Google Drive and MS-SkyDrive - PCMag Reviews

• Pros
  Best in class for collaborative office suites. Includes local file-syncing and offline access to documents. Built-in OCR technology. Generous free storage space if you use Google file formats for most docs.
• Cons Some users may feel uneasy about privacy. Hit and miss success with various video file formats.
• Bottom Line
  Part office suite and part file-syncing service, Google Drive retains all the best features and core functionality of its predecessor, Google Docs, while upping the ante on just how much it enables collaboration. It's one sweet package.
  
  
  
  

 





















By Mark Hachman, Jill Duffy

What started as a free online alternative to Microsoft Office has quickly become one of the most impressive services for creating, editing, saving, syncing, and collaborating on documents. Google Drive (freemium) has long impressed me in just how far it goes toward helping groups of people work together on files simultaneously. Some new features rolling out in a recent update add even more support for teamwork.

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It hasn't been long since Google Docs rebranded itself as Google Drive, so allow me to briefly recap: Google Docs took on the new name after it added local file syncing to its service. In other words, Google Docs—ahem, Drive—now works more like Dropbox , SugarSync, or any other file-syncing service you care to name, while still retaining the core office productivity apps. In that sense, its closest competitor may well be Microsoft SkyDrive, which also has online document creation tools.

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With Google Drive, you can upload files to your Google account, convert them to Google's file format to edit them online, create new docs in the Web interface, collaborate with other users in real time, and export the finished products to more standard file formats, such as .doc, .rtf, .pdf, and so on. The latest round of changes makes working with others in real time even more intuitive, because you can see their profile pictures on the screen, where formerly you only saw a line of text at the top and a color code indicating who else was looking at or editing the file.

Because of these wide-ranging capabilities and its dedication to collaborative document editing, Google Drive remains a PCMag Editors' Choice. We have no hesitation recommending Google Drive—although it is important to understand how one of the new features works. The feature in question could potentially reveal your identity to others, but managing it is simple when you know how it works. And as much as Google Drive is an excellent platform and service, that doesn't mean it's the only file-syncing service you should use either.

What's New in Drive?The newest change in Google Drive, which will roll out to users slowly, is that Google+ profile pictures of collaborators now appear at the top of the file when they're viewing or editing a document. Formerly, when collaborators opened a document, you would see a line of text reading "2 other viewers" at the top right, which opened to reveal their names or email addresses and a color code for each person. For example, if I invited Maria to edit a spreadsheet with me, I would see her name appear next to a pink square at the top of the spreadsheet any time she opened it. As she moved through cells, they would appear highlighted in pink.

The new feature adds Maria's profile picture at the top of the document and would let me add her to my Google+ circles. There's also now an integrated group chat feature that lets multiple collaborators hold discussions via text while they're working.

Another fairly big addition is offline access to all your Drive materials if you're using Google Chrome OS. To enable this setting, go to your Google Drive page and look under the "More" button the left for the offline access setting. Turning on this feature lets you read and edit your files offline; changes will sync to the cloud the next time you connect.

PrivacyThe toughest criticism Google Drive has faced amount to concerns over privacy and IP ownership. The new collaboration features could put your face in front of strangers if you're not careful, but it's very easy to manage this potential problem with an ounce of care.

Some Google Drive owners keep their documents open to the public, and if you're signed into your Google account when you view these files, other users will be able to see your picture and name. When looking at public files, it's a better idea to log out of Google, or use a different browser, and maybe also turn on incognito features if your browser has them to keep yourself anonymous. Anonymous users are assigned random profile pictures of animals instead, such as a dolphin, dinosaur, or beaver.

My feeling on the matter of privacy in Google Drive is this: If you are comfortable using Gmail, you should be comfortable with Drive. If you are skeptical of Google's user agreements, don't use Google products. For more in-depth analysis, see "Google Drive's Terms of Use: Lazy People Should Worry."

Main Features of DriveThe gist of Google Drive, and the main attraction to it, is it can store your files in the cloud where they are accessible to you and your collaborators, and become highly searchable.

One feature related to "search" stands out: Google's ability to scan a photo and "read" it using optical character recognition, or identify it using its own technology. The only other app of this kind that uses built-in OCR nearly as well is Evernote , although you have to have a paid Premium account to use it.

Google also claims Drive allows videos to be uploaded, but we encountered some issues with that part of the service.

Like many other general file-syncing services, Google Drive works better for document files than multimedia. It's not ideally meant to be a music and video streaming service—for that kind of product, you'll likely need a paid service and device, such as the Verbatim Mediashare Mini, although SugarSync does offer some neat capabilities and support for streaming iTunes music. Amazon Cloud also offers some special support for music and movies. However, within the Google universe you can use Google Play in tandem with Drive (more on that in a bit).

Carryover Features from Google DocsThe core services and functionality that were in Google Docs, namely, a free online office suite where files are also hosted, remain intact in Drive. Google Docs is one of the best known free alternative to Microsoft Office, although it's entirely Web-based—there's no software to install to use it (the only downloadable part is the app for local syncing with Drive).

As with Microsoft Office, Google Drive lets you create word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentation documents, forms, vector drawings, and now in beta, tables. Google hosts your files, too, so when you log in, all your files are there. You can sort them into customizable folders, which appear along a left pane, or just search for what you need, using a standard search bar in the Web app.

When you create a document in Google Drive, the file format used is Google's own. However, the system couldn't be more flexible. You can export Google documents to more standardized files formats, like .doc, .rtf, .ppt, .pdf, and more; and you can import practically any document with the option of keeping it in its native format (which may limit your ability to edit it) or translating it into a Google doc file, which makes it editable in the online service. I've certainly had my share of moments when I was stuck on a computer that didn't have Microsoft Office at the very moment someone emailed me an important file that required my feedback pronto. Google Drive saved the day. I could open the file in GoogleDrive, edit it, and export the revised file back out to its original form. Occasionally some formatting will go haywire during this process, but it gets the job done.

