Google announced that they will be revising their privacy policies and data use, combining more than 60 policies into one, so that all Google services, including Gmail, Google+ and YouTube will share a single privacy policy. This new policy will come into effect on 1st March, 2012, and Google has promised to send an email to all users, as well as post it on their homepage Google.com.

I’ve been wondering, though, since most of us use so much of Google’s products and services, if we are not agreeable to their new terms and conditions, what would happen, then? We’d have to be forced to agree so that we could continue using the services!

My friend just told me that his hard disk is showing a red warning and he has to delete some of his files to make way. We photographers are always facing the problem of running out of disk storage. I am heading that way as well, and have bought a large external hard disk to store my files but I am looking for a good online backup as well, to keep the most important photos. That’s called double backup!

I tell you, it is not easy to look for good online backup services. I have tried a few, but end up having to move my files when they close down. I just found a list of top three online backup services, though, and plan to sign up with one of them. I like this list as it gives me comprehensive information on what features are available for each of them. Surely, I can expect a good online backup service to be free, but I do need to know clearly what are the features and value-added services, if any, that I am paying for.

This list on the top three online backup services helps me a lot, especially the in-depth review. Check it out at www.wpdesigner.com/online-backup if you are interested.

*** This post has been sponsored.

I read that Megaupload is dead because of US Justice Dept. I tried connecting to my account via Mega Manager just now. I am not able to do that. I don’t remember what files or videos I have on my account, and now, I have no way to find out, unless I track back to all my blog postings to check one by one.

I also read that it has caused a backlash from Anonymous. I wonder if we could our accounts restored and get back our files stored with Megaupload if Anonymous wins.

Megaupload is about file sharing, no doubt. But not all files are pirated files, and some of us use the service to store files. Bah!!!

Facebook is no longer fun to use, at least for me. No doubt, I still play ONE Facebook game, and I still share my blog posts to the public through Facebook. And once in a while, I do mind someone else’s business by checking their wall and photo albums.

If you noticed, I never visit the Timeline. Well, not for many months now already. And with the launch of Open Graph, which allows many apps to post updates automatically on what users of said apps were doing, the Timeline would be spammed. And I don’t want to see that.

It is a pity really, to witness the disintegration of what used to be a fun social networking website. It’s no longer fun now. In fact, it stresses me out with that much of extra useless information.

A friend asked me what newspaper I read and was surprised to learn that I no longer buy newspaper. In fact, I haven’t bought any for years because I read everything from online news portals and websites. It’s convenient, saves plenty of money and news updates are quick. I know some older people still reading hard copy newspaper but luckily, my parents are changing with times too.

If you live in North Georgia and would love to read community news, like me, you should check out Smoke Signals, an online news portal for North GA News. They do have a printed edition but for me, I really prefer to read news online because it is a lot faster, convenient and clean!

For its online edition, besides news, it has a very informative classifieds page that provides useful information to the community, especially when it comes to looking for a job, or a general worker. Also, one important aspect is that advertisers could easily reach out to targeted readers.

In addition, readers could easily check out the best places to dine in the area, and where to look for the best wineries in North Georgia! Just by reading Smoke Signals, one could have all these information without wasting time searching all over the internet.

*** This post has been sponsored.

I’ve just got my hands on a brand new device. I didn’t buy it. It was a gift, a small gift since it’s just 8GB, and I just checked Apple Store, it’s selling at US$199 only. Oh well, if I was the one buying, I would have bought a tablet. At least it has a larger screen size, so I could work on it more comfortably.

As it is, right now, I already have an Android smart phone, a Nokia smart phone, an iPhone and now, iPod Touch. Agh… they all work almost the same, right? I need tablet! What should I do with my spanking new 8GB white iPod Touch?

According to a report, the number of internet users worldwide last year hit 2.1 billion. The break down of this number according to geographical location is as follows:

922.2m in Asia
476.2m in Europe
271.1m in North America
215.9m in Latin America and the Caribbean
118.6m in Africa
68.6m in the Middle East
21.3m in Oceania and Australasia

The number of internet users in China was 485 million.

As for the number of websites, there were 555 million, 300 million of them were added just last year.

Facebook alone had over 800 million users, some 200 million accounts were set up in 2011. 350 million Facebook users logged in via mobile phones.