Blogspot.com redirecting to Country specific Url's

Google with having servers in many countries is now making its blogspot.com blogs redirect to country specific domains from now on. This move at times is surely a welcome as well as a bad move as it helps visitors get the data of the blog from their country specific domain easily and also it can be a problem with countries now looking to censor the web as the web helps better in censoring too.

Google had an official announcement for this regard describing things the easier way.


Q: Why am I seeing a URL change?
A: Over the coming weeks you might notice that the URL of a blog you're reading has been redirected to a country-code top level domain, or "ccTLD."
For example, if you're in Australia and viewing http://killmaths.blogspot.com, you might be redirected http://killmaths.blogspot.com.au.  and similarly in India the blog will be redirected to http://killmaths.blogspot.in so as of now blogspot.com is redirecting to blogspot.in and blogspot.com.au which with time will increase later.

A ccTLD, when it appears, corresponds with the country of the reader’s current location.

The change doesn't produce any  other visible differences to the blog other than the URL redirecting to a ccTLD. For people like us who use custom domains the change doesn't have any effect

Q: Where will I see this change?
A: We routinely launch limited updates, so in the coming months you will see ccTLDs in additional countries.

Q: Why is this happening?
A: Migrating to localized domains will allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law. By utilizing ccTLDs, content removals can be managed on a per country basis, which will limit their impact to the smallest number of readers. Content removed due to a specific country’s law will only be removed from the relevant ccTLD.



Q: Will this affect search engine optimization on my blog?
A: After this change, crawlers will find Blogspot content on many different domains. Hosting duplicate content on different domains can affect search results, but we are making every effort to minimize any negative consequences of hosting Blogspot content on multiple domains.


The majority of content hosted on different domains will be unaffected by content removals, and therefore identical. For all such content, we will specify the blogspot.com version as the canonical version using rel=canonical. This will let crawlers know that although the URLs are different, the content is the same. When a post or blog in a country is affected by a content removal, the canonical URL will be set to that country’s ccTLD instead of the .com version. This will ensure that we aren’t marking different content with the same canonical tag.


Q: How might ccTLDs affect the blogs I visit?
A: If you visit a blog that does not correspond to your current location as determined by your IP address, the blogspot servers will redirect you to the domain associated with your country, if it’s a supported ccTLD.
Blog readers may request a specific country version of the blogspot content by entering a specially formatted “NCR” URL.
NCR stands for “No Country Redirect” and will always display buzz.blogger.com in English, whether you’re in India, Brazil, Honduras, Germany, or anywhere.
For example: http://[blogname].blogspot.com/ncr – always goes to the U.S. English blog.
This special URL sets a short-lived cookie (session and/or a short life time) that will prevent geo-based redirection from the requested domain. This applies to all web browsers and all Operating Systems.


Note: The redirecting move has a immediate effect of showing drop in Alexa ranking been displayed, PR of the site shown as 0 for all even though it had good ranking previously. Fact is Alexa rankings doesn't have much change too for the site as the Alexa ranking for the site can be seen with blogspot.com itself later and regarding Page rank of Google it has 0% side effects by this move and would benefit the people in ways like getting backlinks to the same webpage with different link addresses from bookmarking sites and so on. The PR now showing 0 for custom domain will get updated to the original PR of the .com(the reason being all domains landing to same page will have the same PR) within a week or 2 as Google PR Toolbar update is due in february while the real PR of the site can be still viewed with checking of blogspot.com subdomain itself. So no need to worry about it like some uproar on this regard is already happening in many blogs now due to fear of nothing

 

Read More...

Rajinikant's website now runs without Internet

The fact that this new Rajinikant's website running without internet might sound like another joke of rajinikant but this website really can only be accessed without internet connection only and cannot be accessed with internet connection being live.

http://allaboutrajni.com when visited greets with a warning "He is no ordinary man, this is no ordinary website. It runs on Rajini Power. The only way to enter this website is to switching your internet off." and only after the internet connection is disconnected the website can be explored by the visitor.



Once the internet is disconnected the website can be explored of rajinikant's story from the beginning, reading his inside scoops and behind the screen actions of his movies while enjoying his famous jokes which only rajinikant can achieve those feats.

The reconnection of the internet when browsing the rajinikant's website causes the website exploration to stop there and a error message popping up in rajini's humouristic style "Aiyyo! That was unexpected. To keep browsing, switch off your internet" and again with internet disconnection the website can be reaccessed.