Price and Storage AllotmentThe free version of Google Drive gives you 5GB of space—but in fact, that's not the whole story. Google in fact provides much more space for free because files you create using Google Docs (that is, in Google's proprietary, online formats, rather than documents uploaded from another format) don't count toward that quota, nor do files shared with you.

But if 5GB isn't enough, you can pay $2.49 per month for 25GB or $4.99 per month for 100GB, and both those paid plans come with bonus space for Gmail (25GB). Other plans let you choose 200GB ($9.99 per month), 400GB ($19.99 per month), all the way up to 16TB of space ($799.99 per month).

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Whether you use the paid or free version, you won't see any ads attached to Drive, anywhere–which is not the case with Gmail.

Cheapskates are better off with Microsoft's SkyDrive, which offers 7GB (or 25GB if you were an existing user prior to April 22, 2012) and doles out an additional 20GB of space to anyone who buys Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium.

SugarSync meets Google's freebie allotment with 5GB free space, but the bonus referrals are limitless, so you can easily earn a lot more. Dropbox starts you out with meager 2GB and lets you earn bonuses, but caps all free accounts at 16GB.

Installing Drive LocallyTo get the local, desktop syncing part of Drive, you need to download a small installer for Windows or Mac. When the installation completes, Drive appears as a folder. If you add files to it, a recycle icon shows that they are syncing to the cloud. It's fast, and as you'd expect, Google makes searching for a document quick and easy.

And as with any file-syncing service, do understand that if you delete files from your local drive, they will also be deleted from Google Drive.

Supported File TypesWe tried a number of different items: folders, Word files, Excel spreadsheets, JPEG image files, MP3s, PDFs, an AMR audio file, an image resizing application (.exe), and .mpeg, .wmv, and .avi files. Remember, there's also Google Play Music, a separate cloud service for your music files, along with rivals like MSpot. Our only issues arose with video files. We tried an .avi file; no dice. A .wmv? Nope. Mpeg files were hit and miss. Granted, there are almost dozens of different video formats available. We're waiting to hear back from Google for a list of those supported.

Videos and PhotosFor someone used to the automatic photo and video uploading of a SugarSync, Drive may feel awkward. Google places that capability within Google+, and also limits your photo resolution as well. In other words, you can't take a photo with your phone and have it automatically upload into Drive. In other words, there's not automatic photo syncing button. But you can take a picture with your Android phone, manually upload it to Drive, and it will upload with full resolution. Videos can be uploaded to Drive as well.

However, videos and image files that are stored via Drive must be downloaded each time they're accessed. It not only costs you time, but also counts against your bandwidth cap. On the other hand, this also means that you have the option of storing them locally, too. While Drive appears to use its own generic media player for video, Drive will open music via Play Music.

The coolest new feature in Google Drive is its ability to "read" photos with OCR technology. The only problem is that this feature seems confusing at first glance. If you take a photo of a page of a book, the photo will save as an image. But if you choose to save it as a Google document, the photo will be attached to a searchable block of text—not replaced by it, so you have side-by-side views of the OCR interpretation and the original. Google does an excellent job with OCR. Say you want to quickly sneak a snapshot of your favorite recipe into your own arsenal, well, this feature is just the thing.

Drive for CollaborationGoogle Drive excels at supporting collaborative projects, which is something other file-syncing services don't offer and big reason it's an Editors' Choice. It offers so many appealing features and capabilities that you're missing out if you don't use it. But there's nothing stopping you from using more than one service, like another Editors' Choice among file-syncing services, SugarSync or Dropbox, not to mention other options like SkyDrive, Box, and Amazon Cloud. Having more than one service lets you compartmentalize your home and work files, or keep photos separate from documents, and so forth. It also lets you decide which of your files to put in more secure cloud spaces and which to leave to the whims of Google's money-making teams.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403546,00.asp

MS-SkyDrive

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MSRP
$0.00

• Pros
  Simple, clear, consistent interface. Clients for Mac, iOS, and Android, as well as Windows and Windows Phone. Fetch any file from a PC you set up. Syncing. Web interface to files and media. Photo slideshows. 7GB free storage space.
• Cons No music matching or Web streaming. Synced folders not for collaboration, just your own files. Windows 8 desktop mode requires separate installation.
• Bottom Line
  With Web, Android, iPhone, Mac, and Windows clients, and a nifty "fetch" feature, Microsoft's cloud solution, SkyDrive, is one of the most complete offerings of its type.

By Michael Muchmore Apple's iCloud and Google Drive made big splashes at their recent launches, but Microsoft's cloud service, SkyDrive, has been quietly hosting people's documents, photos, and more for over five years. And all the while Microsoft has been honing the service, most recently redesigning it to give it a modern, tiled look and folding in the syncing capability that formerly was handled by a separate service, Windows Live Mesh. The company has also made SkyDrive a cornerstone of its next big operating system version, Windows 8. So how does Microsoft's cloud service stack up against the other tech titans'? Read on to find out.

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Like iCloud, SkyDrive serves a lot of functions. If you just want access to documents or media files, it offers simple online storage accessible from the Web. If you want the same set of files replicated on multiple PCs it provides folder syncing. For users of Windows 8 and Windows Phone, it backs up settings. Because of this diversity of function, there are several different cross-sections from which you can view the service—by type of data, client, or function. The data types include documents, photos, video, music, or settings. The clients include computer, mobile, and Web, and the functions are things like syncing, viewing, playing, and simple storage. Let's take a look at the service from these various angles.

