This Blog won't harm your computer!

If you did a Google search between 6:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time and 7:25 a.m. PST this morning, you likely saw that the message "This site may harm your computer" accompanied each and every search result. This was clearly an error, and Google have apologised for the inconvenience caused to their users.

What happened? Very simply, human error. Google flags search results with the message "This site may harm your computer" if the site is known to install malicious software in the background or otherwise surreptitiously. They do this to protect users against visiting sites that could harm their computers.

Unfortunately (and here's the human error), the URL of '/' was mistakenly checked in as a value to the file and '/' expands to all URLs. Fortunately, Google's on-call site reliability team found the problem quickly and reverted the file. The duration of the problem for any particular user was approximately 40 minutes.

Your old computer

 

What do you do when your computer gives up the ghost? It seems that most people simply scrap it and throw it out with the rubbish or take it directly to the tip. If you are in that category, beware!

Even when we think we have deleted files they tend to remain on our hard drive and can only be removed with expensive professional software. Computers that are simply thrown away often contain tons of information which, in the wrong hands, can be used fraudulently. A far safer option is to give the computer to a reputable charity such as Computer-aid. For a small fee (around £9.00) they will collect old computers to refurbish them for use abroad in the Third World or for learning projects in this country. Charities such as these will use proper professional software to wipe the hard drive before passing them on.

Another alternative is to keep the hard drive - assuming it's not kaput, and simply add it to your new computer to give you a back up drive or extra Gb.