If you are a techie and knows how to find bugs in any website (read: hacker), then Facebook will pay you $500 if you can identify security glitches in the social network.

Facebook said in a blog post that they are offering a monetary bounty for “certain qualifying” security bugs. The site says it is their way of “showing appreciation for security researchers.”

The blog post proceeded that the “first person to responsibly disclose” a bug that could compromise the integrity or privacy of Facebook user data would be eligible for a bounty of $500.

The social network says their security team will assess the bugs reported if they qualify. It also added that the $500 bounty could also be increased depending to the type or degree of the threat of the bug reported.

Google will help you find a hotel on your next trip.

That is because the internet giant launched a new tool for finding hotels after purchasing a leading flight software company earlier this year.

The new service called Hotel Finder, according to Google software engineer Andrew McCarthy, is an “experimental search tool” which is designed to help users not only to find hotels, but to book hotels online as well.

Hotel Finder interfaces with Google Maps in helping users refine their choice by geographic area. It also uses various criteria in narrowing down choices, among which are price, number of stars, and user ratings.

The service is restricted to the United States as of this time.

The latest updated version of the Microsoft’s Web browser, Internet Explorer 9, was said to have been downloaded more than 2 million times within the first 24 hours it was released, or a rate of 27 downloads per second, according the Exploring IE Blog.

Since Google’s Chrome has effectively been biting into its market share, after Mozilla’s Firefox, Microsoft deemed it’s about time it gets back its place in the browser war, via IE9.

The new features of IE9 reportedly matches those of Chrome’s — speed and a minimalist user interface. It also adds some its unique tricks: graphics hardware acceleration and the ability to pin site tabs to the Windows 7 task bar.

The Microsoft Web browser also includes the most advanced Tracking Protection feature available, allowing users to subscribe to lists of sites known to profile them for targeted marketing.

The catch? The new Internet Explorer version, unfortunately, only runs on Microsoft’s latest two operating system versions, which are Windows 7 and Vista. This practically limits IE9′s market growth to those using the said OS. But Microsoft said that this limitation would eventually get those people to upgrade into the two systems as well.

The IE Blog by MSN says “IE9 can can play HTML5 video in both the industry-standard H.264 format and the newer WebM format. With the WebM Project’s release of WebM Components for IE9 (Preview), Windows customers running IE9 can play WebM videos in Web pages. IE9 is the only browser today committed to supporting both formats directly.”

Click here if you want to download and test drive the new IE9.

With the anticipation of another super typhoon coming to the Philippines, Pagasa gets people updated with latest news via Twitter.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) announced that it will keep the public updated via Twitter under the name @dost_pagasa.

Keeping track of the weather through Twitter allows the people to follow up on the developments on the coming super typhoon Juan (international name: Megi) bearing the unpredictability of the weather.

Aside from their Twitter account, the public may also check on their website www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph.

“We would be able to inform the public on the arrival of the storm, the public storm warning signals and an every hour report. We are starting with typhoon ‘Juan’,” said Pagasa officer-in-charge Graciano Yumul.

“We only created our Twitter account past 12 noon last Friday (Oct. 15) and now we already have 5,000 followers. We are being followed by people from all walks of life, such as students and the media,” Yumul said.

The creation of the Twitter account of Pagasa is part of the “national government and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) program to address all the concerns of our kababayans,” which they say has proven to be an effective medium.

Yumul said the creation of the Twitter account is part of the “national government and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) program to address all the concerns of our kababayans. It has proven to be an effective medium.”

With more than 14,000 Filipinos having a Twitter account, Yumul believed that the social network site is so far the most effective means of disseminating information. At the same, he said, they were also deluge with requests that they also open a Facebook and Friendster account.

I have always wondered what cloud computing is, without even realizing that I was already doing it… yes, you are already doing it too.

Honestly, my first concept of cloud computing was uploading files to Google Docs, which I never did because I was weary of the files and documents’ security. And yet, I freely upload pictures to my facebook, multiply and frienster accounts.

Here’s a simple video presentation on cloud computing I found on CNN’s newsplus.

Simple, isn’t it? So, have you realized how you have been cloud computing all these years?

I was not really aware. Maybe because I was not really reading but just swiftly site-hopping that I didn’t notice the Facebook changes implemented recently until I was able to chance upon this CNN’s update on Facebook changes.

Undoubtedly, Facebook has now become one of the most popular social media on the internet. Personally, I have seen that everybody seems to be on Facebook these days… even those who refused to be on Friendster, Multiply, Hi5, Tagged, Twitter and what-have-you.