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Your SkyDrive Account
Everyone gets a SkyDrive account--well, everyone who's created a Microsoft account, which includes everyone who's signed up for a Hotmail or Outlook.com account. All users get 7GB free storage space, and, if you're a longtime SkyDrive account holder (since before April 22, 2012), you get 25GB free. This compares with 5GB free for iCloud and Google Drive (though if you convert docs to Google format, storage is free), and 2GB for Dropbox. You can add 20GB to SkyDrive for $10 a year, and 100GB for $50. Here's how the pricing compares with the other services:

	SkyDrive	iCloud	Google Drive	Amazon Cloud Drive
Free storage	7GB	5GB	5GB	5GB
Add  20 GB	$10	$40	N/A	$10
Add 50 GB	$25	$100	N/A	$25
Add 100 GB	$50	N/A	$60	$50

Device Syncing
Microsoft likes to refer to SkyDrive as a "device cloud" and with Windows 8 PCs and Windows Phones, the moniker makes sense. The service can sync settings and apps on those types of devices, while clients for iOS, Android, and Mac OS X give users of those devices access to the files stored in SkyDrive's online folders. Like iCloud for iPhones and iPads, SkyDrive lets Windows Phone users automatically upload photos taken with the phone's camera to SkyDrive's camera roll, so that the photos are quickly available for viewing online, in a SkyDrive folder on a PC, or in a Windows 8 PC's Photos app.

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Google Drive and Android Play don't provide this functionality, which, once you've gotten accustomed to it, is pretty slick and convenient. And in the SkyDrive Web interface, you can view the photos as a slideshow, and even see a map of where they were taken along with EXIF camera info. A similar Web interface of this type is completely lacking in Apple's iCloud, though that may change with iOS 6.


Another service in the realm of device syncing is the ability to sign into your account and magically reproduce a previous machine you've set up—color and background themes, social accounts, user photo, browser favorites and history, and even apps. SkyDrive accomplishes this for both Windows 8 PCs and Windows Phones. In Windows 8, the service goes even further, by allowing third-party apps to take advantage of your cloud storage. Apps and sites can even use the service for single sign-on with your permission.


SkyDrive Clients
SkyDrive is built into Windows 8 and Windows Phone, as long as you've signed into a Microsoft account. But what if you use other technology platforms? SkyDrive includes apps for not only Windows 7 and 8, but for Mac OS X, iOS, and Android. For other mobile platforms such as Blackberry, a mobile Web interface is available, and for desktop access when you're not at your own computer, a full feature Web app is available. The last is particularly important, and one thing that's long disappointed me about Apple's iCloud: Why can't I access photos in my iCloud Photo Stream from a Web browser, if the stuff is actually in the "cloud?"
Another SkyDrive option for mobile users is the OneNote app. It's available for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, and on the Web. This lets you create notes that will be automatically synced to all your SkyDrive access points.

Folder and File Syncing
Forgetting about "devices" for a moment, SkyDrive offers another desktop computer-centric function—file and folder syncing. This convenience is similar to what you get with Dropbox ($9.99 a month, 4 stars), Nomadesk ($50 a year, 3 stars), and SugarSync ($4.99 a month, 4.5 stars). In the past, Microsoft had separated its syncing service with names like Live Mesh and Live Sync, and (way back) FolderShare. I for one, find the joining of online storage and syncing into one cloud service a refreshing simplification of a previously somewhat confusing set of systems. SkyDrive syncing on computers differs from the earlier Mesh in that you can't designate any old folder you want to be synced, only those under the SkyDrive main folder. But Microsoft has made it possible for these synced folders to look less sequestered in the SkyDrive world, by using Windows' Libraries. It also adds a truly cool feature called Fetch—more about that in a moment.


The desktop clients for SkyDrive syncing run on Windows Vista and later and are quick to install. The setup wizard for the client lets you create an account if you don't already have one, and then shows how your SkyDrive folder will appear in Windows Explorer, with its little blue cloud icon instead of the traditional yellow folder icon. Setup also places a cloud icon in your system tray, from which you can open your synced folder or change settings. You can change its location from the default top level under your user folder.

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When you place a photo, document, or other item in the created SkyDrive folder, it magically appears in any of your other SkyDrive clients on any of your other computers. One drawback compared with Dropbox or Nomadesk is you can't share a folder so that its contents will always be synced for a colleague. But then again, that's more of a business-related capability, and as such it's available in Office's SharePoint Workspaces.


For a quick test, I went over to my Windows 8 PC and created a new folder in the SkyDrive app, which appeared seconds later in a Windows 7 machine's SkyDrive folder that I had set up. Including SkyDrive in Windows Explorer is incredibly helpful because you can save work from any application to your cloud storage directly, without having to go to a website.


The Windows 8 SkyDrive App
As mentioned, SkyDrive plays a big role for Windows 8, which ships with a SkyDrive app that you can recognize by the cloud on its blue Start page tile. Clicking this tile takes you into another grid of tiles, each representing a folder or file you've stored on the service. Folders containing image files display one of the images on their tile above the folder name, and with a right-click (or swipe in from the top or bottom edge on a touch screen) you can view Details, such as the item's date and size.


The same applies if you're inside a folder. For example, if you're in an image folder, you'll by default just see large thumbnails of the images. Hovering over a tile or thumbnail displays the filename, date last modified, file size, and with whom it's shared. When you invoke the app bar from the main screen (by right-clicking or swiping up from the bottom of a touchscreen), you'll see just five buttons—Refresh, New Folder, Upload, Details, and Select all. These options change when you right click on a file tile, adding four new buttons on the left—Clear selection, Download, Delete, and Open with.


