When the phrase oil spill is typed on Google or Yahoo, the immediate result guides one to BP’s Gulf of Mexico response, its official page dedicated to giving information about its attempt to curtail the spill. Search engines — especially Google and Yahoo, are the first point of contact for anyone looking for related information in a crisis situation. Thus BP’s PR strategy is pretty straight forward. While a host of companies resort to this strategy in crisis situation, BP has received flak from many critics who condemned the move as unethical

The next version of the iPhone will hit Australia in July as part of the second wave of countries to receive the handset, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs revealed this morning after demonstrating the new device. The phone will be available in the US, France, Germany, the UK and Japan from 24 June, but Australia will have to wait until July

Google has denied suggestions by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy that its Street Viewcars inadvertently captured people’s personal banking details. Senator Conroy yesterday suggested that Google could have gathered financial information when its cars accessed private data through unsecured wireless networks. The data collection occurred while the cars were out gathering information for Google’s mapping service. But Google Australia said no banking data was collected because it could not read information transmitted over secure networks like a financial website. A Google spokeswoman explained that Street View cars did not keep encrypted data

The Federal Government, alongside the Internet Industry Association (IIA), yesterday launched a code of practice that aims to reduce the amount of zombie-infected computers on the internet. Zombie-infected computers are PCs connected to the internet that are infected with malware. Drafted in September 2009, the IIA released the code of practice to internet service providers (ISPs), outlining ways they could protect and inform their users about being infected with malware. One suggestion within the code is to put users into a walled garden if their computer becomes infected, which limits internet access to prevent further security problems until the PC is quarantined. Another option is to throttle infected users’ speed down

HP is set to unveil a line of printers with their own email addresses, allow people to print from devices such as smartphones and the iPad

The Australian police have been ordered to investigate Google for possible breach of privacy while taking pictures for its Street View service. Australia’s attorney general said he had asked police to probe the internet giant following complaints that Google had gathered personal data from some unencrypted wi-fi services. Google has admitted doing so, but apologised, saying it was in error. The company has recently criticised the government’s plan for internet filters

Facebook could have a local police point of presence within months, according to Australian Federal Police High Tech Crime Centre assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan. The move would eliminate a sticking point in a high-profile slanging match between the two organisations, after the AFP questioned Facebook’s willingness to co-operate with local police investigations

Tinfoil hatters around the world are abuzz that UVB-76, the Russian shortwave radio station that has been broadcasting its monotonous tone almost uninterrupted since 1982, has suddenly gone offline. Of course no one knows what the significance of this is, but best brush up on your drills just in case — via Slashdot

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev students have developed an innovative optical radar system that helps blind people manoeuvre around obstacles. The radar system incorporates a computer, two video cameras and a scanning light source to warn the blind of obstacles with audible alerts. The system detects obstacles — even those overhead — by scanning the depth of its surroundings, taken from two different angles

There are a few simple rules that will stand you in good stead in the markets: buy on the dips. Don’t trade too often. And never bet against Rupert Murdoch. The Australian-born media tycoon, 79, has railed against the conventional wisdom in a career that has lasted many decades. He has taken plenty of rulebooks, ripped them up and come out a winner. This month he will make his most ambitious gamble yet. He will try to redesign the way the internet and the media work by putting up a paywall around two British newspapers, The Times and The Sunday Times. And this time he is doomed to fail. It’s too late to start charging for newspapers online. The content isn’t good enough, and newspapers themselves are a product of technologies that simply don’t work in a digital economy. All Murdoch is going to achieve with this move is to kill off one of the most famous media brands in the world

Millions of documents stored at the World War II code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, are set to be digitised and made available online. Electronics company Hewlett-Packard has donated a number of scanners to the centre in Milton Keynes so volunteers can begin the ground-breaking task. Many of the records at the once-secret centre have not been touched for years. During the war, it was home to more than 10,000 men and women who decoded encrypted German messages. The centre hopes that once the work starts, previously untold stories about the role Bletchley Park played in the war, will be revealed

Before there was Google or any other search engine, there was a phone-based information hotline at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. It was set up 40 years ago to control rumors at a time when the campus was embroiled in racial violence and anti-war protests. The student union was firebombed in 1970, the same year violence erupted at Kent State University. A few months after the union burned, two teens were shot and killed at the University of Kansas — and there was a citywide curfew. Like other campuses across the country, the University of Kansas set up a hotline to try to quell rumours, says historian Doug Harvey. Surprisingly, the hotline is still being used today

Ever copied and pasted text from various web sites and found some extra text in your clipboard that wasn’t included in the text you selected? Here’s how to stop this annoying (and privacy-invading) behaviour:

127.0.0.1 tcr.tynt.com

via lifehacker

The consumer watchdog has accused telephone and internet giant Optus of misleading consumers with ads claiming new phone and broadband plans allow for unlimited internet access and home phone calls. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission launched action in the Federal Court in Melbourne yesterday accusing Optus of falsely advertising to consumers that there were no limits to the plans

Iridium continues its push into the market for satellite data and telemetry services, as it announced the company that would build its second generation of satellites. Amid a great deal of pomp and circumstance including the ringing of the opening bell at Nasdaq, Iridium announced Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between French owned Thales (67%) and Italian based Finmeccanica (33%), would be designing and building the new satellites. Iridium’s old network of 66 satellites was designed for voice calls; the new satellites will also be able to handle data more efficiently, and include cameras as well. The company also plans to share the satellite platforms with some scientists for use in studying the Earth

In response to a flood of Facebook and YouTube videos that depict police abuse, a new trend in law enforcement is gaining popularity. In at least three states, it is now illegal to record any on-duty police officer. Even if the encounter involves you and may be necessary to your defence, and even if the recording is on a public street where no expectation of privacy exists. The legal justification for arresting the shooter rests on existing wiretapping or eavesdropping laws, with statutes against obstructing law enforcement sometimes cited. Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland are among the 12 states in which all parties must consent for a recording to be legal unless, as with TV news crews, it is obvious to all that recording is underway. Since the police do not consent, the camera-wielder can be arrested. Most all-party-consent states also include an exception for recording in public places where no expectation of privacy exists (Illinois does not) but in practice this exception is not being recognised