Google tops expectations in Q3

Google handily topped expectations with its third-quarter results and allayed concerns about the economy's effect on search advertising, writes Cnet.

Google reported third-quarter earnings of $2.73 billion, or $8.33 a share, on revenue of $7.51 billion, excluding traffic acquisition costs. Non-GAAP [generally accepted accounting principles] earnings were $9.72 a share in the third quarter.

Wall Street was looking for earnings of $8.74 a share on revenue of $7.22 billion. Going into Google earnings, analysts were primarily concerned about the Motorola Mobility deal, the economy and Facebook's traction.

The UK's analogue TV signals will be officially turned off on 24 October 2012, reveals the BBC.

The last region to enjoy the old style TV broadcasting system will be Northern Ireland and its analogue transmitters will be shut down on that date.

The switch-off brings the curtain down on a transmission technology that lasted for 80 years.

A Mississippi woman has accused Facebook of violating federal wiretap statutes by tracking her Internet browsing history even when she wasn't logged onto the social networking site, notes The Register.

In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in the northern district of Mississippi, Brooke Rutledge, of Lafayette County, Mississippi, also asserted claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, trespassing, and invasion of privacy.

The complaint, which seeks class-action status so other users can join, comes three weeks after Australian blogger Nik Cubrilovic published evidence that Facebook 'Like' buttons scattered across the Web allowed Facebook to track users' browsing habits even when they were signed out of their accounts.

Members of the infamous hacking collective Anonymous range from housewives to information security professionals, according to a panel of security experts who claim to have infiltrated the group, says V3.co.uk.

Speaking to the press at RSA Conference Europe, Akamai director of security intelligence Joshua Corman argued that the group has a diverse range of constituents, with varying levels of technological know-how.

Some are “very political”, some are housewives, some have no hacking skills - while others are so-called “greyhats” with day jobs in information security, and a lot are students, he said.