October 15th, 2012 by ElizaP

That’s the question that a new Firefox and Chrome add-on is attempting
to answer. The add-on, called Privacyfix takes stock of how you spent your time
with internet service providers Atlanta on Google over a month’s time, stretches that average usage over one year, and then comes up with an estimate for the amount of value per search.

For Facebook, the add-on offers users a number of alerts and warnings about the things they should be doing with their accounts, such as altering their privacy settings and deleting Facebook apps you no longer use. This appears to be a valuable app for Facebook users, who are applying the add-on’s suggested privacy measures. The add-on also shows users how far Facebook and Google track them across the internet.

May 18th, 2012 by ElizaP

Virtually everyone knows about Google Earth, and its amazing views of just about every location around the world. If armchair travel is one of your hobbies, then you shouldn’t be doing it without this beautiful and interesting addition.

Panoramio
Owned by Google, Panoramio is an online photography community. It already exists as a layer on Google Earth and Google Maps, but has to be turned on in order to see the photos contributed. This resource adds another facet of discovery to the armchair traveler, who can view photos taken by residents or tourists, which gives a new perspective on places to see. This new perspective can also reveal lesser-known destinations that can be added to the itinerary of a trip.

Accessing Panoramio
A Google ID is all it takes to begin using Panoramio. Once signed in, you can enter a location if you know the name of the place you want to explore. Or, you can simply view the map of the world, and click on a random location. Either way, you will be able to view photos of places only, and not personal photos like you might find elsewhere. Users can zoom in nearly to street level to see photos, and clicking on a photo will reveal its location or building name.

March 29th, 2012 by ElizaP

It was announced today that Yahoo will be installing ‘do not track‘ options in all of its global sites in time for this summer.  This is much earlier than Google, who said it would be offering a do not track option in its Chrome browser by the end of this year. The technology is currently available in three browsers – Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari – and has been available for a long while. But this newest move by Yahoo to install the technology across its network will add another layer of security for surfers who don’t want their activities tracked. However, the technology isn’t currently supported by all sites, simply because they haven’t been tweaked to allow cooperation with it. Yahoo’s backing of the installation does give it more clout, though, and it is hoped that more sites will implement the technology as time goes on.