Installing the Android SDK on a headless server doesn’t seem to be very well documented. I recently needed to do this to get the SDK installed on a TeamCity build agent to automate Android builds and tests.
Below are some simple instructions to help you along the way. I’m using a Mac, so you may need to use slightly different commands if you’re using Linux.
Until now I’ve never actually had Google serve an error page to me. There have been times where I needed to reload Gmail or Google Plus, but today I saw a real error page delivered right to my browser by Google. It happened during a typical Google search and response was a 502, so I can only presume there was a problem with a back-end server that was grabbing my results. At first the instant search wasn’t working, then I was getting very limited results and finally I saw the pretty picture seen below. After about 15 seconds it was working completely normally again (that was fast Google!). Having been around so long and employing so many people I’m sure Google has some really great engineering going on to help with these sorts of failures. Cheers.
One of my hobbies is to verify the security and integrity of various software platforms and websites that I use day-to-day. Sometimes I spot some glaring insecurities, other times I don’t. Recently I discovered some cross-site scripting (XSS) exploits in the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin (version 4.1.2). Apparently some others noticed this as well and it was reported to the author who subsequently fixed the issue in the next revision (4.1.3). Now that all the responsible administrators have updated their websites–if you haven’t, please update immediately–I thought I’d explain how the exploit works.
It’s not a joke. Google just launched their new Page Speed Service and according to their tests the average performance improvement is between 25% and 60%!
(click to enlarge)
Help, Google says my website is infected! The ominous “Reported Attack Page!” and “Something’s Not Right Here” are phrases every webmaster dreads to see. Unfortunately cleaning up a hacked site can be a nightmare for webmasters, but in this article we’ll tackle the steps you can take to remedy the problem and get your site back into Google’s favor. If you’re seeing one of the below images, continue reading to understand where to go from here.
In a hurry? If you have no time to spare, just contact Sucuri Security for instant help resolving your problems.
Whether you’re a webmaster whose site has been flagged by Google or just a curious and careful internet browser, you may need some help in identifying potential threats on the web. Here are some useful tools I’ve used to help identify threats and a few ways to report threats to protect other users as well.
Footnote: Has Google flagged you as a “reported attack site”? Check out my guide on hacked sites to clean up your site and get back in business with Google! In a hurry? If you have no time to spare, just contact Sucuri Security for instant help resolving your problems.
Google has been fighting against malware-infected sites for a long time with Google Safe Browsing. More recently however, Google has started alerting users of malware-infected PCs!
After noticing “unusual search traffic while performing routine maintenance on one of [their] data centers, engineers at Google worked with security researchers and concluded “that the computers exhibiting this behavior were infected with a particular strain of malicious software.” After making this discovery they decided to fight back by putting a notification on any Google search made from an infected PC.
Google’s Damian Menscher writes, “[w]e hope that by taking steps to notify users whose traffic is coming through these proxies, we can help them update their antivirus software and remove the infections.” Whether or not this will become a regular practice at Google for newer strains of malware is unknown. Technical limitations could also prevent Google from recognizing some forms of malware without requiring the user to install a plugin or use a web applet (which would be unconventional for traditional search). Only time will tell.
Click here to perform a Google search and ensure you’re not infected (Windows OS only, Mac/Linux users are not affected).
Get the full details at The Official Google Blog.
iPhone users: your time has arrived! The Google+ app is now available in the app store! If you’re mobile browsing right now, you can click here to go straight to the download page. This makes the iPhone the second mobile device capable of running the G+ app, behind Google’s very own Android. The news was first leaked by Google employee Vic Gundotra and the first screenshots are available below.
The features available for iPhone match those available for Android devices and include the group messaging Huddle capability. For a closer look at what the mobile app can do, take a look at the video below.
It’s only been a short time since the launch of Google Plus (Google+/g+) on June 28th, but it’s already amassed a substantial amount of users. Several publications are speculating that it will reach 20 million users this coming week! With so much excitement about this latest service from Google I thought I’d take a moment to share some cool thing I’ve seen floating around the web. Rather than reinvent the wheel I’ll just point you to the original authors where necessary. 
If you don’t need any tips or tricks, why not visit Awesome Blog is Awesome to read some Google Plus Comics!
Google hasn’t made any official announcements regarding a public API, but there is already a mailing list you can sign up for that will let you know when one is available. If you’re a developer and you’re eager to get hacking on the Google Plus API, be sure to sign up! Knowing Google we’ll see an API released in the near future (though I suspect they still have quite a few features and bug fixes to put out first)!