You can now search the web by image instead of just typing in a search phrase. Earlier this year Google released this very intriguing technology which enables this ability. There are four key ways to use this new way of searching.

1 – Drag and Drop

With this method, simply point your web browser to Google Image Search and then drag an image file (ie: picture) right on to the window, near the search input box. You should see it notice your request, and ask you place it into a specialized container.

That container box will automatically upload your image to Google for processing. You will immediately be taken to the search result, which is typically related images and sometimes even gives you a description of what the image is!

2 – Upload an Image

If you aren’t sure about drag & dropping an image into the browser, or perhaps your web browser isn’t supported, you can also upload the image. This is the same as you would upload an image to any other website, and you get the same results in the end.

To upload an image, simply click on the Camera icon, select “Upload an image.”

3 – Direct Image URL

The third method is useful if you found an image that is already on the internet. You can simply right-click in your web browser, copy the image URL (or location, as it is called sometimes) and then you simply click the Camera icon on Google Image Search, and use the “Paste image URL” option, instead of the direct upload.

4 – Firefox and Chrome Extensions

There are extensions available to both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox web browsers. This gives you an additional right-click option on images, which lets you very easily just right-click on any image you see in your favorite browser, and simply click the search Google via image option.

You can get these extensions here: Download Firefox Extension, or Download Google Chrome Extension.

What are you thoughts on this new way to search the web? Let us know!

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Today Mark Zuckerberg announced the new video chat feature on Facebook. This new application is being powered by Skype. To get started:

• Login into your Facebook account
• Go to https://www.facebook.com/videocalling
• Click on the large button titled “Get Started”
• Then click on “Setup” to install the new add-on

Other than clicking the “Get Started” button, there is no login required. You will not be rerouted to Skype to create a new account.  After the add-on has been installed you are ready to start making calls.

Starting a video call with one of your Facebook friends is incredibly easy. When you are ready to call a Facebook friend go down to your Facebook chat in the bottom right hand corner and select their name. At the top of the chat box you will see a tiny camera icon that you click. Your friend will then receive an incoming video call prompt.

If they do not already have video calling setup they will be asked to set it up at this point. Also both parties don’t have to have webcams. If your friend doesn’t have a camera they will still be able to see you. Once your video call is established a medium sized video box appears in the middle of your screen. Your friend’s video feed will take up most of the box like most other video chat software.

While trying it out on my iPad it gave me a Flash Player required message. So we will have to wait until Mark releases the long awaited Facebook iPad native app. When testing in Internet Explorer, I was not only able to expand it to full screen but I could move the box around my computer screen as well as resize it.

If your friend does not pick up the call or hits the “Ignore” button it will ask you if you would like to leave a message. Once you opt to leave a message a Facebook chat box pops up giving you the option to send a written message, photo, or a video message. On your friends account they will be prompted with a new message. At the top is the written message and underneath is a video.

Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook wanted to make this as easy as possible which I believe they succeeded in doing so. Have you been able to test it out for yourself? If so, what are your thoughts?

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The movement towards IPv6 is becoming more and more of a reality. Last February the governing bodies of IP Addressing announced the final assignments of the last available unused IPv4 blocks, and I wrote about being ready for the IPv6 movement, as effectively at that time, there were no more unallocated IPv4 IP blocks available.

Now, just a few months later, we have World IPv6 Day.  According to some sources it is going to be one of the most watched technology related events since 1999 when the Y2k-bug was the biggest technology related situation.  This is the biggest real worldwide test utilizing all network services via the newer IPv6 protocols.

There are two key points of this event. 1) To test how well it’s currently working and to identify potential problems, so that they may be addressed and fixed. 2) To see how well the world has further prepared since the big IPv4 historic moment that occurred on February 3^rd 2011.

The World IPv6 Day event is sponsored by the Internet Society.  The event actually began last night at 8pm eastern and continues until 8pm eastern this evening. There are more than 400 organizations which are participating in this worldwide event.

This is the largest undertaking the internet has seen since its initial creation some 40 years ago. Some of the biggest companies in the world are participating in World IPv6 day, such as: Google, Yahoo, Bing, AT&T, Cisco, Juniper, Microsoft and many more, including major Data Centers around the world.

So, the question still remains, are you ready for IPv6? You should be getting ready if not!

