Google Public DNS and Your Privacy

Google's expanding its grasp on the Internet with a newly revealed DNS resolving service. Google Public DNS, announced Thursday on Google's blog, will offer you an alternative way to connect to Web sites.

As with the launch of most Google services, people are starting to ask questions about what kind of data will be collected and how exactly it will be used. (Or, in more lay terms, "Is Google going to be evil?") Here are some straight-forward answers, straight from the source.

Google Public DNS: An Introduction

First, a brief description of what exactly Google Public DNS is: In a nutshell, the DNS -- or domain name system -- is what actually finds and directs you to a Web site when you type in its URL. You input "pcworld.com," the system translates that into the matching numerical address of PC World's server, and you're taken to the page. That's the simple explanation, anyhow.

For most users, DNS lookups are handled automatically through an Internet service provider; they're not tasks most of us see or devote much thought to. You do have the option, however, of using your own third-party DNS resolver. That's where Google Public DNS comes in.

The advantage of using a system such as Google's is that it can be faster, more efficient, and more secure than the default ISP alternatives. Companies such as OpenDNS already offer such functionality. As OpenDNS founder David Ulevitch points out, Google Public DNS will not offer the ability to filter content and customize the experience in the same way that a pay-to-play service does.

Google Public DNS and Your Privacy

Okay, that's out of the way -- now let's tackle the all-important question of privacy. What exactly will Google be watching with its new Google Public DNS service?

Here's the breakdown of what is and isn't collected:

• Your IP address: yes. But only temporarily. That data, Google says, is never stored for more than 24 to 48 hours, and it's collected solely to identify technical problems and help protect from attacks.

• Your name or other personally identifying information: no. Google assures this type of data is never collected.

• Your location: yes. Google says it permanently stores "metro-level" info on your whereabouts for the purpose of debugging and improving the Google Public DNS experience. Most of this information is held for two weeks, Google says, though a "small subset" is sampled for permanent storage. The company promises that it never ties the location data to any other information collected from your session.

• The Web sites you look up: yes. But again, Google says that information is not stored along with any data that would identify who you are.

• Lots of technical details: yes. Google Public DNS permanently logs technical items such as your request type, transport protocol, and the length of time it takes the system to complete your requests. You can see a full list of these technical details on Google's official Public DNS privacy policy.

None of the information collected, Google says, is ever tied to your Google account, stored as part of your profile on any other Google service, or shared with any third-party provider.

Google Public DNS and Advertising

One last concern: What about ads? Is Google going to be inserting sponsorships into your surfing experience?

So far, there are no indications that it will. Typically, with DNS resolvers, ads appear when users try to go to a Web page that can't be found; at that time, a custom error page will pop up that features sponsored banners or text links. The FAQ for Google Public DNS, however, states the following:

"If you issue a query for a domain name that does not exist, Google Public DNS always returns an NXDOMAIN record, as per the DNS protocol standards."

Now, with that being said, some people still have their doubts. OpenDNS's Ulevitch, for example, believes a deeper motive may exist.

"You have to remember they are also the largest advertising and redirection company on the Internet," he says. "To think that Google's DNS service is for the benefit of the Internet would be naive. They know there is value in controlling more of your Internet experience, and I would expect them to explore that fully."

Google Public DNS: More Resources

If you want more detailed information about Google Public DNS, check out some of the following resources:

• Google Public DNS: An Introduction

• Google Public DNS: Performance Benefits

• Google Public DNS: Security Benefits

• Google Public DNS: Setup Instructions and Support

• Google Public DNS: Privacy Policy

• Google Public DNS: Official FAQ

JR Raphael is co-founder of geek-humor site eSarcasm. He hopes to never have to answer any of Google's daunting interview questions.

Brin: Two Google Operating Systems May Become One

It has been difficult for Google to explain away the seeming conflict between Chrome OS and Android.

Saying that Chrome is for the Internet and Android for devices, requires a belief that users actually make the distinction.

They don't and Google knows it, but only co-founder Sergey Brin can say so.

In this case, it is the Emperor seeing his subjects' new clothes. Or the profound lack thereof.

(And if you haven't seen Chrome OS, here is our visual tour).

Following the Thursday's Chrome OS announcement, Brin informally told reporters that the two operating systems were "likely to converge over time," but offered no specific timetable.

His remarks didn't seem important at the time and were briefly lost in the excitement of the new OS. Today, however, people who heard the remark realized Brin actually said something important. And it undermines the whole Chrome OS concept.

Brin cited the common Linux OS and WebKit browser heritage the two operating systems share as an example of forces driving them together.

During the presentation, other Google execs described a "perfect storm of converging trends" that somehow required it to develop and support two separate operating systems.

Maybe converging trends lead to converging operating systems? Could be, just ask Sergey Brin.

I had already wondered what the difference would be between Android and Chrome when installed on a netbook. Given the Chrome browser, wouldn't Android do all the same things Chrome could do, plus run Android applications?

Isn't that what users really want? A s opposed to an operating system only capable of running a browser and connecting to Internet-based applications?

It is easy to understand why Google wants to keep Chrome OS and Android separated in our minds: Chrome OS seems revolutionary, if a bit far-fetched. Android, by comparison, is the evolution of what are already doing.

In reality, Chrome OS is a subset of Android, Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. It's the new Lite OS, faster and less filling.

However, merge Chrome and Android and you end up with Android.

It will be hard for Google to keep people from noticing what a good idea that is. An idea that in some ways cuts the legs right out from under a standalone Chrome OS.

David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web site.

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'New Moon' poised for biggest box office day ever

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is poised to break its second box office record in a single day.

According to four people who have closely watched ticket sales data today but requested anonymity because they are not authorized to release the information, the teen vampire phenomenon is all but certain to gross more than $67.2 million, the record set by "The Dark Knight" last year for the biggest single-day take at the box office.

