04Apr 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

goo.gl is shuttering Google shortening service

News Items
goo.gl is shuttering Google shortening service Google announced that it is shutting down its URL shortening service, goo.gl. The company says that new and anonymous users won’t be able to create links through the goo.gl console as of April 13th, but existing users will be able to use it for another year, after which it will be discontinued completely. Firebase Software Engineer Michael Hermanto says that the company introduced the URL shortener in 2009, and that since then, the ways in which people share information on the web has changed, while additional URL shorteners have grown in popularity. He notes that Google is refocusing its efforts by replacing it with Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL), which allow users to redirect to specific locations in iOS, Android or web apps. Existing users will be able to…
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21Mar 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Google believes Android is as secure as iOS

Software Events
Google believes Android is as secure as iOS Google recently published its fourth annual year in review for Android's security and looking  through the comprehensive, 56-page report yourself there are various items you can see and determine whether they are legit. Machine learning is playing a huge role in securing Android devices. Back in May, the company announced Google Play Protect, which is a one stop shop for Google's suite of security services on Android. Machine learning found 60.3 percent of all potentially harmful apps within the Play store, and Google expects that number to continue increasing. Android may be perceived as "less secure" than iOS but in 2016, the annual probability of downloading a potentially harmful app was at .04 percent, which is a pretty small number and in 2017 Google was…
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07Mar 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Google reports that Flash Usage Declines from 80% in 2014 to Under 8% Today

Computer PC Tips - bits and bytes, News Items
Google reports that Flash Usage Declines from 80% in 2014 to Under 8% Today The percentage of daily Chrome users who've loaded at least one page containing Flash content per day has gone down from around 80% in 2014 to under 8% in early 2018. These statistics on Flash's declining numbers were shared with the public by Parisa Tabriz, Director of Engineering at Google, during a keynote speech at Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS) which was held recently in San Diego. Flash's demise was to be expected, though. Adobe announced last year plans to stop supporting the Adobe Flash Media Player by the end of 2020.  But while Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and all major browsers have already moved from a Flash-enabled-by-default to a Flash-click-to-play policy since last year, the massive…
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16Feb 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Google Chrome Browser to Start Blocking Certain Web Advertising

News Items, Software Events, Software Releases
Google Chrome Browser to Start Blocking Certain Web Advertising All Google Chrome Browser users starting on February 15, 2018, your Chrome browser will start blocking ads that don’t meet the standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads. The idea is to improve the browsing experience of web users by getting rid of the worst of the annoyances that they generally object to. These annoyances include ads that provide auto-playing video with audio, ads that block the site you’re trying to reach and ads that cover large areas of the screen.  I am not sure how this will handle something like CNN.com that is famous for putting up some of the worst possible ads.  Even if you hover over the ad it sometimes will automatically start. Remember that CNN as well…
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03Oct 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Fortune’s List of the 10 Most Powerful Women in Information Technology

Software Events
Fortune's List of the 10 Most Powerful Women in Information Technology Each year for the past two decades, Fortune Magazine has released its list of the Most Powerful Women in the world. The list, which includes 51 women, is based in part on the success of their businesses. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has been credited with provided the operational leadership that has helped drive the social network’s growth since founder Mark Zuckerberg hired her in 2008. Facebook’s 57 percent ad revenue growth in 2016, coupled with Sandberg’s support for women’s health and immigration reform made her one of the most powerful women in the world. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty has been facing some challenges with slumping revenue, but she is still regarded as one of the most successful chief executives…
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