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IT'S TUESDAY, MARCH 1. I'M NATALI MORRIS, AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*] A SMALL NUMBER OF GMAIL USERS COMPLAINED OF
LOSING ALL OLD MESSAGES AND CHAT RECORDS OVER THE WEEKEND. APPARENTLY THIS ONLY AFFECTED
0.29 PERCENTAGE OF GMAIL USERS BUT CONSIDERING THE NUMBER OF GMAIL USERS, THAT WAS ENOUGH
TO CAUSE A STIR. TOTAL EFFECTED USERS CAME TO ABOUT 150-THOUSAND. GOOGLE IS BLAMING THIS
ON A SOFTWARE UPDATE. THEY FIXED IT AND THE AFFECTED USERS WERE ABLE TO RECOVER THEIR
DATA. [*]
FACEBOOK IS PLANNING TO RESUME A FEATURE THAT LETS USERS TO SHARE THEIR PHONE NUMBER AND
ADDRESS WITH FACEBOOK APPS. THIS FEATURE WAS DISABLED IN JANUARY BUT FACEBOOK SAYS THAT
IT IS PLANNING TO BRING IT BACK WITH ENHANCED CONTROLS FOR USERS TO CLEARLY ALLOW OR DISALLOW
THIS. THE COMPANY SAYS THAT IT IS CONSIDERING MAKING THIS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MINORS BUT IS STILL
NOT DECIDED ON THAT FRONT. [*]
AT&T CUSTOMERS CAN NOW GET COUPON AND DISCOUNT ALERTS WHEN THEY WALK BY PARTICIPATING RETAILERS
WITH SHOPALERTS BY AT&T. THIS IS A LOCATION BASED SERVICE THAT TELLS YOU WHEN LOCAL RETAILERS
ARE HOSTING OFFERS. FOR NOW, IT WILL ONLY WORK IN CHICAGO, LA, SAN FRANCISCO, AND NEW
YORK. AT&T ALSO ANNOUNCED THAT AT&T STORES WILL START SELLING THE 3G KINDLE ON MARCH
3. THE 3G KINDLE RUNS ON AT&T'S NETWORK. [*]
A NEW FACEBOOK APP LETS YOU VIDEO CHAT WITH YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS INSIDE THE SITE. IT
IS CALLED SOCIAL EYES. IT LETS YOU VIDEO CHAT WITH UP TO 7 PEOPLE AT A TIME. ITS LIKE A
CONFERENCE CALL INSIDE OF FACEBOOK. THE APP IS IN BETA. YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE AT SOCIALEYES-DOT-COM.
[*] GOOGLE'S STREET VIEW TEAM HAS TAKEN TO TRICYCLES.
THE STREET VIEW TEAM ROAMS THE WORLD AND PHOTOGRAPHS IT FOR GOOGLE MAPS. THEY STARTED WITH CARS
AND THEN WENT TO BICYCLES AND NOW TRICYCLES. THEY CALL IT THE TRIKE. IT'S A MODIFIED THREE-WHEEL
VEHICLE THAT CAN TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS WHERE CARS AND BIKES CANNOT AND CAPTURE 360-DEGREE VIEWPOINTS.
[*] YOU MAY HAVE BEEN WONDERING WHEN THE INTERNET
WOULD FINALLY LET YOU BOOK YOUR OWN PRIVATE JET. WELL WONDER NO LONGER. FLYRUBY IS A NEW
SITE THAT LETS YOU CHARTER YOUR OWN PRIVATE JET BECAUSE APPARENTLY THERE IS A NEED TO
AUTOMATE THAT KIND OF TRANSPORTATION. IT HELPS YOU BOOK YOUR TRIP WITHIN A NETWORK OF PRIVATE
JET OPERATORS. A CONVENIENT BUT NOT VERY GREEN WAY TO TRAVEL.
[*] THERE IS A NEW ANDROID VIRUS ON THE LOOSE
CALLED STEAMY WINDOW. IF IT GETS ON YOUR DEVICE, IT WILL INSTALL OTHER APPLICATIONS AND INFECT
YOUR MOBILE BROWSER. IT ALSO SENDS SILENT TEXT MESSAGES, RUNNING UP YOUR TEXTING BILL
WITHOUT YOU KNOWING IT. THESE TEXTS ARE SENT TO PREMIUM RATE NUMBERS WHICH THE HACKERS
ARE PAID FOR. NEEDLESS TO SAY, DO NOT DOWNLOAD STEAMY WINDOW.
[*] AND FINALLY, EXPECT TO SEE A LOT OF NEWS ABOUT
JUSTIN BIEBER TODAY. THE TEENAGE POP SENSATION TURNS 17 TODAY AND FOR HIS BIRTHDAY, HE IS
TURNING TO FUNDRAISING ON TWITTER. HE WOULD LIKE EVERYONE TO GIVE $17 FOR HIS 17 YEARS
TO CHARITY WATER, AN ORGANIZATION THAT PROVIDES CLEAN WATER TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. ITS A
GOOD THING TO DO EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A BELIEBER. [*]
THAT IS YOUR NEWS FOR THE DAY. SEE YOU TOMORROW. I'M NATALI MORRIS FOR CNET AND YOU'VE JUST
BEEN LOADED.