By 5 p.m., the movie had already sold more than $50 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada. When evening shows are included, the total will likely be more than $70 million, the people said.

Given the huge amount of pent-up interest among fans, who are rushing out to theaters on opening day, ticket sales are expected to drop significantly on Saturday and Sunday. Nonetheless, a total weekend gross of more than $110 million is all but certain and more than $120 million is very possible. That would give "New Moon" the biggest weekend gross for any movie this year and make it one of the top five pictures of all time at the domestic box office, not accounting for ticket price inflation.

Ticket sales from the 25 foreign countries where "New Moon" is opening this weekend will almost certainly push the worldwide weekend gross to more than $150 million.

Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the "Twilight" films, will release an official total for Friday ticket sales on Saturday morning.

-- Ben Fritz

Sex parties after Internet invitations

A MAN used the Internet to lure six college students into having a sex party with his friends at a resort in Bentong, Pahang.

According to Harian Metro, police found that the man had also been organising sex parties with students in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Selangor for the past year.

The man was detained along with five others aged between 20 and 22 after authorities conducted a 3am raid on the apartment he had rented.

It is believed that the man, together with his friends — two of whom were civil servants — had persuaded the students to have sex while under the influence of alchohol.

The students, all aged 19, were willing participants in the party.

Three couples held at the scene were tested positive for the drug ketamine and had 2.3g of the same substance with them.

The daily also reported that the store room of a kindergarten in Taman Tun Dr Ismail had been used to secretly stash 4,000 pirated DVDs worth RM30,000, including those with pornographic titles.

In a raid conducted by officers from the Home Ministry’s Film Control division on Tuesday, authorities found that the store room was connected via a secret tunnel to a shop upstairs.

> Kosmo! reported that a foreign couple, who has been in the country for the past 10 years, had suspected their 50-year-old maid of kidnapping their daughter.

Aung Soe @ Abu Husin, 38, from Myanmar, and his Indonesian wife Haslinda Damanik, 35, had come home from work to find their two-year-old daughter missing, along with their maid.

The couple, who work with a catering company in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, lodged a police report claiming a a neighbour had seen the maid Suparmi leaving the house in the afternoon with their daughter Siti Nurdiana.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a sub-heading, it denotes a separate news item.

Penangan Tee Keat

ONG (kanan) dan Dr Chua pada sidang media selepas mengumumkan pemecatan sembilan ahli Majlis Presiden di Bangunan MCA, di Kuala Lumpur, semalam

KETUA Pemuda MCA, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong dan Ketua Wanita MCA, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun menangis selepas dipecat, semalam.

9 anggota Majlis Presiden MCA dipecat

KUALA LUMPUR: Kemelut MCA semakin panas apabila sembilan penyokong Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai termasuk Ketua Pemuda dan Wanita digugurkan daripada menganggotai Majlis Presiden, berkuat kuasa serta-merta.

Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, ketika mengumumkan rombakan majlis berkenaan selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Pusat (CC) di sini semalam, menjelaskan tindakan itu dilakukan mengikut perlembagaan parti bagi mengukuhkan MCA.



Liow yang juga Naib Presiden MCA, bagaimanapun mendakwa Tee Keat mengamalkan politik ‘cantas dan hapus’ terhadap pemimpin yang tidak sehaluan dengannya dan menyifatkan keadaan parti itu kini seperti ‘keluarga sedang berperang’.

Mereka yang digugurkan ialah lima timbalan menteri termasuk Ketua Pemuda, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong dan Ketua Wanita Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.

Selain Wee yang juga Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran dan Chew (Timbalan Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat), turut digugurkan Dr Hou Kok Chung (Timbalan Menteri Pengajian Tinggi), Wee Jeck Seng (Timbalan Menteri Belia dan Sukan), Datuk Chor Chee Heung (Timbalan Menteri Kewangan), manakala empat lagi ialah Wong Nai Chee, Gan Hong Su, Lee Wei Kiat, Gan Ping Sieu.


KETUA Pemuda MCA, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong dan Ketua Wanita MCA, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun menangis selepas dipecat, semalam.

Pada sidang media yang turut dihadiri Timbalan Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, Tee Keat turut mengumumkan pelantikan tujuh anggota baru Majlis Presiden.

Dengan rombakan itu, kini hanya tinggal Liow berseorangan tanpa penyokongnya dalam Majlis Presiden.

Majlis itu yang bertindak sebagai badan pengurusan parti, turut dianggotai Presiden, timbalannya, Setiausaha Agung, Naib Presiden dan Bendahari.

Tee Keat berkata, rombakan itu dilakukan bagi memastikan segala dibincang dan didebat oleh MCA dapat dilaksanakan sebaik mungkin.

Selain itu, beliau turut mengumumkan keputusan CC menolak mesyuarat agung luar biasa (EGM) kedua pada 28 November ini yang diusulkan penyokong Liow.

Tee Keat berkata, CC memutuskan resolusi EGM itu untuk mengadakan pemilihan baru parti adalah cacat dan bercanggah dengan perlembagaan MCA.

Seramai 23 ahli CC menolak EGM itu, 10 menyokong dan dua berkecuali, manakala tujuh lagi tidak hadir.

Pada 6 November lalu, kumpulan Liow yang diketuai Nai Chee mengumumkan EGM kedua akan diadakan pada 28 November ini. Bagaimanapun, mereka memerlukan sekurang-kurangnya 800 perwakilan untuk mengadakan EGM itu.

Liow pada sidang media berasingan, berkata tindakan terbaru Tee Keat itu akan memburukkan lagi keadaan parti.

“Mesyuarat CC hari ini (semalam) membuatkan hati kami berdarah. Presiden menggugurkan Ketua Pemuda dan Ketua Wanita dalam Majlis Presiden.

