circles

Years from now, when our children are grown, we'll tell them we were all online when a single Web site changed the way we use the Internet. Unfortunately, Chatroulette stumbled after racking up more than a million users thanks to a certain part of the male anatomy, but Napster co-founders Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning have teamed up again for a video-chat pivot called Airtime.

Though it's not ready for deployment yet, Airtime is already getting support from celebrities like Jim Carrey, Alicia Keys, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus who can't wait to start a random conversation with a Facebook user online. The service is different from Chatroulette in that it actually protects the eyeballs of its users from "vulgar behavior, sexually suggestive behavior, violence, and animal cruelty". In other words, nobody associated with The 404 will receive an beta invite.… Read more

Gone is the dashboard of icons that once greeted you upon opening Google+ for Android. Now, you can zip around the app with a drop-down navigation ribbon on the left of the screen. This gives you easier access to your Stream, Profile, Messenger, Hangout, Photos, and Circles. As a whole, the app is easy to use and just as intuitive as its desktop counterpart.

Stream Stream is really the lifeblood of Google+. Your primary view will probably be All Circles, but you can also swipe left or right to view other feeds like What's Hot (trending posts on the … Read more

Google+ for iPhone is a clean and intuitive mobile app that has all of the powers of its desktop counterpart, save for the games and a few other minor features. The latest update to the app (as reported by Josh Lowensohn) adds a newly redesigned visual interface for Stream and other notable enhancements.

The Google+ app opens up to the redesigned Stream interface, but a button at the top left takes you to a dashboard of icons leading to the different sections of the service: Stream, Messenger, Photos, Profile, and Circles. Despite the new look, the interface works much like … Read more

LaunchAgent scripts in OS X can be used to automatically run programs and scripts and are a common route that malware developers use to run their malware in OS X once either the system is exploited or the user has been fooled into installing malware.

Because of this, I recently wrote a procedure for how OS X users can set up notifications that warn whenever changes are made to the various LaunchAgent folders and thereby help detect such attacks, which have been used in some recent and notable malware scams in OS X including DNSChanger, MacDefender, and the most recent … Read more

Nintendo 3DS owners who are looking for a right thumbstick will have the chance to buy one in February.

The game company announced yesterday that its Circle Pad Pro accessory, which attaches to the 3DS base and adds a right thumbstick and shoulder buttons, will launch on February 7. The accessory will set customers back $20.

Surprisingly, the attachment will be available exclusively at GameStop stores. Nintendo didn't give any indication why it would offer an exclusive on its accessory, but the move might have something to do with the small number of games that will support the Circle … Read more

Google’s strong commitment to Circles, the contact grouping feature in Google+, is undeniable as the feature is being integrated deeply into Gmail.

Google executives have asserted repeatedly in the last few months that we would be seeing Google+ integration across the spectrum of its products. So far, we have seen just that from the tie-ins between Google+ and Reader to the social networking platform effectively replacing Picasa and Blogger.

These updates are really only noticeable and beneficial if you actively subscribe to Google+. And if you don’t, maybe the idea is to get you to become an active … Read more

Google+ for Android is a clean and intuitive mobile app that has all of the powers of its desktop counterpart save for the games and a few other minor features.

The Google+ app opens up to a dashboard of icons leading to the different sections of the service: Stream, Messenger, Photos, Profile, and Circles. As a whole, the interface looks and feels very much like the full desktop version of Google+, and navigating the app is incredibly intuitive.

Stream Stream is really the lifeblood of Google+. By default, this section of the app displays feeds for All Circles, Nearby Google+ … Read more

Google is enhancing its familiar Google +1 button to give people more control over the content they share and who they share it with.

Found on many a Web site these days, the +1 button lets people signed in to their Google account share and recommend specific content with their friends and contacts that can then appear as recommended pages in Google's search results. But the button has been limited in that users have only been able to share links publicly and couldn't comment on what their were sharing.

Now Google has tweaked the +1 button, says a … Read more

Sharing your computer with other people can be detrimental to your personal settings. Unlike a lot of services and features you can customize, Google+ offers the ability to back up your account data in case of tampering.

Once logged in to Google+:

Step 1: Click on your profile menu in the top-right corner (the one with a miniature version of your profile picture) and choose Account settings.

Step 2: You will see the Account overview area. Now select Data liberation from the menu on the left side.

Step 3: Click the Download data button near the top of the next … Read more