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Facebook was caught with their hand in the wrong cookie jar today, not literally speaking but close enough. They were actually busted in a secret campaign against their biggest rival Google, confirmed a company spokesman.

According to a report from “The Daily Beast”, Facebook hired Burson-Marsteller, a leading public relations firm to pitch anti Google stories, suggesting they investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy.

The idea was to release ghostwritten reports to popular online sites such as The Washington Post, Politico and The Huffington Post.  However the plan backfired on FB when the firm hired to do the smear campaign was discovered by “The Daily Beast”. Short of embarrassing for Facebook is to say the least about this failed attempt.

For Facebook, this represents the latest in a history of errors for a company that has struggled to portray itself as trustworthy, noteworthy as founder Mark Zuckerberg and company struggle to deal with the evolving touchy subject of personal privacy.

When Facebook was confronted they did not deny the fact that they hired the firm to go after Google. In their defense they believe that their rival is doing many things to raise privacy concerns and that they have the right to investigate.  Other skeptics believe the more important reason is resentment that Google is trying to use Facebook data in its own social networking service currently in the works.

Many believe that its part of a growing rivalry, and a very bitter one that is only getting fueling up.  Much more may come once Google does announce its rumored plans to release its social networking site.

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Today Facebook announced its latest feature, Deals. Facebook’s Deals will compete against Groupon, LivingSocial and Google Offers by offering discounts to local businesses and attractions.
Deals is currently available in:

§  Atlanta

§  Austin

§  Dallas

§  San Diego

§  San Francisco

Facebook is planning to expand across the US later this year. Facebook is hoping to redesign the way users find discounts by combining it with social interaction. Deals is primarily targeting coupons directed towards group activities as opposed to those intended for individuals which plays into the social networking aspect.

Facebook is looking to expand social networking beyond the World Wide Web and into reality such as when they introduced the check-in feature.

Facebook users will be able to access the coupons by clicking on the Deals tab from their homepage, signing up for emails as well as seeing what deals your friends are interested in. Privacy and safety are still concerns with Facebook users. However, you will have the option to not share every purchase with your friends. There is a privacy option allowing you to keep certain purchases private. By offering so many options to learn about deals users won’t be forced to seek out discounts.

Facebook Credits will allow users to take advantage of those coupons more easily. Credits is a virtual currency that can be purchased with a credit card, PayPal or mobile phone. Until now Credits has only been used to purchase virtual and digital goods.

By allowing users to plan group outings such as concerts, wine tastings, rafting, etc. online with a discount expands not only the reach of Facebook but our need regularly check out our Newsfeed updates.

Image used is from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fudyma/5224898383/

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The governing bodies of IP address assignments conducted a press conference this morning to announce the assignment of the last available IPv4 addresses; This meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss the major global transition into the next generation IPv6 addressing.

Today marks a significant point in the movement towards the new system, known as “IP version 6” (IPv6).  This is a result of the last unassigned major blocks of IPv4 addresses being assigned, and available for use.  This means the true push forward for IPV6 worldwide support and transition starts right now.

You can catch the press release: Free Pool of IPv4 Address Space Depleted , and view ICANN’s: Available Pool of Unallocated IPv4 Internet Addresses Now Completely Emptied (PDF).

This press conference was brought together by The Number Resource Organization (NRO), along with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Internet Society (ISOC) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).

Ok, so what’s the big deal?

The evolving issue with the current IPv4 system is that there are severe limitations on the number of usable IP Addresses for devices that need to utilize the Internet.  This IPv4 addressing system has a maximum of 4.2 billion available IP Addresses. Thus, with the rapid growth of internet-enabled devices, which now even includes late model televisions, the number of IP addresses left for future additional devices is rapidly declining.

This is where IPv6 comes into save the internet (so to speak).  The next generation IP Addressing system, takes the problem of only having 4.2 billion addresses maximum and transforms the system to make an infinite amount of IP Addresses available. The new system ratifies this address storage problem, and most likely will never have to be switched out again for address limitation issues.

A couple of prime examples to really grasp the addressing space available;

• For every square meter on Earth’s surface there would be more than four million unique IP Addresses available. This address space is so mind boggling, that it is quite literally, astronomical.
• Like the numbers that describe the stars in a galaxy, another way to think about this is there will be more than 250 IP Addresses for every star in the currently known universe.