“Presiden melantik orangnya dan menyingkirkan mereka yang tidak sehaluan dengannya supaya beliau boleh mempunyai kuasa mutlak dalam Majlis Presiden. Majlis Presiden adalah satu jawatankuasa penting yang memutuskan banyak perkara dalam parti,” katanya.

Sambil menegaskan MCA berada pada persimpangan jalan, Liow menggesa perwakilan menghadiri EGM kedua untuk membuat keputusan demi kebaikan MCA serta mempertahankan nilai perjuangan dan prinsip demokrasi dalam parti itu.

“Pemimpin parti mesti mendengar suara ahli, perwakilan dan orang ramai. Kami tidak mahu menjadi `tawanan’ kepada politik kotor, autokratik dan penggunaan kuasa tanpa mempedulikan orang lain,” katanya.

Liow menegaskan beliau akan terus bergerak ke seluruh negara untuk mendapat sokongan perwakilan bagi mengadakan EGM kedua.

FAKTA: Senarai baru Majlis Presiden


Presiden
- Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat

Timbalan Presiden
- Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek

Setiausaha Agung
- Datuk Wong Foon Meng

Bendahari
-
Naib Presiden
- Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha
- Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Hai
- Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen
- Tan Kok Hong

Dilantik
- Datuk Loke Yuen Yow (kekal)
- Wong Hock Aun (kekal)
- Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho
- (baru)
- Tan Cheng Liang (baru)
- Datuk Lee Chee Leong

(baru)
- Gan Ping Sieu (baru)
- Datuk Ti Lian Ker (baru)
- Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon (baru)
- Heng Seai Kie (baru)

Arab Saudi, AS kecam Israel

WANITA Palestin (tengah) bersama keluarganya bercakap kepada media selepas rumahnya diroboh di Baitulmaqdis kelmarin.

Penempatan tambahan Yahudi halangan utama rundingan damai

RIYADH: Arab Saudi semalam menyelar keputusan Israel untuk terus membina 900 rumah baru di timur Baitulmaqdis dan menganggapnya "halangan utama" dalam usaha menyambung semula rundingan damai di Asia Barat.

"Kami berpendapat pendudukan itu adalah halangan utama dalam usaha mencapai rundingan damai...terutama di timur Baitulmaqdis," kata jurucakap kementerian luar, Osama Nugali, apabila ditanya mengenai keputusan Israel untuk memperluaskan kawasan pendudukan Gilo di timur Baitulmaqdis.



"Kecuali ada langkah lebih pasti berhubung dasar berkenaan, adalah sukar untuk meneruskan usaha damai," kata Osama.

Arab Saudi sebagai kuasa serantau di Asia Barat tetap mahukan semua perluasan kawasan pendudukan Yahudi di Tebing Barat dibekukan sebelum ia sanggup membantu memulihkan rundingan damai antara Palestin dan Israel.

Sementara itu, di WASHINGTON, Amerika Syarikat menegur Tel Aviv selepas rejim Zionis itu meluluskan projek perumahan Yahudi di timur Baitulmaqdis itu.

"Kami dukacita dengan keputusan jawatankuasa perancangan untuk meneruskan dan membenarkan peluasan pembinaan di Gilo, di Baitulmaqdis.

"Ketika kami bertungkus-lumus untuk melancarkan semula rundingan, tindakan dilakukan Israel menyebabkan usaha kami menjadi lebih sukar," kata jurucakap Rumah Putih Robert Gibbs.

Tindakan rejim Zionis itu menjadi satu lagi tamparan kepada Palestin yang sebelum ini menggesa pembekuan sepenuhnya sebarang bentuk pembinaan sebelum pusingan baru rundingan boleh dibuat.

Ketika penduduk Palestin terus menerus dilanda kekecewaan berikutan kegagalan usaha damai dua hala dan mendapatkan sebuah negara sendiri, kedua-dua belah pihak terus 'renggang'.

Laporan media Israel menyatakan Perdana Menteri, Benjamin Netanyahu menolak rayuan Amerika untuk membekukan pembinaan di Gilo, tetapi tidak merujuk secara langsung mengenai projek terbaru itu.

Netanyahu menerima kecaman masyarakat antarabangsa kerana membenarkan pembinaan projek perumahan baru di wilayah yang menjadi perebutan kedua-dua belah pihak.

"Setiausaha Agung Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) Ban Ki-moon melahirkan rasa dukacita dengan keputusan Israel untuk meneruskan projek perumahan di Gilo, wilayah Palestin yang ditaklukinya dalam perang 1967," kata jurucakap Setiausaha Agung PBB itu.

Presiden Palestin Mahmud Abbas berkata kebuntuan itu menyebabkan beliau tidak mempunyai pilihan kecuali berusaha mendapatkan pengiktirafan antarabangsa untuk sebuah negara Palestin walaupun menimbulkan rasa tidak senang Eropah dan Amerika. – AFP

Sulawesi Selatan jelapang padi baru negara

NAJIB berpakaian tradisional Gowa lengkap dengan keris yang disisipkan Syahrul Yasin pada majlis ringkas sebelum bertolak ke acara peringatan ke-689 dearah kecil Gowa, di Lapangan Syekh Yusuf Discovery, Sungguminasa, Makassar, semalam. Turut memerhati, Rosmah dan isteri Syahrul, Dr Ullie Ayun Sari.


Malaysia berminat adakan perbincangan lanjut: Najib

MALAYSIA mengenal pasti Sulawesi Selatan di Indonesia berpotensi dibangunkan sebagai jelapang padi baru negara dan akan mengadakan perbincangan lanjut dengan pentadbiran wilayah itu bagi memulakan usaha berkenaan dalam masa terdekat.

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, berkata Gabenor Sulawesi Selatan, Syahrul Yasin Limpo akan melawat Kuala Lumpur tidak lama lagi bagi membincangkan perkara itu dengan Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani.



