Google Drive is a new implementation of Google Docs that maps all your Google Docs to a local folder, and provides syncing across multiple computers and 5GB of free storage. It also tracks 30 days of document changes, so you can roll a document back to a recent version, and integrates smoothly with the popular Gmail service. For more details, read this introduction from Gizmodo.

Last year over 500 million computers were infected with a DNS changing malware that intercepted URLs and sent unsuspecting users to alternative evil sites instead. The good news is that in November, 2011, the hackers were caught and the FBI substituted their own DNS servers for the malicious ones. Ready for the bad news? The FBI is closing down their DNS servers on July 9, 2012, and if your computer is one of those originally hacked, you will lose your Internet access. To test whether your computer will be affected, visit DCWG and run their DNS changer detector. For a more detailed explanation of the DNS changing malware, read Ask Leo!.

Sharing passwords via email is risky because email is no more secure than a postcard. The free version of Passpack offers two ways to securely share passwords (in addition to providing secure cloud password storage and one-click login). Way number one is via email using a five-digit PIN for encryption. If you want to share a whole bunch of passwords with just one person (maybe your spouse?) you’ll both need a free Passpack account. Then you can use way number two: the Passpack sharing function. This approach syncs all password changes so the two of you always have the most up-to-date password. For those with more complicated needs, Passpack offers inexpensive upgrades.

A recent malware outbreak on Macs, called Flashback, has infected hundreds of thousands of Mac computers. Apple has recently released a software update that will update Java to fix the flaw, and remove Flashback if it already has infected your machine. Macs normally check for software updates once a week, but you can perform an update check immediately by going to System Preferences / Software Update / Update Now.

According to a recent study by Microsoft and Carnegie-Mellon University, a tweet is deemed as more trustworthy when it is retweet by someone you trust, or it contains a URL that you clicked through to. Some of the things that make a tweet untrustworthy are authors with the default Twitter user image, and poor grammar or punctuation. To see the complete list, read this summary at Mashable.

Haters of the new Facebook timeline format, who happen to use the Chrome browser, have a new best friend: the TimelineRemove Chrome extension. Simply install it into your browser, and you now have the option of switching between the timeline view and the previous format. Of course, this does not stop visitors to your Facebook profile from seeing the timeline view, it only affects how Facebook looks to you in your browser. More details and screenshots can be seen at Addictive Tips.

Kindle books are growing in popularity every day, and with the regular promotional sales, are often an excellent bargain when compared to paper-based books. For example, I recently picked up “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer for just $0.25 on a promotion day. Best of all, you do not need to own a Kindle to read a Kindle book. Simply download one of the free apps, and you can read any Kindle book on your laptop or phone. Free apps exist for iPhone, Windows PC, Mac, Blackberry, iPad, Android and the Windows Phone 7.

Have you ever found a spam event on your Google calendar? In my case it was a court appearance in the state of New York regarding some paperwork from the Department of Social Services! I live in California, and am pretty certain I have no open court cases in New York. It was a bit creepy, and I worried about the sanctity of my Google account password (even though I use two-step verification.) But then I discovered a little-know setting in my Google Calendar account that allowed anyone that knows my Gmail address to post to my calendar! To turn this feature off, go to Calendar Settings and look for “Automatically add invitations to my calendar.” Instead of the default “Yes” setting, choose either “Yes, but don’t send event reminders unless I have responded ‘Yes’ or ‘Maybe’” or “No, only show invitations to which I have responded.” Then be sure to “SAVE” at the bottom of the settings page.

Stopping Spam Calendar Events

If you use Google calendar on your phone or desktop, now is a good time to quickly verify your security settings. If your calendar is set to public, your appointments could show up in Google search results! Anne Mitchell, of The Internet Patrol, explains how to login into your Google Dashboard and verify that your calendar is not publicly shared in this article.

Pinterest has answered the cries from webmasters who didn’t want their images showing up on the popular bookmarking site. To stop pinners, just insert the following meta tag in the head section of any page you want to block from Pinterest:
<meta name="pinterest" content="nopin" />.

For more about Pinterest and concerns of copyright infringement, read this article from Forbes.