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Google’s Hummingbird
Google has rolled out an update called “Hummingbird”. In the US, Google fields about two of out every three search requests in the US and handles an even larger volume in part of Europe. Google celebrates its corporate birthday on September 27 each year, even though the company was incorporated a few weeks earlier. The company is now based in Mountain View, Calif. at a sprawling complex located about seven miles from the 173-square-metre home where Page and Brin paid $1700 per month to rent the garage and a bedroom.
Though Google declined to discuss the technology underlying the algorithm –” Hummingbird” it did tell us that Hummingbird “makes results more useful and relevant, especially when you ask Google long, complex questions.”
According to Google, as time has gone on we have used more sophisticated, conversational queries, and moved away from short directed terms.
Just as we’ve we moved from lower-level programming languages up to more abstract, expressive ones. If the old Google was like C, Hummingbird is like Python or Ruby.
“Hummingbird pays more attention to each word in the query, ensuring the whole query is taken into account – so if a resulting page is a bit less strong in general, but it’s the most relevant to your search terms, that’s the result you’ll get,” Hummingbird does a better job picking the strongest page for you.”The algorithm was deployed several weeks ago and is involved in 90 per cent of Google’s search queries.
In addition, Google has added features to its “Knowledge Graph” technology, allowing the search engine to deliver results directly on the query page and more voice features to its apps for mobile devices. You can instruct Google to add a reminder to your calendar for when you walk into the office without touching the device.
LinkedIn Sued
LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, is being sued by users who claim the company hacked into their email address books. Users who are a part of the lawsuit say the company emailed their contacts on their behalf and invited recipients to join the network.
They want the federal judge in San Jose, California, to force LinkedIn to put an end to this behavior as well as to return any revenue they may have earned from advertisers by promoting the service to non users. The complaint even points to LinkedIn’s website as evidence, noting multiple users have criticized the network after several of their contacts received unsolicited invitation emails.
In a blog post, LinkedIn denounces the arguments and says they never email contacts without a user’s permission.The complaint also points to a former LinkedIn employee who used his profile to brag about his job which allowed him to devise “hack schemes to make lots of $$$ with Java, Groovy and cunning.” According to a LinkedIn spokesperson, the engineer in question left in May 2012.
Birmingham’s Bling Library
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe
The rise of single-person households in some European capitals now approaching 50% of households. Many libraries increasingly act as a meeting place or home from home, as they do for migrants, refugees and even tourists. The idea of the library as “the living room in the city” was first promulgated in 1970s Scandinavian library design, as architects responded to users’ wishes to stay longer, have a coffee, and enjoy storytelling sessions, lunchtime concerts or attend book-reading groups. In some British towns, nearly half the population own a library card, even if it is only used infrequently. Libraries are seen as belonging to the public by right, compared with publicly funded theatres, art galleries, museums or concert halls.
The library’s changing demands is reflected in contemporary design. The library counter has largely gone. Self-service machines free up staff to spend more time with library users, organising storytelling sessions, book-signings and reading circles (there were more than 100,000 members of library reading groups in England and Wales at the last count.
Internet’s World Stats
| INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS The Internet Big Picture World Internet Users and Population Stats
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Getting The World Connected Online
Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants the world’s 7 billion people online through a partnership with some of the largest mobile technology companies. Facebook Inc. on Wednesday announced a partnership called Internet.org. It includes the world’s biggest social network, plus Korean electronics giant Samsung, Finnish handset maker Nokia and wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc. More companies are expected to join.
Google Inc., which is not a part of the Internet.org effort, launched a similar project earlier this year with the goal of getting everyone on Earth online. Called Project Loon, the effort launched Internet-beaming antennas aloft on giant helium balloons.
Snowden’s Leak May Dampen The Cloud
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, reported, that European companies, in particular, may successfully exploit the spying disclosures to challenge U.S. cloud computing leadership in foreign markets. Edward Snowden’s leak about the U.S. government’s data spying program PRISM may result in U.S. cloud providers losing 10% to 20% of the foreign market to overseas competitors. His revealing the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs PRISM and XKeyscoe has also created headaches for Canadian, European, and APAC users of US cloud providers.
The cloud community spent years addressing the inherent ambivalence that customers could feel in moving sensitive data to the cloud. In the past, fears revolved around the threat of malicious hackers and disgruntled employees/partners accidentally or willfully exposing their data. Today, it’s legal entities and governments that are doing the same. That’s a whole other threat assessment. The cloud industry could lose as much as $35 billion over the next three years. A recent CSA survey found that half of the non-US respondents surveyed said they will move away from US clouds. But where would they go? And how can they ensure that they would be moving to better provider and not from the proverbial frying pan into the fire?
Silent Circle, a U.S.-based encrypted email service, said on Friday that it was shutting down. The company also offers Silent Phone, an encrypted mobile video and voice service, Silent Text, an encrypted business document service and Silent Eyes a secure teleconferencing platform.
Drivers Warned Against Google Glass While Driving
Drivers using the “wearable computer” device Google Glass while at the wheel will be in violation of the law.
Worn as glasses, Google Glass has a small screen just above the right eye and users can take a picture, record a video and read messages. The device is expected to go on sale next year.
