tracks

Pinterest making money by adding tracking code to certain user pins

How does a Web site like Pinterest make money? At least one blogger has found and revealed an apparent answer.

The online pinboard lets people share their interests and other "things they love" by pinning a photo or other image onto the site. Users can then respond to that pin by commenting on it, liking it, or re-pinning it as one of their own favorites.

Sounds pretty cut and dried. But as described by blogging site LLSocial.com, if a user submits a pin that links to an e-commerce site with an affiliate program, then Pinterest tweaks that … Read more

Reckless Racing 2 power-slides into the iTunes App Store

The sequel to one of our favorite iOS racing games is out today, and new game modes, customization options, and car upgrades make Reckless Racing 2 the best in its genre at the iTunes App Store.

When the original Reckless Racing came out, it was a revelation of what a savvy developer could do on an iOS device. With great-looking graphics, ultra-realistic physics, and a retro edge, Reckless Racing demonstrated a new breed of racing game on iOS.… Read more

How to prevent Google from tracking you

Much has been made of Google's new privacy policy, which takes effect March 1. If you're concerned about Google misusing your personal information or sharing too much of it with advertisers and others, there are plenty of ways to thwart Web trackers.

But what exactly are you thwarting? You don't become anonymous when you block tracking cookies, Web beacons, and the other identifiers as you browse. Your ISP and the sites you visit still know a lot about you, courtesy of the identifying information served up automatically by your browser.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation offers the Panopticlick … Read more

Supremes to Congress: Bring privacy law into 21st century

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See bios of Berin Szoka and Charlie Kennedy below.

Last week's unanimous decision of the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Jones (PDF) marks a major victory for constitutional rights.

While the justices split in their rationale, they agreed that protecting Americans' privacy in the digital age will require the Court to do a great deal more to untangle its confusing Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. That will likely take several more decisions -- and many years. Meanwhile, Congress should heed Justice Samuel Alito's call for legislation limiting government's ability to track … Read more

Why Supreme Court's GPS ruling will improve your privacy rights

The U.S. Supreme Court's sweeping decision requiring police to obtain search warrants to plant GPS tracking devices on automobiles will broadly enhance Americans' electronic privacy rights, legal experts predicted today.

This morning's unanimous ruling (PDF) says the customary law enforcement practice of installing GPS trackers without judicial approval--which has become more common as prices have fallen--violates Americans' Fourth Amendment rights to be free from warrantless searches.

That reasoning suggests police also need to obtain warrants before tracking the locations of cell phones and mobile devices, another contentious topic currently before the courts, said Greg Nojeim, an … Read more

Police need warrant for GPS tracking, high court rules

The Supreme Court struck down the U.S. government's argument that it can use GPS to track a suspect's vehicle without a warrant.

In a unanimous decision, the court said the Fourth Amendment protection of "persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" would be violated if law enforcement agencies were allowed to attach a GPS location to a suspect's vehicle without obtaining a warrant.

Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, and Chief Justice John Roberts sided with that opinion. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Samuel … Read more

Aiaiai Capital headphones propel Danish design momentum

It's already been a great year for the Danish headphone designers over at Aiaiai, and it's about to get even better.

The company's TMA-1 DJ headphones recently earned a spot in an exhibit at SFMOMA documenting contemporary industrial designs influenced by Dieter Rams, and its latest headphones, the Capital, are already garnering shrieks of schoolgirl glee from audiophiles who appreciate equal parts form and function.

Aiaiai supplied the audio technology for the Capital headphones, but once again leaned on Scandinavian design group Kibisi to design their form. The two made a great first impression last year with the release of the Tracks supra-aural headphones, and Kibisi's simple design ethos is made clear again in the Capital.… Read more

Track photos in Google Earth

HoudahGeo is an all-in-one app for geocoding and geotagging your photos, so you can keep track of where they were taken and upload them to sites like Google Earth and Flickr.

HoudahGeo provides a variety of ways to link your photos to geographic locations (using exportable EXIF, XMP, or IPTC tags), whether you're using a GPS track-logging device or you're entering locations manually, with coordinates, a built-in map, or Google Earth. You can even just take occasional, lower-quality reference photos (for example, with your iPhone 3G), and HoudahGeo will automatically geocode photos taken with your higher-res camera later … Read more

Five fitness-tracking apps for Android

Are you wondering how you're going to reach and maintain your fitness goals in the new year?

Fitness-tracking apps take advantage of your Android phone's GPS sensor and can track your route, pace, distance, and heart rate (with a supported heart rate monitor). Most of them also allow you to upload your stats so you can view your activity history. Going further, most of them even allow you to share your workouts on Twitter or Facebook, which is a great way to solicit encouragement from your friends and family.

Here are five popular fitness-tracking apps for your Android … Read more