sites

Bing serves up more malicious sites than Google, report says

Although most search engines have measures in place to protect users against trojans, malicious sites still manage to crop up from time to time -- even in the top search results. An independent testing lab in Germany by the name of AV-Test has just completed an 18-month survey to find out which search engines are the worst offenders.

The lab tested 40 million Web sites (PDF) across seven search engines -- Google and Bing, the world's two most popular search engines; Yandex, Russia's biggest search engine; Blekko; peer-to-peer search engine Faroo; Teoma, better known as Ask.com; and … Read more

Google rolls out initiative to help hacked sites

It's not pretty when a Web site gets a "this site may be compromised" or "this site may harm your computer" status note. Many webmasters and Web site owners can be at a loss of what to do in these situations.

For this reason, Google has launched "Help for Hacked Sites" informational series, which has a dozen articles and videos aimed to help people avoid having their sites hacked and also teach them how to gain back control of compromised sites.

"Every day, cybercriminals compromise thousands of websites. Hacks are often invisible … Read more

Morgue puts unclaimed body photos online

The dead bodies come into your morgue every day.

Sometimes, no one comes in to identify them. Who are these people? Does no one miss them? Are they all people who lived a lonely life? Isn't there someone out there who at least knows who they are?

The Medical Examiner of Cook County in Chicago, Dr. Steve Cina, wants to give these bodies a chance of at least being known, one last time.

So he has taken the difficult decision to put images of them online.

As he told Fox 32 in Chicago: "We're hoping that that … Read more

U.K. court forces ISPs to block three torrent sites

A U.K. court has decided that three torrent sites should be blocked by the country's largest Internet service providers for alleged piracy.

The U.K.'s High Court today ordered U.K. ISPs to block Kickass Torrents, H33T, and Fenopy after the country's British Phonographic Industry (BPI) claimed that the sites were infringing copyrights on a "significant scale." The BBC was first to report on the story.

Today's ruling comes just months after the BPI asked U.K. ISPs, including BT, Sky Broadband, and others, to block the three sites. The ISPs made clear … Read more

Feds strike a deal with alleged illegal streaming site operator

After taking down Channelsurfing.net and arresting its alleged owner in 2011, the feds now seem to be easing up. Before going to trial, the government struck a deal earlier this month with the alleged site owner Brian McCarthy.

In a "Deferred Prosecution" memo filed on February 11, which was obtained by TorrentFreak, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara writes that "after a thorough investigation, it has been determined that the interest of the United States and your own interest will best be served by deferring prosecution in this District. Prosecution will be deferred during the term of … Read more

The 404 1,215: Where we stand up to stereotypes (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Beatles fan exhibits record store that only stocks The Beatles' "White Album," featuring more than 650 first pressings. Here's a preview.

- Stereotype.fm comes up with quirky statistics about music fans, like "MJ fans likely to join a cult."

- Nine new ways to sit, thanks to tech.

- Illegal music downloads took a nosedive in 2012.

- Check out Samsung/GameSpot's Unicorn Apocalypse contest for a chance to win $25k.

- Ghostbusters HQ Lego creation by Orion Pax.… Read more

Go Daddy acquires M.dot for 'mobile first' strategy

Go Daddy has acquired smartphone-based mobile Web site creator M.dot.

The companies announced the deal today. In a statement, Go Daddy said that its M.dot acquisition bolsters its "mobile first" strategy, which aims at connecting its 11 million customers with services across smartphones and tablets.

M.dot was founded in June by Dominik Balogh and Pavel Serbajlo. The company's application is available for mobile handsets and allows site owners to choose site templates and create a page optimized for smartphones and tablets. The application, which is available for free in Apple's App Store, is … Read more

Get one year of Web hosting for $10

This is a rerun of a deal I posted last year. It was sweet then, and it's equally sweet now.

Is 2013 the year you make it big on the Web? Only if you have a home for your Web site. It's easy to find hosting packages for less than $10 per month, but 10 bucks for a whole year? Nice.

For the next 48 hours, Web Hosting Hub is offering your first year of Web hosting for just $10. That's $50 off the usual price.

Update: Sorry, folks, someone forgot to flip the switch: The deal … Read more

Wikimedia Foundation launches travel site 'Wikivoyage'

Want to know more about the German spa city called Baden Baden, or "Bathing Bathing?" Or how to get to Khajuraho -- an Indian town known for its ancient erotic rock carvings? All this and more will be in the Wikimedia Foundation's new travel site, called Wikivoyage.

A bare-bones version of the site has already been up and running since September, but the official launch of the filled-out site is tentatively scheduled for January 15, according to Skift.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales appeared on The Colbert Report yesterday and confirmed that the site would be launching "… Read more