Consumerist
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music
Google's New Music Search Launches, But Your Buying Options Remain The Same
The new music search capabilities that Google introduced today will make it easier to quickly find a song you can't remember the name of, or sample some tracks from an artist you're interested in. But it's not so much a new service as a more efficient combination of a bunch of services already scattered around the web. More » -
rumors
Google To Launch Music Search Service Next Week
You've probably seen Google Finance, where each company has its own page made up of content scraped from all over the web. Google is about to launch a similar service for musicians, says the Hollywood Reporter: "The music pages will package images of musicians and bands, album artwork, links to news, lyrics and song previews, along with a way to buy songs." More » -
the opposite of worst company in america
Nintendo Is The World's Best Company
While it's our job to name the Worst Company In America, BusinessWeek has decided to identify the world's best businesses, tapping management consultant firm A.T. Kearney to rank the world's best companies. More » -
oh snap
AT&T Whines To FCC That Google Voice Violates Net Neutrality
On Friday, AT&T filed a letter with the FCC accusing Google Voice of violating network neutrality principles. Google Voice doesn't work with certain numbers that AT&T, as an old-fashioned landline and mobile provider, does. More » -
privacy concerns
Gmail Account Shut Down For Receiving Errant Bank Spreadsheet
The judicial system has spoken in the case of the spreadsheet full of personal data accidentally e-mailed to a random Gmail user by an employee of Rocky Mountain Bank. Google must reveal the account holder's identity, and the account has been deactivated. More » -
how to
Get Your Data Out Of Google
If you're like the average Google user, you've now got a lot of personal data—emails, addresses, calendars, documents, photos and videos, maybe even health records—in their system. This is fine with them, because the Google Hive Mind needs all of this data to eventually become self aware and enslave us. However, if you ever want to get that information out of Google, the company has created something they call the Data Liberation Front to make it easier for you. More » -
blogs
Read My "Google Power Reader" Feed
Google selected me to be one of their "Power Readers," which means you can easily subscribe to an RSS feed with some of the blogs I recommend reading. I encourage checking out The Red Tape Chronicles, Bankrate, Credit Slips, Elliot.org, and Frugal for Life, as well as the other blogs recommended by my fellow "Power Readers." Yes, we all got issued special laser rings.
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new and exciting products
Google Aims To Answer The Question: "But If I Get Off The Highway, Won't It Just Be Worse?"
Traffic reports are swell and all, but they don't really help you when you've got no choice but to take the highway or risk the unknown — traffic on the regular roads. Google is trying to change that by offering "arterial" traffic data. More » -
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satire
Google Invites Privacy-Concerned Users To Move To Remote Village
The Onion reports that Google's new privacy policy requires users who wish to opt out to relocate to a remote ghetto and abandon all contact with the outside world. (Photo: kalle svensson) -
tips
Three Ways To Use Google Voice On Your iPhone
Apple may not feel like you're ready to take advantage of Google Voice, but luckily Jobs and his legion can't lock you out of every potential way to access the service. (Yet.) Here are three paths to GV you can use today, no permission needed from the Applelord. More » -
number portability
Is The FCC's iPhone Investigation Really About Number Portability?
There's been a lot of talk online the past week about extending the principal of network neutrality to wireless networks, which may be partly why the FCC has asked Apple, Google, and AT&T to answer some questions about the rejected Google Voice iPhone app. Todd Barr at Bandwidth.com thinks that the reason may actually have to do with the concept of number portability. More » -
Apparently, if you put in a "tragedy" word for every 167 words in your email message, Gmail's servers won't display ads out of some robotic simulacrum of empathy. You'll also freak out or depress your friends, but hey, no ads! [BoingBoing] (Photo: solidariat)
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investigations
FCC Asks Apple, AT&T To Explain Why They Rejected Google Voice App
Apple (and AT&T) may have finally pushed too far with this week's rejection of the Google Voice App from the iPhone App Store, for no reason other than it "duplicated functionality" already offered—for a price—by AT&T. According to mocoNews, the FCC has asked Apple and AT&T to provide answers about how apps are approved, why they're denied, and particularly how much say AT&T has over things iPhone-related. More » -
timing
Use Google Trends To Find The Best Time To Go Car Shopping
Engine Industries used Google Trends to map the frequency of search terms like "used car," "new car," and "buy car" through Google. They found that "people search car-related keyterms most in the summer and least in the winter, with a small spike right before Christmas."
"Best month to buy a car? Google Trends says November-ish" [Engine Industries]
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search engine wars
Yahoo and Microsoft Will Tag-Team Up To Battle Google
In a schoolyard bully battle royale, Microsoft and Yahoo are joining forces to target Google, with the aim of relieving the company of its search engine dominance. More » -
search engines
Create Your Own Bing Vs. Google Death Match
Bing vs. Google offers a side-by-side comparison that lets users see for themselves which search engine works better. We tried some searches, and our findings are inside. More » -
computers
Google To Launch Free PC Operating System Next Year
Tired of Windows, don't like fine-tuning Ubuntu, can't afford buying into the Apple ecosystem? Google has just announced they're releasing an open source computer operating system called Chrome OS next year. More » -
411
Don't Pay For Directory Assistance
Amidst the chatter about the iPhone 3G S and iPhonecultists'users' hate/hate relationship with AT&T, here's another bit of bad news for AT&T subscribers: reader Mark e-mailed to let us know that the cost of directory assistance calls will go up to $1.99 on July 1. Fortunately, when you need 411 service, you don't have to pay for it. More »
New York, 11:01 PM
Sat Nov 7
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