Today's news can prompt two very different views of Google, based on the announcement of its free Google Public DNS.

In one view, Google is our best friend and a noble public servant. In the other, Google may be the darkest force on the Internet. Which is it? We all must decide.

Between the harmless but cautionary Rickrolling worm and the much less friendly iPhone/Privacy.A worm that was able to access personal data without any indication, iPhone jailbreaking has been getting a lot of coverage lately- though not necessarily the kind of coverage the community wants or needs. On top of the recent influx of worms, jailbreakers also have to worry about Apple’s repeated attempts to shut it all down via software and hardware updates, as well as all the usual security issues that any wi-fi enabled mobile device may be susceptible to. To those who have already jailbroken, or are considering making the jump- fear not! Your jailbroken iPhone can be just as, if not even more secure than any stock iPhone. Here are a few tips.

A new site dedicated to improving online privacy launched today with a tool for filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, along with information about your privacy rights - or lack thereof.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, launched the site. The CDT's president, Leslie Harris, says Takebackyourprivacy.org is meant to mobilize and organize consumers to push for privacy controls and legislation.

South Korea-based LG Display is adding some depth to its monitor lineup with a 23-inch Full HD 3D display.

Want to give Chromium OS a try, but don't have a spare 4GB USB stick lying around? Fear not as a new 'diet' build of Chromium OS (the open-source project upon which Google Chrome OS is based), which only requires a 1GB drive, is now available for download, courtesy of a UK-based student.

Diet Chromium OS is one of many Chromium OS builds that have cropped up since Google revealed more Chrome OS details last month.

Comcast's proposed $30 billion purchase of NBC Universal is a bad deal for consumers, as well as for net neutrality.

If approved, the purchase will create yet another instance where a company that delivers digital content will have a profit motive to discriminate against other content providers.

Since its highly ballyhooed rollout near the end of October, Windows 7 has been applauded by many as Microsoft's best operating system yet. But no OS is perfect, and that goes for Windows 7.

Research firm IDC says Apple's App Store could stock in excess of a quarter million iPhone and iPod Touch applications, tripling current levels by the end of 2010. That's some number. Contrast with an estimated 10,000 Windows 7-compatible apps, over 700 (released as well as announced) Xbox 360 games, nearly 600 PS3 games, over 1,000 Wii games, over 600 DS games (from September 2008), and over 700 PSP games.

It's tempting to compare Bing Maps Beta, Microsoft's revamped mapping service, to Google Maps. And the two services do have plenty of common features. But once you start exploring Bing Maps Beta, you'll find lots of features that Google Maps doesn't have, so let's examine those features on their own merits.

Those looking to tune up their PCs should give a long look to the latest version of TuneUp Utilities. It does an comprehensive job of cleaning up your PC to make sure it runs faster, more smoothly, and without problems. This suite includes everything from a startup optimizer to a driver defragmenter, from an overall speed optimizer to a Windows Registry cleaner, and more. TuneUp Utilities 2010 ($50, 30-day free trial) adds new tools, such as Turbo Mode, which can offer an instant performance boost by turning off unnecessary background processes.

Just hours after Yahoo announced a planned implementation of Facebook Connect on its network of sites, Google announced that you can now use your Twitter credentials to register on Google Friend Connect sites. Friend Connect and Facebook Connect are both a means to quickly register for a site or service that requires a login, and it's likely no coincidence they announced competing deals on the same day. This could end up being a hard fought battle, because there's one major reason one-stop online identity is becoming important as we enter 2010, and that reason is paywalls.

2010: Year of the micropayment

Google has introduced a new version of the search engine's home page, which features a sleek fade-in effect that hides all the elements of the page except the logo, search bar, and the buttons.