Even more cloud-centric is the ability to view Office documents stored on your SkyDrive storage in Office Web apps. In fact, there's a strong tie-in between Office Web apps and SkyDrive, since the latter is the default place your Web Office documents reside. I had no problem viewing not only Microsoft file formats like Word Documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations using the online Office apps, but I could also view PDFs, and Windows 8 knew to open a ZIP file on the desktop, showing the archive's contents in a folder.
One SkyDrive disappointment for me was that I didn't see any evidence of it in the Windows 8 desktop. I expected to see a SkyDrive choice in Windows Explorer, just as I did after installing the SkyDrive utility in Windows 7. It turns out that you have to install the same desktop client in Windows 8 desktop that you would in Windows 7. I think it's a little odd that you'd have to install this in Windows 8, since the functionality is already on the machine in the Metro mode and you've already signed into your account.

SkyDrive on the Web and Fetch
Web access to all your cloud data is one thing you don't get in Apple's iCloud. Microsoft has been putting a lot of effort into updating the Web client for SkyDrive. Just in mid-August, the company released a new online version of SkyDrive. The interface bears a striking resemblance to that of the SkyDrive Windows 8 new-style app, except the folder tiles are all the same size. The Web app is linked with other Microsoft online services through a top switcher menu that includes Mail (either Outlook.com or Hotmail), People (the social network-aggregator app), and Calendar. It's a very fast and clean interface, with a left panel of menu choices including Files, Recent docs, Shared, Groups, and PCs.
This last item may be the most interesting: For PCs you've installed the desktop client on and authorized, you can pull any files using Fetch, even if the files aren't in the SkyDrive folder. When I chose the PCs option from the Web interface's left rail, I was greeted by a message saying "Security check! To connect to this PC we need you to enter a security code. This extra step only takes a minute and will help protect your computer from unauthorized access." When I clicked the "Sign in with security code" link, I was told to sign in on a computer that's connected to my account. Of course, for this to work, the PC your fetching files from has to be on and running the SkyDrive client.

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Once I jumped all the security hurdles, I could browse the entire disk of the target PC. I could download any files found there, or upload them to SkyDrive (which feels a little odd, since it seemed like I was browsing SkyDrive). I could also view all the files' pertinent properties in a right-side panel—type, size, and dates created and modified. The Fetch feature is a great idea, though it seems to be only available in a very limited set of circumstances. You're probably better off just saving files you think you may need remote access to your SkyDrive cloud folders.


Media Support
Microsoft's cloud service handles all the most common types of files you might want to store in the cloud, including documents, music, photos, and video.


Documents. Not only can you download and upload document files, as you can with iCloud's Web interface, but you can actually view and edit them online with SkyDrive using the integrated Office Web apps. In fact, SkyDrive serves as the main folder and file location for all your Office Web documents, just as Google Drive now does for Google Docs. One Google Drive feature missing from SkyDrive is the former's OCR, which converts scanned images to text. Google Drive, however, does a better job of multi-author collaboration—it lets users see others' changes instantly, while Office Web only shows that a paragraph is locked for editing, and only shows the changes after a refresh.


Music. As with Google Drive, one thing you won't get with SkyDrive is music streaming from your online cloud storage. The iTunes in the Cloud piece of the iCloud service performs this feat for Apple devices and computers, while Google Play does so for the Android folks. Nor do you get a "match" service like those in iCloud or Amazon Cloud Player, which offer high-quality copies of your music without the need for uploading them.


Photos and Video. SkyDrive does a pretty impressive job of displaying photos and videos in its Web interface. You can share and tag these, and when you do share, unlike in the past, the recipient doesn't have to sign into a SkyDrive account. You can also specify read and edit rights.


Using SkyDrive From Other Windows 8 Modern Apps
What really makes SkyDrive an integral part of the Windows 8 ecosystem is the fact that any Windows 8 modern-style app can take advantage of its cloud storage. Microsoft has made it really simple for developers to do this, as a Building Windows 8 blog post described. It's early on in the Windows 8 app store, but I managed to find a few that already use SkyDrive. The FotoEditor app, a sort of Instagram without the social networking let me save my distorted image to SkyDrive. It also let me open photos for editing from my cloud folders. We'll definitely see more extensive use of SkyDrive in third-party apps as the Window Store fills out, particularly those that will use app state and settings syncing.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409569,00.asp

IE10 beats Chrome, Safari, Firefox at blocking web malware

IE10 beats Chrome, Safari, Firefox at blocking web malware

Summary: The application reputation systems used in Internet Explorer 10 and Chrome offer users far better protection than rivals, according to a study.

By Liam Tung | May 15, 2013 -- 10:48 GMT (03:48 PDT)

Internet Explorer 10 offers better protection against malware hosted on websites than Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera, according to a new browser security study.

At 99.96 percent, IE10's malware block rate outperformed Chrome's (versions 25 and 26) block rate of 83.16 percent, according to a study by analyst firm NSS Labs.

The difference between the two browsers however was minor compared to their lead on rivals: Safari 5 blocked 10.15 percent of malware, Firefox 19 blocked 9.92 percent and Opera 12 only blocked 1.87 percent in the study said.

The company tested each browser's ability to block malware from a sample of 754 URLs that were found to be "active and malicious". The company said it removed adware and false positives and tested the URLs against each browser every six hours between 13 March and 9 April this year.

According to NSS, Chrome and IE10 both offered superior defences because of the additional file blockers Microsoft and Google employed in their respective browsers.

Image: NSS Labs.

Safari and Firefox rely on Google's Safe Browsing API which provides URL filtering. However, Chrome employs a newer version of the API, additional reputation-checking and a file-based malware blocker called Download Protection that are not used in Safari and Firefox, according to NSS.

Chrome's additional file blockers caught 73 percent of malware while the URL reputation system in common with Safari and Firefox blocked around 10 percent, it found.

