Privacy concerns dog Google

By Gene J. Koprowski
United Press International

A new feature launched by Google, the Internet's most popular search engine, allows users to see all their past searches. But privacy experts warn the service could easily be abused, reports UPI.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1339826,00040006.htm

See also,

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=103244

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=79851&cat=World

I take it is very good news that my technology columns are being picked up in India/Asia. I was a bureau chief for Bangkok-based Asia Times during the 1990s, and, the paper folded when the baht crashed. If Asia is interested in publishing again, that is a good sign for the world economy.


-- Mr. Gene Koprowski is a 2005 and a 2004 Winner of a Lilly Foundation Award for his column for United Press International.

Mobile phone boom portends. . .

Chicago, IL, Apr. 22 (UPI) -- One great quarter of growth in the wireless industry may not a boom make, but it could be an indicator of one to come, experts told UPI's Wireless World.



http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050421-111249-7563r.htm

'Cookies' causing problems online

Chicago, IL, Apr. 20 (UPI) -- Would anyone willingly download a file from the Internet that can track his or her movements online and provide that private information to advertisers?

The Washington Times>

Hackers Learn To 'Think Different'

Hackers are learning to "think different," so to speak, and now are targeting Macintosh computers. Long-thought to be impervious to viruses, malware and computer vandals, Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Mac OS X is an increasingly succulent target, experts say.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/42376.html

Online gambling rules emerge

Chicago, IL, Apr. 18 (UPI) -- Regulation of online gambling is emerging in the United States and elsewhere, but that is not likely to slow the weird, worldwide phenomenon, experts told UPI's The Web.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050412-113309-5734r.htm

Satellites and cell phones

Chicago, IL, Apr. 15 (UPI) -- Remember satellite phones? During the last decade, technology companies heroically went bust vying to replace conventional mobile phones with sophisticated handsets that transmitted calls off satellites orbiting Earth.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050414-103550-4672r.htm

Technology Tattler. . .

If the government builds it, will anyone come? Two new reports make a case for allowing local governments to build broadband networks in competition with private companies and nonprofit organizations, but a free market expert is taking the reports to task.

According to Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit organization based in Chicago, and author of two Heartland Policy Studies on municipal broadband, the new studies simply repeat the rhetoric put forward by municipalities in the past.

See,

http://www.heartland.org/PublicationIssue.cfm?pblId=3&pisId=579.

Technology Tattler. . .

Mobile Meter Maids: We hear from a reliable source that the he City of Yonkers Parking Violations Bureau (PVB) has received a "high-tech" makeover.  Gone are the days of meter-maids using “dummy terminals,” or worse, manually writing tickets.  

After scanning the vehicle registration on the windshield, the officer's mobile printer spits out a citation, and the handheld uploads the information to a central database via WiFi communications surrounding the station house.

Ads on mobile phones a growing problem

Chicago, IL, Apr. 8 (UPI) -- Advertising to mobile phone users may be a brand new marketing medium, but it already represents a significant threat to commercial television, industry experts told UPI's Wireless World.

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050407-115623-6971r.htm

The Web: Social Security numbers online?

By Gene J. Koprowski
Published 4/6/2005 12:41 PM
CHICAGO, April 6 (UPI) -- A hacker types some computer code into an Internet search engine, such as Google or Yahoo! and finds a number of Excel spreadsheets containing private financial data, including the Social Security numbers, for hundreds of individuals. The national media have been reporting about online services, such as secret-info.com and Infosearch.com, which charge a fee to access someone's personal financial data, but leading Web browsers already allow users to do it for free -- if they know how to look, experts told UPI's The Web.

"You can use Excel or Lotus Notes -- and ask for forms -- and get a lot of forms indexed back to you through Google or Yahoo! indexing searches that were not supposed to be publicly available," said Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, a celebrity in the hacker community, and a division scientist at BBN Technologies, a networking company in Cambridge, Mass.

For the full story, see:


http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050405-113252-3101r

Technology Tattler. . .

We hear from a reliable source that H2F is changing its name to Prolifiq Software.

We hear from another very reliable source that Illinois Governor Blagojevich's office may be sued over an executive order it signed -- regarding the drug industry.

We hear from an inside source that RoomLinX intends to acquire SuiteSpeed.

Breezing through customs

By Gene J. Koprowski
Published 4/1/2005 3:19 PM
CHICAGO, April 1 (UPI) -- Very soon, international travelers will be able to breeze through customs checkpoints using passports outfitted with contactless smart-cards, experts told UPI's Wireless World. With the new technology, travelers will present their passports to customs agents, who simply will swipe them across a card reader, just as checkout clerks run bags of potato chips over a laser scanner at a grocery store. Likewise, as part of a directive signed by President George W. Bush, the Department of Homeland Security is planning to issue smart-card identification badges that will include digital images of fingerprints.



For the full story, See:

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050401-102337-5309r

Technology Tattler. . .

Goof-up for Google? The U.S. District Court in San Jose yesterday may have opened the door to more lawsuits against Google’s AdWords program by rejecting motions brought by Google, Earthlink, America Online, Netscape, Ask Jeeves and Compuserve to dismiss a pending trademark infringement suit filed by the American Blind & Wallpaper Factory.

This ruling essentially says “Google, your Adwords program is not legal and other aggrieved companies may be entitled to file suit as well,” said attorney David Rammelt of Kelley Drye & Warren.

Online Agents: HarrisDirect is launching the first-ever -- in the financial services
industry, at least -- automated service agent (ASA) for its online brokerage customers. "This announcement is set to go out on Monday morning," a reliable source tells us.