I found this little link where it is possible to opt out of the Google surveillance and get a little bit of privacy back. So, if you don’t care bout ads, this is the place to get rid of the personalized ones.
Have fun.
Adios Google Reader
I am seriously going to miss Google reader, and so far I haven’t found a viable alternative.
Damn you Google
Uninstalling Google Drive
I am a big Skydrive user, but after Google released their Google Drive, I had to give it a whirl on the old PC. It works just like Skydrive, but has a lot less storage and opens files in Google Docs, which I do not use. However, after I read the privacy statement I quickly uninstalled the application, and here’s why:
Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.
When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing you have added to Google Maps). Some Services may offer you ways to access and remove content that has been provided to that Service. Also, in some of our Services, there are terms or settings that narrow the scope of our use of the content submitted in those Services. Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services.
The Skydrive version sits much better with me:
Except for material that we license to you, we don’t claim ownership of the content you provide on the service. Your content remains your content. We also don’t control, verify, or endorse the content that you and others make available on the service.
You control who may access your content. If you share content in public areas of the service or in shared areas available to others you’ve chosen, then you agree that anyone you’ve shared content with may use that content. When you give others access to your content on the service, you grant them free, nonexclusive permission to use, reproduce, distribute, display, transmit, and communicate to the public the content solely in connection with the service and other products and services made available by Microsoft. If you don’t want others to have those rights, don’t use the service to share your content.
You understand that Microsoft may need, and you hereby grant Microsoft the right, to use, modify, adapt, reproduce, distribute, and display content posted on the service solely to the extent necessary to provide the service.
Please respect the rights of artists, inventors, and creators. Content may be protected by copyright. People appearing in content may have a right to control the use of their image. If you share content on the service in a way that infringes others’ copyrights, other intellectual property rights, or privacy rights, you’re breaching this contract. You represent and warrant that you have all the rights necessary for you to grant the rights in this section and the use of the content doesn’t violate any law. We won’t pay you for your content. We may refuse to publish your content for any or no reason. We may remove your content from the service at any time if you breach this contract or if we cancel or suspend the service.
Google is getting creepier and creepier by the moment these days.
Google køber stor del af Motorola
Vildt! Google tager åbenbart Microsofts partnerskap med Nokia alvorligt. Nu kommer der sikkert ikke nogen Windows Phone fra Motorola.
Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility
8/15/2011 04:35:00 AM
Since its launch in November 2007, Android has not only dramatically increased consumer choice but also improved the entire mobile experience for users. Today, more than 150 million Android devices have been activated worldwide—with over 550,000 devices now lit up every day—through a network of about 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries. Given Android’s phenomenal success, we are always looking for new ways to supercharge the Android ecosystem. That is why I am so excited today to announce that we have agreed to acquire Motorola.
Motorola has a history of over 80 years of innovation in communications technology and products, and in the development of intellectual property, which have helped drive the remarkable revolution in mobile computing we are all enjoying today. Its many industry milestones include the introduction of the world’s first portable cell phone nearly 30 years ago, and the StarTAC—the smallest and lightest phone on earth at time of launch. In 2007, Motorola was a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance that worked to make Android the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. I have loved my Motorola phones from the StarTAC era up to the current DROIDs.
In 2008, Motorola bet big on Android as the sole operating system across all of its smartphone devices. It was a smart bet and we’re thrilled at the success they’ve achieved so far. We believe that their mobile business is on an upward trajectory and poised for explosive growth.
Motorola is also a market leader in the home devices and video solutions business. With the transition to Internet Protocol, we are excited to work together with Motorola and the industry to support our partners and cooperate with them to accelerate innovation in this space.
Motorola’s total commitment to Android in mobile devices is one of many reasons that there is a natural fit between our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere.
This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences.
We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community” and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.
The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders.
I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.Posted by Larry Page, CEO
Larry Page i front for Google igen
Efter Eric Schmidt har forladt posten som CEO for Google er Larry Page nu blevet den nye Alpha han igen for søgegigangten. Umiddelbart lyder det ikke som verdens allerværste ide, Larry Page er trods alt en af grundlæaggerne af Google, men Computerworld har en lidt anden holdning.
Er han så den rigtige mand?
Det er nu et åbent spørgsmål, om Larry Page er den rigtige mand til opgaven, som selv sagt er enormt vigtig for selskabets fremtid i en meget omskiftlig og vildt konkurrencepræget verden.
Ja, han fik ideen sammen med makkeren Sergei Brin og ja, han var administrerende direktør, indtil selskabet for alvor skulle kommercialiseres.
Google har givet kigget over mod Apple, da selskabet skulle overveje sagerne.
Apples Steve Jobs har i den grad som iværksætter formået at vende tilbage efter en pause som topchef og drive sin virksomhed helt til tops.
