Forgotten your password? Google can find it for you. Unfortunately (Guardian Unlimited blogs)

When a Cambridge University team wanted to break a hacker's password, they turned to Google - with startling results. But there's a lesson for you too..

My World, According to Google (Red Herring)

What exactly does Google, Salesforce.com, or another Internet application provider do with my information, my documents, or my browser tracks?

Google is fairly upfront: It will mine my data and serve up ads that reflect my interests. But do I want ads popping up to remind me or anyone who looks over my shoulder of topics that I’d rather not share?

What data does Google provide about me to advertisers, to government, to anyone else?

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo Acquisitions Compared
(O'Reilly Radar)

The LibraryHouse blog has a nice summary of recent acquisitions (July 2006 through June 2007) by Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo!, roughly color coded by category:

Yes, Google Is Trying To Take Over the World
(Slate Magazine)

When Google conquered Internet search in the early 2000s, it was strictly a Web company and faced only Web competitors.

The 2005 launch of its controversial "book search," which enraged the New York publishing industry, shows what can happen when Google leaves its comfort zone.

Now, with its recently announced plans to enter wireless communications, Google is making its deepest foray yet into a foreign territory where its allies are few. It faces the challenge of not just entering the wireless world but also converting its inhabitants.

Provided that Google has the nerve and resources to try to remake wireless in its image, it'll either prove its greatest triumph or its Waterloo.

EU tougher than US on Google-DoubleClick merger (Builder AU - Australia)

Google's megamerger proposal with DoubleClick could face greater scrutiny in Europe than the US if antitrust regulators decide the deal takes the companies into new markets.

Google’s Android an iPhone rip-off?
(Pocket Picks, UK)

Google has just released the software development kit (SDK) for Android and it’s already apparent that the SDK’s very heavily influenced by Apple.

So where does the Apple link come in? The platform for Android’s web browser is the same as for Apple’s Safari (as seen on computers and the iPhone).

And that’s not all: other areas of the OS also resemble existing Apple operating systems – including the need to tap and finger-drag to scroll round pages. There’s also a Mac OSX-style dock and a Cover Flow-style interface for pop-up notices (as seen on the iPhone).

Germans Lead Europe in Music Downloading (eMarketer)

Germans are getting their tunes on the digital autobahn.

Europeans — especially the French — aren't too keen on digital rights management (DRM) with their music.

Still, the German market for legitimate music downloading grew by a third in the past year, according to new data from BITKOM.

Germans downloaded 26 million singles and albums in 2006, up from 20 million the year before. BITKOM estimates that the number of downloads will grow another 27% this year, reaching a total of 33 million in 2007.

Thirty Free Image Resources on the Web
(About.com)

Looking for free images? Here are thirty sites where you can find completely free images, available for use on your blog or web site. All of these sites offer royalty free images for your use (be sure to check each site for specific guidelines that they request you follow in order to use their images).

Top 12 Free Internet Downloads (About.com)

(this list is in random order)

1. Thunderbird Email Client
2. VLC media player
3. Picasa digital photo organizer
4. WinRar compression/decompression
5. Ad-Aware personal anti-spyware
6. Audacity audio editor
7. Fox It .pdf reader
8. Firefox web browser
9. Skype communication software
10. Google Earth
11. Open Office spreadsheet, word processing, and presentations software
12. Trillian instant messenger
13. Special mention: uTorrent

Worldwide Internet Penetration Grew 10% in 2006 (eMarketer)
The days of US dominance in Internet users are numbered.

INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS
The Internet Big Picture
(Internet World Stats)

Top 10 Useful Web Tools from Pandia
(Phil Bradley's weblog)

"Pandia has come up with their listing of Top 10 Useful Web Tools. Worth a look, though I don't entirely agree with their selection."

How Hackers Hack (About.com)

The tricks hackers use, and what you can do to foil them.

Google: In Search of Itself (Knowledge@Wharton)

“In a span of four days earlier this month, Google launched an initiative to enable social networking tools to work across dozens of web sites and rounded up 33 partners to develop software to power a new generation of cell phones.

While these efforts illustrate Google's determination to keep expanding its territory, they also increase the challenges faced by the $200 billion company.

And they pose a question that seems to crop up more and more these days: Where is Google headed?”

The Top Ten Most Popular Portals on the Web (About.com)

1. Yahoo
2. Google
3. MSN
4. YouTube
5. Windows Live
6. Wikipedia
7. Baidu.com
8. Ebay
9. Flickr
10. The Internet Movie Database

Bloglines Debuts Top 1000 [SearchEngineWatch]

“Bloglines today launched the Bloglines Top 1000, a list of the most-subscribed blogs in its feed reader.

It's been tracking the Top 200 for a couple of years, but the list was expanded to include the next level of feeds beyond the most popular.”

Content is Dead, Community is King? [SearchEngineWatch]

“These days, every web publisher wrestles with finding the right balance between producing their own content versus relying on contributions from visitors. It’s almost magical when visitors return to your site just because they can find appropriate experts or like-minded people there. A combination of both professional and user generated content can also increase organic traffic and create more ad inventory.

One major dependency for user content is the quality of the actively participating community. At last week's Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) brown-bag session, experts in "how to grow" communities for major brands were on hand. Their advice and approach seems worth sharing, to help optimize your site.”

Yahoo, Google, Microsoft censor the Internet (AlterNet)

A new Amnesty report and campaign sheds light on the tech giants' nefarious overseas activities.

‘Google is not ahead of us,’ Microsoft CEO says (MSNBC.com)

TOKYO - Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, in Tokyo to launch new Windows Live services, played down the threat of Google on Thursday, denying the rival was ahead in any way but in online searches.

“Google is not ahead of us,” he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. “In the area of search specifically, Google would lead.”

The Best Fifty Web Sites You Don't Know About (About.com)

“There are millions and millions of Web sites out there. Unfortunately, there are many Web sites that go under many searcher's radar. Some of these sites might be familiar to you, others not so familiar, but all are worth taking a look.”

FTC reviewing Google ad deal "expeditiously"
(Yahoo! Asia News)

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust authorities are reviewing Google Inc's purchase of advertising company DoubleClick as quickly as possible, Federal Trade Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said on Thursday.

But Leibowitz warned that privacy advocates could be disappointed. U.S. privacy and technology groups have raised questions about the deal because Google stores information on the Internet-surfing habits of users and uses it to sell ads. DoubleClick connects ad agencies, marketers and Web site publishers.

"(The review) can't be about privacy, per se," said Leibowitz, who made his remarks at an FTC public meeting on the privacy implications of Internet advertising.”

MySpace gets social with Google
(Yahoo!7 News, Australia)

“Internet social networking leader MySpace is joining Google's open source platform community, a move that may undermine the rapid growth of their common rival, Facebook.

Google announced the coup two days after revealing its plans to create a distribution network for open source web applications, known as widgets or web apps.

Widgets make it easier to share music, pictures, video and other personal interests on social networking sites.”

Search Headlines & Links: October 31, 2007 (SearchEngineWatch)

“Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the We:”