Google

The lovely thing about Google is its certainty.

At least, I think I'm sure about that.

Google's algorithms exist to take the weight from our minds and direct us to where we should be going and what we should be doing. It's a wonderful relief.

Recently, Google declared it could out-Kreskin the critics and the Hollywood marketing men, by predicting, with 94 percent accuracy, which movies would succeed.

It was easy, Google huffed haughtily. All it had to do was look at search patterns.

Conan O'Brien and his team are a touch skeptical of this claim. … Read more

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton of Texas says he is "disappointed" in Google's response to privacy worries caused by the emergence of Google Glass.

In a statement released after the Republican congressman reviewed Google's response to a letter sent to the company by members of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus -- a group set up to examine the privacy issues Google Glass causes -- Barton said he believes that the general public needs to be given more choice to ensure their privacy is not violated.

Barton said:

I am disappointed in the responses we received from … Read more

By now you probably already know that Google Reader has crossed over into the digital netherworld, joining many of its ill-fated Mountain View kin who were doomed never to exit beta.

When these sad departures occur, the ritual of going through the deceased's basement begins, and in the case of Google Reader it turns out that the place was full of lots of digital detritus belonging to you and me, and hundreds of thousands (if not millions -- we never really found out how popular Google Reader was in definite terms) of users.… Read more

Maybe it's the arrival of the dog days of summer and a respite from hard news, but the rumor of a possible wearable computer from Apple is again making the rounds.

Apple has reportedly applied for a trademark for the "iWatch" name in Japan. The June 3 filing with the Japan Patent Office was made public last week, according to Bloomberg, which first reported on the application.

That would fit with the run of rumors throughout the year that Apple management is developing a wearable device -- in this case a watch or "smartwatch" that … Read more

A federal appeals court has decided that the lawsuit against Google's digital scanning of books shouldn't be classified as class-action suit just yet.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals said in New York on Monday that Circuit Judge Denny Chin should not have certified a class-action suit against Google, Reuters is reporting. By classifying the case as class action, the judge effectively allowed hundreds of thousands of authors to possibly net some cash in the ongoing lawsuit against the search giant.

Google and the Authors Guild have been embroiled in a lawsuit for nearly a decade. The Authors … Read more

This is what happens after a series of bumbling owners fail to keep a once terrific product relevant in a dynamic market: You get a cold PR send-off that doesn't even fill the screen.

"Please visit Yahoo! Search for all of your searching needs."

That's all Yahoo wrote Friday afternoon as it lumped in the news that it was killing off AltaVista on July 8 with word that it will also ax 11 other products that no longer matter to the company.

Jay Rossiter, the vice president in charge of platforms, said the moves will free … Read more

Renderings of Google's upcoming U.K. headquarters in the heart of London have been leaked onto the Web.

According to documents obtained by Building Design Online, Google's architect, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, has released the first renderings of Google's upcoming European headquarters. The building will rise 11 stories at its highest point and be a total of 330 meters in length.

Judging by the renderings, glass appears to be the centerpiece of the building with huge panels connecting steel framing around the building. The headquarters will also achieve an "outstanding" BREEAM certification -- a top … Read more

Google has sued the Internal Revenue Service over a stock transaction dating back to 2004 with America Online.

The company filed the complaint in U.S. tax court on Thursday, claiming that the U.S. government owes the search giant $83.5 million. Bloomberg, which was first to report the news, spoke with a Google spokeswoman who said that the company hopes "to have it resolved soon."

Google argues that the IRS erroneously disallowed a $238.6 million deduction the company took related to the difference in value between what AOL paid to exercise a Google stock warrant … Read more

Thursday saw an annual ritual that dedicated sports lovers cherish beyond most.

Yes, a bunch of tipsy New Yorkers mercilessly booed NBA commissioner David Stern while he tried to pretend to know the names of draft picks.

This year's draft was an especially dreary affair.

In times gone by, you could rely on my comely Golden State Warriors to draft high and pick someone whose name had never been heard then and hasn't been heard since.

This year, even committed sports fans would have been daunted to remember the name of a single player.

Perhaps that's why … Read more