GeekwithEnvy

Computers

Google Scanning Your Gmail

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email security

Google has implemented some features into Gmail that scan your email. The company mentions that scanning you email is necessary in order to provide beneficial features like spam prevention, but not everyone is onboard with the idea.

A class-action lawsuit was brought against Google recently over the use of automated email scanning. Users felt that Google’s terms of service were unclear, at best, in explaining to users that their email would be scanned and what will happen with all of that information. Google immediately asked the U.S federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit stating that the automated email scanning process is fully disclosed to all Gmail users.

However, the judge did not dismiss the case and actually ruled yesterday that Google’s terms of service and privacy policies do not clearly state that they are intercepting user emails and profiling them. Google did try to defend it’s actions by stating that users are giving “implied consent” when signing up for an email service, but that defense didn’t hold. This is obviously going to be a problem for Google moving forward as they  implement more features that depend on scanning email content. Google will also need to draw up a more explicit version of their terms for Gmail users.

On the other side of ruling, we see a big win for online privacy, which is quickly disappearing in a more and more transparent digital world. While many understand the benefits of allowing such information to be collected, not every wants to consent, and even those who would  consent would still like to know how their information is being collected and used.

The ruling is available online in PDF format for you to read.

Steve Jobs’ Childhood Home Could Become Historical Site

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The childhood home of Steve Jobs.
The childhood home of Steve Jobs. ( Source: CNN)

If the seven-member Los Altos Historical Commission completes it’s “historic property evaluation” and decides it so, Steve Jobs’ childhood home could become a historical site. The home is located on 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, California. The garage you see in the picture is the same garage that Steve Wozniak was in when he put together the first 50 Apple 1 computers.

“Steve Jobs is considered a genius who blended technology and creativity to invent and market a product which dramatically changed six industries — personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing and digital publishing,” according to the property evaluation.

“His influence is expected to be felt by multiple generations forthcoming.”

Source: CNN

 

Blizzard to Shut Down Diablo III Real Money Auction House

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D3RMAH

Blizzard Entertainment has sent out emails to Diablo III owners with a notice that they are going to be shutting down the real money auction house on March 18, 2014.

The new feature initially received quite a bit of criticism but seemed to be holding it’s own during the first few months of the games release. Over time, Blizzard has changed it’s view of how the real money auction house impacts the game and has decided that it “ultimately undermines Diablo’s core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot.” Below is the official notice. Your can also read Blizzard’s blog post about the closure.

“We are writing tell you about an important change to Diablo III: we’re going to be removing the gold and real-money auction house system from the game.

When we initially designed and implemented the auction house system, the driving goal was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades. But after much review and player feedback, it became increasingly clear that despite the benefits of the AH system and the fact that many players around the world use it, it ultimately undermines Diablo’s core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot.

We’re working out the details of how the auction house system will be shut down, but we wanted to share the news as soon as we made the decision in order to give everyone as much advance notice as possible. Please note that the final shutdown will occur on March 18, 2014. We will keep everyone informed as we work through this process, but feel free to check out our blog post on the subject, and stay tuned to Diablo 3.com for further details.

– The Diablo III team

Microsoft Offers $200 for your iPad

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Microsoft Surface Pro

Microsoft is trying to get you to part with your iPad in hopes that you will buy a Surface RT/Pro instead. You can bring in a used iPad 2, 3, or 4 and get a minimum of $200 on a gift card for use at the Microsoft store. Of course the offer can be used towards other Microsoft products as well, like Xbox or anything else that you fancy in the Microsoft store.

Microsoft has been ramping up it’s campaign against Apple as of late as it tries to gain some ground in the mobile device market. The Surface opened up to some pretty weak sales and unfortunately this trend has continued throughout the life of the product. Microsoft’s tablet has already seen a price cut, which is now permanent, and currently the RT version is selling for $349 while the Pro version is selling for $799.

Despite weaker sales numbers Microsoft does see a strong future for mobile versions of Windows and will soon be revealing Surface 2 to the world on September 23rd which will ship with Windows 8.1.

How To Connect Your PS3 Controller to Your PC

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There are many ways to control your favorite games on a PC including the old keyboard and mouse. Some gamers have become very comfortable with the Playstation controller, which is understandable because it has a great design and has been around for a long time. In fact the Playstation controller was originally released on December 3, 1994 and has very few changes to it’s design since.ps3Controller

So is it possible to use a console controller with a PC?

Yes, but you will need a Playstation 3 controller (DualShock 3 or Sixaxis), a third party driver from MotionJoy and preferably a bluetooth enabled computer or at least an adapter.

The easiest way to get things up and running after you obtain the latest driver from MotionJoy is to follow the great tutorial video above. If you need any additional help refer to the help section on the MotionJoy site as it will contain the most up-to-date information.