What does this mean for me?

For the average Internet users the only thing that might temporarily affect your internet usage during this transitional period in the near future is that some websites might not be available for short periods of time.

The current overall plan for this transition is to run what is called a “Dual Stack” IP Addressing. Until the majority of the world is in compliance and running on the new IPv6 addressing system, the “Dual Stack” IP Addressing system will be running. This means you would effectively have both IPv4 and IPv6 based addresses in your devices. Therefore, you will have the ability to utilize both systems at once.

The majority of computers, cell phones, and any brand new technology devices already have IPv6 support built in. This system was originally designed, tested and approved more than a decade ago, the main concern currently is with your routers.  Routers do not seem to have much support for IPv6.  However, when it comes time a simple Firmware Upgrade should solve that problem.

So in a nut shell, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about…

I’m not the average internet user! Now what?

If you are an IT person, such as a Systems Admin, Networker, Server Admin, Programmer or anything in between those fields of expertise, this means that you are going to need to become IPv6 aware.  You will need to become familiar with how it differs from IPv4 and understand at least the basics of it. In addition to this, you will need to be getting your systems ready to use IPv6 addressing.

On top of preparing your software, operating systems, network and devices for IPv6 address usage, you should also consider getting a block of IPv6 addresses right away. Having your websites and related be supported on both networks will help you during this transition.

Most modernized Data Centers already not only support IPv6, but actually have fully routed IPv6 addressing space available to their customers. In fact, some Internet Service Providers are already trialing this Dual Stack network addressing system.  A quick Google Search for “Dual Stack” reveals the Internet Service Providers offering Dual Stack.

For those of us not directly in an up-to-date data center, or want our home PC to have IPv6 connectivity, you may use such services as the Hurricane Electric’s Tunnel Broker. The Hurricane Electric Tunnel Broker simply routes IPv6 to your network via your existing IPv4 address via a Tunnel protocol.

In order to keep the planned “Dual Stack” transition period working, the Domain Name System (DNS) added an official new type of record for IPv6 replies. This is called the “AAAA” record entry type. The IPv4 DNS records are stored under the “A” type (A is short for address).

This means that you can have your website supporting both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses at the exact same current URL and domain name. The devices which are IPv6 enabled will attempt to look up the IPv6 address first, and then default back to the IPv4 as needed (assuming you are on the Dual Stack setup).

Quick  facts about IP Addressing

IPV4 actual usage began in the late 1980’s. It is a 32-bit based addressing system, resulting in a maximum of exactly 4,294,967,296 unique IP Addresses.  Today, all available blocks within this system are now assigned and used by everyone and there is no spare space.

The next generation IPv6 system, which has been in tested for a decade now, provides a new 128-bit based design, along with a staggering number (see infinite) of available IP addresses.  There basically won’t ever be a shortage again.

IPv6 Addresses Available: 340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000; or three hundred forty undecillion, two hundred eighty two decillion, three hundred sixty six nonillion, nine hundred twenty octillion, nine hundred thirty eight septillion!

Where can I learn more?

Amongst the many resources available on IPv4, IPv6 and this transition, I found the following to be the most resourceful and updated information:

• Wikipedia Articles:  IPv4, IPv4 Address Exhaustion, IPv6, IPv6 deployment, IPv6 Transition Mechanisms, and IPv6 Rapid Deployment
• Google’s: Google Over IPv6 and IPv6 Statistics (Graphs)
• Hurricane Electric on IPv6, Free IPv6 Certification Program and Tunnel Broker

So, in conclusion, are you ready for IPv6?

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The Department of Justice with help from the International Association of Chiefs of Police is asking internet service providers to keep customer usage data for up to two years.  The DoJ said it was a matter of Homeland Security and that internet and cell phone records are becoming increasingly important in both federal and local crime investigations.

Sometimes these records are the only available evidence that allow prosecutors to investigate who committed crimes on the internet, many times leading to crimes in person. Accessing this data maybe the only way to learn a certain internet address was used by a particular person to engage in illegal activity, therefore helping in their capture and conviction.

