Credit Card Agreements Easier to Understand Than Facebook, Google Policies

Just how complex are those user agreements that most people skip reading when they sign up for Facebook or Google?

More complex than a credit card agreement or a government notice, according to a study released Tuesday by branding firm Siegel+Gale. On average, 400 survey participants who had carefully reviewed the agreements were only able to answer four out of 10 comprehension questions about the policies after their review.

What's worse, of users who did understand the policies or had them explained to them, 75% said they would change their Facebook privacy settings and 63% said they would be more careful about how they used Google in the future.

'It's time for these online giants to recognize that their policies bring an unacceptable web of complexity and risk to the lives of their users. The lack of understanding of online privacy is pervasive,' said Thomas Mueller, global director of customer experience of Siegel+Gale. 'Bringing greater simplicity to what Web users read online will engender trust among users and only benefit Facebook's and Google's reputation.'

Among the study's other key findings:

• The comprehension rates for credit card agreements (70%) and government notices (67%) were far higher than those for Google (36%) and Facebook (39%).


• Just one in five Facebook users were able to figure out how to block a third-party application or website from accessing information they shared on Facebook after reading the social network's privacy policy.


• Less than one in four Google+ users could figure out whether their profile was publicly viewable to anyone after reading Google's privacy terms.

All of these issues are compounded by the fact that privacy policies, particularly those used by social networks, are ever-evolving and ever-changing. Even if a user can understand a privacy policy, it can - especially in the case of Facebook - change without their knowledge. 

'This complexity erodes trust and jeopardizes online privacy,' said Irene Etzkorn, executive director of simplification of Siegel+Gale. 'Clearly, Facebook, Google and other online service providers operate based on consumer trust, and failure to address privacy concerns in a meaningful way will lead to consumer disenchantment and additional regulatory restrictions.'

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State Bank of India launches virtual debit card to curb fraud in ecommerce transactions

The State Bank of India (SBI) has introduced a virtual debit card called State Bank Virtual to address the users’ concern about debit card fraud while doing ecommerce transactions. The electronic card can be created by the account holder or customer using SBI's Net banking facility for ecommerce transactions. State Bank Virtual has a limited shelf life and can be used for only one transaction to limit the exposure of the account.

It allows the user to create a virtual card for any online transaction and the person is not required to share details of the principal account on the merchant Website thus insulating the account from any possible fraud.

There is no charge on creation of the card and the customer can create any number of cards at the same time. The card is created for each online transaction and is valid for maximum of 48 hours. There is no transfer of balance from the principal account in as much as only a lien is marked on the account. Actual transfer of balance takes place only when the customer does the actual transaction online, SBI said.

"All forms of transactions, be it Internet banking, credit and debit cards, are fully secured but there are some people who are scared and hold back from online transactions on fears of compromise of data. The main objective behind this new product is to provide relief to these customers and give a push to e-commerce," Richhpal Singh, DGM, Payment Systems, SBI has said in a statement.

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How Google Searches the Entire Web in Half a Second

It only takes half a second for Google to return a search based on keywords you type in, but there’s a whole lot more happening behind the scenes to give you the results you need. Google on Monday launched a video that explains the science behind how the massive search engine actually works.

Matt Cutts, software engineer head of Google’s webspam team, details in a YouTube video how the search engine giant thoroughly scours the web on a daily basis to provide the most up-to-date results to users.

“There are three things you need to do to be the best search engine in the world. First, you need to crawl the web comprehensively and deeply, then you want to rank or serve those pages and return the most relevant ones first,” Cutts said.

Although Google crawls the web on a daily basis, that wasn’t always the case.

“We used to crawl for 30 days… and then index for about a week and push that data out — and that would take about a week,” Cutts said. “Sometimes you would hit a data center with new data and sometimes you would hit a data center with old data.”

But this method wasn’t optimized since a lot of the information would be out of date. In 2003, Google switched to crawling a significant amount of the Internet each day. By scouring the web each day for new content, it incrementally updated its index.

“We have gotten even better over time, and at this point, we can keep it very fresh,” Cutts said.

To do so, page rank is the key deciding factor as to how likely you are to see a link: “We basically take page rank as the primary determinant and the more page rank you have — that is, the more people that link to you and the more reputable those people are — the more likely it is that we will discover your page relatively early in the crawl,” Cutts said.

Google also places a lot of emphasis on word order. For example, a search for pop singer “Katy Perry” will look for results with those two words next to each other, rather than having “Katy” and the word “Perry” show up in different parts of the content.

Finding the right balance between word proximity, page reputation and links pointing to it is the key.

“That’s kind of the secret sauce,” Cutt added.

Google then sends that query out to hundreds of different machines all at once, which look through their fraction of the web that has been indexed to find the best match.

