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Google Profiles lets people use the page as a contact conduit without sharing their e-mail address.

(Credit:
Google)

Enabling the option adds a “Send a message” link to your profile page, but not just anyone can send a message, though–only those with a Google account.

(Via Google Operating System.)

I sent myself a message; it had this note appended to the end: “This message was sent to you from your Google profile. The sender does not have your email address. If you no longer wish to receive messages from your Google profile, you may edit your settings at http://www.google.com/s2/profiles/me/editprofile.”

Also, there are limits. “We’ve set some limits on how often messages can be sent and received, and you can disable the feature at any time by editing your profile and deselecting the checkbox,” according to Google’s explanation of the feature.

Google Profiles have become a bit more socially useful, with the search giant adding an option that lets people offer it as a way to get in touch without actually sharing their e-mail addresses.

To enable the option, click the “Edit profile” link, then check the “Allow people to contact me through my profile (without showing my email address)” option.

In the meantime, CA customers were griping on the CA forum. “Shame on CA for not being on top of this,” one customer wrote. “Sure things happen, I’ve seen game patches erase hard drives, stuff happens. But it’s what you do after that defines the value of your company.”

CA said it learned on Wednesday that its software had detected the file “Win32/AMalum.ZZQIA” as a false positive and was urging customers to update Signature 6606 to address the situation.

(Credit: Computer Associates)

“This latest nonsense with a false positive detection that causes damage to the operating system is the last straw for me. I have had continuing problems with CA AntiVirus crashing during email downloads with Thunderbirds,” wrote another customer. “I am changing to Sophos. So far, it works fine and no false positives. … I guess CA has gotten too big and forgotten that customer service is an an important part of doing business.”

Some customers were concerned that the Windows Service Pack 3 and files from the commercial Cygwin application files deleted when they couldn’t find them. However, CA said the files were intact but quarantined and the file extensions were modified.

Through its customer support CA also is offering a tool to search for the affected files and restore them to the original extension.

This CA user forum was filled with comments from confused and upset customers after the software detected a Windows system file as a virus.

“CA Internet Security Suite users should restore affected files from quarantine using the GUI. CA Threat Manager customers should search local hard drives for files with the extension .AVB and manually rename to their original file extension by removing the appended text on the original file name.”

The CA advisory reads:

Users of Computer Associates anti-virus software were complaining on Thursday after the company’s anti-virus software mistakenly identified a Windows XP systems file as a virus.

Apple on Friday fixed an SMS-related security flaw in the
iPhone that had been at the center of one of the most talked-about exploits at this week’s Black Hat security conference.

Security researchers Collin Mulliner and Charlie Miller showed the flaw in action at Black Hat earlier this week. Miller said the flaw could take control of the iPhone because of the way the device handled the SMS message. Researchers at Black Hat also showed how SMS-related vulnerabilities can affect Windows Mobile smartphones including those from HTC, Motorola, and Samsung.

“This morning, less than 24 hours after a demonstration of this exploit,” Neumayr continued, “we’ve issued a free software update that eliminates the vulnerability from the iPhone. Contrary to what’s been reported, no one has been able to take control of the iPhone to gain access to personal information using this exploit.”

The security flaw involved malicious SMS messages that could allow hackers to take control of an iPhone. The flaw could have let them make calls, send text messages, or almost anything they wanted on the victim’s iPhone.

“We appreciate the information provided to us about SMS vulnerabilities which affect several mobile phone platforms,” Apple representative Tom Neumayr told CNET.

The update is available by plugging your iPhone into your computer and clicking on the Check for Update button in iTunes.

Miller said that Apple was first notified of the flaw six weeks ago.

According to Apple, the iPhone 3.0.1 update released today improves the device’s memory handling, essentially fixing the exploit.

One of the myriad URL-shortening services out there, found at Tr.im, suffered an outage for some time Wednesday, rendering many links unable to redirect.

But when one crashes, so do all the links associated with it. Or what happens if a URL shortener goes out of business altogether? There would be a whole lot of lost, broken links out there. Some very small URLs could have a very big impact on the organization of the Web.

There’s another, less likely possible culprit: Airline JetBlue hit one million Twitter followers on Wednesday, and announced a one day-only commemorative deal that would shave 20 percent off the cost of any flights booked through a promotional link. It used Trim as the URL shortener for the link in question, and acknowledged in its “JetBlue Cheeps” Twitter-deals account that heavy volume from the sale may have unexpectedly caused the outage.

