InformationWeek Daily Archives
05/23/2013 12:20:10 Daily, February 10Google Desktop: Friend Or Foe?
Listen to a podcast version of this newsletter
In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note: Google Desktop: Friend Or Foe?
2. Today's Top Story: Browsers
- Spyware Barely Touches Firefox
- Review: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, And Other Browsers In Four-Way Shootout
3. Breaking News
- Google Upgrades Desktop Software
- Microsoft Hints At Dec. 1 For Windows Vista Launch
- Federal And State Governments Look Into Microsoft Vista Antitrust Complaints
- Microsoft Unveils New Firewall, Web-Filtering Software
- AMD Says Koreans Raided Intel Offices In Antitrust Probe
- Yahoo Accused In Jailing Of Second Chinese Internet User
- RIM Unveils Plan To Keep BlackBerrys Alive
- No Bad Thoughts, Please, We're BlackBerry Users
- Internet Tops Consumer Complaints In New York State
- Sun Patches 7 Critical Java Runtime Bugs
- Boston Developing Plan For Citywide Wi-Fi
- India Maps Chip Strategy, Continues Talks With Intel
- Samsung Develops Tiny 1-Gbyte Memory Card--World's Fastest
4. Grab Bag: DVDs, Vista Antitrust, Collegiate Podcasting
5. In Depth: Personal Tech And Reviews
6. Voice Of Authority: Google On The Desktop
7. White Papers: Single Sign-On
8. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
9. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription
Quote of the day:
"It isn't the incompetent who destroy an organization. It is
those who have achieved something and want to rest upon their
achievements who are forever clogging things up." -- Charles Sorenson
In the small workgroup I've been a part of for the last couple
years, I've become somewhat notorious for the chronic loss--or
inability to retain--E-mail messages and documents. I can almost
hear the frustration running through the minds of others as I
request--on an almost daily basis--yet another resend of a doc
or message.
See if you can relate to my situation: You get copied on an
endless series of E-mail strings, some that are marginally
relevant to you, at the same time you're constantly bumping up
against E-mail storage limitations that mean you need to do
large-scale purging on a regular basis. Given the volume of
E-mails, the number of meetings, and the regularity of
interruptions, it's a real struggle just to detach or store
critical E-mailed documents to your hard drive.
So it's encouraging to see that Google continues to enhance its Desktop software
program. I already use it on my personal system and hope to
extend that use--policies permitting--to my corporate activities.
Yes, I'm quite concerned about the prospect of personal
information getting stored on Google computers, but there are
obvious steps I can take to avoid that, such as taking off my PC
any data--such as financial account information--that I wouldn't
want to be accessible to the outside world. And, for all the
concerns that get raised about Google and whether it's becoming
the world's biggest snoop, its download page gives clear, explicit instructions for how to prevent
Google Desktop from indexing and searching certain data that you
don't want it to. For many users, however, it's likely that won't
be good enough and their privacy concerns, specifically relating
to the Search Across Computers function, will outweigh the
potential benefits. (For another view on the Google Desktop
Search software, here's a compelling opinion from Preston Gralla of our
Networking Pipeline site and yet another, more skeptical opinion worth airing.)
For me, my data storage is straightforward enough that I can
excise or relocate the data that I wouldn't want Google to see.
The real win, in my mind, is the ability to use the familiar
Google search methodology--the only one that's ever really worked
in my case--to search E-mails, documents, and other file types
(the complete list of supported file types, notably excluding
Lotus Notes, is here) and to
locate them from multiple systems. That's a far cry from the
excruciating process of trying to locate old messages in Notes or
locate documents among the hundreds I store in folders on my hard
drive. I predict that a few months from now, some
co-workers--like me--will be grateful for this latest rev of
Google Desktop.
Meanwhile, there's a corporate privacy angle to scrutinize as
well. Google Desktop does raise legitimate issues for some
security/IT pros who fear the loss of business data through this
system. Google offers an enterprise version of
Google Desktop that lets admins control the level of freedom
users have to share files within or outside their organizations.
But is that enough to make your company take the plunge into
Google Desktop? Please respond to our poll on this issue or weigh in at my blog entry.
Tom Smith
Spyware Barely Touches Firefox
Related Coverage:
Review: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, And Other Browsers In Four-Way Shootout
Google Upgrades Desktop Software
Microsoft Hints At Dec. 1 For Windows Vista Launch
Federal And State Governments Look Into Microsoft Vista Antitrust Complaints
Microsoft Unveils New Firewall, Web-Filtering Software
AMD Says Koreans Raided Intel Offices In Antitrust Probe
Yahoo Accused In Jailing Of Second Chinese Internet User
RIM Unveils Plan To Keep BlackBerrys Alive
No Bad Thoughts, Please, We're BlackBerry Users
Internet Tops Consumer Complaints In New York State
Sun Patches 7 Critical Java Runtime Bugs
Boston Developing Plan For Citywide Wi-Fi
India Maps Chip Strategy, Continues Talks With Intel
Samsung Develops Tiny 1-Gbyte Memory Card--World's Fastest
In the current episode:
Paul Kapustka: "Is VoIP Worth It?"
Ivan Schneider: "Bank Security: The Movie"
Sony Pictures Prices High-Definition DVDs (Houston Chronicle)
U.S. Assessing Windows Vista Antitrust Concerns (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
Apple Moves Into University Podcasts (Financial Times)
New From InformationWeek: Get Your News In A Flash--Literally
-----------------------------------------
WinZip 10 Pro: All You've Got To Do Is Zip It
Review: ZoneAlarm Security Suite
Is Application Security Training Worth the Money?
