url

Google is removing URLs from its search function, but before anyone cries foul, it's letting people know about it.

The tech giant released a new edition of its Transparency Report today, which shows who is requesting URLs be taken down, the copyright owners, and all the targeted domains since July 2011. Everything that's being deleted is allegedly copyrighted or pirated material -- mostly from software and entertainment companies.

Google has been releasing the Transparency Report for the last two years, but before today the only available information was government requests to remove content and disruptions in the search … Read more

Bitly, a tech company known for URL shortening, looks like it's heading toward greener pastures and making more user products. The New York-based company is said to have raised about $20 million in funding, according to tech news site The Verge, citing multiple sources. This is double the amount the company raised in its previous round of funding.

"The link shortening has always been a bit of a Trojan Horse," investor Joshua Stylman told The Verge. "Bitly is really an analytics tool for tracking content across the open, distributed web, and doing it at a massive, … Read more

iOS 5 users, beware a security flaw in Safari that can be used to trick you into visiting potentially malicious Web sites.

Discovered earlier this month by Germany security firm MajorSecurity, the vulnerability could allow cybercriminals to spoof the URL displayed in the browser, trapping users at the wrong sites.

"The weakness is caused due to an error within the handling of URLs when using javascript's window.open() method," explained David Vieira-Kurz of MajorSecurity. "This can be exploited to potentially trick users into supplying sensitive information to a malicious Web site, because information displayed in the … Read more

For iOS 5, Apple teamed up with Twitter and included native Twitter integration. The deep integration allows developers to implement Twitter in apps with little effort. As such, users will begin to see the new integration more often as developers take advantage of the new feature. … Read more

Nothing lasts forever in the tech industry, and Nintendo's upcoming Wii U, the Sony PlayStation Vita, and all other one-trick portable gaming consoles are next in line to get the axe! At least that's what Jeff hypothesizes, although the trolls in his CNET editorial have opposing opinions.

After we sort through all the hate mail, we turn to a story about Internet domain squatters taking advantage of the #OccupyWallStreet trend to make money off the protesters.

And in the same way that Bacolicio.us set the veganism movement back several years, a new site called OccupyTheURL is turning the 99 percent into an online gimmick. Type in any Web site--the 404 homepage works--and your page will soon be flooded with graphic pop-ups of protesters blocking your access. We'd rather have bacon.… Read more

Firefox made a change to how URLs are displayed when visiting Web pages. Unfortunately, if you're trying to find out if you're on a secure connection by reading the protocol at the start of the URL, you can't do that anymore. Here's a quick fix for getting the protocol back in the address bar so you can see the full URL, every time:

The current address bar appears like the one above.

Step 1: Open Firefox and type "about:config" into the address bar.

Step 2: Click the button that says, "I'll … Read more

Twitter is rolling out a couple of new features that should help you find more revelant tweets, especially those that involve you.

As of yesterday, the microblogging site is replacing the familiar Mentions tab with a new tab that displays your username, according to the company's official blog. Clicking on your username tab will reveal more than just tweets in which you're mentioned. You'll be able to see which of your own tweets are considered Favorites or are retweeted by someone also. You'll also see tweets directed to you and which tweets are popular among the … Read more

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Amazon lets students rent textbooks

Hackers attack News Corp.

Apple Mac OS X Lion launch tomorrow

CNN live news comes to mobile

Google buys g.co

Google+ is fresh, and you might already be wondering how to point friends and family to your profile. But unlike Facebook and Twitter, Google doesn't offer vanity URLs, leaving you with a lengthy and hard-to-memorize profile link, like https://plus.google.com/111601729473858041964/.

Get on board with Gplus.to instead--it's a service that shortens your Google+ profile into a simple, memorable link. In this How To, CNET's Brian Tong shows you how.