Google

In yet another new way to infect people, criminal hackers are using a Twitter page, according to one security researcher.

In a blog, Chris Boyd, director of malware research for Facetime, explained how a Twitter page is being used to lure victims. To lend credibility to his discovery, the Twitter page lists 17 followers, however each appeared to be fraudulent. Boyd said Twitter had been notified.

The messages, written in Portuguese, attempt to get visitors to download a photo album. In order to view the album, you'll need to download a Flash update, which is really the infection files … Read more

Engadget managed to find really convincing photos of what appears to be the HTC Dream on a Chinese forum. It certainly seems to match the FCC documents of the premier Android device that surfaced a couple of weeks ago.

While the combination of a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard sounds nice, I can't help but think this looks a little clunky. It certainly doesn't look too revolutionary. But, of course, you can't tell just from the photos. So here's hoping we can get this device in our hands in the not too distant future to … Read more

Google's share price took a beating Monday, pushing it down nearly 5.5 percent despite a sudden lift in the broader markets as the government stepped in to bail out mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Google, which enjoyed a long run as an Internet darling with a soaring share price following its IPO, has lost 17.6 percent of its value since mid-August, with nearly a third of that loss occurring Monday.

Google closed the regular trading session down 5.47 percent to $419.95 a share. Earlier in the day, the Internet giant's share price … Read more

Microsoft had a couple of announcements Monday morning--one planned, the other not so much (or so we've been led to believe.)...While the trustbusters at the U.S. Department of Justice pore over the proposed Google-Yahoo ad partnership, a coalition of companies says that the combination would be bad news for everyone else...It's not exactly Facebook or MySpace but an upcoming social network has been designed for U.S. intelligence agents.

Today's stories:

Google upgrades Gmail for IE 6 users

Ad trade group opposes Yahoo-Google search deal

Creating a 'Facebook for spies' … Read more

The evil power of Dr. M is even greater than we thought...strong enough, in fact, to tarnish the shining reputation of the long-awaited Spore. Also in the news today, DVD ripping goes legit, a little too late, thanks to RealDVD, but we determine it's probably not worth getting sued over. And we put gurus against geniuses in a battle to the tech support death. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Happy Birthday Google - 10 http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9930 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-09-06-google-ten-years_N.htm

DVD ripping goes legit with RealDVD … Read more

We're live at TechCrunch50. Google has an announcement scheduled for 11:45 a.m. PDT. See below for the live report on the Google News Archive, which makes digital copies of old newspapers available online through partnerships with the company's publishers.

See more product launch stories from TechCrunch50 and DemoFall.

Updated 2:57 p.m. PDT with Google's commentary about ad revenue sharing and other details. Also, my colleague Rafe Needleman covered Google's launch of the newspaper digitization work at TechCrunch.

Google is making searchable, digital copies of old newspapers available online through partnerships with their publishers, the company said Monday.

Under the ad-supported effort, Google will digitize millions of pages of news archives, including photos, articles, headlines, and advertisements, Google said.

"Around the globe, we estimate that there are billions of news pages containing every story ever written. And it's our goal to help readers … Read more

Updated 1:44 p.m. PDT with details that Chrome automatically updates itself with no notification or choice for the user.

Google has quietly begun releasing a hastily prepared update to its Chrome browser to fix some security problems.

The new version, 0.2.149.29, replaces the 0.2.149.27 that was released when Google launched the Chrome beta version last week. Google started releasing the update Friday, initially to a small number of users, but didn't make much of an announcement about the change.

"149.29 is a security update and we released it as … Read more

Google is working with a titan of traditional journalism to help promote citizen journalism.

YouTube announced Monday that it has partnered with the Pulitzer Center to create a journalism contest designed to unearth the best news videographers.

Contestants have until October 5 to submit news clips three-minutes long or less that must focus on stories largely overlooked or ignored by traditional media. The Pulitzer Center will judge the competition and plans to trim the contestants down to 10 finalists following the initial round.

YouTube viewers will eventually choose the winner.

The winner will receive a $10,000 grant for travel … Read more