“We say, ‘what’s the best page that matches this query across our entire index?” Cutts said. “We take that page and we try to show it with a useful snippet, so we show the keywords in the context of the document and get it all back in under half a second.”

How do you think companies can use this information to better show up in Google search results? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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World's first flexible e-paper display heads into mass production

LG on Thursday unveiled the world’s first plastic e-paper display, which the company claims will “revolutionize the E-Book market.” The 6-inch E Ink display features 1,024 x 768-pixel resolution and can bend at an angle of up to 40 degrees. “With the world’s first plastic EPD, LG Display has once again proven its reputation for leadership and innovation with a product we believe will help greatly popularize the E-Book market,” said Mr. Sang Duck Yeo, Head of Operations for LG Display’s Mobile/OLED division. “Based on our success in mass-producing plastic EPD, we are excited as we look toward applying concepts from this experience to future developments like plastic OLED and flexible displays.” The display will be supplied to manufacturing companies in China first, and end-user products could launch in Europe as soon as the beginning of next month. Read on for LG’s press release.

LG Display Begins Mass Production of World’s First Plastic E-Paper Display

With advancements in functionality and design, Plastic EPD to revolutionize E-Book market

Seoul, Korea (March 29, 2012) – LG Display [NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220], a leading manufacturer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display, announced today that it has started mass production of the world’s first plastic electronic paper display (EPD) for use in E-Books. The 6″ XGA (1024×768), e-ink, plastic EPD is expected to revolutionize the E-Book market with its advancements in functionality and design.

“With the world’s first plastic EPD, LG Display has once again proven its reputation for leadership and innovation with a product we believe will help greatly popularize the E-Book market,” said Mr. Sang Duck Yeo, Head of Operations for LG Display’s Mobile/OLED division. “Based on our success in mass-producing plastic EPD, we are excited as we look toward applying concepts from this experience to future developments like plastic OLED and flexible displays.”

Innovations in Functionality and Design

The world’s first plastic EPD from LG Display offers users a paper-like reading experience with a plastic substrate that is as slim as cell phone protection film, and a flexible design that allows bending at a range of 40 degrees from the center of the screen. Compared to glass EPD of the same size and resolution, LG Display’s plastic EPD realizes a super slim thickness of 0.7mm which is 1/3 slimmer than existing glass EPD; as well as a weight of 14g which is more than 1/2 lighter.

E-Book users have long expressed a desire for more durable EPD, since around 10% of them have damaged their product screens from accidentally dropping or hitting them. When LG Display’s plastic EPD was put through repeated drop tests, from 1.5m above the ground or the average height of reading when standing, no damage resulted. When put through a break/scratch test involving hitting the display with a small urethane hammer, no scratches or breakage resulted.

As EPD gets thinner, lighter, and more durable with the introduction of plastic EPD, E-Books will be able to offer certain unique benefits compared to smart devices and tablets, including reduced eye fatigue and more efficient electricity consumption in addition to lower prices.

A Manufacturing Breakthrough

LG Display developed a unique technique to utilize the high TFT process, typically employed in general LCD manufacturing and with temperatures exceeding 350 degrees, in the production of its plastic EPD. By overcoming the obstacles associated with applying the existing production process to heat susceptible plastic, LG Display achieved a breakthrough with the successful mass production of plastic EPD able to maintain strong durability in high temperatures.

Availability

The world’s first mass-produced plastic EPD from LG Display will first be supplied to ODM companies in China, followed by completed products to be released in Europe at the beginning of next month.

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Five free cloud storage options

So you just learned that you can store data on something called “the cloud” and access it anywhere in the world so long as you have a smartphone/tablet or a computer with an Internet connection and you don’t need to lug all your important data with you on a portable storage device. 

Well first let’s break the “cloud” bubble for you. Your data isn’t actually stored in thin air, its saved on a server that is hosted by the service provider you are connected with. This data is then accessible by you from any device that is supported by the service provider. All you need is the device and an Internet connection.

If you are looking to back up those important documents, images or music files, cloud storage is an option you should consider. So before you go gung-ho, and drop some cash on purchasing cloud space, here are some free options you may want to check out!

DropBox

Dropbox is a cloud storage service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. Any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically be visible on all your computers, phones and even the Dropbox website. You can also share the content with others.

Straight after registration users get 2GB storage absolutely free. You can gain up to 8 GB of additional free storage if you recommend Dropbox to your friends and they start using the service.

If you are in the market to pick up a device from the HTC One lineup (yet to be launched in India), then you are in luck as HTC has announced that users who purchase the device will receive 25GB free Dropbox storage for 2 years. That’s a really good deal considering the fact that 50GB of storage space can be purchased from Dropbox for $9.99 per month.

Apart from your PC/Mac/Linux machine, you can download the DropBox app on iOS, Android, BlackBerry OS and Windows Phone.

You can register for a Dropbox account here.

