 128-bit block of “ciphertext” using a particular key (an encryption algorithm). CBC mode (“cipher block chaining”) is a method of disguising any encryption patterns that might reveal the key.
It’s really quite an interesting read, covering all the aspects of what iTunes does, how it works, and why. Great for the inquisitive mind, the Apple geek, or anybody with an inquisitive nature.
Read More | HowStuffWorks
As we all know, most of what we see in those television infomercials is complete garbage. TVTopTen is a site that aims to pull the wool fromover your eyes, offering the “best” of As Seen On TV products. The site offers reviews on the products, allows customers to post their own reviews, and even offers two-minute clips of the television spots that the products were featured in.
Read More | TVTopTen
MPAA Spokesperson Verbally Attacked At SXSW
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Movies,
Now, this I love to see. The MPAA’s Kori Bernards faced a firing squad comprised of smart techies who lambasted the way that they implement DRM, made it hard to watch the media you purchase on your device of choice, and didn’t seem to care about fair use. This was a panel hosted by J.D. Lasica on The Future of Darknets, and it is just fascinating to watch the MPAA representative use corporate speak over and over to a group of people who see right through it. You can download the entire audio feed of the panel, as well as check out specific video clips of the talk. We are a ways away from the MPAA cooperating with us commoners.
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Read More | Blogumentary’s Video Clips
Google Avoids Turning Over User Info To The US Government
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Corporate News, Google, Internet,
A federal judge has ruled allowing the government a peek into Google’s search engine, but dramatically scaled back from the list of personal information and specific search requests that the government originally requested. Instead, they’ll provide the government with a list of 50,000 randomly selected websites indexed by the search engine. A victory for advocates of personal privacy and freedom of information, Google will not have to disclose specific search terms or personal information.
“This is a clear victory for our users,” Nicole Wong, Google’s associate general counsel said in a statement Friday.
Read More | ABC News
On March 14th, Google boldly went where no search engine has gone before: to Mars. With the launch of Google Mars, they extend their Google Maps service to interplanetary lengths, allowing you to search and discover Mars all on your own. Want to play astronaut? You can zoom, pan, and switch between elevation, infrared and photographic views of the Martian landscape. Cool!
Read More | Google Mars
United States Senators Mark Pryor (Arkansas, Democrat) and Max Baucus (Montana, Democrat) have proposed a new top-level domain for sexually explicit or racy websites - and called to banish said content from established domains such as .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov and others.
Pryor said he believes a separate domain on the Internet for pornography will help parents filter their children’s access to inappropriate materials. Pryor and Baucus’ legislation, the Cyber Safety for Kids Act, would require the Secretary of Commerce to negotiate with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to develop a special domain name for websites containing adult content. ICANN, an international Nongovernmental Organization, is charged with selecting domain names, such as .com, .org, .net., edu. and .gov. Under the legislation, companies that fail to register with the new domain within 6 months would be subject to civil penalties.
In the eyes of many, such a move would be a blatant attempt at crushing free expression on the Internet, and allow the US Government too much governing power over something as global as the Internet. The issue is sure to raise a lot of eyebrows, a lot of questions, and a lot of heated emotional debate. Where is the line to be drawn? What is “too racy” for the existing top-level domains? Anything with “adult content?” Or just “porn company” sites? It doesn’t sit very well, really.
Read More | Mark Pryor
Read More | Max Baucus
Technology Is Wonderful - When It Works
Posted by John Goulden Categories: Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Internet, Misc. Tech,
As you may or may not be aware, a severe storm ripped through the Midwest and caused an as-of-yet untotaled amount of damage, as well as personal injury and loss of life. One such city, that in the past seemed immune to tornado-generating storms, is Springfield, Illinois, the state’s capital.
A pair of tornados ripped through the city late Sunday night, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. At one point, most of the city was without power, and there are still areas where electrical service has not been restored (my house being one of those.) Initially the lack of electricity didn’t appear to be a big deal till it became obvious that it was not coming back anytime soon.
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