Why you may not want to use Google Drive: Read the EULA and despair …

While other cloud storage vendors go out of their way to assure you privacy, Google Drive pretty much does quite the opposite, in language hidden in plain sight, right in the EULA. You should carefully read and consider this paragraph before storing anything private on your Google Drive.

Google Drive launched today (for some lucky people) …

Google Drive, a cloud storage option, launched today — for some lucky people.

If you have a Google account you can check whether your Google Drive is ready here. If not, click the “Notify Me” button to get an email.

Google Drive integrates with Google Docs (which are not counted as part of your free 5Gb. Images (even photos) can be OCR’d and, of course, along with all your other docs will be indexed and searchable.

If you’ve been violated by DNS Changer malware you could lose internet service this July: What you need to do now …

A DNS Changing virus affecting Windows XP, Windows Vista, Window 7 and Mac users can lead to losing internet service this July when authorities shut down temporary servers put in place to bypass the damage this malware was doing. Even though you may no longer experience the harm, you computer may still be infected. When the bypass is removed your DNS lookups would no longer work, effectively cutting you off from the net.

What to do now? If you’re like me you’ll want to cross check that this story itself is real and not a phishing expedition: Check out my links below and do your own research into the subject to assure yourself (a) that a real danger exists and (b) that the DCWG or DNS Changer Working Group is an authoritative and helpful resource.

I work for a cool startup that everybody has heard of: We’re hiring …

I’m going to break a rule* here and talk shop. I work for a media empire that still has a very large, but declining, footprint in print. Yeah, yeah, keep reading, because that’s our problem.

The stigma of print hampers our ability to acquire talent — even though we’re not really hiring on that side of the house. We’re a media company and our digital business has taken off. So I was rather surprised to hear today that we had so many open positions for software engineers and developers. We’re hiring. Aggressively. Here.

Image credit: The New York Times

*From my About page you’ll find this disclaimer: Although I work for a mainstream newspaper, on this blog I speak for myself, about my own personal opinions, without any reflection on, nor any implied endorsement by my employer — whatsoever.

Toasting the Queen’s Silver Jubilee with … Ma’amite!

You either love it or hate it. Marmite. I love it, on toast. They’re marking their own 100th anniversary by toasting the UK Queen’s jubilee with a special limited edition call Ma’amite!

Most people who did not grow up with it at the breakfast table typically do not acquire the taste later in life. The opportunity apparently lost. It’s black and tastes very like a heavily reduced, sticky, salty, beef stock — excepting it’s made from yeast and is totally vegetarian. On buttered water crackers (especially Matzos) it’s fantastic, on cheese or tomato it’s divine.

Links: Marmite Love it or Hate it? | The dieline.com’s Limited Edition Ma’amite

When social media bites the hand that feeds it …

The très cool Texts from Hillary spoof gave the Secretary of State’s image a much needed boost — the limelight of which she readily stepped into. To her regret I’m going to predict, especially if she runs for president.

The ability to play off those texts is all too apparent in an Avaaz campaign to stop US funding of Uzbekistan — whose government is sterilizing women without their knowledge.

How to prevent Facebook friends from passing your private info to apps they subscribe to …

Few of us realise that Facebook allows apps which our friends use to access our private information. You heard me right. Even if you don’t subscribe to apps, your friends — who have access to your private information — can empower apps they subscribe to to see your info. There appears to be no way your friends can limit how much their apps see about you, but there are privacy options in your own settings which claims to control how friends hand off your info to the apps they subscribe to.

You had me at hello: How phrasing affects memorability …

What makes these memorable phrases stick in your memory?

“May the Force be with you.”
“Make my day.”
“I’ll be back.”
“Here’s looking at you, kid.”
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

For the morbidly curious: Whitney Houston’s autopsy report …

Download Whitney Houston’s autopsy report in .PDF format here. A beautiful voice captured in a death spiral of substance abuse.

May she RIP.

Reality is a thin line between denial and paranoia …

On platform seventeen at Penn Station, waiting on the train home, I see this see this sticker on the emergency phone. It looks somewhat official but is, instead, an amusing alternate … but scary truth!

AT&T unlocking paid-up iPhones …

9to5mac.com is reporting that AT&T will start unlocking paid-up, off-contract iPhones from this Sunday.

This applies to those of us whose two-year contract has run out, something to consider on you current iPhone 4 before upgrading to 5 later — so you can use your old phone on a different/cheaper SIM card while traveling internationally.

Link: 9to5mac.com’s In response to rising number of complaints, AT&T is unlocking iPhones starting Sunday (AT&T Statement)

SOPA and PIPA and now CISPA? Enough already!

UPDATE April 24th, 2012: It’s up for a vote this week, please make sure you’ve shared your opinions with your local congressman. Go here if you don’t know who that is.

SOPA and PIPA failed, so Congress is at it again with CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act H.R. 3523)

“Over 100 Members of Congress are backing a bill (CISPA) that would give private companies and the US government the right to spy on any of us at any time for as long as they want without a warrant”

If you care about such things, sign this petition (and for good measure you should probably sign this one at fightforthefuture.org too).

Links: EFF’s Stop Cyber Spying Week | EFF’s Yes, CISPA Could Allow Companies to Filter or Block Internet Traffic | H.R. 3523 | Track the progress of H.R. 3523 | TechDirt’s CISPA Is A Really Bad Bill, And Here’s Why | SOPAtrack’s Congress: Voting with the Money

What’s your alternative to iDisk storage?

With .mac’s iDisk going away soon, what to use instead? I’m liking DropBox, only 2Gb free, but you get 500Mb extra (as do I) when you accept an invite from a friend.

So, if you need a great way to store files in the cloud which you can access from your iPhone, please take this link — and help both of us. Thanks!

You can get up to 16Gb free through referrals. Remember both the referrer and the invitee get the extra credit.

http://db.tt/9dFN1VQa

The much rumoured Google Project Glass begins testing: Looks awesome!

Announced today: Project Glass augmented reality glasses — a heads up computer display you wear like a pair of glasses.

AT&T Microcell FAIL: Something to fuel your “privacy” paranoia …

Photo credit: Fail0verflow

Fail0verflow took the AT&T microcell (femtocell) apart and reports “We finally got around to looking at this AT&T variant this week, and discovered that it is totally full of fail.” Uh, oh! Read the whole article here.

Links How to get your “Free” AT&T MicroCell