I’ve seen classmates from way back in elementary that I haven’t seen for ages, found some long-lost friends I’ve been searching for so long… all with the help of Face book.

Now is online social media is expanding with some changes that either be a boon or a bane, depending on how you would perceive it.

One of the most pronounced update is the “Like” button. I’m sure you’re familiar with the “Like” button on Facebook, which you click whenever you found a picture, status, video or a link interesting, and in essence recommending it to your friends.

Now, this “Like” button is no longer confined in Facebook as you can now see popping up all over the Internet. If only I knew how, I would put one here so you can also “like” this post.

And when you click that “like” button on a blog post, a photo or a celebrity web page, the action will show on your Facebook news feed. Your friends on Facebook would know what you “liked” outside the social site.

Your friends would know when you’re going what you are reading!

An effect of clicking the “like” button is that your profile picture on Facebook will show up on the site. If you “like” many blogs, photos and other websites, soon your profile picture would be scatter all over the net. Take note of that, especially if you are bordering on paranoia.

And then, there’s the new Facebook toolbar which can be added at the bottom of web pages. The toolbar lets you “like” a particular web page or item and gives you information about what your friends think of the page you’re viewing. With the new toolbar, you can also chat with friends who are online on Facebook without the need to visit the site.

I have yet to see a Facebook toolbar on my friends’ blogs though.

These are just some of the changes, which could be a sign of things to come and that is, Facebook will soon be everywhere!

A word of caution: Better check on privacy setting on your Facebook account. You may not want too much of your information going all over the web.

While the launch of the Apple iPad created a stir in the gadget market, it is not alone in the tablet computer category and actually have stiff competition from other companies who also have their own brand.

The Apple iPad was popular because of its high profile release and due to the many loyal followers of Apple.

But before you buy yourself that iPad that you want to get your hands on even before it was actually released, you might want to see these.

Here are just some of the known biggest rival of iPad when it comes to the table computer category.

The JooJoo
Originally known as “Crunchpad,” Joojoo was released in December 2009. It is a Linux-based tablet featuring only one physical button and a 12.1″ touch screen. JooJoo boasts of the “fastest” startup in the world, as it took only 9 seconds to connect to the internet.

It offers full HD video, a virtual keyboard designed for one-hand typing and a web browsing experience that uses touch navigation instead of traditional window browsing. The JooJoo features a 4GB solid state hard drive and can run for up to 5 hours on a full battery charge.

ExpoPC Slate
A windows-based tablet computer, ExpoPC allows for web browsing, streaming television and movies, and also apps and e-books. This tablet is also dubbed as a “finger driven PC.” It’s screen measures 8.9″ and is capable of HD resolution. It has a 32 GB hard drive and a webcam, which was a major lacking feature in iPad.

The ExpoPC Slate is expected to sell for $599.

ICD Vega
Announced in November 2009 and is expected to be released in the market in the first half of this year, the ICD Vega is another tablet computer that will give Apple iPad competition.

The Vega would be running the Android 2.0 operating system and it has a large 15.6″ touch screen, although there would be two smaller sizes to be released too. It will have a 32-GB internal SD storage, a removable charging dock/stand and ability to play on-demand Web TV, according to Innovative Converged Devices which produced the tablet.

Plastic Logic QUE proReader
Presented mostly as an eReader, the QUE proReader caters to business and professional. Developed by Plastic Logic, QUE comes in two models and priced from $649 to $799. It features full color on its 8 1/2″ x 11″ display and WiFi connectivity. QUE is 1/3″ thick and is operated using touch screen interface.

The QUE is expected to launch in April 2010 and plans to use the Barnes & Noble bookstore for its eBook sales.

Notion Ink Adam
The Ink Adam is expected to be released mid-summer of 2010 at a price of $327, with more robust models priced up to $800.This tablet can support 1080p high definition video on its 10″ screen and also features a 3 megapixel camera.

The device 3G connectivity, as well as a multitasking interface that utilizes the Android operating system, which allows the user to run applications concurrently.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t
The Lenovo IdeaPad thus far features the most powerful hardward of all the iPad rivals.

It has a 10″ touch screen, up to 250GB hard drive space a traditional keyboard that allows 180 degree screen rotation. The device is a middle-ground product between full tablets and netbooks.

The IdeaPad price starts around $600.

So, do you still want an Apple iPad? Or would like to have any one of these iPad competitors instead?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have at least two for comparison?

