Computer Support Network

Lately it seems like Google adds a new service to their lineup just about every week and the trend will continue with their new web host service.  Hosting user content is nothing new for Google; they already host millions of gigabytes of data for services such as Blogger, Picasa and Google Sites but now they plan to do something different and this time for a price.

Google will now provide a combined hosting and speedup service for customers’ websites.  As part of the service Google will reengineer hosted websites to comply with web standard best practices.  Unlike other Google products the new service will also cost a currently unannounced price.  Engineering manager Ram Raman described the service as follows:

Page Speed Service is an online service that automatically speeds up loading of your Web pages. To use the service, you need to sign up and point your site’s DNS entry to Google. Page Speed Service fetches content from your servers, rewrites your pages by applying Web performance best practices, and serves them to end users via Google’s servers across the globe. Your users will continue to access your site just as they did before, only with faster load times. Now you don’t have to worry about concatenating CSS, compressing images, caching, gzipping resources, or other Web performance best practices.

Speculation also suggests that by allowing Google to rewrite a websites code that their own proprietary browser Chrome will receive performance boosts by having content written specifically for it.

While the idea of Google hosted and rewritten websites is intriguing the prospect leaves a lot questions unanswered.  As a web developer I have encountered many websites that have been cobbled together in such a way that code fixes can take hours and still not match the original designs.  If Google plans to reengineer every site they host it begs to question how accurate the end product will be and how much the service will cost.  An even greater concern is accessing the data once it’s hosted on the Google service. Will users be able to make fast changes to the website and produce backups or will they be at the mercy of a Google technician.  If Google can pull off a successful launch of the service they could help revolutionize web design but as it stands now I’m skeptical.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

If you’re like most people you’re curious to see what Google has to offer in the way of its new social networking platform.  However, there is a problem.  Facebook scammers have set up a way to use this curiosity against users and hijack their accounts.

The most recent version of the scam consists of a Google+ fan page with a description that promises Google+ invites to anyone who “likes” the page.  When a Facebook user does so they not only give the scammers access to their account but all your friends and family are encouraged to sign up for the scam from your account.  So far an estimated 80,000 people have fallen for the scam so it’s a very real threat for the unwary.

If you encounter this scam or any other the first thing you should do is report it to Facebook Security.  The sooner Facebook is aware of the threat the sooner it can be removed.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Rumors that Google was working on its own social networking site have bounced around the net for a long time but today the search engine giant official announced Google+. Google+ is not the companies’ first foray into social media; anyone who remembers the ill received Google Buzz will attest to the fact that Google has gone down a similar road in the past. What makes Google+ stand out is that instead of trying to emulate Facebook and other social networks it looks to restructure them and make a more focused experience.

The main features of Google+ are based around the +Circles feature. +Circle is based on the idea that not everyone within your social network needs to see or even should see everything you write. The +Circle feature allows you to set limitations on who gets to see a particular announcement or media. In this way the user gains more control over private information and is able to keep their work, family and social lives separate.

The other features of Google+ are best explained from Google’s official blog entry:

• +Sparks: Add your interests, and Google returns relevant content from across the web – and a few clicks will start a conversation about the link with the circles you choose.
• +Hangouts: Flag yourself as available, and anyone who wants can initiate a live multi-user video or text chat with you. Google’s promoting it as a lot more “casual” than traditional instant messaging and chat features since it’s drop-in, drop-out according to availability.
• +Mobile: Like Twitter, you can tag your posts to The Google+ Project with your location. But more interestingly, +Mobile will also add your smartphone pictures to the Google cloud in real-time to promote sharing. And you can send messages to entire Circles at once from the app. It’s only available for the Android Market right now, but Google promises an Apple iTunes App Store release coming soon.

The ideas behind Google+ provide a logical step forward for social media networks but since access is on an invite only basis it’s hard to tell how successful the company will be with this venture. Despite the huge fellowship Google has it will still have an uphill battle to compete with the likes of Facebook.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Earlier this week Google encountered a service crash that affected over 150,000 people and left most of them without access to their email accounts. Google reported that the service outage only accounted for roughly .08% of their total user base but with an estimated 193 million users worldwide this still adds up to a shocking amount.

Of those who were hit by the outage most discovered that all of their personal correspondence and any files they had uploaded to Google cloud network had been deleted. Since Google has long promoted near unlimited storage space for its users the loss of information left many feeling violated and betrayed.

Google has made every effort to restore the lost data to its user base with a promise that all lost data would eventually be restored. While admirable this still brings up the concern of what if a more serious system crash occurs in the future that is not so easily recovered. As one of, if not the largest data cloud in the world Google has a heavy responsibility to safeguard its data network.