Box.net (Now box.com)

If 2GB free storage isn’t enough, you can take a look at box.com. This cloud based storage service provider offers 5GB of free storage to users.

If you have an Xperia or LG Android device, you can get 50GB of cloud storage space. This offer is valid until December 31, 2012. 

Apart from storing your data, you can share it as well and receive real time updates to see who has viewed your shared documents.

You can access box.com from your Mac/PC, and from your iOS and Android device as well

You can register for Box.com here.

 

iCloud

Apple too has its fingers in the cloud storage space with iCloud. The service allows users to store data such as music files on Apple’s remote servers for download to multiple devices. The data can be downloaded to your iOS devices, PC/Mac. It also replaces Apple's MobileMe service, acting as a data syncing center for email, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, notes, to-do lists, and other data.

Once you sign up for iCloud, you get 5GB of cloud storage free. If you would like more storage, you will have to pay for it. Apart from being able to store data on the cloud, iCloud lets users wirelessly sync between devices smoothly and seamlessly. Click a picture from your iPhone, and its there on your iPad/Mac. Download an app on one iOS device and it appears on the other.

You can take a look at the features of iCloud here.

SkyDrive

The only service on our list to offer the highest free storage space straight out of the box, SkyDrive gives users 25GB of free personal storage space. The only catch here is that the limit for individual files is 100MB.

To access the service all users need is a Windows Live ID. That’s it. Users can view photos and Office documents that they have stored on SkyDrive from their Smartphone. All users need to do is log on to skydrive.live.com from their smartphones and sign in. Voila! Your data is at your disposal.

If you are a Windows Phone user, the pictures you take from your smartphone can be uploaded directly to SkyDrive automatically, or when you choose. Users can also Create, edit and share Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents from SkyDrive

You can sign up for the SkyDrive service here  

Sugar sync

SugarSync gives you online cloud storage for all files — documents, music, photos, and video. If you edit or make changes to files on your PC or Mac, SugarSync automatically syncs your files to the cloud. Apart from the PC/Mac, you can download the Sugar Sync app for iPad, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.  

Sugar Sync offers users 5GB of free cloud storage.

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Chinese net giant Alibaba testing Pinterest rival

It is a marriage made in heaven for shopping addicts. Social shopping, the merger of social networking and e-commerce which has hooked millions of users in the United States, has now captured the attention of China's internet giant. 

Alibaba Group's social shopping platform Fa Xian (http://faxian.etao.com), launched on a testing basis four weeks ago, is already luring 60,000 viewers a day. 

"Over the long run, social commerce in China has the potential to be bigger than the United States," said Hans Tung, managing director of venture capital firm Qiming Ventures. 

Social shopping websites allow users to post photos of items on virtual pin boards, which others can comment on. Some sites allow users to purchase some of the items by clicking on the photos. 

The business model originated in the United States in the mid 2000s when firms such as Kaboodle first set up shops. Others have emerged since then, including Fab.com and most recently Pinterest. 

In China, the home of world's largest Internet population with nearly half a billion users, social shopping websites, such as Mogujie, LinkChic and Xinxian, have been launched over the past year. 

Alibaba, 40 per cent owned by Yahoo Inc, is looking to incorporate these rivals into Fa Xian, which means discovery in Chinese. Unlike other US social shopping websites, all the items on Fa Xian can be purchased through its two e-commerce websites, Taobao Mall and Taobao Marketplace. 

"We have about 10 partners right now. At the end of the year, I hope to see if we can achieve 100 partners, because this year China's social shopping industry is very hot," Chen Lijuan, director at eTao, Alibaba's search unit that operates Fa Xian, 

Fa Xian also plans to expand to include other e-commerce vendors outside the Taobao ecosystem, such as Jingdong Mall. 

Cao Xiaolei, a 30-year-old office worker who has been using Mogujie since last July, said she can spend up to an hour looking through the website for items she likes. 

"The products on the website have been selected and that can save me time and give me inspiration," she said.

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Got Visa or Mastercard? Your Data May Have Leaked

The personal data of thousands of customers — from all major credit card brands — has been leaked from a third-party processing company.

The massive leak was first reported by the security news blog Krebs on Security, following reports that MasterCard and Visa were warning banks of a possible breach.

According to a follow-up story from The Wall Street Journal, the breach came from the Atlanta-based payment processing firm Global Payments, not from a credit card company. Global Payments works with debit cards, credit cards and gift cards.

The Wall Street Journal’s report suggests the possible window for the breach was between Jan. 21 and Feb. 25.

So far, there are no indications that any customers have experienced fraudulent transactions on their accounts.

MasterCard said it was investigating the breach, and that its core network was not hacked.

“MasterCard is currently investigating a potential account data compromise event of a U.S.-based entity,” MasterCard said in a statement. “As a result, we have alerted payment card issuers regarding certain MasterCard accounts that are potentially at risk. It is important to note that MasterCard’s own systems have not been compromised in any manner.”