På den anden side floppede Yahoos stifter, Jerry Yang, fælt med en række strategiske fejldisponeringer, da han vendte tilbage som administrerende direktør for Yahoo. Det kostede ham jobbet, hvilket du kan læse mere om her.
Larry Page er en dygtig idé-mand, men han har et ganske alvorligt problem, når det gælder ledelse af et af verdens mest eksponerede selskaber: Han er genert.
Ikke ligefrem sprudlende
Larry Page er således kendt for til møder at sidde med blikket slået ned på sin Android-telefon, ligesom han ikke er godt tilpas med at holde taler eller peptalks, have fastlagt skema for dagen eller holde møder med presse, analytikere eller myndigheder.
Det er alle sammen ting, som det er absolut nødvendigt at mestre, hvis man skal lede et gigant-selskab som Google.Hertil kommer, at Larry Page har ry for at lide af det klassiske udvikler-/it-mand-syndrom: Han har svært ved at håndtere noget, der ikke kan måles.
Kilde: Dan Jensen @ Computerworld
Technorati Tags: Google
Microsoft good, Google bad?
I går faldt jeg over en artikel af Rob Enderle, hvor han sammenligner Google og Microsoft. Eller rettere, han sammenligner de to virksomheders status I dag, sammenlignet med hvordan det så ud for et år siden.
Hans udgangspunkt er egentlig at Microsoft er begyndt at ramme plet igen, imodsætning til Google, som gentagne gange det seneste år er løbet ind I alvorlige problemer.
Microsoft is likely to top the list of the most improved companies for 2011. Indeed, 2009 ended a decade of disappointing personal technology products from Redmond – particularly Windows Vista - which left many of us wondering if MS could do anything right.
However, 2010 kicked off with Windows 7, IE9 (beta), Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Kinnect, along with some very positive financial results.
To be sure, for much of last decade Microsoft was considered the personification of Evil, and for much of last year, Google effortlessly took their place after seeming to promise when they started that they would avoid doing evil things.
Let’s talk a bit about how Microsoft and Google traded places last year, well more than traded places; Google passed Microsoft like a jet plane and not in a good way. We’ll focus on Microsoft’s improvements today
Kilde: Rob Enderle @ TG Daily
Umiddelbart kunne man godt fristes til at give Rob ret I hans betragtning, og der er I hvert fald ingen tvivl om at Windows 7 er et rocker styresystem, som I den grad har rettet op alle de fejl der var med Vista. Derudover er det ret interessant at se hvordan Google er ved at blive så store g tunge, at de I højere grad minder om Microsoft end en super moderne webcenrisk virksomhed, der er I stand til at levere software opdateringer hurtigere end man kan sige beta teser.
Endvidere ser det ud til at Google stå overfor en hel række sagsanlæg, som d med garanti aldrig havde forestillet sig ville dukke op. På mange måder virker det som Googe nu skal igennem den mølle Microsoft var igennem med antitrust sagsanlæg etc.
Nyt om Google Me – måske
ReadWriteWeb skriver:
As we get closer to – and hear more about – the launch of Google’s upcoming social product, Google Me, the less and less it seems like a stand-alone social network and more like an interweaving of social connections into its existing offerings. It sounds eerily similar to those "social" search results that have lingered at the bottom of the results page and third-party extras like Rapportive, the Gmail add-on that gives you the social networking lowdown on your email contacts.
Nonetheless, some are saying that Google CEO Eric Schmidt acknowledged the upcoming launch of "Google Me". Really, it looks like he acknowledged the coming of "layers", not the stand-alone, Facebook-killing social network we’ve all discussed.
Google has essentially broadcast – and stayed true – to this party line all along. When it bought Slide in early August, word was that the acquisition would be a "tremendous opportunity for the two companies to come together to change the way people socialize on the Web", according to a statement on the Slide website. Google itself said that "we’ve already built strong social elements into products like Gmail, Docs, Blogger, Picasa and YouTube" and that the joining of the Slide team would mean Google would be "investing even more to make Google services socially aware and expand these capabilities for our users across the web".
Kilde: Mike Melanson @ ReadWriteWeb
Det lyder mere og mere som om Google Me bliver en social aggregator i samme stil som blandt andet Windows Live. Det er måske en lille smule skuffende, at Google ikke tager skridtet fuldt ud og konkurrer med Facebook, men på den anden side kan man jo spørge sig selvom verden i virkeligheden har brug for endnu et socialt netværk? Verden har måske heller ikke brug endnu endnu en social aggregator, sammenligner man Googles profil håndtering i forhold til Yahoo og Microsoft, så ser det ud som de halter noget bagefter i forhold til integration til diverse sociale netværk. Google Buzz er imidlertid et skridt på vejen, selvom det er implementeret på en ret irriterende måde efter min mening.