Gurbaksh Singh the website creator for desimartini.com had said that- "The unbelievable spectacle of running a website without the Internet is a tribute to Rajinikant's larger than life image, After a few iterations and testing, we cracked the code required to build the world's first website that runs without the Internet - a website that runs offline - which is as awesome and unbelievable as miracles and stunts associated or performed by Rajni himself".

Some mobile devices cannot run the website when offline but all the pc connections do access the websites when visited and internet been disconnected.

The basic concept of the website is that it is a flash based website and when visited the flash is loaded fully and the conditional factor makes the web program to be accessable only when internet is disconnected are browser settings are changed to browse offline setting but still this is the 1st of its kind of websites which works only when offline.

Update http://www.allaboutrajini.com/ website which was also getting forwarded to the same domain for the rajini effect is now a parked domain will upadate on any later updates on this regard.

Read More...

Internet sharing Concerns raised with Megaupload website shutdown

The Justice Department of the USA has ordered the closure of Megaupload.com website for web policy violations and anti piracy acts when concerns of SOPA and PIPA are already making buzz these move is also a blow for anonymousness among the internet with a good move of helping to stop piracy at the same time.

People visiting Megaupload.com website gets a notice displayed saying the domain being seized under the pursuant order of the US district court. With the federal grand jury indicating several individuals and entities allegedly invovled in running of the website while charging them for crimes under several sections of law listed below it.The logos of Department of Justice, FBI Anti-piracy warning with NIPR centers are present in the notice seen on the website.




A more detailed report on this regard is on the washingtonpost news website.

Read More...

HP LaserJet Firmware Update to fix security flaws

Recently around a month back a group of researchers had found out security flaws in HP laserjet printers which can be used for hacking to burn down or explode the printer remotely which can be read in detail here.

Here is the press release of the HP: 

HP announced that the potential existed for a certain type of unauthorized access to some HP LaserJet printers and confirmed it has received no customer reports of unauthorized access. HP today issued the following statement:

HP has built a firmware update to mitigate this issue and is communicating this proactively to customers and partners. No customer has reported unauthorized access to HP. HP reiterates its recommendation to follow best practices for securing devices by placing printers behind a firewall and, where possible, disabling remote firmware upload on exposed printers.

The firmware update can be found at www.hp.com/support and selecting Drivers.

Additional printer security information is available at www.hp.com/go/secureprinting.

HP hasn't disclosed the model of the printer affected with this vulnerability. The firmware update can be found at http://www.hp.com/support.

Read More...

Google discontinuing Lists in Google Bookmarks

Google has announced that the list options in the google bookmarks from december 19th of this month.




Here is the announcement note of the google-->

Goodbye, Lists: FAQ

 

What is Lists?

Lists is an English-only experimental feature of Google Bookmarks for sharing bookmarks and collaborating with friends. Lists is being discontinued on December 19th, 2011.

Why is Lists being discontinued?

Google is prioritizing our product efforts so we can make things much simpler for our users and devote more resources to high-impact products.

When is Lists being discontinued?

Lists will become read-only on December 12th and will be entirely discontinued on December 19th, 2011. During the read-only period, you'll be able to change the public/private status of lists you own, but you won't be able to create new lists or edit existing ones.

What happens to my Lists once the feature is discontinued?

• Lists that you own: All items will be saved as bookmarks with the label "MyBookmarkList". Comments will be saved along with each bookmark.
• All other lists (including those shared with you): You’ll no longer be able to access these lists. If you want to save items from these lists, you should bookmark them before December 19th, 2011.

Source

Read More...

HP Laserjet printer can burn down the place ?

The EFY times carried out an article which was based on the research done in columbia university showing serious flaws in the laserjet printer capable of burning down the house.

Here is the article of the EFYtimes.

The researchers have identified the security flaw only in HP LaserJet printers so far and have expressed that the devices from other brands too may have similar issues.


Till now hackers could have only affected you online but researchers at Columbia University say that now that they can even burn your house, sitting in any part of the world. Yes, only with the help of some set of codes and your LaserJet Printer! The researchers have identified the security flaw only in HP LaserJet printers so far and have expressed that the devices from other brands too may have a similar issues.