While Google has made good on this responsibility so far you should never leave the fate of your valued data in someone else’s hands. Preparedness in the case of disaster is the hallmark of a successful operations strategy and whether your data is personal or business related you should have a reliable backup solution. While it’s not recommended that Gmail be used for business operations even personal affects deserve to be protected.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

It’s no secret that Google is one of the primary leaders in the realm of social content sharing. Today Google took this one step further with Google Buzz, a Gmail integrated plug-in that allows you to post new information directly from within the email application.

So why should this matter to you? Social content sharing is one of the best ways to promote your business or product organically and can greatly improve your websites search engine optimization. What makes Google Buzz different from many of the other social content sharing platforms is that it works on a much more personal level. Content you wish to share is automatically distributed to people with whom you regularly exchange email messages. In addition to this you can make posts, updates and general content available to the global environment. The benefit of this is that people who have followed similar stores or shown general interest will receive information about your product or business without seeking it out.

Along with the applications standard functionality it also integrates with many other social content sharing services such as Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, and Google Reader. While Buzz is not the most important thing you can do to promote your services right now it can provide a boost in the right direction. If combined with an already strong Search Engine Optimization program you can expect nice boost from the collaboration. As it stands now Buzz is one of top Google applications to keep an eye on in 2010.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Overshadowed by Google for many years Microsoft invested $80 million dollars to develop a search engine that would rival the current search king. With roughly 60% of all searches in the U.S. carried out on its platform, Google is no easy target. Surprisingly, Bing stands out from the pack as a real contender.

I have been a supporter of Google since the search engine made its start many years ago and the reason has always been convenience and reliability. Microsoft realizes this fact and attempts to expand on it with Bing. Just like Google, Bing relies on a very simple interface without a lot of extra clutter but after using the search engine for a couple weeks I have to say they have made some improvements.

Bing Search Engine

As seen in the image above the search results for Bing look very familiar but manage to incorporate additional information. As seen above our company listing displays not only the description text for our website but also the introductory paragraph and our contact number. As an added bonus the listing also includes a sitemap of some of our top pages (on demand support and 24/7 monitoring). While this may be overlooked by some it offers ease of access without the need to leave the search results.
Further test reveal that Bing puts more emphases on the phrase of a search instead of particular words. Because of this relevance of searches is much higher since it is unnecessary to include all keywords. For those that are unclear in what they want to find Bing also supplies an organized related searches option to guide users to the correct location. With better organization and more search options Bing pulls away from Google in many areas.

One problem remains however. Google has become the standard for so many years that people go to it instinctively. Even though Bing offers many beneficial new features the questions remains; is Big different or enough of an improvement to encourage people to switch over?

If you are a Google user what would it take you to convert?

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

After all the other areas that the Search Engine giant has branched out into, it should not come as a surprise that Google will now focus on the development of its own operating system. Google, which has already changed the way many people think about computer applications hopes to accomplish the same at a much larger scale.

The new OS named Chrome, just like the companies web browser, is planned for release in 2010. What sets Chrome apart from Microsoft and Apple is that it will be available as a fully open source OS. What this means is that software developers will be able to access and edit the code that runs the system. The benefit of this is that intuitive programmers will be able to fix and address any problems that appear without the need of an official patch from the parent company. As an added bonus it will make feature addition not only easy but common. A great example of a similar application of this is the widespread and popular internet browser Firefox.

The open source nature of the OS has raised questions about the availability of the product. To date all Google applications have been offered as freeware. If this trend continues then there will finally be a multi-featured and highly supported free operating system for the masses, a viable threat to the Microsoft monopoly. With Chrome’s toted feature of fully integrated cloud computing the OS has the potential to change the way people view their operating system. Cloud Computing, which shifts the focus from singular computer systems to interconnected networks increase the resources and abilities of all connected systems. Just like Virtualization Cloud Computing is heralded as the future of business and personal computers.

However, despite the promises Chrome is not without blemish. Google’s own blog states that Chrome was designed first as a notebook OS. While this is great as far as resource management and mobile support is concerned, it means that the OS may not take advantage of many of the features users currently expect. The other problem is Google will now compete directly with Microsoft and so the importance of its first party applications will need to be as strong. While Google apps are nice supplements they currently fail when put to the test next to Microsoft Office. Without full support of dedicated business applications Chrome will find it difficult to set up a foothold in the business world. The final problem is that with a scheduled release of 2010, Microsoft has a long time to ensure that it remains on top.

Ultimately it’s too early to predict what will happen but the evolution of the OS market place is dependent on competition. Even though Apple has made great strides in recent years it still remains a 2nd run OS that is not taken seriously by the bulk of computer users. If Google Chrome can encourage further competition then perhaps we will see the market evolve instead of remaining on its current stagnant course.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

In an interesting development Google has taken the concept of Green Technology and moved it to a whole new level; or to be quite accurate, out to sea. The novel idea has awarded Google with a patent for the production of offshore datacenters to be used to help with the massive amount of information that goes through their search engine every day.