Technorati Tags: Google Me
Bing og Google i slåskamp
Search er et af de helt store segmenter indenfor IT branchen, og i sær Google har på imponerende vis været i stand til at skabe en profitabel forretning på baggrund af deres søgemaskine. Ikke overraskende fulgte Microsoft i Googles fodspor, og forsøgte i første gang med Live search, som absolut ikke var noget hit. I stedet for at give op har MIcrosoft flyttet Satya Nardella fra Dynamics over til Search, hvor han har været en af de ledende personer i forhold til lanceringne af Bing.
I modsætning til Live Search har Bing faktisk skrabet markedsandele til sig, og diverse bloggere er da heller udelukkende negative overfor Bing. Derudover har Google på det seneste kopieret en række af Bings look and feel samt features, hvilket kunne indikere at søge giganten tager Bing seriøst. Samtidig har Microsofts søgeaftale med Yahoo været en torn i øjet på Google, som også selv var på jagt efter Yahoos brugere.
New York Times har en meget spændende artikel om kampen mellem Bing og Google.
Bing and Google in a Race for Search Features
Edwin Perello discovered that Bing, the Microsoft search engine, could find addresses in his rural Indiana town when Google could not. Laura Michelson, an administrative assistant in San Francisco, was lured by Bing’s flight fare tracker. Paul Callan, a photography buff in Chicago, fell for Bing’s vivid background images.
Like most Americans, they still use Google as their main search tool. But more often, they find themselves navigating to Microsoft’s year-old Bing for certain tasks, and sometimes they stay a while.
“I was a Google user before, but the more I used Bing the more I liked it,” Mr. Callan said. “It’s more like muscle memory takes me to Google.”
Continue at source
Kilde: Claire Cain Miller & Ashlee Vance @ New York Times
Bing er desværre ikke lanceret i Danmark endnu, selvom man godt kunne tro det hvis man kigger på Bing.com. Så vidt jeg er orienteret, så er det stadigvæk Live search der benyttes, selvom det er Bings UI der vises. Hvornår Bing for alvor kommer til Danmark vides ikke.
2.000 elever får Google Apps efter ferien
Eleverne på to gymnasier i Københavnsområdet skal efter sommerferien til at bruge Googles webbaserede kontorpakke, Google Apps, til e-mail og gruppearbejde.
Eleverne på Borupgaard Gymnasium i Ballerup og Ørestad Gymnasium på Amager skal efter sommerferien i gang med at tjekke e-mail, lave gruppearbejde og aflevere opgaver gennem Googles webbaserede kontorpakke, Apps.
De to gymnasier, der begge har omkring 1.000 elever, har sagt ja tak til et tilbud fra det danske it-konsulentfirma IT Security and Compliance, som specialiserer sig i webbaserede løsninger bygget op om Googles tjenester.
»Vi kontaktede de to gymnasier og spurgte dem, om ikke det kunne være en god idé for dem at bruge Googles værktøjer til e-mail og samarbejde online til eleverne,« siger direktør i IT Security and Compliance, Jonas H. Lund, til Version2.
Google Apps er Googles cloud-baserede kontorpakke, som giver brugeren mulighed for at skrive og dele blandt andet tekstdokumenter, regneark og kalender i en browser.
Rektorerne på de to gymnasier kunne godt se idéen i at tage Google Apps i brug i den såkaldte Education-udgave, som er ganske gratis og tilbyder omkring syv gigabyte plads i indbakken til eleverne.Continue @ Source
Kilde: Mikkel Meister @ Version2
Nu kender jeg faktisk Borupgaard i professionel sammenhæng, så det overrasker mig ikke, at de er hoppet med på Clod bølgen. Faktisk kan jeg godt undre mig en smule over at der ikke er langt flere uddannelsesinstitutioer, som har skiftet til enten Google Apps, eller Live @ EDU, som alternativ til lokalt installerede programmer, og dårlige e-mail systemer.
I mine unge dage som studerende på CBS var det mig en stor kilde til forundring, at skolen stillede en email adresse til rådighed for de studerende, når alle har deres egen i forvejen. Argumentet var som regel at det var nemmere at kommunikere til alle via email, og siden man gjorde det, skulle man stille en sådan til rådighed.
Indtil videre er der et par af de store universiteter i USA; som har skiftet til en clod løsning, herunder mit gamle universitet WSU, men herhjemme har jeg ikke hørt om andre end de to gymnasier, som er nævnt i atiklen. Det kunne være meget interessant at se business casen og på den baggrund danne sig et o´verblik over hvor meget en institution kan spare ved at hoppe på clouden.
Technorati Tags: Live @ EDU,Google Apps