MasterCard added that it has notified law enforcement of the breach and an “ongoing forensic review” has been launched.

Visa also acknowledged a “data compromise” of an outside company, but said there was no breach of Visa’s own network.

“Visa Inc. is aware of a potential data compromise incident at a third party entity affecting card account information from all major card brands,” Visa said in a statement. “There has been no breach of Visa systems, including its core processing network VisaNet. Visa has provided payment card issuers with the affected account numbers so they can take steps to protect consumers through independent fraud monitoring and, if needed, reissuing cards.”

Neither Visa nor MasterCard issue their own credit cards. Instead, they process transactions made on cards issued by banks and other financial institutions.

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Google Nexus tablet 'will get its own store'

Google looks set to follow in the footsteps of Apple and Amazon, as reports say the search giant will set up its own online store to sell the upcoming Google Nexus tablet.

The iPad and Kindle ranges both appear on their manufacture's own websites and Google is thought to be considering this method to help turn around slow sales of Android tablets.

In Depth
Google Nexus tablet release date, news and rumours

The Wall Street Journal claims to have spoken to "people familiar with the matter", who confirmed the Nexus tablet will be built by third party manufactures and sold via a Google-branded online shop.

Asus and Samsung

We reported earlier in the month that Google was set to name Asus as the manufacturer for its first Google Nexus tablet, after ruling out the likes of Acer and HTC.

The sources which spoke to the WSJ confirmed that Asus would indeed be one of the manufacturers producing a Google branded tablet, along with another Google partner, Samsung.

This wouldn't be the first time Google has set up a dedicated online store for a product, as it did so back in 2010 for the Google Nexus One, which was manufactured by HTC.

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'msnNOW' a new trend tracking service by MSN

Microsoft is hooking up MSN.com with a hipper sidekick to broaden its appeal and stay on top of the Internet's hottest topics. 

The trend-tracking service, called "msnNOW," tunes into the buzz by sifting through millions of Internet searches and links circulating among the hordes on Facebook and Twitter. The chatter is then distilled into the equivalent of a digital water cooler _ a place where people can go to keep in touch without taking up a lot of their time. 

After months of development, the new feature debuts Thursday at http://now.msn.com. 

The service is primarily aimed at university-age teenagers and young adults who are increasingly relying on smartphones and other mobile devices to remain plugged into what everyone is talking about from one hour to the next. 

It's an ``information-snacking'' addiction that msnNOW is looking to feed with a smorgasbord of morsels served up a team of about 20 editors who will write 100-word summaries of the stories driving online conversations, said Bob Visse, MSN's general manager. 

Although it's tailor made for people on the go, msnNOW isn't offering an app for smartphones or computer tablets. It can be reached on all mobile Web browsers. The service also includes tools to make it easy to share on Facebook, Twitter and email. 

Taking the Internet's pulse isn't new. The main page on Yahoo Inc.'s website has highlighted the top trends for years and Internet search leader Google Inc. calls out the top queries each day. Twitter regularly updates its rankings of the most-tweeted topics. 

But MSN believes its new service will prove to be even more effective because it is drawing upon Microsoft Corp.'s expertise in data management and relying on human editors to ensure the real-time site is more compelling than a list of words and links. 

Facebook Inc. and Twitter also have negotiated deals that make more of their data available to Microsoft's Bing search engine than to Google, but msnNOW isn't relying on that privileged access, Visse said. 

Instead, msnNOW is conducting its analysis through the public entryways that Facebook and Twitter offers to all websites. MsnNOW is also leaning on BreakingNews.com, a part of MSNBC that also pores through a variety of social media to find interesting stories as they unfold. 

MsnNOW's reliance on Bing to monitor online search activity could be a drawback because it processes far fewer requests than Google. But Bing is picking up more cues now that it's powering Yahoo's search engine as part of a 10-year partnership. Combined, Bing and Yahoo have a roughly 30 percent share of U.S. search volume compared to 66 percent at Google. 

Bing's second-banana status in search is a big reason why Microsoft's online division has been a financial albatross. The software maker's online operations have lost about $8 billion since June 2008. 

MSN.com remains one of the Internet's top destinations with about 520 million users. In comparison Facebook boasts 845 million users, Yahoo has about 700 million and Twitter has more than 100 million. 

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Next Generation Optic Technology

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Facebook Office

For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year

 

PICTURES OF THE FACEBOOK SERVER FARM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIFE INSIDE FACEBOOK’S HEADQUARTERS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FACEBOOK’S OVERSEAS OFFICES

 

FACEBOOK - HYDERABAD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FACEBOOK TOKYO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FACEBOOK DUBLIN

 

 

 

 

 

FACEBOOK PARIS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARK ZUCKERBERG’S INNER CIRCLE

 

 

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