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Google recently updated its algorithm to take down Web sites that use SEO to game search results and up their ranking, but spam still dominates results. Search for something like "how to lose weight" and a flurry of content farms will appear.

Content farms simply hire low-paid freelancers to write articles about every topic in existence, allowing their Web sites to rank high in Google search results. The result? Unqualified, haphazardly written posts that can bury more reputable sources and delay the time it takes to get the answers you're looking for.

In response to these content farms, you can now permanently block Web sites from search results. Make use of this tip (in the video below)--Google is likely noting users' blocks to identify Web sites it should manually lower the ranking of.

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If any single feature in the new Firefox 4 could be described as "killer," it's Firefox Sync. Originally launched as a buggy add-on called Mozilla Weave several years ago, it now comes baked directly into Firefox and with all its creases ironed out. It will synchronize your bookmarks, passwords, preferences, history, and tabs across not only multiple computers, but your Android and Maemo phones and tablets, too.

Check out the procedure for linking up Firefox on all your digital toys in this How To video, and if you have any questions about Sync, let me know in … Read more

Sharon Vaknin shows you how to permanently block sites from Google search.

Ads that track your online behavior using cookies aren't the worst problem on the Internet, but they are one of the more annoying ones. Internet Explorer 9 offers a tracking ad blocker similar to Firefox's AdBlock Plus add-on, except this one's built in.

In this video, we show you how to enable the list, how to tweak it to your liking, and how to download extra lists to customize it even further.

Taking a page from its competitors but putting its own spin on it, Microsoft has introduced a new way to search in Internet Explorer 9. Called One Box, it combines the search box with the location bar.

You can navigate to a site, search for sites, look at browsing history or favorites, and change search providers on the fly. Check out how to use the One Box in this how-to video. You can also download Internet Explorer 9 here.

Internet Explorer 9 has a lot of cool new features. "Pinned sites" lets you create site-specific browsers on your Windows 7 desktop. Pinned sites by default recolor IE9's Aero glass-style interface based on the color schemes in the site's favicon, which is a neat little trick, and use the site's favicon as the Windows 7 taskbar icon.

If coded properly by the site's developers, a site can customize the jump list links, integrate player controls for streaming media sites such as Pandora, or have a counter display the number of unread e-mails in your … Read more

In every disaster scammers see an opportunity, and the crisis in Japan is no exception. Already there have been fake Red Cross e-mails circulating and there will no doubt be more scams coming.

Those e-mails appear to come from the British Red Cross. They provide some news on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and urge people to donate to a Yahoo e-mail address on a Moneybookers account, a money transfer service that enables recipients to remain anonymous, according to App River, an e-mail hosting and security services provider.

However, real charities have e-mail addresses with their own domain and … Read more

European advertisers fear they will face a huge new obstacle this May when the European Union's Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive takes effect. The so-called Cookie Directive will require that users explicitly allow Web sites to leave cookies and other data on their machines, according to Raul Mendez on ChiefPrivacyOfficers.com.

It's unclear whether the opt-in requirement will be satisfied by the browser's setting that allows first- and third-party cookies. This uncertainty hasn't prevented some pundits from predicting the end of the world for the European advertising industry, as reported by TechCrunch Europe's Mike Butcher.… Read more

Before you tweet a photo of your delicious, homemade dish, check your settings--your phone might be embedding coordinates in your photos, leaving your location open to prying eyes.

Using the built-in GPS, phone camera applications can embed the latitude and longitude of a location in photos. Coordinates aren't shown in your photo library, but if you post a geotagged pic online, someone with an evil motive can easily extract the photo's EXIF data and find out where you live, eat, or hang out.

Creepy, right? This is a big security risk, especially for parents who post photos of … Read more