This post was updated at 1:13 p.m. PT.

Whether or not it was the JetBlue promotion that crippled Trim, there’s a bigger-picture problem here: URL shorteners like TinyURL, Bitly, Owly, Isgd, and related offerings from Digg and StumbleUpon, are a huge deal when we’ve all grown accustomed to fitting stuff into 140-character fields. Some, like Bitly (which Twitter uses as its automatic link shortener and which has been talked up as a possible acquisition for the microblogging company) and Trim, offer some tracking data and analytics surrounding the links plugged into their systems.

The service–which is owned by a start-up called the Nambu Network–believes hackers are to blame. “From this end it appeared we suffered a denial of service attack, and we took appropriate action to get the website back to full service,” a Trim representative said to CNET News in an e-mail.

The installation is part of an initiative that PSE&G announced in February 2009 to bring solar panels to every town in its New Jersey coverage area.

New Jersey to approve deal to install 200,000 solar panels around the state on its utility poles.

LaRossa is referring to California’s giant solar installation approved in February 2009, for the utility Pacific Gas & Electric to produce 500 megawatts worth of solar energy from distributed solar panels throughout the state.

The Petra Solar installation will be the “largest pole-attached solar installation in the world,” according to PSE&G. But it’s only part of the $515 million in 80 megawatts worth of solar energy projects that the New Jersey utility is expected to get approval for on Thursday.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is set to approve on Thursday a $200 million contract between Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) and Petra Solar to install over 200,000 photovoltaic panels to tie in to the state’s electrical grid.

PSE&G plans to implement solar installations on the rooftops of its offices and facilities throughout the state, as well as “solar gardens” on some of its properties. It was also approved to develop an additional 5 megawatts worth of solar power in New Jersey urban enterprise zones within its service area, and 10 megawatts in conjunction with third-parties wishing to participate in an installation on their properties.

The project to develop, install, and maintain the grid-connected solar system will create about 100 green jobs, according to both Petra and PSE&G.

Petra’s SunWave solar panels, which have smart grid communication tools built-in, will be attached to utility and light poles that are owned and operated by PSE&G throughout the state.

“We are tripling in size and will start hiring immediately,” Petra CEO Shihab Kuran said in a statement.

“Our program will effectively double the size of New Jersey’s installed solar capacity. That is more solar capacity than currently exists in any state other than California,” Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G’s president and COO, said in a statement.

(Credit:
Petra Solar)

It looks like those unsightly utility poles throughout New Jersey will be getting yet another accessory.

“The number of Web sites participating in Facebook Connect has grown quickly to over 15,000 Web sites (globally) including CNN.com, NBC.com, ABCNews.com, Hulu, WashingtonPost.com, The Huffington Post, and others,” Dougherty’s post read. “And what is really interesting is to look at the year-over-year growth in the market share of visits to Facebook, because there is a clear uptick in the growth rate following the launch of Facebook Connect.”

Facebook’s rapid growth made it pretty much inevitable that it would surpass the News Corp.-owned MySpace, once the clear leader in social networking. But even when Facebook passed MySpace in worldwide traffic, MySpace still had a pretty big edge in the U.S. Ultimately, Facebook passed MySpace in U.S. usage earlier than some thought it would.

And that growth spurt was what made it the biggest site of its kind in the U.S., according to the numbers. The social network officially surpassed MySpace in U.S. traffic during the week of May 30, Hitwise estimated.

“A clear benefit of Facebook Connect is the ability of the user to use a single portable identity–and most importantly, one password, rather than logging into multiple accounts across the network of Web sites,” Dougherty wrote. “Participation from Web sites in Facebook Connect also has strong implications to appear more often in the search results executed on Facebook resulting from member postings as search becomes a more prevalent activity within this large audience.

MySpace has launched its own universal log-in product, MySpaceID, backed by partnerships with Google and Yahoo. But it’s Facebook Connect that has caught on among both the Web-going public and the marketing world.

Facebook now has more than 250 million active users worldwide.

Traffic firm Hitwise says Facebook eventually overcame MySpace in terms of U.S. traffic as a result of the launch of its Facebook Connect universal log-in product, according to a post from analyst Heather Dougherty.

If Hitwise’s numbers are accurate, it’s a big testament to the success of Facebook Connect, which launched in full last December.

