Google Updates... update!

Recently there was this article posted by Nathania Johnson that talks about the new releases/updates that Google has made, that may or may not be their way of saying...'Bing who?'

Read on:

"I don't know if Google is trying to distract you from Bing's launch or if it's just that they're just this huge of a company (or more likely both), but they've released a ton of updates on many of their products this week. Today alone, there are 11 updates. Normally, I like to try and give each one a single post, but I don't have that kind of time! So, here they are in consolidated form:

Webmaster Central released a tool called Page Speed which works in conjunction with the Firefox extension Firebug to give suggestions for improving loading time.

Google Analytics is now offering Event Tracking for all accounts.

Chrome, Google's web browser has been released in alpha (that's right, pre-beta) for the Mac. It's definitely not ready for primetime, folks. They're looking for developer feedback on it.

Google Maps improved Street Navigation by allowing double-clicks (the action, not the ad network) to access Street View.

Google Friend Connect has four updates to help developers create widget for the social networking feature.

Google Search, Maps and YouTube are built into the hot new mobile device, Palm Pre.

Android has released Activity and Task Design Guidelines.

YouTube debuted a new political debate tool called Google Moderator, which was recently used in a Virginia gubernatorial democratic primary debate.

Sony has joined VEVO, the online music video project initiated by Universal and YouTube.

An orkut mobile app has been released that should work on most Java-enabled devices.

Picasa Web Albums are now faster without sacrificing image size."

What are your thoughts on this?

Source: Nathania Johnson, searchenginewatch.com

Twitter to Launch Verified Accounts to Help Prevent Impersonation

This is a post Nathania Johnson I found at SearchEngineWatch.com that talks about the plans Twitter has regarding privacy and security...

Take a look:

"When public figures and celebrities have people pretending to be them, the self-important get all bent out of shape. Twitter has been ripe for impersonations, despite the ban of such accounts via the Twitter Terms of Service. While Twitter is aggressive in suspending fake accounts, I would argue most people are able to spot these fakes a mile away. That doesn't prevent the impersonated from getting their egos bruised.

For these celebrities and also for the rare down-to-earth ones, Twitter is launching Verified Accounts. It will begin as an experimental offering this summer. The experiment will begin with individuals, though Twitter sees potential in extending verification to businesses in the future.

You'll know if an account is official by a notification on the user's page. Twitter also suggested checking out the official website of the public figure you're interested in to see if they link to their Twitter account.

In the meantime, continue using that brain of yours to spot the fakes. Usually, they're as obvious as the Prado street vendors in New York City."

Source: Nathania Johnson , SearchEngineWatch