Buzz Class Action

According to the terms of the settlement, Google will create a fund worth $8.5 million that will go to non-profit organizations that help protect internet privacy.

Google has released a statement saying “We are satisfied with the agreement and are glad to move forward.”

Since the lawsuit was filed in February of 2010, Google has made plenty of changes to better suit internet privacy advocates. People were originally upset over the way Google Buzz almost forced people to be followed and to follow others on Google Buzz through Gmail. A lot of people were furious over the way Gmail and Buzz interacted with each other when they first were implemented together.

The Plaintiff Lawyer had this to say:
“We feel this settlement has many benefits to class members, including providing a significant amount of money to non-profit groups committed to educating users about Internet privacy and ensuring that Buzz users can join this on-line community without compromising their privacy.”

The following dates have been set in the Google Buzz Class Action Settlement:
- December 6, 2010 – Exclusion Deadline (received)
- January 10, 2011 – Objection Deadline (received)
- January 31, 2011 at 9:00 A.M. – Fairness Hearing.

It doesn’t appear as though a settlement of $8.5 million will greatly effect Google’s stock price. It was up today in trading, and isn’t expected to take a hit over a mere $8.5 million settlement.

More information can be found at http://buzzclassaction.com

Polling Place Locator

You can easily use this app to find your nearest voting locations. Just type in your address or zip code.

As you will see, there are usually polling locations within a mile or two of your home (depending on how urban or rural the county you live in is).

Polls close at different times nationwide. You can see a list of closing times for the polls in your state at Polling Hours for Voting Locations.

Polling Locations Map

Facebook has put together a nice page for voters looking to find polling locations, and other voting information. In fact, they are even keeping statistics of how many Facebook users say they have voted today.

At the time this article was written, over 1.8 million people on Facebook have clicked “I Voted” to let the world know they took the time to let their voices be heard on Election Day 2010.

Facebook, in cooperation with Google, also has a polling location map set up at: http://www.facebook.com/uspolitics?v=app_146081198769400.

Voters can simply search for a polling location by zip code and/or address. There are also many other voting resources available on the dedicated Vote 2010 Facebook page.

Xbox Support Down

While many people have been able to get the new Xbox Live update without any problems, others have been having issues. Some users are reporting that the system is telling them to go to: www.xbox.com/support for support.

However, when they direct their web browsers to the website, it is not loading. It appears that a lot of people are having this identical problem, and it is causing the Xbox Live Support website to crash. For those of you that need to access the Xbox support website, keep trying. It may take longer than normal to load, but it should eventually load.

Voting Locations

With the 2010 Election Tomorrow, individuals everywhere want to find out where the closest places are that will allow them to vote. Two new services help make it a lot easier.

If you prefer to find a voting booth with your cell phone over SMS (text) messaging, there is a new service that will help. It is called “Mobile Polling Place Locator” by Mobile Commons. All you have to do is text the word “WHERE” to 30644. If you speak Spanish, you can text the word “DONDE” instead of “WHERE”.

The other service has been released by Google. It is an app that allows anyone to type in their zip code and/or address for the nearest voting locations. You can use the app right here on this page:

Time Traveler?

“The Circus” was filmed back in 1928, when technology wasn’t even close to what it is today. However, as you can see in the video footage below, a woman appears to be talking on a cell phone during the filming of the movie. If this really is in fact a cell phone, there really is no explanation unless this women is a time traveler….. Right?

Twitter and Facebook have been buzzing all day, with people trying to determine if the device that the woman appears to be talking into is really a cell phone.

Even if it were a cell phone, how on earth would she be getting a reception on it? If she was a time traveler from the future, her cell phone still would not operate without the infrastructure that exists today. That is of course, unless this women could have traveled to 1928 from a point in time beyond today, when cell phones could operate without cell towers.

These are all simply theories. Other theories explain that the device is not a cell phone, but simply an old-fashion hearing aid. Perhaps, the woman was having trouble with her hearing aid device, and is talking in order to see if she can hear herself properly. So far this theory seems to be the most believable we have heard so far.

What do you think. Did the filming of Charlie Chaplin’s film really catch a woman from the future talking on a cell phone, or is there a better explanation?

Limewire Shut Down

Users who visit the Limewire.com website are greeted with a legal notice that says, “This is an official notice that LimeWire is under a court-ordered injunction to stop distributing and supporting its file-sharing software. Downloading or sharing copyrighted content without authorization is illegal.”

The documents basically are asking Limewire to cease and desist from allowing file sharing, as well as displaying advertising on their software. The complete court document can be viewed at: http://download.limewire.com/injunction/Injunction.pdf.

However with this latest Limewire shut down, other p2p file sharing clients and apps will move to the front of the line. One main competitor which was just released as an Android App is FrostWire. FrostWire’s Android app allows smart phone users to share files over Wi-Fi connections via their phone. The App may be purchased through the Android Market, or downloaded for free from the Frostwire website at Frostwire.com.

How long will Frostwire remain up for before getting shut down like Limewire? That is anyone’s guess.

FrostWire Download

FrostWire is an app that allows users to search for files and then download them. The FrostWire App download is $4.99 if purchased through the Android Market, but is totally free if downloaded from the official FrostWire website.

Besides allowing you to share files with your closest friends, the app also allows you to search the entire network for specific files. Also included is a chat room, and the ability to send private messages with attachments. Just like file sharing programs for a PC, you can decide which files you would like to share, and which you would not.

FrostWire is compatible with all Android devices running 1.6 and above. It does not work on the 3G networks, only via wi-fi connections.

Undead Nightmare

For those video game players who do not already have Red Dead Redemption, the release date for the standalone disc-based collection will be November 23.

The Undead Nightmare pack includes a new single-player campaign which will follow John Marston as he looks for a cure to the zombie plague.

Once you have downloaded the pack, you should be able to play it, by choosing “single player” from the main menu, and then choosing “Undead Nightmare”.

There will be new single player missions, as well as 8 new multiplayer characters, and new game play mechanics. You can also expect to see new weapons & outfits, new modes for multiplayer gaming, and much more.

Firesheep

The add-on which goes in the left hand side bar of the Firefox web browser can allow a user to capture login information to Facebook accounts, twitter accounts, and any other website login that is not secured with SSL (https). When you login to your Facebook account, a cookie is sent back to your computer to be used for future logins. Someone using Firesheep for Firefox can simply click a button that says “start capturing” and steal your login details. All they have to do is then click on your Facebook image and they will be logged in as you.

This works the same for any website whose login page does not use full end-to-end encryption. For example, when you login to Gmail, you will see the URL has “https://” in front of it. That means that Gmail is secure, and your login information can not be stolen using Firesheep. However for sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc (sites that only show “http” (without the “s” at the end), when logging in, your login details can easily be compromised by someone using Firesheep. Other websites that use the safer https protocol are banking sites, credit card companies, most popular email hosts, and government websites.

The Firesheep addon is made available at http://codebutler.github.com/firesheep/

Firesheep is not the only way hackers can steal your login information through this method. There are other more sophisticated hacking programs that allow hackers to do the same thing.

The reason Toorcon 12 decided to release this potentially dangerous software is to make companies like Facebook aware of the issues that come about when they do not use SSL. Hopefully these companies realize the potential dangers that their users are being exposed to, and fix this problem.