The film shows a teenage girl driving some friends in her car.
Engrossed in her texting, she is involved first in one crash before her car is then broadsided by another.

It has apparently enjoyed more than 1 million views on YouTube. And it has already aroused cries that it is too graphic, too shocking, too much to watch.

It has already been discussed on NBC’s “Today Show.”

You have seen far worse in movies and with far less good intent. It can only go a small way to making teenagers and, frankly, half the alleged adults I’ve seen driving in California, consider the potential consequences of their self-involved habits.

But the police department of Gwent, Wales, felt it had to do something to highlight the realities of texting and driving, so together with filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes, it made a public service announcement.

But if it even makes one person think twice, or even once, about the consequences, then any amount of graphic content is to be applauded. There is surely nothing gratuitous about trying to save a life.

A review of Latimes.com did not turn up any other stories by Fritz about Global Gaming or The Pirate Bay.

AktieTorget officials confirmed in a statement posted online that they did speak with someone claiming to be an investor. Officials, however, wanted more documentation and it was unavailable Friday. AktieTorget won’t allow trading to resume in Global Gaming until it receives more proof that the money for the acquisition is secure.

“We agreed to keep their names confidential until after the acquisition because they are confused and strongly concerned by the blasting I have received in media,” Pandeya wrote. “I am worried that they will back out if journalists start scrutinizing them.”

Hans Pandeya, CEO of Global Gaming Factory X–the company attempting to acquire The Pirate Bay and now steeped in controversy, says he has revealed the names of his financial backers to The Los Angeles Times.

I asked Pandeya for the names of the investors under the same terms he offered to Fritz, and I promised not to write about them until after Thursday. That’s the day he has said The Pirate Bay acquisition will be completed.

In a lengthy e-mail exchange with CNET on Friday, Pandeya said that besides turning over investors’ names to officials from the stock market, he has also given the names to Ben Fritz, a media reporter with the LA Times.

Still, none of the questions is bigger than this one: what will become of The Pirate Bay if the acquisition falls through?

In a phone interview, Fritz declined to comment and would only refer me to a July 31 story he co-wrote about Global Gaming with Times reporter Dawn Chmielewski titled “Pirate Bay deal surrounded by Hollywood-style headaches.”

“I put The Los Angeles Times in touch with one of them who confirmed the investment,” Pandeya wrote. “I also provided (Fritz) with the name of the investment bank that is managing the investors provided they did not disclose this. So, the DD (Pandeya presumably means “due diligence”) regarding this has been done. Now, the stock market wanted the names…and I gave them the name of the investment bank (that) confirmed that the money was in place. Now, Ben Fritz and the Swedish stock market know the name of the investment bank (besides the investors and us).”

But if this is the case, then why would he give the names to Fritz? Why wouldn’t Fritz weigh in on the controversy if he had this information? There are lots of questions still unanswered about Global Gaming.

Since announcing on June 30 his company’s plan to acquire The Pirate Bay, Pandeya has declined to provide the names of his investors, who he has said will put up 60 million Swedish Kroner, or about $8.5 million, to fund the acquisition.

Swedish stock exchange AktieTorget on Friday halted trading in Global Gaming’s shares when it did not receive all the information it requested about the company’s finances, according to reports in Swedish newspaper SvD. Separately, SvD reported that Swedish authorities have launched a criminal investigation into possible insider trading related to an inexplicable jump in Global Gaming’s share price a week before the company announced its intention to buy The Pirate Bay. Questions have also been raised about the financial health of Global Gaming and of Pandeya himself, who is the company’s largest shareholder. Both he and the company are wrestling with debt, former Global Gaming CTO Johan Sellstrom told CNET News.

The report mentions that Global Gaming “has commitments from more than 30 private investors to provide the approximately $4 million cash portion of (The Pirate Bay) acquisition.” The newspaper report does not cite its source for this information nor does it mention anywhere that the reporters spoke to any of the company’s financial backers.

The news that surfaced in the past week has called Pandeya’s credibility into question.

“I put the Los Angeles Times in touch with one of (the investors) who confirmed the investment,”–Hans Pandeya,
Global Gaming CEO.”

(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET)

While Snow Leopard has not been released yet, and the new version of the Creative Suite hasn’t been announced, either, Adobe decided to announce these changes now so its customers will have time to plan their migration strategy accordingly. This means you should go get yourself an Intel-based Mac if you haven’t done so already.