Microsoft employs its own reputation-based system in IE10 and IE9 called Application Reputation, which determines whether an application is established enough to be trustworthy, and SmartScreen which provides URL filtering. Application Reputation picked up 17 percent of malware while its URL filter picked up 83 percent, according to NSS.

"Both Google's Download Protection and Microsoft's App Rep [Application Reputation] allow users to override browser protecting, however, Google relies on this less reliable protection mechanism nearly four times as often as does Microsoft," Randy Abrams, research director at NSS Labs, said in a statement.

"The net result is that IE10 users are offered superior protection over Chrome users with one quarter the risk of making a bad download decision. Firefox, Safari, and Opera users are afforded little protection at all by their browsers."

Topics: Security, Browser

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/ie10-beats-chrome-safari-firefox-at-blocking-web-malware-7000015409/ 

Home » Internet »

10 Puppy Finding Services To Find Your Next Best Friend

• May 16, 2013
  
• By Aaron Couch

So you’re on a mission to get a new best friend – a puppy. What an exciting time! I’m personally a dog person and feel they’re the best kind of pet you could have – pets set a standard that virtual pets can’t come close to meeting, and then you can take amazing photos with your pets. In fact, Max, my Labradoodle, is laying by my feet as I write this.
But where do you go to find your next best friend? There are a lot of places locally, but some are difficult to discover. Also, if you do not have an idea of what kind you want, it may be difficult to find that perfect dog. That’s where websites come in handy. They help you sift through the Internet looking for the perfect puppy and where you can get it. In this article we will cover ten different websites, and I’ll also offer some advice that you should follow when looking for a new puppy.

PuppyFind.com (International)

PuppyFind.com is one of the more popular places to go to find a dog and is one of the first to show up in the search results. The interface and ease of navigation around the site is decent, although not great – in other words, it could use an upgrade. Upon visiting the website, you have the option to search by clicking the Find a Puppy tab, or using the PuppySearch panel on the left side. The Find a Puppy page alphabetizes the breeds and provides rankings on size, grooming, exercise requirements, watchdog ability, and how good they are with other dogs.
CAUTION: There have been some complaints and mention that PuppyFind.com has a lot of dogs from what are called puppy mills. I’ll touch upon this more in the Advice and Precautions section of this article.
You might be wondering how PuppyFind works. Like many of the websites in this article, PuppyFind simply helps you narrow down by breed and location, and provides the contact information for the breeder of the dog you’re looking for. It plays no role in any purchase. Despite the chance of a few bad breeders on the website (there will always be some of those), it’s a reputable website. They even offer tips for puppy buyers and provide a contact link if you come across a scam.

Adopt-a-Pet.com (United States)

Adopt-a-Pet.com is an excellent website, backed by well-known companies like Purina and Bayer. We’ve actually mentioned it before on Joel’s article about some of the best animal rescue sites you can use to find your next pet (which has a couple of other great recommendations not included in this article).






Adopt-a-Pet is actually not just for dogs either – you can search for cats and other animals like birds, herps, and even horses.  The interface is clean and easy to use. In addition to searching for puppies, you can also look for a local shelter if you prefer to see all that is on offer instead of looking for a specific breed.

American Kennel Club (AKC) (United States)

The AKC is an organization that’ has been around since the late 1800′s, so you know it’s reputable. Also, they play a major role in registered breeds. The adoption page on their site is only a very small part of their focus, but if you’re interested in learning about an organization you know you can trust, it might be an option for you to consider.
Keep in mind that the results won’t likely be as plentiful as other sites – and for good reason. Only breeders who are AKC-licensed, or member clubs who have AKC-registered puppies available will be shown. These aren’t going to be average breeders, and especially not people who’s dog had an unplanned litter of pups. In addition, you’re going to be paying a lot more for a dog who’s registered by the AKC. With them, you’re looking for a dog who can compete in shows and trials.

NextDayPets (International)

Looking at the interface alone makes me have a bias for NextDayPets above other websites – perhaps that’s the tech guy in me. That said, interface and ease of use is crucial, and NextDayPets certainly provides a nice way to navigate through their website. Upon clicking the big, blue Find a puppy button, you can search by breed.





You are then able to refine your results by gender, location, price range and other factors using the panel to the left of the results. Each result displays breed, age, nearest region, price and icons for the following breeder verifications: identity, PayPal, Facebook and phone number (shown below).





Also, kudos to NextDayPets for having the cutest logo.

 

 

Petfinder (United States & Canada)

Petfinder is another very well-known source for finding puppies, as well as many other pets. In fact, its search results are used by many other websites and it also allows breeders and rescue organizations to host their own website directly within Petfinder. On the main page you have the ability to easily search for the type of puppy (or any animal for that matter) that you want. You must enter your postal code. There are other options such as age, breed and gender.





Once you get the results, you can then refine them even further by distance, size, or other variables such as housetrained, special needs, and whether they’re good around cats, dogs and young children. You can search by pet name. And if you want to search for pet-adoption groups by name or location, you have that option as well.

eBay Classifieds – Dogs & Puppies (United States)

eBay Classifieds certainly aren’t only for finding pets, but if you live in a major city in the U.S., they can be a helpful way to find your soon-to-be best friend. You might notice the option to search by breed, like you see in the photo above. However, if you scroll down to the bottom you can browse by city as well.






Still not satisfied? Perhaps your city isn’t listed? Have no fear. By going back to the home page, type the appropriate keywords in the search boxes to find them this way.





It’s unfortunate that this search function is not on every page, but that’s the way it is at this point.

ASPCA (United States)

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, otherwise known as the ASPCA, is another very reputable source for finding nearby animal shelters. The functions are straightforward – search and then sift through the results. You can click on the results to get more information about the dog and see the contact information.

 

 

RescueMe.Org (International)

Rescue Me! is an animal rehabilitation center that offers adoption services through their website. Their website isn’t the nicest in comparison to others, but it’s fairly easy to navigate through.





