Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
MS InPrivate Browsing May Cut Off Google's Air Supply
InPrivate Browsing is a nifty new feature of Microsoft's latest version of Internet Explorer (IE). Not coincidentally, this feature will also help Microsoft in their fight with Google, which has not been going well lately.
Google provides about 70% of all the world's search results, giving them the advantage in delivering ads and acquiring knowledge about users. Microsoft delivers a miserable five percent of search results. MS, on the other hand, owns Internet Explorer, which is the web browser choice for about 70% of users.
InPrivate Browsing is a privacy feature that can be enabled by users of MS's IE browser. It controls whether or not the browser saves the history of URLs visited, cookies and other Internet data. It gives users a tool to control how websites (and advertisers!) make use of their browser.
Internet Explorer also comes with built-in selections for in-bar search that cut Google out of the equation. This fights directly with the Foxfire default use of Google as search engine.
One of the key competitive advantages that Google has enjoyed over Microsoft is its ability to correlate important information about specific users. What has the user searched for? What sites has the user visited? What brands does the user like?
Google's recent acquisition of DoubleClick, one of the largest Internet advertising companies, would provide Google with yet another vast storehouse of information about user activity, which they can combine with what is already being tracked by Google's vast network of servers.
Knowledge about users is Google's air supply; without this information, Google's search function loses its specificity. Their ability to provide advertisements that are targeted to a specific user's interests is also endangered. A Google with less information about users is a less usable Google.
Read Internet Explorer 8 To Include 'Stealth' Privacy Mode for more details about InPrivate browsing.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/27/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Computer ")
AI Worms That Spread
'...there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net now' - John Brunner, 1975.
Great. Now AIs Have Access To Hacking Tools
'... when you and the Flatline punch through that ice and scramble the cores.' - William Gibson, 1984.
Tongue-Controlled Tong Wearable Mouth Computer
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.' - Greg Bear, 2007.
Interpol Launches Metaverse For Law Enforcement
'CopSpace sheds some light on matters, of course. Blink and it descends in its full glory.' - Charles Stress, 2007.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
