Now pointlessly enhanced with AI
Earlier today I was having trouble making calls using Google Voice via Hangouts. Once I arrived at the office, some colleagues complaint that Gmail was down. It turns out Google did have service outages.
I (proudly and foolishly) rely on Google Voice to do my job. Days like these would certainly grant me extra hours of slacking.
Coincidentally (and ironically), Google’s Reliability Team was doing Reddit AMA right before the outages happened.
We’ve been getting reports from a lot of people that they are also getting the fake Picasa email.
First and foremost, Picasa (Google) does not send you any email regarding your photos. There are no Picasa Photo Contest. Picasa does not actively “search” for your damaged photos.
Here are some screenshots of the phishing spam emails:
Google to acquire Nest Labs as revealed in their press release earlier today.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – JANUARY 13, 2014 — Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash.
Oh wait, there’s already a company named Nestlé. Probably you’ve heard of it.
From Nest Labs blog post:
Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?
Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.
John Gruber asked a good question regarding Google’s acquisition of Nest Labs:
Does Google acquiring Nest change Apple’s mind about selling Nest products in Apple Stores?
For sure this would be an interesting turn of event.
From the Official Gmail Blog:
Have you ever started typing an email to someone only to realize halfway through the draft that you haven’t actually exchanged email addresses? If you are nodding your head ‘yes’ and already have a Google+ profile, then you’re in luck, because now it’s easier for people using Gmail and Google+ to connect over email.
Wait, what did he say?
The post continues:
Your email address isn’t visible to a Google+ connection unless you send that person an email, and likewise, that person’s email address isn’t visible to you unless they send you an email.
The problem with this latest move by google is that users are automatically opted in to this feature. It’s time to opt out and hoped that it would send Google a message.
By the way, Gmail users should be getting the notifications on their Gmail.
Shortly after I updated my Nexus 4 from Android KitKat 4.4 to 4.4.2 and finding out that tethering was still broken, I downgraded to Android Jelly Bean 4.3.
The downgrading process included unlocking the bootloader and installing Nexus 4 Android Jelly Bean 4.3 factory image.
Within the hour I once again have a functional Nexus 4 mobile hotspot.
I do not use the Nexus 4 as a phone. I don’t even know what the phone number is.
If you’re using your Nexus 4 as a mobile hotspot on T-Mobile USA network, stay away from Android KitKat.
Sometimes on Thursday, December 12, 2013 both my Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 received the Android KitKat 4.2.2 update. My colleague’s Nexus 5 received the update on Wednesday, December 11, 2013.
After updating to Android 4.2 KitKat, I tested the tethering and mobile hotspot feature. It is even more broken than before, specifically within T-Mobile USA network. If your Nexus 4 still running Android Jelly Bean 4.3 and you use it as a mobile hotspot, avoid Android KitKat at all cost.