Unfortunately The DoJ learned this the hard way.  If this new procedure had been implemented sooner, there would have been a number of heart-breaking cases solved.  However since internet providers dumped the date early, all evidence was lost and authorities of law were unable to reach perpetuators of these crimes.

Not only would this act help in regards to justice but the DoJ suggested that the retention of such records could actually boost users’ privacy.  For example; cyber criminals, frequently and unlawfully access data in the United States that most people would regard as highly personal and private.

In this case data retention can help those threats by enabling effective prosecution of those crimes. Making it more risky for those intending to do such acts and discouraging mischievous online activity from taking place.

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The internet has been basically around since about the early 1970’s, those of us who have been involved in at the very least, just surfing the internet, let alone developing internet related projects; for the past roughly 20 years have really watched it emerge.

Today the internet, amongst many things is; a massive worldwide e-commerce platform, with an astronomical amount of information, including more useful abilities at your fingertips than you could possibly imagine.

The way internet users access these ever evolving websites and online services is constantly improving with new technologies, faster computers and networks, smarter mobile devices, and of course can’t leave out the enormous growth in the social media sectors.

With websites, such as The Internet Archive’s: Wayback Machine; which has been around since the late 1990’s, we have the ability to take a look back at how websites used to look, on almost a monthly snapshot basis. A few recommended sites to Wayback are: Yahoo, Microsoft and Google.

Most social media and social networking websites, got their origins in the early 2000’s. MySpace while founded in late 2003; was later named most popular social networking site in the United States in 2006. Facebook was founded in early 2004; Facebook overtook the title of most popular social networking website in April 2008; as of July of 2010 Facebook has more than 500 million active users.

In between the battling MySpace and Facebook in the social networking front; in 2006 the ever-popular today social networking website Twitter began its journey in the short messaging, status update, and content sharing via short URL services. Currently, Twitter’s users are sending more than 50 million tweets per day. Twitter has more than 70,000 registered applications.

Sites such as Gowalla and Foursqaure now allow people to be ever more connected with their family, friends and colleagues; by updating where they currently are located via these “check-in” style websites; typically via mobile device updates on smart phones; and announced to Twitter via tweet. Thus allowing their contacts to learn new places or gather at a local place together.

Technologies such as HTML5 being implemented within web browsers such as Google Chrome, are pushing to make interactive audio and video data available directly in the browser, versus the current standard of requiring Adobe’s Flash to be installed and used, thus making websites more lightweight, faster loading, and solving long time problems associated with flash.

There is even social programming websites these days, such as Github. Not only is Git the latest code repository system, but github.com’s goal on top of being a top repository provider is to allow developers and the like to directly socially communicate about the code it publically stores, while having private repositories as well.

With how much the Internet truly evolved to become what it is today over even just the past decade, can only scrape the very bottom of what we might see become available, or the next biggest thing in the next 10 years, only time will truly tell.

Are you ready to take on the internet’s ever evolving challenges, and to keep up with the times? From simple internet surfers to web developers and in between; the internet will be always evolving, improving and drastically changing; you must stay on top of it; or you could be out of the loop very quickly.

What do you think will be the next biggest internet related service or website?

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Skype

Out of all of the video apps Skype was the last to implement the video chat option. With CES just around the corner I personally expected them to wait until then to launch it. CES is the world’s largest consumer technology trade show. It will run from January 6 through 9 in Las Vegas. Only three of the iPhone/iPod Touch are able to share video chat; iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4^th Generation. You can also chat from your apple device to computer using Skype. This app can be used not only with Wi-Fi but 3G as well. Currently, mobile Skype is only available through the Apple App Store. Skype has yet to comment on Android support but with CES in the near future more information may become available. I personally tested this application from an iPhone 4 to an iPod Touch 4^th Generation. When using Wi-Fi on both devices there was good quality; while using 3G on the iPhone 4 there were occasional glitches. For my next test I used my iPhone 4 to Windows 7 computer. Since both devices were using Wi-Fi the video call quality was good.

Yahoo!

When Yahoo! updated their mobile application to support video chat they were the first to give you the ability to video chat from an iPhone to a computer. Just like Skype Yahoo! Messenger can use both Wi-Fi and 3G. The video quality over Wi-Fi is very good however; the video box itself does not take up the full screen real estate. Over 3G the video quality is lower. Yahoo! added the video support on October 11^th and about two months later Android received their video chat update.

