Google registered a trademark for the word "TrustRank," as Search Engine Watch and Google Blogoscoped discuss. I agree with the speculation that TrustRank sounds like a more social variant of the link-based PageRank algorithm Google relies on for search results.…
Month: April 2005
Value Implicaitons of Nanotechnology
While presenting at the AAAS Science and Technology in Society Graduate Conference this past weekend, I met Ruben Rodriques, a Political Science grad student from Northeastern University. Ruben is a researcher at the Nanotechnology and Society Research Group, an exciting…
Feds Rethinking RFID Passport
Wired News reports: "Following criticism from computer security professionals and civil libertarians about the privacy risks posed by new RFID passports the government plans to begin issuing, a State Department official said his office is reconsidering a privacy solution it…
Yahoo Turns Over E-Mail Account Of Marine Killed In Iraq
Yahoo has reached a settlement with the family of a deceased Marine over access to the data in his Yahoo! accounts. I originally blogged this story here, and a related post on the ethical issues that confront companies like Yahoo…
Read More Yahoo Turns Over E-Mail Account Of Marine Killed In Iraq
Google’s My Search History
Google has released a beta version My Search History to enable you to “find information you thought you lost.” After you login using your Google Account (e.g., your Gmail login), a search history link will be added to the upper…
Barr: Law vs. Technology
Bob Barr, formerly a member of the House of Representatives and the Judiciary Committee, recently published an editorial on FindLaw asking the questions "Can We Protect Our Privacy Through Legal Solutions? Or Is Technology Now Beyond Our Control?" He points…
Ubiquitous Cameras & Privacy in Public
My earlier discussion of privacy as Contextual Integrity builds on the problem of "privacy in public and how public surveillance has become a part of a modern citizen’s everyday life. This AP article drives home just how ubiquitous surveillance cameras…
IBM to Help UAE Track Drivers on the Road
InformationWeek reports that IBM has made a $125 million deal to build an automobile-monitoring system and install a device in cars to track drivers in the United Arab Emirates. The technical details:CERT Telematics has committed to buy at least 100,000…
The Power of Google AutoLink
Following up on the Google AutoLink debate, I came across this post by Internet protocol expert Scott Granneman. Scott's main complaint with AutoLink is that user's have little or no control over the ways in which AutoLink directs web traffic…
Blurring of Search Results and Ads
One of the things Google brags about with its Adsense and Adwords programs is the high relevancy of the ads placed alongside its search results. Their logic is that the more relevant the ads are to the search, the less…
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