"Gabenor dan pegawainya akan bekerjasama untuk menjadikan perkara ini satu kenyataan. Saya pun sudah berbincang dengan Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, baru-baru ini mengenai hasrat membangunkan kerjasama dalam bidang pertanian dan beliau amat menggalakkan cadangan itu.

"Ini (membangunkan jelapang padi baru) boleh dibuat melalui dua pendekatan. Pertama kita gunakan hasil yang dikeluarkan masyarakat tempatan melalui perladangan kontrak bagi pihak kita dan kedua, kita bangunkan kawasan baru penanaman padi di sana," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian pada sidang media di Lapangan Terbang Tentera Udara Makassar (Lanud) sebelum berlepas pulang ke Kuala Lumpur selepas mengadakan lawatan kerja sehari ke sini, semalam. Turut serta, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor dan Menteri Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus J Ongkili.

Perdana Menteri berkata, Malaysia akan turut mengkaji potensi penternakan lembu di wilayah itu yang setakat ini mempunyai 670,000 ekor ternakan dan masih mempunyai kawasan yang luas untuk dieksploitasi bagi tujuan berkenaan.

"Sulawesi Selatan amat luas dan ada potensi pembangunan pertanian yang begitu besar sekali," katanya menambah bentuk pelaburan akan dikaji oleh Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani, termasuk sama ada akan turut memba-bitkan sektor swasta atau syarikat berkaitan kerajaan (GLC).

Terdahulu ketika berucap pada majlis perayaan ulang tahun ke-689 Kabupaten Gowa di Lapangan Syekh Yusuf Discovery di Gowa, Najib berkata Malaysia juga berminat menjalin kerjasama dengan Sulawesi Selatan, terutama dalam bidang penyelidikan dan pembangunan (R&D) pengeluaran makanan.

Katanya, kerjasama itu boleh dimulakan dalam tempoh terdekat, sekali gus memanfaatkan Malaysia dari segi jaminan bekalan makanan, manakala rakyat wilayah ini pula dapat meningkatkan pendapatan mereka.

"Kerjasama antara kedua-dua pihak ini boleh diperluaskan dalam bidang lain yang akan dikenalpasti dari semasa ke semasa," katanya yang bersama isteri lengkap berpakaian tradisional Gowa dan diraikan dengan penuh adat istiadat Gowa sambil disambut penuh meriah oleh lebih 5,000 penduduk tempatan.

Perdana Menteri memiliki darah keturunan Raja Gowa ke-19, Sultan Abdul Jalil Tumenanga ri Lakiung dan ketika melawat daerah ini pada 2005, beliau dianugerahkan gelaran kebesaran Mappadulung Daeng Mattimung Karaeng Sanrobone.

Najib menyifatkan lawatannya kali ini sebagai penuh nostalgia, amat manis dan menyentuh perasaan kerana ia bukan saja mengembalikan nostalgia hubungan sejarah, budaya dan agama serta pertalian darah dengan masyarakat Gowa, tetapi juga membincangkan kerjasama dalam beberapa bidang.

Windows 7 debut a hit: NPD

SAN FRANCISCO, US (AFP) - Microsoft's new-generation Windows 7 operating system hit the ground running, with US sales in its opening days blasting past those of its Vista predecessor, according to NPD Group.

Sales of Windows 7 in the days following its October 22 release were 234 percent higher than those posted by Vista when it was released into the market, the market research firm reported on Thursday.

"Microsoft's program of early low-cost pre-sales, high visibility marketing, and aggressive deals helped make the Windows 7 software launch successful," said NPD vice president of analysis Stephen Baker.

"In a slow environment for packaged software Windows 7 brought a large number of customers into the software aisles," he said.

Revenue from Windows 7 sales during its initial days in the market only surpassed Vista by 83 percent due to price discounts and a lack of promotion for an Ultimate version of the new operating system, according to NPD.

The Windows 7 launch also gave a bump to personal computer (PC) sales, which nearly doubled from the previous week and were 49 percent higher than the same period a year earlier, but Vista's launch gave PC sales a bigger boost, NPD said.

"A combination of factors impacted Windows 7 PC sales at the outset, but the trajectory of overall PC sales is very strong leading into the holiday season," said Baker.

Microsoft's much-heralded Windows 7 went on sale around the world in October as the US software giant rebooted after the disappointment of its previous generation operating system Vista.

Windows 7 made its global debut to generally good reviews with most technology analysts and users who tested a demo version praising it as a significant improvement on the much-maligned Vista.

Analyst Rob Enderle of Silicon Valley's Enderle Group said the Windows 7 launch was a "big deal for Microsoft."

"Windows Vista was a train wreck," he said.

While computer users may not give much thought to the operating systems that serve as the brains of their machines, they are at the heart of Microsoft's global software empire that runs more than 90 percent of the world's computers.

Microsoft apparently learned a lesson from Vista and worked closely with computer makers, users and software developers while crafting Windows 7.

More than eight million people dabbled with Windows 7 in a beta test phase.

Among the new features in Windows 7 is a redesigned taskbar for launching programs and switching windows, enhanced ability to share files with other PCs, improved photo and video editing software and the ability to stream digital music or video to other devices.

Windows 7 also features Microsoft's latest Web browser, Internet Explorer 8.

My life online - time to delete?

How much do you know about all the data you have stored out there on the web? And how much control do you have over it? Questions prompted by Google's latest move to deal with concerns about privacy.

The search company has today launched its Dashboard, which it says will allow users to view and control all the data associated with any of the Google products they may use - from Gmail, to web history, to documents and so on. Why should you want to do that? Well it may give you a bit of a wake-up call about just how much information you are leaving stored on servers in California or elsewhere.

