Google shuts down Orkut today: How to back up your photos, scraps and communities

Today is September 30, the day Google has choosen to bid adios to Orkut. To many, Orkut was the first social networking site that got people across the globe to actually engage on the Internet. With time, many have abandoned their Orkut accounts in favour of Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

But what happens to all those scraps, photos and communities? Google has said that it will “preserve” public information in its archives. If your Orkut profiles still exists, you might want to revisit it one last time to make sure your information and personal conversations remain in safe hands. If you haven’t already, note that you only have the a few hours left to take some of these actions, so you’ll need to hurry.

Photos

You can export your photos to your Google+ account with this link http://www.orkut.com/AlbumsExport or save them to your computer. By default, the albums you export to Google+ will be set as private and only you will be able to see them. You won’t be able to log in to your account to see your photos or export your them to Google+ after today, though you have until September 2016 to save them to your computer using Google Takeout. Google Takeout lets you download your profile, received scraps, received testimonials activities and photos in a zip file. To do this:

1. Go to the Google Takeout page

2. Click Choose services and then select Orkut.

3. Click Create archive.

4. When it’s ready, click Download.

Communities

Google says on its blog that public communities will get added to Google’s archives once it dumps Orkut. All conversations including polls, topics and comments will be searchable and can be viewed publicly on the web. If you’ve created your own communities, deleting your profile won’t delete the communities you’ve created, but will only remove your name behind your comments. You will need to delete communities separately before deleting your profile.

Scraps and testimonials

All scraps get deleted by deleting your Orkut account, which is also the case with testimonials. As there’s more sentiment attached to testimonials, so you may choose to save all your testimonials to your computer using the Google Takeout service. As mentioned earlier, you’ll be able to save these until September 2016. However, note that you won’t be able to access any of your scraps or testimonials after you’ve deleted your account.

Here's how to hide, secure data on iPhones, iPads and Galaxy devices

Apple got a lot of attention last week when it released a new privacy policy along with a declaration that police can't get to your password-protected data.

Essentially, your photos, messages and other documents are automatically encrypted when you set up a passcode, with or without a fingerprint ID to unlock the phone. Apple says it cannot bypass that passcode, even if law enforcement asks.

Apple, Google and other tech companies have been trying to depict themselves as trustworthy stewards of personal information following revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been snooping on emails and other communications as part of an effort to identify terrorists. Apple is also trying to reassure customers about its commitment to security and privacy after hackers broke into online accounts of celebrities who had personal photos stored on Apple's iCloud service.

Beyond setting up passcodes, some phones have additional tools for hiding or securing sensitive photos and documents stored on the phone, particularly if you need to lend or show your phone to someone.

Apple's iPhones and iPads:
In the latest software update for mobile devices, iOS 8, Apple offers an easier way to hide photos from your collection in the Photos app. Simply press down on the photo or the thumbnail of it and tap "Hide."

However, the photo will still appear in individual albums, including a new one called "Hidden." You can go there to unhide hidden photos.

So why bother? This feature is mainly useful when you want to let people glance through your entire collection of photos. That could be when you're sitting with a friend in the same room or making a presentation before a large audience. You can hide embarrassing or incriminating photos such as naked selfies _ as long as you remain in control of the device. If you hand it to a friend and walk out, your friend can browse through the albums section.

Google Android L to offer by default Encryption

The Mobile Operating market has become source of competition for Apple and Android. Google has now announced that Android L will by default encrypted. Google which is launching its new mobile operating platform, Android L will provide no key as well. Hence, no information of the users will be up for hacking and also government agencies will not be available for accessing the data.

Google announced it after Apple said that all the devices that run on iso8 are encrypted by default. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that before devices were encrypted in few cases but users never really knew about it. He said that no one will be able to access the detail of the users not even Apple.

Apple said that the step has been taken in order to increase the privacy and security of the users. Google has also offered the similar feature so that it does not lose its user’s base.

Apple strapped computing to the wrist Tuesday with Apple Watch

Apple Watch is the most personal device we have ever created," Apple chief executiveTim Cook  said, while announcing the hotly-anticipated move into wearable computing.
The watch comes in two sizes and an array of choices of interchangeable, fashionable wrist straps.
Cook introduced Apple Watch with the "one more thing" introduction that was a trademark of iconic Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.