There is an old saying that to err us human but t0 totally **** things up requires a computer.
Or a server as Google discovered over the weekend when a human error ensured that every Google search carried the warning that the chosen site could damage your computer. You can read the official explanation here but what was more interesting was the reaction among net users. Have you ever seen naked fear dripping from your PC monitor as people discovered that stamp collecting in Tiera Del Fuego site or Mrs Johnson’s site dedicated to her pet parrot could destroy your hard drive, turn your MP3 collection into Michael Jackson’s Greatest Hits or your carefully scanned photograph collection has gone up in virtual flames.
The interesting thing is that the error was a momentary screw up; blink and 99 per cent of cyberworld missed it, but there is the underlying feeling that if the Big G balls up this time it could happen again and as we all know that would mean the end of civilisation as we know it!
I am not a Google basher. I use Gmail, Google Docs and other cloud offerings but there is a growing feeling that things might not be right in paradise.
Steve Rubel believes that there is something rotten in the woodwork and that there is a change in the way that Google monitors surfing habits through cookies. The thing is with Steve is that these are not the rantings of a paranoid flat-earther, so it might well be just as well to keep a sharper eye on what goes on in and comes out of Mountain View.
In the meantime I am going to take a closer look at what Zoho is up to these days.
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