It prompted me to do a quick audit of my online data, and work out what control I had over it. There turned out to be a startling quantity of my stuff out there on the web. Amongst the Google products, I use are Gmail, Google Documents, YouTube and Web History. So I have nearly 22,000 e-mails stored, 589 documents, and 63 videos. My search history dates back to December 2006 - I presume that's when I opted into the service - and includes around 8,500 search terms. I'm reasonably satisfied that I have control over that data - after all I can simply delete all that material and opt out of search history if I so wish.

Then there are other photo and video sharing services like Flickr, and Apple's mobileme where I also have hundreds of pictures and videos for anyone to see if they so wish, plus thousands of contacts and calendar appointments which are only available to me. Again I feel pretty confident that I can wipe all of that if I decide that's best.

So what about all the traces I've left on various social networking sites? On Facebook's servers I have a large amount of material, including hundreds of photos posted by me, and quite a few of me posted by others. I can delete my own photos - but not those posted by others of me. And if I really get sick of Facebook I can simply delete my entire profile - and presumably all traces of my networking life there will disappear.

Now let's turn to Twitter. To my slight embarrassment I see that I've contributed over 7,000 tweets since I joined the micro-blogging service in 2007. All of those messages are now searchable by anyone. For the first time, I had a quick glance at Twitter's terms and conditions - and noticed this explanatory note:

"This license is you authorizing us to make your Tweets available to the rest of the world and to let others do the same. But what's yours is yours - you own your content."
Now I've always regarded Twitter as a public place, so it doesn't really worry me that anyone can see what I've tweeted now and in the past. But in what sense do I "own" my content? If I delete my account, my thousands of tweets will still be online for anyone to read.

But there's one aspect of my online life where I'm even less clear about my control over my own data. For a couple of years I've used the Spinvox voice-to-text service - and you may remember that back in the summer I wrote several articles about that company, which included aspects of its data protection policies. I wrote to Spinvox this week with three questions. I wanted to know how long they kept my voice messages and the text transcribed from them, where that data was stored and what would happen to it if the business was sold to another company.

The answers I received were incomplete and slightly worrying. "Messages are stored in accordance with local data protection legislation", was about the sum of the answer to my first question, though I'm still pressing for details of what that means for my personal messages. Spinvox said all the data was held in its secure UK data centres, and if the company were to be sold, the new owner would acquire all of it. What I now need to find out is just how easy it is for me to wipe all of my embarrassing and confidential voice messages from the Spinvox servers if they are sold on.

Earlier this week on Radio 4's Start The Week , Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, who has written a book called Delete:The Virtue of Forgetting in a Digital Age, argued that the internet's infinite capacity to remember can be a real threat to our future reputations. He said that it was so much cheaper and easier now to store data on the internet than to delete it. I thought at the time he was overstating the problem - but looking at my vast collection of online documents, photos and other detritus, I begin to worry that he may be right.

Is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Terrorist Gameplay Artful?

Now that we've collectively gasped and had a chance to pull the paper sacks from our faces, is last week's Modern Warfare 2 footage worth getting our camouflage in a bunch?

Friendly warning, gameplay (less story) spoilers ahead. I don't think the reveal that you can ruins anything, personally, but some people don't want to know the sun might come up tomorrow.

Okay, deep breaths. Ready then?

Activision's modern military shooter arrives next week for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows. Unless you're a visiting extraterrestrial, you've probably read about this video clip from the game, which shows a player-controlled massacre of innocent civilians in an airport. As the video begins, a load sequence displays blurred words like "madman" and "body count" onscreen. When it completes, several men--one of them controlled by the player--step from an elevator into a baggage reclaim area, leveling high-caliber machine guns at clustered civilians, then unloading into the crowd. The player hesitates, then joins in, firing indiscriminately at the seething huddle.

The gunfire pauses, the smoke partly clears, and bodies are strewn everywhere. Terrified, heart-rending screams issue from somewhere beyond. The player advances through the baggage area, spotting fleeing civilians and firing in bursts. He proceeds up stairs, scanning for victims, zooming down his iron sights to better aim, finishing off the crawling wounded, and lobbing ballistic grenades across the concourse.

It's the screams that got to me.

Why so serious, I know. Because the game takes itself seriously, for starters. This isn't an on-sides situation where the developers have your squad mates slapping at friendly bullets--misfired or not--like bees and muttering "Hey watch it!" It's not like picking up tiny yelping villagers by their toes and flinging them across hills and mountains to watch them hobble home broken-limbed in Lionhead's Black & White. These aren't victims of "collateral damage" (an abhorrent military term, but you get the point) betwixt you and some equally violence-dealing opponent. It's violence for the sake of violence--ostensibly to intimidate in pursuit of some political or ideological aim.

If you've got a pulse, it's disturbing stuff

The big question, though, is whether it's good disturbing stuff. Like Jack Harkness's gut-wrenching choice in Torchwood Children of the Earth. Like the scene in Mad Men where Don Draper assaults one of his more wily paramours in the bathroom. Like nearly everything that happens in Lars von Trier's Antichrist. Is it artful, in other words.

A word about art, without--I promise--going overboard. In On The Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction, Brian Boyd calls art simply "cognitive play with pattern." Just as "play" over time refines our behavioral palette, says Boyd, so art "increases cognitive skills, repertoires, and sensitivities."

"A work of art acts like a playground for the mind, a swing or a slide or a merry-go-round of visual or aural or social pattern," he says, arguing "Like play, art succeeds by engaging and rewarding attention, since the more frequent and intense our response, the more powerful the neural consequences."

It's that last sentence that resonates when thinking about this Modern Warfare 2 sequence. What we've seen of it certainly fits Boyd's criteria. We know it's a game, therefore we know it's not real. We take it as given that the computer avatars standing in for airport-going citizenry are empty shells, that they're not alive, and that flies exhibit more sentience. We know those aren't really guns on-screen, that they're not firing actual bullets, and that we're not, in fact, harming anyone.

