Twitter is, by far, the most popular microblogging service on the web. So popular, in fact, that it has been the target of a recent phishing attack. Twitter New (twitter-new.com) is this attack. The site’s homepage is a pretty good impersonation of Twitter’s, and the login screen is rather convincing. So, armed with an internet connection and a dummy Twitter account, we decided to go digging. (more…)

It all started when Apple refused to allow Flash to run on their iOS platform. We are seeing a decline in the amount of Flash around the web. Many have declared the platform ‘dead’ and have pushed for HTML5 to replace it. But, the war may not be over just quite: YouTube and Google are starting a push to bring back flash and to try and breathe new life into this supposedly dead standard. (more…)

Once again, we’re reporting on a phishing scam. But this one’s a biggie. Here’s an email.

From: Googlemail Service <servingusers@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 7:41 PM
Subject: Legal Notice

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

The Gmail Team is working on total security on all accounts and because of this security upgrade, we require all Gmail members to verify their account with Google.
To prevent your account from disability you will have to update your information by clicking the reply button and filling the space below.

Contact Phone number:
Date Of Birth:
Country:
Pass  Word:

NOTE: Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
Thank you for using Gmail!

The Gmail Team

This message is a complete and utter lie. We have to stress here that you SHOULD NOT REPLY to this email, and you should delete it immediately. You will not loose your Google account. Please, if you get this email, delete it and tell your friends to do the same. Exploring Tech would like to thank @Shaun_R for the tip-off.

After the recent spate of growing concerns over privacy on social networking giant Facebook, it appears that the company has decided to listen. Kind of. They are rolling out new, simpler privacy settings to users, which will allow us to have a clearer understanding of who can see our stuff. Facebook’s defaults are still mostly public though, but it is at least a step into the right direction. The company is still not completely out of hot water yet though, with some outlets calling it a ‘red herring’, but only time will tell if Facebook has actually decided to sit up and care.

>> Introduction to Facebook’s new privacy settings
>> Change your Facebook privacy settings

Twitter is one of the fastest-growing social spaces on the net, and it’s popularity has spawned a number of great websites and applications that allow you to extend the Twitter ‘experience’. I have compiled a list of some of the most useful Twitter things that I use, and so, without further ado, I would like to present: Ten Terrific Twitter Things.

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May 31 has been declared ‘Quit Facebook Day’. Growing concerns over privacy issues and what Facebook does with its users data has prompted Matthew Milan and Joseph Dee to launch a campaign against the social networking giant, claiming that they “don’t think Facebook has much respect for you or your data, especially in the context of the future”. At the time of writing, 13898 people have ‘committed’ to quitting Facebook.

So, with this recent wake of privacy concerns and general distrust of Facebook, will you be quitting? And if you’re not, what are you doing to keep your data safe? Let us know in the comments, and I’ll put together a guide on keeping your information safe based on your ideas.

>> Quit Facebook Day website
>> How to delete your Facebook account

Facebook has long been ‘the’ social networking site. Ever since the site crushed rival Myspace early in 2009, the site has been growing stronger, offering great features, connections with long lost friends, an amazing array of applications, a unified design and complete privacy control. When Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild launched in 2004 (only to Harvard students at the time), it promised that everything that went on your Facebook, was for you and your friends eyes only: if you put something up, you had complete control over who could see it. This extremely attractive promise must have been enticing for many, and probably contributed to the site’s 400 million-strong user base. (more…)

Namco’s famous Pac-Man turns thirty today, and in honor of the little yellow ball thing, search giant Google has replaced their logo with a representation of the game, with the borders within spelling ‘Google’. This is not unusual, Google often replaces their logo with so-called ‘doodles’ to celebrate anniversaries and events, but this time there’s something different. Google’s Pac-Man logo is playable. Simply press the ‘Insert Coin’ button (formerly ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’) to play, and use the arrow keys. Push ‘Insert Coin’ again to get Ms Pac-Man, who can be moved with the ‘wasd’ keys. I just completed a level myself, before writing this post. So, what are you waiting for? Play Pac-Man!

>> Google Pacman Homepage (Archived by google)

We here at Exploring Tech use Word Press as the backbone of our site, but what do you run? Vote below, and make sure you comment, especially if you picked ‘other’, or if you just want to link to your blog – do it!

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Last Thursday, Wikipedia changed their look. The extremely popular online wiki-encyclopedia changed their default look to the new ‘Vector’ theme, to mainly good reviews. The folks over at Wikipedia HQ have also added some other subtle changes. The Wikipedia puzzle ball logo has been completely rendered out in 3D, the logo font has changed, and they’ve made the editor a heap easier to use.

>> Wikimedia Blog
>> Wikipedia on the new features
>> Wikipedia (en)

I, for one, love the new Wikipedia design, but, what do you think? Comment below, remembering that you can now comment using your Twitter or Facebook ID.