Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Social Software

The Outlook Social Connector first debuted back in November 2009, and at that time, only LinkedIn was supported. Today, the MySpace plug-in has been made available, and now you can see your friends’ easily-excited, angst-ridden emo updates in Outlook!

If you’re running Outlook 2010 Beta (which is very, very nice, incidentally), you’ll need to update your Outlook Social Connector (OSC) first. Outlook 2003 and 2007 users should be fine to go ahead and install the plug-in.

With LinkedIn for the businessmen, and MySpace for the children and bohemians, the only omission from the crowd are the exhibitionistic farmers over on Facebook. The Outlook 2010 blog is full of teasing hints about Facebook integration (and also a nice video showing the power of the OSC), but so far there doesn’t seem to be a download link. I expect it’ll pop up very soon, with Office 2010 only a few months away!

I was about to suggest that Outlook might finally replace Gmail as my email tool, but then I remembered that Google just opened its Apps Marketplace. How long will it be until we see Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace properly integrated into a side bar in Gmail? Moreover, with Chrome OS still on its way, wouldn’t it be pretty cool to have a single ‘home page’ with every new email, forum post, and status update since you last logged in?

Share

Outlook Social Connector now supports MySpace; Facebook soon! originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Link to the original site

Filed under: Internet, Google, web 2.0

In a move that is surely reminiscent of Microsoft and Bing’s emphasis on VISUAL RESULTS (did you see Pivot?!), Google has just launched a new feature for its Reader. It’s called Reader Play, and it lets you click through all of the goodies that the Internet has to offer (or at least the bits of the Internet that Google has deemed ‘cool’ in a sharp, fast, and minimalist black interface. Yes, this might just be Google’s first non-white-background interface.

It seemingly has nothing to do with your own RSS feeds, either. In fact, other than the ability to ’share’ or ‘like’ items, it really doesn’t resemble Google Reader at all. Presumably, Google Reader Play builds upon the ‘magic’ sorting and ‘exploration’ that the Google Reader team implemented back in October 2009; it’s probably just a new UI over the same functionality.

The UI is nice though, and I have to admit that the ‘exploration’ feature in Google Reader is something I often use. If you’re really lazy, or if you just want to watch something hands-free while you eat your breakfast cereal, there’s even an option for an automatic slideshow. Give Reader Play a go, or go read the official announcement if you want more info.
[via Lifehacker]

Share

Google super-charges Reader and turns it into an Interwebs slideshow originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Link to the original site

Filed under: Internet

The UK is already one of the most-monitored Western countries. It has a record number of security cameras on the streets and public transport stations (one camera for every 14 people!); its authorities are installing chips in garbage cans to monitor the amount of trash, and now Google is “helping out” by bringing Streetview to each and every street, effective tomorrow. 238,000 miles of public roads (lined with private residences, businesses and people) will be available online tomorrow.

On a brighter note, they used the Google Trike to capture images of some tourist attractions such as Stonehenge and Loch Ness. I really wish they would have kept it at that, though.

[EDIT: Many of the commenters feel I'm being unduly alarmist here. I wanted to clarify that this was not my intent. I get it that you like Street View, and that's cool, and it's definitely a useful tool. I can see how this development can also be a positive thing and why people like it -- you are hereby acknowledged, and I thank you for putting things into perspective.]

Share

Goodbye, privacy: The entire UK set to go on Google Street View tomorrow originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Link to the original site

Filed under: Internet, Mobile

It was only a matter of time. First, jailbroken iPhones were humorously Rickrolled by a worm, and now both iPhones and Android phones have been exploited to form a botnet that is over 9,000 devices strong!

Fortunately, like the Rickroll, the botnet was a benign experiment by two researchers at TippingPoint Digital Vaccine Labs; a proof of concept, just to see how easy it would be. No one was harmed in the process, and the jailbroken devices were ultimately left unscathed. Those that downloaded the app — WeatherFist (seriously, that’s one awful name) — probably don’t even know that they were exploited!

Considering that the proposed botnet relied on jailbroken devices and unmoderated app stores, the security community has been left wondering why the two researchers at TippingPoint created it. After all, if you’re not going to exploit something in a strange and peculiar way, why bother to exploit it at all? You don’t hack a device purely because you can.

It’s quite clear, however, that you should exercise care when downloading content from third-party app stores onto your jailbroken devices. If a malicious botnet does emerge, a) you might rack up a large data transfer bill, and b) most people store sensitive information on their phones!

[via Sophos' Graham Cluely]

Share

8000 iPhone and Android devices hacked to form a botnet originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Link to the original site