And yet most players will almost surely be stirred. We're visualizing grievous injury inflicted on a massive scale, and there's no letting you off the hook--the horrified wailing will turn your blood. Unless you're undead, the sequence kindles something atavistic. You can't help but react.

Ergo Boyd: The more intense our response, the more powerful the neural consequences.

The best analysis I've read of the footage is by Tom Hoggins, writing for Telegraph. Give it a read. Hoggins asks all the right questions, like "Has this scene done its job in the way it was intended?" or "Is the use of grenades in this scene a totally unnecessary inclusion?" or "Have Infinity Ward approached the scene from the wrong direction?"

He also notes the BBFC (the British Board of Film Classification) already passed Modern Warfare 2 with an 18 ("Suitable only for adults") certification. Our own Entertainment Software Rating Board has done the same, awarding the game a "Mature 17+" rating. They've even folded that specific scene into their ratings summary:

The most intense depiction of violence occurs during a "No Russian" mission where players take on the role of an undercover Ranger: Several civilians are gunned down at an airport as players are given a choice to participate in the killings (e.g., players can shoot a wounded civilian that is crawling on the ground), or walk by and observe without opening fire.

You can participate in the killings, but you can also choose not to, simply observing what would then play for all intents and purposes like a movie in which terrorists are portrayed doing terrible things. You can probably come up with half a dozen offhand that depict worse atrocities.

The difference in this instance is that you're given the option to participate. That choice--to do or avoid doing something horrible--occurs in safe "play-space," a kind of "experimental authenticity" unique to gaming.

I'm not suggesting anything goes. Handling is everything here, and I won't know for sure on which side of the divide between "artful" and "excessive" this sequence falls until I've played and analyzed it myself. It's certainly possible to take something too far. Art isn't a catch-all for any conceivable endeavor. Imagine a game that let you participate in rape, or child molestation.

I'd rather not.

One thing's certain: With the response it's already received, Activision won't be wanting for press coverage. Wait until the usual legislative suspects wrap their tendrils round this, then expect to see the sequence trotted out with the same oblivious bombast cable news networks gave the vaguely amorous sequences in BioWare's Mass Effect. The company's already received plenty of attention for its depiction of Washington in flames.

Review: Motorola's Droid is a serious smart phone

By RACHEL METZ
AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER


The new Motorola Droid smart phone is shown in San Francisco, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels)
SAN FRANCISCO -- Since its debut in 2007, millions of people have gravitated toward Apple's iPhone, wooed by its sleek hardware, simple user interface and abundance of applications.

Other smart phone makers have been trying since then to dispel the notion that the iPhone is the be-all and end-all of mobile gadgets. The latest push comes from Verizon Wireless and Motorola, whose Droid is a good alternative for those seeking a feature-packed smart phone with a full keyboard and strong wireless service.

The Droid stands out from the crowd of iPhone wannabes with a slim but weighty body, noticeably angular look and large touch screen.

Its 3.7-inch screen is bigger than the iPhone's 3.5-inch one, and the extra real estate really makes it easier to navigate Web pages and play with applications. It also offers plenty of space on the home screen (and two side screens that you swipe to see) for software "widgets" that give a quick look at such things as your friends' Facebook status updates or the song you're playing on the built-in music player.

And the Droid's cost is comparable with the iPhone's - $200, after a rebate, with a two-year service contract with Verizon Wireless, its exclusive U.S. distributor.

The Droid runs the latest version of Google Inc.'s operating system, Android 2.0, which includes some enhancements such as the ability to zoom in on Web pages and photos by double-tapping on the screen. With one tap on a photo in your contacts list, you can also quickly see the ways in which you can contact your friends.

When it comes out on Friday the Droid will also be the first phone to include a cool, free mapping application from Google that can announce turn-by-turn directions.

Google Maps Navigation is easy to use and helped me out on a late-night ice cream run - I put the Droid in my pocket, turned up the volume and followed its female-robot-voice instructions while riding my motorcycle across town.

I was glad to see that the application quickly recalculates your route if you're prone to making wrong turns as I am. And if you live in a busy city with unpredictable traffic, you might like an option for getting alternate routes, all of which you can see overlaid on the same map along with their distances and estimated driving times.

Like other Android phones, the Droid has a voice search function. It can be used, for instance, to help navigate routes when you're in the Maps Navigation application. Saying "Navigate to Starbucks in San Francisco" should give you a list of Starbucks Coffee shops. Pick one, and you'll get turn-by-turn directions.

I'll probably stick with using the Droid's keyboard to get directions, though, as it had a hard time understanding me. The phone tried to send me to Ikea when I asked it to take me from my office to my apartment. It offered me all sorts of unrelated results when I tried to get directions to a French restaurant near my home.

That's not to say the keyboard is perfect. Unlike many other phones with standard, "QWERTY" keyboards, the Droid has keys that are pretty much flat, which often made it hard to type accurately. This wasn't helped by the fact that, aside from the space bar, the keys are all the same size. Two blank key-sized spaces on the bottom of the keyboard - one on the left, one on the right - made me wonder why Motorola didn't try to at least enlarge the often-used "return" key.

One Droid feature touted heavily in Verizon's television commercials is its ability to run several applications simultaneously, which is something the iPhone can't do. Generally, I found that the Droid does this pretty well.

There were hiccups, though. As I was listening to music, I tried to take a photo to send in a text message to a friend. Elvis Costello started to stutter as I pressed the shutter button. Another time, I tried to make a call while the Maps Navigation application was running and had to endure very loud instructions about where to turn while the phone was ringing.

I did like the Droid's five-megapixel camera, which matches the resolution of another new Motorola phone that runs Android, the Cliq, and can take sharper shots than contemporaries like the iPhone, whose camera hovers around 3 megapixels. There's also a very bright flash - another thing the iPhone and Cliq lack - so you can take photos in low light.