What’s really awesome is they have a whole page of links for not only all of the States, but an impressive amount of countries in the world too. I’m not guaranteeing that you will find as much in other countries as you might within the different States, but it’s worth a try and I did have some success upon looking through some of the country links.

Hearts United for Animals (United States & Canada)

Hearts United for Animals (HUA) is a national shelter for animals of all kinds and they provide a way for you to adopt dogs and cats through their website. You can enter specifics such as breed, age, size and gender, or just search all dogs. The HUA does a great job at providing a unique story behind each animal, as well as lots of photos to touch your heart. If you want the adoption info and application, just click the brown button under the pet’s photo.

 

 

The Shelter Pet Project (United States)

The Shelter Pet Project is a public service ad campaign focused on encouraging potential pet owners to consider rescuing a pet from a shelter as their first option. They are backed by The Humane Society of the United States and Maddie’s Fund. To begin looking for your new best friend, just enter your postal code, select either the cat or dog and click the yellow Search button. The results are magnificent and are easy to scan through. If you want to narrow down your search, you can click the Advanced Search button and choose breed, gender, size and age.





In addition, you can also search for nearby shelters.

Bonus: Maddie’s Fund (United States)

Maddie’s Fund was actually an organization that I hadn’t heard of prior to researching and writing this article. It has become known for Maddie’s Pet Adoptions Days, an annual, nationwide event that offers the opportunity to potential pet owners to adopt for free. This only goes on once a year, in the United States, in a limited amount of cities and only for a couple of days (this year it is June 1st & 2nd).





What’s really neat is the man behind it all, David Duffield, is actually a very wealthy business man who specializes in cloud-based management software and has donated thousands upon thousands to help rescue these dogs. You can learn more about Maddie’s Fund in the video below.

Advice And Precautions

Puppy Mills

One of the biggest things you should be aware of is puppy mills, I’ve already mentioned it briefly and if this Wikipedia link doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will. They are bad. They put profit and capital over the well-being of the animals. Unfortunately, some websites, like PuppyFind.com, can’t catch every single one, so they rely on users to help. Many of the websites I mentioned in here provide more information about them, including the ASPCA.

Buying Puppies Online

The ASPCA heavily discourages against this. It’s best to see the puppy in person. And to support your local shelters whenever possible.
As far as puppy-raising advice goes, I could put a whole other article into that. So instead I’ll offer this. If you want advice in that area, I’m happy to help offer some which I’ve gained in my experience as a Vet Assistant. Feel free to ask me in the comments.
Have you ever used any websites to help you find your best friend? We’d love to hear about them or any experiences that you had along the way.
Image Credits: A Little Dog Licking A Boy’s Nose and A Basset Hound With His Ears Flying Away via Shutterstock; NextDayPets Logo via NextDayPets Facebook Page

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-puppy-finding-services-to-find-your-next-best-friend/

Google Introduces New Search Tools to Try to Read Our Minds

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

 

 

Ask for the population of India on Google, and you will also get the population of China and the United States, because Google knows those are the most common follow-up questions.

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Google keeps trying to read our minds.
The company revealed some new search tools on Wednesday at I/O, its annual developers conference. Taken together, they are another step toward Google’s trying to become the omnipotent, human-like “Star Trek” search engine that its executives say they want it to be.
When people ask Google certain questions, it will now try to predict the person’s follow-up questions and answer them, too. Ask for the population of India, for instance, and you will also get the population of China and the United States, because Google knows those are the most common follow-up questions.


“The ‘Star Trek’ computer shouldn’t just answer questions, it should make you more intelligent, should anticipate what you expect next,” said Amit Singhal, senior vice president for search at Google, in an interview before the conference.


This is an extension of Google’s knowledge graph — its semantic search product that aims to understand the meaning of things, not just keywords. It is why a search for Barack Obama brings up links to Hillary Clinton and Honolulu, for instance.


Google Now, the service that sends you information on traffic and weather before you even ask for it, is also digging deeper into our minds. Google is adding more entertainment alerts, like new music based on videos watched on YouTube, and turning Google Now into a robotic to-do list and a stronger competitor to Apple’s Siri. Tell Google to remind you to buy milk next time you are in a grocery store, for instance, and the alert will automatically pop up when you step in a Safeway.


Google is also trying to make search more conversational by encouraging people to talk to their phones and computers and hear answers out loud. Voice search has already been possible on both types of devices, but on Wednesday, Google announced that people can now talk to its Chrome browser to perform a search, by saying, “O.K. Google.” (If Google has its way, we will all soon be walking around shouting, “O.K.,” because “O.K. Glass” is the command to activate its Internet-connected glasses.)


Google also uses location information to answer questions. So people can ask, “How far from here to Santa Cruz?” and Google will know where “here” is, or they can ask, “How tall do you have to be to ride the Giant Dipper?” and Google will know that is a ride nearby.
In another step to personalize search, Google is expanding its tool that plucks information from Gmail and presents it in search results. Already, a search for “flights” by logged-in users produces flight information from Gmail. Now, you can ask Google to show your photos from your trip to New York last year, and it will find them on Google Plus and show them to you.
Underlying many of these developments is Google’s privacy policy, which it revised last year to permit the company to use information shared with one Google service on another one. That is why Google can, for instance, pull information from Gmail to show up in search results or send you alerts about new movies because of a trailer you have watched on YouTube.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/google-introduces-new-search-tools-to-try-to-read-our-minds/?partner=MYWAY&ei=5065

Firefox 21 Launches With New Social Integrations, Do Not Track Improvements, & More

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Firefox 21 Launches With New Social Integrations, Do Not Track Improvements, & More [Updates]

• May 15, 2013
  
• By Dave LeClair

Version 21 of Mozilla Firefox  is now available, with version 20 of the browser released only last month. Included in the latest version is the addition of multiple social providers, enhanced three-state UI for Do Not Track, and plenty of other items. The desktop update is available for Windows, Linux, and OS X. Firefox is also rolling out a gradual update on Google Play for Android users.