Review: Distributed Wireless Security Monitoring Systems
Review: Comet Video Technologies' Comet 600 For Remote Security
Blog: Analyzing Google's Battle For The Dell Desktop
Putting An End To The Password-Management Nightmare
Recommend This Newsletter To A Friend
To unsubscribe from, subscribe to, or change your E-mail address for this newsletter, please visit the InformationWeek Subscription Center.
Note: To change your E-mail address, please subscribe your new address and unsubscribe your old one.
Keep Getting This Newsletter
We take your privacy very seriously. Please review our Privacy Policy.
InformationWeek Daily Newsletter
1. Editor's Note: Google Desktop: Friend Or Foe?
tsmith@cmp.com
www.informationweek.com
2. Today's Top Story: Browsers
In side-by-side tests of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox,
IE proved to be far more vulnerable to spyware infections. Most
of the exploits that leveraged IE vulnerabilities to plant
spyware were based on ActiveX and JavaScript.
Four tech experts battle over which is the best browser--IE7,
Firefox, Opera, or Maxthon. We take you on a visual tour of each,
then let you make the call.
In moves that "amount to a new operating system," according to a
Gartner analyst, the company is introducing a different way of
organizing, finding, and sharing information.
Microsoft drops clues in a guess-the-launch-date game aimed at
software developers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Several companies complain that the Vista "Welcome Center"
presents commercial offers from partners and/or the hardware maker.
Microsoft rolled out public beta of its ISA 2006 firewall,
software to protect against viruses, spyware, and other
infections, as well as other security products.
AMD says Koreans conducted "dawn raids" on Intel offices in that
country; Intel says they merely "visited."
The portal company said it will look into charges by activists
that it cooperated with Chinese police in a 2003 case that
resulted in the arrest and sentencing of writer Li Zhi to eight
years in prison.
Research In Motion has filed for a patent for its workaround,
part of a software update called BlackBerry Multi-Mode Edition.
The changes will require software updates, which will offer the
same functionality and performance. It will be downloadable at a
later date, if needed.
As the possible shutdown of BlackBerry E-mail service looms, some
companies and individual users cope by simply denying the
possibility, while others prepare for alternatives and estimate
the workload required to switch their systems and users.
There were more formal complaints during 2005 about Internet
business than about cars, the state's attorney general said.
Attackers can use the flaws in the Java Runtime Environment to
read and write files on the compromised system's hard drive, or
execute programs.
The nonprofit Boston Foundation is expected to unveil a plan next
week to unwire Beantown.
India is looking to encourage electronics manufacturing locally,
especially semiconductors, displays, hard-disk drives, and DVDs,
while continuing talks with Intel, which plans to establish a
test facility.
Designed for cell phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players, the
card writes at 7.12 Mbytes per second, 3.5 times as fast as other
micro cards.
4. Grab Bag: DVDs, Vista Antitrust, Collegiate Podcasting
Sony Pictures became the first studio to say how much it will
charge for films released on the next-generation DVD format.
Antitrust concerns have been raised over aspects of Windows
Vista, the next version of the operating system, according to a
report Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department and the states
that participated in Microsoft's U.S. antitrust settlement.
Apple Computer has introduced a free service that enables
colleges and universities to put course lectures and other
learning materials online using Apple's iTunes software.
----- The latest research, polls, and tools -----
InformationWeek.com's latest service is automated E-mail news
flashes. You pick the topic and the frequency (real time, daily,
or weekly), and we'll do the rest. Sign up by following the link
below and be one of the first to take advantage of this latest
service.
5. In Depth: Reviews And Personal Tech
With new compression algorithms and automated zip jobs, WinZip
consolidates its position in the desktop data-backup market.
Despite some glitches with downloading anti-spyware updates and a
frustrating interface, ZoneAlarm provides protection that few
competitors can match.
Look for training that focuses on identifying and expunging
problems in the software itself.
Distributed wireless security monitoring systems help categorize
and prioritize threats. We review two offerings from AirDefense
and AirTight Networks.
Comet 600 pipes your video-surveillance system to your cell phone
so you can keep an eye on what's happening at the office even
when you're offsite.
6. Voice Of Authority: Google On The Desktop
The Wall Street Journal has an intriguing article this week
examining Google's negotiations to pay Dell to get space on Dell
PC desktops, citing anonymous sources and noting that the
negotiations could yet fall apart. The Journal's anonymous source
says Google could pay a figure approaching $1 billion over three
years, Chris Murphy says.
7. White Papers: Single Sign-On
Password protection is inherently insecure, leaving your network
vulnerable to attack. In this informative paper you will learn
how single-sign-on solutions can help assure heightened security
and compliance, reduce administrative complexity and costs, and
improve the end-user experience.
8. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
Try InformationWeek's RSS Feed
Discover all InformationWeek's sites and newsletters
Do you have friends or colleagues who might enjoy this newsletter? Please forward it to them and point out the subscription page.
9. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription
Don't let future editions of InformationWeek Daily go missing. Take a moment to add the newsletter's address to your anti-spam white list:
InfoWeek@update.informationweek.com
If you're not sure how to do that, ask your administrator or ISP. Or check your anti-spam utility's documentation. Thanks.
A free service of InformationWeek and the TechWeb Network.
Copyright (c) 2006 CMP Media LLC
600 Community Drive
Manhasset, N.Y. 11030