The company’s decision follows Apple’s announcement in June that it was discontinuing support for the PowerPC in its new operating systems, starting beginning with Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). With Apple’s future development focused on Intel Macs, Adobe is aligning its resources accordingly.

For more information on the discontinuation of support, check out Adobe’s FAQ.

Adobe confirmed Tuesday that future versions of its
Creative Suite will run only on Intel-based Mac computers. There will be no support offered for PowerPC-based systems.

Creative Suite is Adobe System’s collection of well-known industry-standard graphic design, video editing, and Web development applications. These applications include Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, Flash, and many others.

According to Adobe, existing customers who own Creative Suite 3 and Creative Suite 4 will still be able to use the software on either a PowerPC-based Mac or an Intel-based Mac without having to make any changes. However, Adobe will provide support for these two suites only to address critical issues that may arise.

It’s probably time you said goodbye to your PowerPC-based
Mac.

If you believe its sponsors, a new Illinois law will keep sex offenders from recruiting children on the Internet.

It would be one thing if Illinois’ new law said “sex offenders shall not use the Internet to harm or seduce a minor,” or language to that effect. Unfortunately, the man who would be governor of that state seems to be more interested in taking credit for enacting a law rather than ensuring the right law is enacted.

No wonder a Human Rights Watch report recommends a rethinking of U.S. laws in this area.

Brady’s legislation also does not distinguish between violent criminals who have served prison time for rape–and adults who are registered sex offenders because of youthful hijinks.

Sites like Hulu.com, Netflix, and Pandora do, too, as do TV.com, MP3.com, and CNET.com. This overly broad scope makes the law vulnerable to a First Amendment challenge. (Those last three are our sister sites and are owned by CNET News publisher CBS Interactive.)

Google.com features user profiles, including name, photos and personal information. So do Yahoo.com, Amazon.com, geek site Slashdot.org, and aggregator site Digg.com.

Now, perhaps Brady’s intent truly was to ban sex offenders from the Internet, although if that’s true you wouldn’t know it from the former developer and real estate agent public statements on the topic. Nor was it probably apparent to his colleagues in the state capitol, where the legislation was unanimously approved by both chambers–or to Gov. Pat Quinn, who signed it into law this week.

The Economist published two stories on this topic last week. One, called “America’s Unjust Sex Laws,” says: “Janet Allison was found guilty of being ‘party to the crime of child molestation’ because she let her 15-year-old daughter have sex with a boyfriend. The young couple later married. But Ms. Allison will spend the rest of her life publicly branded as a sex offender.”

“If the predator is supposed to be a registered sex offender, they should keep their Internet distance as well as their physical distance,” said sponsor Bill Brady, a Republican state senator, according to the Chicago Tribune. “The object is to protect innocent individuals on the Internet from sex offenders.”

A second article tells the story of Wendy Whitaker, a 17-year-old high school student in Georgia, who preformed oral sex on a boy in her class. “Her classmate was three weeks shy of his 16th birthday. That made Ms. Whitaker a criminal. She was arrested and charged with sodomy, which in Georgia can refer to oral sex. She met her court-appointed lawyer five minutes before the hearing. He told her to plead guilty. She did not really understand what was going on, so she did as she was told,” the magazine reported.

CNET Blog Network member Larry Magid has also weighed in on this case.

(It is surely coincidence that Bill Brady is a candidate for governor of Illinois, whose campaign biography says: “He fought for and passed legislation to protect children from sexual predators.”)

If that were its effect, this would be a laudable piece of legislation. But in reality, the state law is written so broadly, it would effectively prohibit registered sex offenders from using the Internet.

It says “social-networking Web sites” are off limits, and defines those as “an Internet Web site containing profile Web pages of the members of the Web site that include the names or nicknames of such members,” or photographs, or any other personal information. Offenders must “refrain from accessing or using” such Web sites.

Unfortunately, the Illinois state legislature didn’t seem to recognize that many popular Web sites–perhaps even the majority of the large ones–fall into those categories.

Like it or not, using Google, Yahoo, TV.com, and so on is part of modern life, and it’s reasonable to hope that even sex offenders could be reintegrated into society rather than cordoned off from it and therefore more likely to relapse. One Justice Department release says that 5.3 percent of male sex offenders were rearrested within three years after their release from state prison.