The biggest change comes in the form of the social integrations, with Cliqz, Mixi, and MSN Now added to the social mix. The browser first added Facebook integration back in December, and the inclusion of these services goes a long way towards making social integration an even larger part of the services offered.


If you’ve never heard of these services, allow me to explain them for you. Cliqz is designed as a place for users to find articles, stories, and videos based on your interests. Mixi, which is only available in Japan, is a social network. MSN Now is a place for users to find out what kinds of things people are talking about on the Web.





If you want to customize your Do Not Track status, the new version includes a three-state Do Not Track option: don’t track, track, and do nothing The update also includes some improvements to the way the browser handles HTML 5, specifically support for the <main> element and scoped stylesheets.
On Android, the main part of the update comes in the form of custom open source fonts Charis and Open Sans. It also adds the ability to save media files with a long tap, a new Holo interface, and other performance tweaks.
What’s your favorite feature in Firefox 21?
Source: TheNextWeb

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/firefox-21-launches-with-new-social-integrations-do-not-track-improvements-more-updates/

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Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 10 For Windows 7 [Updates]

• February 27, 2013
  
• By Dave LeClair

Microsoft is finally rolling out Internet Explorer 10 to users with Windows 7 installed on their machines. This is a huge user base, as Microsoft claims there are over 700 million customers still using Windows 7 as their operating system of choice. How many of those are still using Internet Explorer as their browser? According to StatCounter, just under 30% of Internet users are using IE.
Microsoft claims that Internet Explorer gives a real-world speed increase of 20% over IE9, which is certainly no small difference. Microsoft also cites studies that show that Internet Explorer 10 is the fastest browser available on Windows. Even with the speed increase, Microsoft also shows evidence that IE9 is the second fastest browser, edging out Firefox version 15.
Just like the Windows 8 version of IE10, the Windows 7 browser has a major focus on HTML 5. This seems like a smart move, as it’s clear that HTML 5 is taking over the web, and Microsoft has tools in place to help web developers make the most of it.
IE10 on Windows 7 also comes with the Do Not Track (DNT) feature for users concerned with privacy. By default it is on, but users can go to options and turn the DNT signal off if they prefer.





If you are making the switch to Internet Explorer 10, make sure you check out our Internet Explorer 10 tips and tricks article, as it will help you get started with the latest version of Microsoft’s browser.
Internet Explorer 10 is available for download now directly from Microsoft. With the improvements to speed and security, are you willing to give Internet Explorer another go on your Windows 7 machine? Are you going to stick with your current browser? Hit the comments section below and let us know.

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/microsoft-releases-internet-explorer-10-for-windows-7-updates/

WSJ: Web Browsers Are Reinvented

By JESSICA E. LESSIN

 

Bloomberg News

Google, which develops Chrome, has developed technologies that can be used for voice-recognition browsing.

Mobile phones, wearable devices and self-driving cars are generating buzz as the future of technology. But the old Web browser is being reinvented too, in a trend with implications for how consumers work and entertain themselves online.

The Web browser is being reinvented, with companies from Google to small startups adding new features such as the ability to synch across devices, Jessica Lessin reports. Photo: Google.

Companies from Google Inc. GOOG +1.09% to small startups are introducing new features, such as taking and syncing notes and files within the browser, voice-recognition, video calls and messaging. They are also reinventing the browser for newly connected devices like cars.
In one new front of experimentation, browser company Maxthon Ltd. will next month offer users the ability to sync downloads and local files across devices via its browser, in potential competition with file-sharing services like Dropbox Inc. Consumers will be able to download or send the data to a cloud storage account or other device running the browser from a drop-down menu within the browser. The company already offers the ability to take and sync notes in the browser.

 

Maxthon Browser company Maxthon Ltd. will next month offer users the ability to sync downloads and local files across devices via its browser.

The little-known software, which Maxthon says has some 120 million monthly users, more than half of them in China, aims to capitalize on consumers' desires to access their files from a range of devices. The company offers browsers for desktops, mobile phones, tablets and even in-car systems. Earlier this year, Maxthon announced a deal with Pioneer Electronics to enable users to browse the Web from an in-car touch-screen device.
"It's clear we're shifting to a multi-device world and that creates a lot of pain points," says Karl Mattson, vice president and general manager of Maxthon, which has about 220 employees. "The browser is the natural frame for this," he says.
The browser industry may have appeared staid in recent years, with the market dominated by tech giants such as Microsoft Corp., MSFT +2.23% Google and Apple Inc. AAPL -2.39% Microsoft's Internet Explorer remains the market-share leader for desktop browsers, according to Net Applications, with a 56% share of the desktop market globally. Apple's Safari browser leads on mobile phones and tablets, with 59% share, thanks to the popularity of the iPhone and iPad.

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Bloomberg
 

Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome and Apps at Google, speaks during the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Calif.

But behind the scenes, many companies have quietly been enhancing and reimagining the Web browser, as new technologies have made it possible to do numerous activities in the browser instead of through software downloaded to a computer or mobile device. The set of new programming techniques enabling the features is often referred to as HTML5.

Companies have opened up to "add-ons" and apps, allowing users to access features like games and third-party software from a homescreen. Earlier this year, Google, which develops the Chrome browser, released software that allows developers to add voice-recognition to their Web pages, so users can browse the Web by speaking. It also released a Chrome app for its Google Keep note-taking service that syncs notes directly with its Google Drive storage service.
Microsoft has been tailoring its Internet Explorer browser for touch, focusing on making it responsive and fast for tablets like its Surface. The latest version of Internet Explorer also is designed to work well with its SkyDrive storage service.