The idea of the floating data centers is to benefit from all the resources of the sea. The “boats” will work as tidal energy harvesters which will power the hardware used in the datacenter as well as all the complimentary equipment needed to keep them functional. The vessels will be partially submerged in water which will dissipate heat and cut down on the required cooling cost. Since the datacenters would float 3-7 miles off the coast, there would be no real estate or property taxes to house the units. In order to accomplish all of these things, Google wrote the patent for a system that would include:

“A floating platform-mounted computer datacenter comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or more sea-water cooling units for providing cooling to the plurality of computing units.”

Google hopes that these aquatic datacenters will one day provide a green alternative to one of the most energy using fixtures in business today.

Currently the Aquatic Datacenter Farms are just a pipedream but after the patent was filed, Google began full scale testing of the technology that could one day make this a reality. The Google search engine is currently one of the most energy intensive programs in the world. When averaged together the amount of energy it takes to perform a single Google search is on par with what it takes to boil a pot of water. When you consider the billions of Google searches that are run every day it should be no surprise that Google has devoted so much time to an energy solution. While it’s unlikely that aquatic datacenters will replace traditional models anytime soon it is a real possibility that these energy efficient designs could start to supplement older models over the next few years. As businesses work to acclimate themselves to run in a “green world,” experimental projects such as these could soon become the norm.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

For years Google has used its search engine and custom applications to match products and services to keyword content. Up until now this has consisted largely of simple keyword advertisements. Type “shoes” in Google, for example, and you will get advertisements from shoe company partners. Last week Google proposed to change all this with their plan to make ads “more interesting.”

The idea behind the content shift is that keyword advertising is not always relevant to the interest of the user. A person who conducts research on houses in Africa probably still doesn’t want to own one. The same applies to all keyword searches. The new behavior ad program intends to change this by compiling interest instead of keyword searches. Through the use of monitor based algorithms Google will be able to tell how many times you go to a website, what parts you visit most often and custom tailor ads based on this information.

Now most people who read that are likely to do so with a look of horror. The idea that all of your web interactions will be monitored in an effort to sell you more goods is one that scares a lot of people. The fact is though that whether or not it was used almost all of this information has been tracked for a long time. Everything from time spent on a webpage to your browser version number (all you readers with IE6; please update) is easily recorded. The only difference between those stats, and the ones now utilized by Google, is that the before mentioned are privately held by which ever website they are taken from. With the new system Google will instead blanket this sort of information to all of their advertising partners.

From my perspective I suspect that this change over will result in a lot of hot air which will quickly dissipate. No one likes their personal information revealed but in the long run a few more ads are unlikely to change your life. But because privacy is a hot topic subject I am interested to learn what others think. If you have an opinion on this subject, post it, and let’s get a global perspective on the issue.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Video sharing sites like Youtube and Google Video have become second nature and trusted by all web 2.0 users. The last two weeks has broken this trust, however, as Google Video have been targeted by blackhat SEO campaign operators. The site has been put to use to spread malware using Google’s own search engine rank algorithms against themselves. Because this method of infiltration is a new development in malware distribution it is very import to understand what it is and how it happened.

The current exploit has targeted over 400,000 search queries. The hijacked videos direct site visitors to adult oriented websites which deliver malware through hidden downloads. The reason why the number of targets phrases is so high is because instead of targeting obvious keywords the scammers have piggybacked their content on legitimate videos. This is where the problem becomes severe; as with all content on video sharing websites the more visitors the higher the placement. The result is a self reinforcing problem; the more viewers, the more malware distributed, the higher the placement in Google.

Because it may not be possible to tell a legitimate video from malware infected clip it is important to understand how the malware gets onto your computer. When the video is clicked the user is redirected to a secondary domain. This website closely resembles Youtube in design so it is important to pay attention to the URL. From here the user is given a popup message that states, “Your Flash Version is too old. Your browser cannot play this file. Click “OK” to download and install update for Flash Video Player”. If the user accepts the malware (AutoTDSS.BNA!worm) is downloaded and must be removed manually.

At the time of writing this Google is aware of the problem and looks to create a solution but the exact timeframe is not known. The thing to keep in mind is that because content on video sharing websites is supplied by normal users there is no guarantee that content will be secure. Google and Youtube have always provided good moderation to their websites but it’s inevitable that things slip through the cracks. The best defense is to be aware of abnormal behavior when you visit such websites. If you do run into suspicious activity contact the site administrator as soon as possible.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department