Update 12:35 p.m. PDT: I clarified this post to reflect the fact that this involves encryption only between a user’s browser and Gmail’s servers.

Gmail now can be set to encrypt communications between a browser and Google’s servers by default, an option that makes the e-mail service harder to snoop on but also potentially slower.

Users already could encrypt communications with Gmail servers (by going to https://mail.google.com), but on Thursday, the company added an option to use that encrypted connection automatically.

Gmail now can be set to encrypt communications with its users by default.

(Credit: Google)

“Your computer has to do extra work to decrypt all that data, and encrypted data doesn’t travel across the Internet as efficiently as unencrypted data,” Gmail engineer Ariel Rideout stated in a blog post Thursday. “That’s why we leave the choice up to you.”

The encryption comes through use of HTTPS, a secure version of the HTTP protocol that governs how Web browsers fetch information from servers. It’s not easy to snoop on somebody else’s network traffic, but it can be done when the communications aren’t encrypted.

HTTPS encrypts communications only between the browser and Gmail’s servers. It’s not like PGP (nee Pretty Good Privacy) or GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) software that encrypts e-mail all the way from source to destination.

The Gmail login process is always encrypted.

(Via Google Blogoscoped.)

Fore more visit Source: [webware]

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Lee Lorenzen, the man behind the Altura Facebook-focused venture fund, was at the F8 conference Wednesday pitching a non-Facebook project: Kallout. It’s a software utility and Web service that lets you kick off a Web search from any word in nearly any app. Lorenzen calls it, “a new way to search using only your mouse.” All you have to do is choose some text and wait half a second, and an icon appears on your screen that lets you pop up a Kallout search menu. Similar utilities are built into some browsers, but Kallout works across all apps.

Kallout will pop a search menu up over a selection in almost any app.

The app lets you choose from multiple search systems, including Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, and various other commerce sites, databases, and news sources. And it is somewhat context aware. If you highlight an address, its first search option will be a map; likewise, a movie title will likely display options from YouTube and Amazon.

Search results are displayed in an on-screen window, or you can click through to go to the originating Web source for the info.

Lorenzen thinks Kallout can be a powerful advertising service. As he states, Kallout gives “Google the capability to sell ads over Microsoft Office.” Kallout does indeed work with Office, even though since Office also has menus that pop up when you hover over a selection, it can unsightly up your workspace a tiny bit.

Results also arrive in a pop-up window, but you can jump to the full browser display in a click.

The real challenge is getting Kallout adopted, and that’s not to be discounted. Getting the utility requires a download and an installation, a pretty big barrier when you’re hoping to run an ad-supported business.

I’ve seen other products like this, but I still like Kallout. It’s completely unobtrusive yet there when you need it. If you do a lot of Web searches based on things you read while surfing, or need reference works while you’re writing, I advocate it. It’s a good tool.

See also: Hyperwords.

Fore more visit Source: [webware]

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You’ll spend eight months over the course of your life dealing with junk mail (the paper kind, not the email stuff; that’s another story). And that’s even though we toss 44% of it into the garbage unopened. More than 100 million trees are used each year to create the junk mail we’re sent.

Now the New York Times reports that direct-marketing companies think they can make junk mail “greener.” Yeah, right, as if! Like that’ll make us enjoy wasting our time even more.

Apparently, a group called the Green Marketing Coalition is involving companies like Microsoft and Washington Mutual in ever-so-slightly less awful direct-mail practices. The organization encourages using recycled paper, for instance. It even advocates removing the names of dead people from the marketing lists. Real smart.

The greener option is to opt out of junk mail entirely. Try some of these tips for ditching junk mail. You’ll have to contact the direct-mail associations and credit card bureaus directly to get off their lists.

Another handy resource is Catalog Choice. This group will contact merchants like L.L. Bean and Victoria’s Secret on your behalf, for free, and get them to cease sending you paper catalogs.

You can also use a service like Green Dimes. The basic service offers a do-it-yourself kit for free, or you pay $20 to $35 to have Green Dimes do the work for you. It promises to eliminate up to 90% of postal junk mail for up to five years.

Why wait for retailers and their marketers to make junk mail eco-friendly? Just get rid of the problem at the source, and stop receiving as much junk mail. You’ll save some trees and your own precious time.

For more visit Source:[green.yahoo]

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by Andy Sutton, My2CentsOnline.com | July 25, 2008 “This week, the US Congress overwhelmingly passed HR3221. Perhaps as early as this day, this measure will be taken up in the Senate. The President has pledged his blessing of the measure as well. While I am sure that there are many folks who are happy to see […] For more visit Source:www.investment-blog.net

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It’s public beta time for Qik, the mobile live-video service that’s captured the hearts of Web 2.0 bigwigs like Jason Calacanis and Kevin Rose. The service has been in private beta since late last year.

Along with its debut to the masses, Qik has made some tweaks: …

Source [The social]

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The game development platform du jour might be the iPhone 2.0 software, but News Corp.’s MySpace hopes to make a splash with a new contest in its Asian market: TheGame08, which pits developers against one another in an attempt to create a hit social game that runs on …

Source [The social]

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The easiest way to describe Spire, a new community site that made its debut Monday, is as a more grown-up, cultured Yelp: the latter offers expert advice on the ideal dive bars in Brooklyn, whereas the former focuses on four-star restaurants and hotels across the river in Manhattan. Calling itself …

Source [The social]

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China says its population of World wide web users rises to world No. 1 at 253 million BEIJING (AP) — China’s booming World wide web population has surpassed the United Says to become the world’s biggest, with 253 million people on the web despite government controls on Web use, according to government data reported Friday. The latest figure on Web use at the […] For more visit Source:www.investment-blog.net

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The game development platform du jour might be the iPhone 2.0 software, but News Corp.’s MySpace hopes to make a splash with a new contest in its Asian market: TheGame08, which pits developers against one another in an attempt to create a hit social game that runs on …

Source [The social]

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