It is worth mentioning here that the hackers can use the embedded systems in your printer. According to a Crazy Engineers report, these are small computers that are capable of connecting to the Internet, while most of today’s printers are smart enough to be functional as an individual unit, nothing much have been done to make them secure.

The researchers from Columbia University demonstrated this flaw by hacking a computer and heating up the fuser of the printer. They overloaded it with some instructions, which turned the paper brown and smoke. The thermal switch of the printer was shut down during this demonstration, which caused it burst into flames.

HP's printers allow a remote firmware update before starting a printer, but they miss out on examining the source for authenticity. The hackers can send codes to the printer and hack it to alter the current version of the printer’s firmware. The altered code gets inside the embedded system so deeply that the only way to get rid of it is to remove them and run manual test.

Commenting on the issue, Keith Moore, chief technologist, HP, said that they will take the issue 'very seriously'. Moore exclaimed that all new printers from the company since 2009 require digital signatures for firmware updates and that the printers used by the researchers were older models.

The report by Crazy Engineers quoted Moore as saying, "Home users would not be much affected as most of them have InkJet printers, which do not allow remote firmware updates. But organisations and other users of LaserJet printers need to look into the security aspect more seriously."  


Source : efytimes

Read More...

Google to offer street view of Indian cities soon

Global Internet search engine Google on Thursday announced plans to offer street view of Indian cities on its maps platform.
"We are launching the street view project from Bangalore as it is the IT capital of India where IT-savvy users will be able to leverage the benefits of the facility optimally," Google India product head Vinay Goel told reporters here at a preview of its latest product.
As a user-friendly feature of Google Maps, the US-based global IT major has already uploaded street view of about 100 cities in 27 countries world over with a host of information for the benefit of users seeking specific details.
"Inspired by the success of the project in other cities, we will collect images of Bangalore streets by driving across the city in cars and trikes (three-wheeler rickshaws) that will have high resolution cameras mounted atop," Goel said.
To be made available on www.google.co.in/streetview in the coming months, the novel feature will enable users to virtually explore and navigate a neighbourhood through a panoramic view of its streets on their desktops or mobile handsets.
"The users will also be able to access street-level imagery by zooming into the lowest level on Google Maps or by dragging the orange 'pegman' icon on the left side of the map onto a blue highlighted street," Goel pointed out.
Images of faces, addresses of houses or offices and number plates of cars will be blurred to safeguard privacy. Detailed imagery of public or private properties and specific locations will also be blurred on request by the concerned or the affected party.
"Street view will also be useful for urban development planners, law enforcement agencies, house-hunters, travellers and diverse users looking for specific information on shops, offices, restaurants, hotels, etc, in a particular street, area or locality," Goel said.
The feature will enable businesses to upload their details on the imagery map for free by using the tools on the street view site.
"Street view is designed to comply with all local laws, including those related to security and privacy issues in India," Goel added.
Google India's development centre in this tech hub has been actively involved in the global street view project for developing application interface, associated tools and solutions for trouble-shooting.

source
 

Read More...

Access Facebook on mobile without GPRS connection

Singapore—based U2opia Mobile has developed the new application
The application has been launched with Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel


New Delhi: Singapore—based software applications developer U2opia Mobile has developed a new application for mobile phones that will allow users to access Facebook on all types of handsets without paying for a data connection.
“We are using USSD technology, which will enable users to access Facebook without having a GPRS connection on their phones,” said Sumesh Menon, the co-founder and chief executive officer of U2Opia Mobile.
Unstructured Supplementary Data (USSD) is the technology used by telecom players to send alerts to their users that inform them about their balance at the end of a call or for sending missed call alerts.
Mr. Menon mentioned that though the technology will not provide access to graphics, it will help users send and view updates on their friends' Facebook walls.
“It is like SMS and hence, the load on the network is negligible. We have built some commands through which a user can receive alerts on activity happening on his wall as well post an update,” said Mr. Menon.
U2opia launched this application on Tuesday with Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel.
While Airtel customers can update their Facebook status through this USSD service free of cost, Re.1 per day will be applicable for accessing the full-feature application, which enables viewing news feeds, commenting on or ‘liking' news feed stories, posting on friends' walls, confirming friend requests, viewing notifications and findingand adding friends.
Airtel users can dial *325# and *fbk# for non-qwerty mobile handsets to access Facebook without subscribing to data plans, the statement said. — PTI

Source

Read More...