Google just launched the Google Public DNS. Just like OpenDNS, Google Public DNS will allow users to bypass their ISPs Domain Name Servers (DNS). DNS servers are, in many respects, the backbone of the Internet. DNS allows you to type a domain name like www.senate.gov into a browser instead of a machine-readable IP number like http://156.33.195.33/. Google argues that it wants to give consumers an alternative to their ISPs’ DNS services in order to make the Internet “faster, safer and more reliable.”

According to Google product manager Prem Ramaswami, the company’s engineers have been working to improve DNS over the last few months. Instead of performing DNS lookups on an ISP’s DNS server, Google will use its data-center and caching infrastructure to resolve these domain names.

After SPDY (which augments HTTP), this is Google’s second major project that touches upon the core infrastructure of the Web.

Using Google Public DNS
Google Public DNS uses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as its IP addresses. Advanced users will surely have no problem making the necessary changes to enable Google Public DNS. The company has also released a set of step-by-step instructions for Windows, Mac and Linux users that can be found here.

A First for Google: Phone Support for a Free Product
In addition, Google is also offering phone support, which, to our knowledge, is unprecedented. Given that a mistake in changing your DNS settings could easily make accessing the Internet impossible, this is probably a good solution in this specific case.

Privacy
According to Google’s FAQ, the company will only keep temporary logs and erase all the information it collects through the public DNS service within 24 to 45 hours. The company promises not to keep any information that is linked to IP addresses in its permanent logs.

As of now, it doesn’t look like Google offers any additional services besides the pure DNS lookup. Unlike OpenDNS, it doesn’t block malware sites or present users with a list of alternative addresses (and ads) if it can’t resolve an address.

Source: Readwriteweb.com

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, sent an open letter to the social network’s users announcing some good news both for the company and for users. He announced Facebook now has over 350 million users. To put that into perspective, the Facebook population is larger than those of all of the countries in the except China and India.

The other, and arguably more intriguing, bit of information from Zuckerberg was the announcement of updates to Facebook privacy settings:

“The plan we’ve come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.

We’re adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload.” (emphasis added)

Make good privacy choices
This is an important change because it will provide individuals a way to have better control and hopefully filter their postings for appropriateness. Perhaps this is Facebook’s way of letting users help themselves and making good choices online. I especially liked how Zuckerberg leads users down the path of choosing privacy settings:

“…the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you’re sharing with online.” (emphasis added)

If you’re a Facebook user, will this change be helpful to you? Do you think people will take the time to update their privacy settings? The comments are yours.

Story: http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2009/12/facebook-making-privacy-controls-easier.html

Every business need publicity whether it is exclusively online, a brick-and-mortar store or a coalition of both. You need to educate and inform the consumers about your products and services. Publicity, whether online, print or broadcast, mirrors visibility worth thousands of dollars. It lets you get the desired results and profits that you aimed for earlier. How do you earn the required publicity? There are number of things that your can do to get the publicity. Some of them includes : -

1. Writing powerful Press Releases. An informative press release describing all the uses and benefits of using or hiring your products and services is a sure shot way to desired publicity. This is a low cost formula which don’t require much time and effort. You can write it of your own or can hire a professional for a strong impact. Press releases are special announcements for enhancing public relations and they let the public know about new developments within a company. Therefore, if you are going to update a site, launch a brand new product, or you are giving away a freebie, this is a great and established way to easily spread the word out there.

2. Enticing Freebies. Offering freebies is an easy way to get publicity and to bring in potential customers. It’s a sure way to get publicity. Also you can write a press release informing people about the new things you are offering.

3. Savvy social networking. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are ubiquitous names on the Internet. These social networking sites can prove a helpful tool for marketing if you use them suitably to develop and nurture business relationships. Though this strategy takes a lot of time and effort, you need to be particular about your objectives. You can’t show up occasionally and expect results.

4. Respond to breaking news. Google offers a free service that functions like a media clipping service. It scrutinizes the web and Google News database, then sends you an e-mail as soon as something you’re interested in appears in the search results. The e-mail will include the web site address, so you can see where and how your topic is mentioned. It works for any industry.

Good publicity doesn’t just happen. You need to spread the word about your unique services or product. Otherwise, it is of no use to anyone if the users are not aware of the uses and benefits. You need to do something every day to publicize your business. Ask industry newsletters and local papers for their editorial calendars or offer to be a guest on local radio shows. Create short videos for YouTube. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.