In March 2013, Google picked 8,000 people from the USA to begin testing the technology, but the Department for Transport warned today that when the devices arrive in the UK anyone using them while driving could be prosecuted for careless driving.
A statement said: “It is important that drivers give their full attention when they are behind the wheel and do not behave in a way that stops them from observing what is happening on the road.
“A range of offences and penalties already exist to tackle those drivers who do not pay proper attention to the road, including careless driving which will soon become a fixed penalty offence.
“We are aware of the impending rollout of Google Glass and are in discussion with the police to ensure that individuals do not use this technology while driving.”
Google’s Moto X
Swiping your finger down unlocks the phone, left and right clear notifications, and swiping up gets more detail. When notifications are dismissed, the devices will simply remain asleep. All the notification types are configurable, and the settings include the option to sleep the Active Notifications at night.
With the Moto X, there will be a phone tracking feature built right in. If this is included with the DROIDs, it wasn’t mentioned.
It can handle texts, call history, SIM contacts, media (presumable music, photos, and videos), and some system settings. This appears to be in addition to the usual Google backup and restore.
Mobile Technology Dominates The Home Buying Business
According to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) “2013 Survey of California Home Buyers,”more than eight out of 10 home buyers are accessing home information on their smart phones and computer tablets. More consumers using mobile devices and mobile technology, such as apps and social media platforms, buyers are increasingly using their smartphones and computer tablets to view comparable house prices, search for properties, take photos, and create videos of homes and amenities, as well as research communities and real estate agents,” said C.A.R. President Don Faught.
The survey found 85 percent of buyers used a mobile device during the home buying process, with the majority of buyers (70 percent) accessing the Internet from their smart phones and 15 percent accessing it from their tablets.
The majority of buyers (61 percent) found their home through an agent and the percentage who found their home online more than doubled from 16 percent in 2012 to a record high of 37 percent in 2013.
About one-third (30 percent) of buyers rated Realtor.com as the most useful website, followed closely by Zillow at 28 percent. Broker and agent websites were also helpful in the home buying process as buyers increasingly seek local expertise and information.
Digital Dementia and Its Symtoms
A taxi driver who has been driving for more than 20 years, used to know most of the roads in the city very well.
However, after using the car navigation system, he started to forgetting the routes to certain places that he was once familiar with. Many people, like the taxi driver are living in this busy and complicated society across the globe are unconsciously relying on the convenience of digital products, such as computers or smartphones.
This has led them to forget things easily and become socially inept — a symptom experts call “digital dementia.”
The syndrome, which weakens one’s memory and cognitive functions, is a stage that comes prior to a normal dementia, but has been diagnosed in various age groups. Young patients complain of their weakening memory more frequently compared to when they didn’t use such gadgets.
Relieving symptoms
First, people should stay away from using digital devices as much as they can.
For example, writing a diary or keeping household accounts at the end of the day.
Memorizing phone numbers of close friends or family members and calculating simple equations in one’s head is another tip experts give out.
They also say, that reading books, to constantly give stimulus to the brain, and doing aerobic exercises to enhance blood circulation in the brain could help prevent you from falling victim to “digital dementia.”
Information retrieved from
Eoh Jin-joo, Arirang News.
Facebook’s Data Dilemma Exposes Millions of Personal Stuff
The bug meant loads of email and telephone numbers were accidentally shared with people who would not otherwise have had access to the information. Facebook said so far, there was no evidence the data exposed was being exploited for malicious ends.
Metadata Used To Prevent Attacks: The Strategy
NSA Director General Keith Alexander testified before the House Committee on Intelligence and said that the NSA’s surveillance programs have provided “critical leads to help prevent over 50 potential terrorist events.” Metadata can indicate when a call, email, or online chat began and how long the communication lasted. Section 215 of the Patriot Act provides the legal authority to obtain “business records” from phone companies. Metadata gives intelligence analysts a retrospective view of a sequence of events. Once a terrorist suspect has been identified or once an attack has taken place, intelligence analysts can use powerful software to sift through metadata to determine which numbers, IP addresses, or individuals are associated with the suspect. Phone numbers and IP addresses sometimes serve as a proxy for the general location of where the planning has taken place. Just by knowing how many individuals are in a chat room, how many individuals have contacted a particular phone user, or how many individuals are on an email chain could serve as an indicator of how many terrorists are involved in a plot. Furthermore, knowing when a suspect communicates can help identify his patterns of behavior. In addition, metadata can help establish whether a suspect communicates sporadically or on a set pattern (e.g., making a call every Thursday at 2:30 p.m.). Any deviation from that pattern could indicate that the plan changed at a certain point; any phone number or email address used consistently and then not at all could indicate that a suspect has stopped communicating with an associate. Additionally, a rapid increase in communication could indicate that an attack is about to happen.
More importantly, metadata can provide all of this information without ever exposing the content of a phone call or email.
Google challenges U.S. Gag Order With First Amendment
Google is petitioning the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to allow them to release information concerning data requests the court makes. Google says that they have a constitutional right to speak about the information given to the government. With this petition, Google is seeking permission to publish details about FISA requests.
Ongoing Information & Trends: A Weblog 
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