profiles

Google Profiles lets you say more about yourself

The ongoing saga of Google's attempt to "get" social media has been full of so many disappointments--and more recently, so much silence--that sometimes it seems like the company has just given up on it entirely.

Whether Google's still working on a massive operation slated to take a bite out of Facebook's market share remains the stuff of rumor, but it has been making a subtle move here and there. Yesterday, the blog Google System noticed that Google's member profiles have undergone some notable interface changes like click-to-edit functionality. There are new fields to … Read more

At your service(s)

Programs like automatic update checkers and "helper" apps create Windows services that on startup whether you use them or not. You can manage Windows services from the Windows Task Manager or Microsoft Management Console, but it can be tedious to turn services on and off that way. Mz Services Manager is a free tool that builds on Windows' native services management capabilities with custom services profiles. You can create special gaming profiles, or a home theater profile, or custom profiles optimized for specific software or processes, then save them and load them almost instantly.

Mz Services Manager's … Read more

U.K. holds best Facebook profile picture competition

Few things define the modern human being more immediately than their Facebook profile picture.

Does yours say you are cute but witty? Or gormless and insecure? Do you show your full, glorious body? Or do you merely show your eyes, nose, and cheek, taken from your favored left side? Or are you one of those who simply shows your overfed, crabby cat?

Your choices could be even more crucial if you happen to live in the UK and enter the country's best Facebook profile picture competition.

Oh, yes, there is one.

The commercial excuse appears to be that Blinkbox, … Read more

Samsung Profile review: A familiar texting phone

U.S. Cellular's Samsung Profile is an eerily familiar messaging phone.

Although it's purpose-built for texting, it's quite basic when it comes to other communications. However, if phone calls and text messages are your primary interest, the Profile is a good fit. There is an e-mail app you can download and a service you can opt into, however.

Call quality on U.S. Cellular's roaming network was quite good in our San Francisco tests, though we'd recommend you try the phone in-store to see how it sounds in your region.

The Profile costs $39.99 … Read more

Spotlight on: Samsung Profile for U.S. Cellular

New or existing U.S. Cellular customers looking for a new phone should keep the Samsung Profile (SCH-r580) in mind. The QWERTY messaging slider looks like so many other Samsung handset before it. In particular, it's the spitting image of the Samsung Intensity II and the kissing cousin of the Samsung Restore (minus the latter's eco awareness, and both models' colorful accents.)

Given the cloning that Samsung is wont to do, the specs are unsurprising. The Profile has a 2.4-inch QVGA display (320x240 pixels), a 2-megapixel camera with camcorder, Bluetooth support, and a microSD card slot that … Read more

LinkedIn's CEO on perks of keeping profiles fresh

Correction: The headline of this story has been changed to address an inaccuracy with how many LinkedIn users were updating their profiles.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Any perceptions of LinkedIn being a place where people fill out their profile information then come back to it only when job hunting have been squashed by the company's CEO.

Responding to an audience member's statement that 99 percent of users who come on the service never come back to update during an on-stage interview at the Demo Fall conference, LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner responded by saying "thankfully, less than 99 percent … Read more

Fashion faux pas

There are people who believe in astrology and people who don't, and even those who do have to admit that sometimes people just make stuff up. Mystic Board seems to specialize in software that does just that, taking popular aspects of New Age spirituality and creating software that's only marginally related. MB Fashion Astrology is but one more example of this.

Like all Mystic Board programs, MB Fashion Astrology's interface is cluttered with ads. The program asks for the user's full first, middle, and last names--which have absolutely no bearing on the results--and the user's … Read more

Yahoo Pulse

Ah, Stevenote day! I am usually lined up outside the Yerba Buena Center by now when Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage but today I am comfortably observing from my New York City office.

I both love and hate the hysteria that goes on around an Apple event. Part of me wonders why we can't all hold our horses and just see what happens. But no! We must speculate, rumor hound, pontificate! This is the bloggosphere, darnit! We must work ourselves up over this, by God!

So be it. We will have a summary of today's Apple … Read more

McAfee updates firewall hardware for enterprises

McAfee announced Tuesday the release of its new Firewall Enterprise 8 appliance, touting it as the next generation in firewall devices. The company is targeting the new firewall at security administrators trying to protect their networks from the growing threats of malware and hackers.

IT administrators will be able to set up and enforce policies to filter out thousands of different applications that can sometimes sneak past traditional firewalls, according to McAfee. By tapping into McAfee's cloud-based services and networks, users of the new Firewall Enterprise hardware should be able to keep up with newly developed malware and other … Read more