Tango

After getting my new iPhone 4 with the new front facing video camera I was very pleased with using only FaceTime. However, only being able to call Apple mobile devices using Wi-Fi was not optimal. I wanted to be able to call Android mobile devices with 3G capabilities. Over Wi-Fi, Tango was the first app to resemble FaceTime quality. With a strong 3G connection the quality is usable but like all the other apps it still does not match the quality of Wi-Fi. One of Tango’s unique and user friendly features is the ability to synch up with your address book by using your telephone number as your login. When it was first released you could only use Tango on a cell phone however, after numerous user request you can now use with an iPod Touch 4^th Generation.  When using the iPod Touch instead of your mobile phone you set up your account with an email address as opposed to your telephone number. Currently, there is no Tango software for computers so you are limited to using the app with hand held devices.

Fring

Fring was the first application to support video chat capabilities. In the beginning, the quality was very ugly and Fring’s entire interface was unfriendly on both Apple and Android mobile devices. For the first few days you could add your Skype add-on to your Fring account. Then without warning the Skype option disappeared from the add-on section. You could then only video chat using Fring to Fring on mobile devices only. On December 6^th, Fring updated their iPhone video application. Fring’s video calling now uses DVQ “Dynamic Video Quality” Technology. With the new update the quality is much better as is the overall experience. Just like Skype, Yahoo and Tango you can use this over Wi-Fi as well as 3G but as with all the other applications I recommend Wi-Fi for optimum quality.

FaceTime

When it comes to quality FaceTime is your app. The iPhone 4 was the first device to have FaceTime capabilities. Since then, the iPod Touch 4^th Generation was launched with FaceTime capabilities. Apple has listened to their loyal users and have made a Beta version for Mac computers available through Apple.com. FaceTime is currently only supported on Wi-Fi only. However, with a jailbroken apple device you can download a third party application that tricks your device into thinking it is running Wi-Fi when actually using 3G thus, giving you the ability to make FaceTime calls while using 3G. I personally, have used FaceTime on an iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4^th Generation, MacBook Pro and the new i7 iMac. Over Wi-Fi on all of these applications I have been very pleased with the overall high quality. I was surprisingly satisfied with the quality when making calls on a jailbroken iPhone 4 using 3G. There is one feature I would like to see added to FaceTime the ability to leave a video message. Currently, when you call someone on FaceTime and they do not pick up it eventually just hangs up. It does tell that user that they missed a FaceTime call but it would be nice to leave them a short message if they are unable to receive the call.

In conclusion, I am very happy to see these large companies updating their applications to include video support. Tango and Fring are great apps however; they do not have the large user base that Skype, Yahoo! and Apple have. Overall, FaceTime is my personal favorite video chat app but not being able to be compatible with Android and Windows limits its usage. The best part of these five applications is their price, FREE.

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An attack on Gawker, which runs one of the world’s most popular blog networks, was carried out over the weekend by an organization calling itself Gnosis. Millions of web users including on Yahoo, Twitter and LinkedIn were asked to reset their passwords as concerns spread over a major hacking attack.  Fortunately even though thousands of Twitter accounts were vulnerable after the attack, there have been minimal reports of damage directly linked to the hacker attack.   Many companies have taken steps to identify users at risk and warn them before any other security risks take place.

Tips for keeping your password safe

• Never use the same password across lots of different websites
• Do not use a word that you – or a hacker – could find in the dictionary: these are susceptible to so-called ‘brute force’ attacks
• Try to include some digits and special characters to add a layer of complexity that will make life difficult for a criminal
• Pick a phrase or mnemonic that helps you remember your password
• You can avoid having to remember passwords altogether by using a password manager program. There are many available to download online

Analysis of the breach has triggered a widespread defensive response because it emerged that many users had chosen common words and codes that left them wide open to abuse. A common practice used by millions of online users that is strongly discouraged.

According to studies, 33% of people admitted using the same password for every single website they visit. 48% said they used just a handful of different codes, while just one in five said they never used the same password twice.

The major issue is poor password choices and the effort needed by users to make better, smarter, varied selections of secure passwords. Remember to always be one step ahead of hackers and make sure to use passwords that will avoid them from accessing your accounts.

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