 

Maxthon

A Maxthon browser

Apps have stolen some thunder from browsers, especially as consumers find apps faster and more convenient to use than the Web. That has spurred some of the latest browser innovation.
Jay Sullivan, chief operating officer of browser maker Mozilla Corp., says browsing is going to become more social through new and easy ways to share what people are browsing with friends. "It will be more lively, quick and fun," he says.
Mozilla's Firefox browser has rolled out new features, such as the ability to integrate with social-networking sites so users can see updates and messages from Facebook Inc. FB +0.93% within the browser's frame. It is also testing the feature with Sina Corp.'s SINA +0.73% Weibo for Chinese users.
Mozilla also is working on embedded communication features. For instance, consumers could open up a chat screen within their browser and drag a video from a Web page into the screen to share immediately. Mozilla is also trying to persuade websites to adopt a new identity system called Persona that aims to eliminate passwords. It allows users to log into websites using existing accounts and passwords.
Past attempts to spiff up browsers haven't always taken off. Onetime Web-browser startup Rockmelt, which once trumpeted its integration with Facebook, says its desktop browser had 4.5 million users but will be discontinued in the next few months. It has changed course to become a discovery service for finding interesting Web content.
Tim Howes, Rockmelt co-founder and chief technology officer, said in a statement that "browsers today are just big dumb windows in [consumers'] way."
Some new browser features, like file-sharing, aim to replicate functions or Web services that are already easy to access across multiple devices through services like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Mr. Mattson of Maxthon says integrated features are more convenient for users. He likens some of the stand-alone services to "using a five-pound hammer to kill a mosquito" when something simpler within the browser will do.

Write to Jessica E. Lessin at jessica.lessin@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared May 14, 2013, on page B5 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Ye Olde Web Browser No More.

Source:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324031404578481180131997580.html

Chrome MS-Office Viewer Now Available

Windows and Mac only.

Chrome Office Viewer Now Available

By Vygantas | May 3, 2013 | 2 Comments

In case you are one of those rare individuals who does not use Microsoft Office, then Google has got you covered.
Thanks to a newly released “Chrome Office Viewer” extension, you can now view Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in your web browser, no Office required.
Sounds good? Give it a go.

Link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-office-viewer/gbkeegbaiigmenfmjfclcdgdpimamgkj/details?hl=en

Source: http://www.favbrowser.com/chrome-office-viewer-now-available/

A speedy, more secure way to view Microsoft Office files directly in Chrome

If you use a Chromebook, you’ve already been enjoying the ability to open Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files directly in your browser. Starting today, we’re excited to bring this same functionality to Chrome on Windows and Mac.

If you’re running Chrome Beta on Windows or Mac and install the Chrome Office Viewer (Beta) extension, you’ll be able to click a link to an Office file and open it directly in Chrome.

In addition to saving you time, the Chrome Office Viewer also protects you from malware delivered via Office files. Just like with web pages and PDFs, we’ve added a specialized sandbox to impede attackers who use compromised Office files to try to steal private information or monitor your activities.

To give it a try on Windows or Mac:

• Get Chrome Beta
• Install the Chrome Office Viewer (Beta) extension
• Start clicking your favorite Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint slides on the web

Since this extension is still in beta, we’d love to get your feedback. When you find issues, please click the “Report an issue” button while viewing the file to report a bug.

Posted by Jelte Liebrand, Software Engineer and Document Dynamo

Source: http://chrome.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-speedy-more-secure-way-to-view.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FEgta+%28Google+Chrome+Blog%29

Use Google Takeout To Download Your Data

What does Google Takeout do?

Google Takeout is a tool that lets you quickly and easily download data that you created in (or imported into) a number of Google products. It provides the data in a variety of open, portable formats so that you can easily import the data into other internet services.

The user can elect to export all of the available services or choose services from the above list. Takeout will then process the request and put all the files into a zip file. Takeout then optionally sends an email notification that the export is completed, at which point the user can download the archive from the downloads section of the website. The zip file contains a separate folder for each service that was selected for export.

Usage

Google Takeout processing an archive request

Users can select different services from the list of options provided. The services that can be exported as of February 21st, 2013 are as follows:

• Blogger posts
• Google+ +1s, Circles, Pages, and posts
• Google Buzz posts
• Google Contacts
• Google Drive files
• Google Latitude
• Google Profile
• Google Reader sites
• Google Voice settings
• Picasa albums
• YouTube videos

The user can elect to export all of the available services or choose services from the above list. Takeout will then process the request and put all the files into a zip file. Takeout then optionally sends an email notification that the export is completed, at which point the user can download the archive from the downloads section of the website. The zip file contains a separate folder for each service that was selected for export.

History

Google Takeout was created by the Google Data Liberation Front on June 28, 2011^[1] to allow users to export their data from most of Google's services. Since its creation, Google has added several more services to Takeout due to popular demand from users.^{[citation needed]}
Takeout started with exports of only Google Buzz, Google Contacts, Google Profile, Google Streams, and Picasa Albums.^[1] The next month, on July 15, 2011, Google added the export of Google +1's to the list after it was frequently requested by Takeout's users.^[2] Later in 2011 on September 6, Google added Google Voice to their export service.^[3] A big milestone was the addition of Youtube video exports to Takeout next year on September 26, 2012.^[4] Google took another big step with the addition of Blogger posts and Google+ pages on February 17th, 2013.^[5]

Criticism

While Google has been expanding the services included in Takeout, it still does not allow users to export of some other core Google services. Most notably, these include Google Search history, Google Talk chat history, and Google Wallet details.<sup>[6]

You can get to the site here: www.google.com/takeout</sup>