The Droid's big screen makes for a nice viewfinder, and a small menu of camera settings slides out from the left side of the screen so you can adjust the white balance and use different color effects. You'll have plenty of space to store the photos you take, too, because the Droid includes a 16 gigabyte microSD memory card.

The Droid runs on Verizon Wireless' network, and I was pretty impressed with its speed as I surfed the Web, looked up directions or checked e-mail. It also got a generally solid reception for making calls, and while my friends' voices didn't sound as clear as they could, I didn't have problems with dropped calls.

Motorola has been struggling to come up with a phone that comes close to matching the popularity of 2005's Razr, and the Droid is the latest indication that Motorola is really trying to figure out what consumers want.

It's also one of the most promising challengers to the iPhone, a field that now includes Palm's Pre and Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm2.

Some Verizon Wireless customers have been holding out on getting the iPhone - available in the U.S. only through AT&T - because it means switching away from a service they are already used to and like. For them, the Droid might be a good reason to stick with that wireless provider.

Even if you aren't already using Verizon, if you're not swayed by the iPhone, you might fall for the Droid.

What data is Google collecting on you?

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California - Google is offering a new privacy control that will make it easier for people to see some of the information being collected about them.

The Dashboard feature unveiled overnight pulls together all the data that pours into Google's computers whenever web surfers log in to one of the company's services.

That includes summaries of an individual's email, search requests and viewing habits on Google's video site, YouTube.

Before, a user would have to check multiple places for all that.

The snapshot doesn't include any activity that occurs when a person isn't logged into a Google service.

Dashboard represents Google's latest step to give its users more control over their personal information and appease privacy watchdogs.

- AP

Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: November 6, 2009
In “The Men Who Stare at Goats” George Clooney wears a heavy mustache and a somewhat shaggier version of the military haircut called a high and tight, two adjectives which also describe his performance in this likable, lightweight, absurdist comedy.

As Lyn Cassady — a fictional member of an Army unit that was weirder and possibly truer than most science fiction — Mr. Clooney has shed his cool cat skin to embrace his inner clown. Juggling tics, double takes, eyeball bulges and explosive gestures, he leaps in the air and splats in the sand with cartoon abandon, buoyed by the jokes and the big bounce of his own stardom.

With his thrusting jaw, Lyn looks as if he could have been drawn by Milton Caniff, the creator of the comic-strip tough guy Steve Canyon. Instead Lyn has been drawn in crude if generally effective strokes by Mr. Clooney and his producing partner, Grant Heslov, who together also wrote “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Mr. Clooney directed that film, but for this one Mr. Heslov has moved behind the camera to make a somewhat ragged directing debut. Though he never settles into a groove, moving between would-be parody and could-be sincerity, Mr. Heslov does keep the parts more or less in play, aided by the outlandishness of his story and by the performances of Mr. Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Stephen Lang.

Written by Peter Straughan and based on the nonfiction book by Jon Ronson, also titled “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” the film tells parallel stories that finally join. One involves a journalist, Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who after his marriage tanks, heads to Iraq to give his life meaning. What he discovers is Lyn, a recruit in the mysterious New Earth Army, an experimental Army program centered on parapsychology that was developed by a Vietnam vet, Bill Django (Mr. Bridges) and pushed into creation by the gonzo General Hopgood (Mr. Lang). Realizing that he has the makings of a juicy story, Bob tags after Lyn, a decision that leads him both into Iraq and Lyn’s past in the New Earth Army.

Bill’s initiative, born in the fields of Vietnam and baptized in the hot tubs of the New Age movement, brings together Buddhism, pantheism, militarism and old-fashioned hooey-ism, the idea being that war can be waged with love, eagle feathers and assorted paranormal techniques — with a few martial arts moves thrown in. General Hopgood and Lyn take to the program with a seriousness bordering on devotional, partly because Bill, or rather the irresistible Mr. Bridges, could inspire lemmings of any genus. His batty smile and loosey-goosey gestural performance, which brings to mind a modern dance teacher stoned on good vibes, perfectly complements Mr. Lang’s spring-loaded turn. (Mr. Lang is having a very nice year, with roles also in Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” and James Cameron’s “Avatar.”)

Mr. Clooney doesn’t play his part as straight as Mr. Lang or Mr. Bridges and, especially during the flashbacks when he’s forced into a sloppy pageboy, he seems to be enjoying the joke too much. What makes Mr. Lang’s performance work so well is its unwavering seriousness: he never lets self-amusement cloud his eyes, or his acting. Not so Mr. McGregor, a predictably attractive if superfluous presence. What makes this a story worth telling, it emerges quickly, isn’t the journalist but the men who thought they could travel the world or stop a goat’s heart with their minds. The journalist hook is an easy way into the material, but both Bob and the flashbacks, which probably account for some of Mr. Heslov’s unsteadiness, get in the way.

There’s more in the mix, including another New Earth Army member, played by an agreeably malevolent Kevin Spacey, and many goats. (They stare right back, by the way.) They’re all fine company, but like Bob and Lyn’s drifting adventures in Iraq, which finds them tooling down dusty roads on a mystery mission, they don’t leave much of a trace. There’s a curious evanescence to the movie, which while apparently based in truth — it recalls a multimillion-dollar project called Star Gate dedicated to parapsychology research that came to light in the mid-1990s — doesn’t add up to anything. It’s wacky, amusing. But that’s about it. If there are truths to be drawn from the military’s use of men to locate hostages psychically, they’re not evident here.