These are just six of the of the new tablet computers, there were actually 12 iPad competitors. To see all of them, check out the report from the Yahoo! Shopping page: Tablet Wars: The 12 Biggest iPad Competitors.

Not that I want you to get more confused.

The Webby Awards has released the list of Top 10 Internet moments of the decade, and it includes Wikipedia, Barack Obama, YouTube and Twitter.

Launched in 1996, the annual Webby awards are judged by 650-member academy.

David-Michel Davies, executive director of the awards said, “The Internet is the story of decade because it was the catalyst for change in not just every aspect of our everyday lives, but in everything from commerce and communication to politics and pop culture.”

“The recurring theme among all of the milestone on our list is the Internet’s capacity to circumvent old systems and put more power into the hands of ordinary people,” he added.

And the Webby Awards list of  Top 10 most influential internet moment of the decades are:

- the launch of online encyclopedia Wikipedia in 2001 which “epitomizes the Internet’s power to bring strangers from around the world together to collaborate on projects both big and small.”;

- the use of the Internet in the US presidential campaign in 2008 which “transformed every aspect of the way election campaigns are fought.”;

- the launch of Google AdWords in 2000, the Google’s targeted text ad system which “turned advertising on its head.”;

- the expansion of Craigslist, an online classified site, outside San Francisco in 2000;

- Google’s initial public offering in 2004;

- the shutting down of file-sharing site Napster in 2001;

- the opening of Facebook to the masses in 2006;

- Apple’s iPhone debut in 2007;

- the online video revolution led by YouTube in 2006; and

- this year’s protests of the Iranian elections, which were mobilized through social media including Twitter.

Were you ever wary of what information you have provided Google and how the internet giant is using it? With the new tool released by Google, you can find out. Introducing the Google Dashboard which was released by the company last Thursday.  It lets users see and control data that the company has collected about them.

The new service provides an online summary of a user’s files with Google, in Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa photos, and so on, by collecting privacy controls in one place. With the Dashboard, users can review delete recent Google searches, see what was documents were recently opened and shared, and survey their interactions with other Google-powered sites such as YouTube.

Recently, Google has come under fire from politicians and privacy advocates for its data-collection practices. In its official Google blog, it headlined, “Transparency, Choice and Control – now complete with a Dashboard!”

It’s like seeing all your Google accounts in one place (finally!), as long as you’re using the same e-mail address on all of them. Which would explain why I can’t see some of my accounts

It is still too early to tell whether it would be a hit or a miss, but the idea of having control over your data sounds like a good idea. However, as some reviews have mentioned about it, it doesn’t remove the control from Google either over your information.

I first heard about Google Wave from a friend’s blog who dedicated a post seeking for an invite. It’s the first time I heard about it, so I made a little research and found that my friend is not alone in his quest to get a Google Wave invite!

And I said to myself, “What’s all the fuzz about this Google Wave?” Some even made videos on YouTube just to ask for an invite! What is Google Wave really? In my search, I was led to a CNN article which features the genius brothers behind Google Wave.

They are Lars and Jens Rasmussen, the same team who were responsible for today’s Google Maps. An application that saved them from being broke and jobless.

According to them, “Google Wave will kill e-mail.”

Google Wave, even the brothers admit, is hard to describe. It’s your e-mail, instant messaging system and social networking all rolled into one - and then some. And all of this done in real time!

Think of it as chatting through your e-mail, or e-mailing in your chat lines and getting instant replies when your friend is online. As the description says, you can see what you’re friend is typing because they will appear in your screen letter by letter as he/she types them.

Wow! I really feel Jurassic! Considering that I am not even comfortable in instant messaging and then this!

The application even boasts of online translation as you communicate with friends with different languages.

Here are a couple of YouTube presentation to help you understand Google Wave better… I hope…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDu2A3WzQpo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS9AbePnE08

Unfortunately, Google Wave is available only by invites. Which explains why you can see almost everybody begging for it. According to the Wikipedia entry it was “Initially released only to developers, a “preview release” of Google Wave was extended to nearly 1 million users beginning September 30, 2009, with the initial 100,000 users each allowed to invite up to twenty additional users.”

A very limited number it is. Which makes me want to ask, why boast of a very powerful application when there are only a few people who can use it? Would you be happy to get access knowing that you can’t reach through your friends with it when you didn’t get an invite?

Darn! Now, I want to get an invite!

Still couldn’t get it? You can watch the one-hour video here or read about it from the official Google blog.