Innovation seems to be happening continuously at Google, which results in better and better tools for people working with the web. A classic case in point is the Adwords targeting feature called Broad Match Modifier (BMM) which was introduced to the UK and Canada in May, and then rolled out worldwide in July 2010. Basically, as Google explains it, what the BMM does is give you "greater reach with your keywords than phrase match, and more control than broad match".There ...

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has defended the unauthorised release of 400 000 classified US military documents on the war in Iraq, saying they revealed the "truth" about the conflict.The mass of documents from 2004 to 2009 offer a grim snapshot of the conflict, especially of the abuse of Iraqi civilians by Iraqi security forces."This disclosure is about the truth," Assange told a news conference in London after the whistle-blowing website published the logs on the internet."The attack on the truth ...

Google has pledged to strengthen its privacy and security practices after its "Street View" mapping service gathered private wireless data, including emails and passwords, in dozens of countries."We work hard at Google to earn your trust, and we're acutely aware that we failed badly here," Alan Eustace, Google's senior vice president of engineering and research, said in a blog post."So we've spent the past several months looking at how to strengthen our internal privacy and security practices," he said.Eustace provided ...

A NASA astronaut on Friday used the popular location-sharing service Foursquare to "check in" from space.Douglas Wheelock, who is orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station, sent a message from his Twitter account, @Astro_Wheels, saying he had "unlocked the 'NASA Explorer Badge'" on Foursquare.Foursquare, which boasts more than four million members, allows users to broadcast their whereabouts to other users of the service and earn "badges" for the places they check in from or to become the "mayor".The NASA ...

Hewlett-Packard unveiled a Windows-powered touchscreen tablet computer on Friday aimed at professionals, the latest entry into a growing market dominated by Apple's iPad.The "HP Slate 500" which features an 8.9-inch (22.6-centimeter) screen, slightly smaller than the iPad's 9.7-inch (24.6-cm) display, costs 800 dollars, about the same price as the top-of-the-line iPad.While the iPad is aimed more at consumers, HP is targeting its device at business customers and touting its ability to handle documents, spreadsheets and applications from Microsoft.HP described the ...

China has launched an official online mapping service as US Internet giant Google continues to hold out on applying for a licence to provide a similar service in the country, state media said Friday.The government-backed service Map World is free and allows users to search for two and three-dimensional images across the globe, the China Daily said."In the near future, Map World will grow to be a famous Chinese brand for online map services with proven reliability," Xu Deming, director ...

In 2008 the Guggenheim Museum teamed up with YouTube in an attempt to better connect with the public and "reach the widest possible audience". The result was YouTube Play - a showcase of exceptional talent working in the ever-expanding realm of online video. Anyone could submit creative video for the contest and would stand a chance of having their work displayed in the hallowed halls of New York's Guggenheim museum. The creative video biennial finally came to an end on ...

Facebook fans tend to lurk instead of play when they tune into the social network while at their jobs, according to a report released on Thursday by computer security firm Palo Alto Networks.While many workers link to Facebook on company computers, 88% of the online traffic consists of people watching what friends are up to in the online community, the report found.Use of social games such as "Farmville" popular at Facebook accounted for only five percent of the traffic, while ...

Game developers Blizzard have announced the release of Cataclysm, an expansion pack to the wildly popular game, World of Warcraft (WOW). The anticipated release was showcased with a rich and enticing cinematic trailer during a NFL game in the USA -- a clear signal of how seriously Blizzard is taking the marketing campaign behind the expansion.The clip was additionally posted on YouTube where it has gone viral, accumulating over four million views within the first four days of its release, and proving that ...

It’s no surprise to me that brand after brand make the same mistakes when responding to online, and especially social media, attacks. From the famous Dell Hell, through the Kryptonite lock fiasco to the more recent Nestle and BP protests. The latest saga was the extremist Christian response via Facebook to the Woolworths' management decision to no longer stock certain Christian religious magazines in its stores.The standard corporate reaction is predictable and certain to meet with failure. It’s based on ...