There is a Lyn in Mr. Ronson’s book, Lyn Buchanan, who wrote about his experience in Star Gate in “The Seventh Sense: The Secrets of Remote Viewing as Told by a ‘Psychic Spy’ for the U.S. Military.” If you think that sounds outlandish, consider that a document on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site claims that the Defense Intelligence Agency has a psychic center, and that the National Security Agency studies parapsychology. Furthermore, the C.I.A. “reportedly is a member of an Incident Response Team to investigate U.F.O. landings, if one should occur,” the site says. “This team has never met. The lack of solid C.I.A. documentation on Agency U.F.O.-related activities in the 1980s leaves the entire issue somewhat murky for this period.”

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Fisticuffs, war violence and one psychically sacrificed goat.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Grant Heslov; written by Peter Straughan, based on the book by Jon Ronson; director of photography, Robert Elswit; edited by Tatiana S. Riegel; production designer, Sharon Seymour; produced by George Clooney, Mr. Heslov and Paul Lister; released by Overture Films. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes.

WITH: George Clooney (Lyn Cassady), Ewan McGregor (Bob Wilton), Jeff Bridges (Bill Django), Kevin Spacey (Larry Hooper), Stephen Lang (General Hopgood), Nick Offerman (Scotty Mercer), Tim Griffin (Tim Kootz), Waleed F. Zuaiter (Mahmud Daash), Robert Patrick (Todd Nixon) and Rebecca Mader (Deborah Wilton).

Rihanna admits she was wrong to go back to Brown

Pop star Rihanna says she was "wrong" to reconcile with boyfriend Chris Brown after he assaulted her, saying she did not want other victims of domestic abuse to follow her example.

In an interview broadcast in the US on Good Morning America, the Barbados-born singer said returning to Brown had been a mistake which arose because she was "so far in love".

"That's embarrassing that that's the type of person that I fell in love with," the 21-year-old said in her first televised interview about the assault.

"So far in love. So unconditional that I went back. It's humiliating to say this happened. To accept that? It's a traumatising experience."

"I stayed. I even went back after he beat me, which was wrong," she said.

Rihanna said she had decided to speak about the attack because she did not want other women to follow her example of returning to an abusive partner.

AFP

Beyonce thanks Jay-Z at MTV Europe Music Awards for ‘putting a ring on it’

BERLIN, Germany -- A host of stars stepped out in Berlin, Germany on Thursday night for the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards, but two in particular made major splashes – Beyonce and Katy Perry.

Beyonce picked up awards for Best Song for “Halo,” Best Female and Best Video for “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” According to MTV U.K., Beyonce thanked her husband, Jay-Z, who also performed at the event, while accepting the statue.

“There is only one person I want to thank and that is Jay for putting a ring on it,” she said.

But beyond her wins, Beyonce wowed the crowd in a sexy red corset and black eye mask, which she wore as she stepped on stage to perform “Sweet Dreams.” The dramatic performance featured the chanteuse emerging from a red heart carried by masked men, before she made her way down to the front of the stage to dance seductively with her female backup dancers in red corsets with hoodies and lacy stockings.

And Katy Perry, host of the MTV Europe Music Awards for the second time in a row (she hosted last year’s gig in Liverpool), was present again for the ceremony, which took place this time in Berlin, Germany.

Katy rocked a host of outlandish outfits throughout the show, just as she did the year before.

She first hit the stage in an “Alice in Wonderland” style corset and top hat, with knee high boots. She donned one princess-like gown that had holes cut out of it while another corset that had “Rusty” written on the bottom (perhaps an homage to her boyfriend, MTV U.S. Video Music Awards host Russell Brand whose nickname is “Rusty Rockets”). Another time, she entered the stage while coasting on a glittering moon, and at one point she swung in on a swing.

U2, which won Best Live Act, also performed at the event, playing “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” with Jay-Z in front of the Brandeburg Gate.

Jay-Z picked up a gong award too for Best Urban act.

Other stars at the event included The Jonas Brothers, Green Day, Foo Fighters, “Hills” star Brody Jenner, Jesse Metcalfe, Tokio Hotel, Shakira and Juliette Lewis.-chinadaily

Lonely Planet puts country among best-value places to visit

LONDON: Malaysia is among world’s best-value destinations, according to travel guide firm Lonely Planet.

The British-based company, in its Best In Travel 2010 guide, said Malaysia “is a clever choice for travellers on the lookout for a bargain”.

Thanks to the economic crisis, Iceland and London were also among the top 10 destinations, which included Thailand, South Africa, India, Mexico, Bulgaria, Kenya and Las Vegas,

The annual snapshot book captures “the world’s hottest travel trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the year ahead”, Lonely Planet said yesterday.

The economic collapse in Iceland meant the island was no longer punitively expensive, said the guide, putting the beleaguered country at the top of its best-value list.

Thailand, at number two, remained “perennially good value”, said the book.

Meanwhile, London’s days as a costly destination were now over, Lonely Planet said, thanks to the exchange rate which made it “much more affordable for visitors from abroad”.

The top 10 countries overall for travellers were El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Portugal, Suriname and the United States.

The top 10 cities were Abu Dhabi, Charleston (South Carolina), Cork (Ireland), Cuenca (Ecuador), Istanbul, Kyoto (Japan), Lecce (Italy), Sarajevo, Singapore and Vancouver (Canada).

Bali (Indonesia), Goa (India), Koh Kong (Cambodia), Southern Africa and southwest Western Australia featured among the top 10 regions. — AFP

Official ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ Trailer

Published by Jeff Leins on: November 2nd, 2009
Disney has released the official trailer for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, an adaptation of the video game series produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. A rogue prince (Jake Gyllenhaal) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (Gemma Arterton) and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world. Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina also star.
Arterton is a beautiful woman and her voice is sexy, but does the entire trailer need to have her whispering over it? The visuals look pretty great to me though, almost exactly like the games, though I’m still not convinced Gyllenhaal was the best choice.
The usual grainy bootleg leaked online earlier today, but I wanted to wait a bit and post the high-resolution version for you guys. Here’s the better quality version from IGN: