Google doesn’t like vulnerabilities in its projects, and has discovered that one of the best ways to make them go away is to pay people scads of cash for finding them. Last Februrary at their Pwnium contest, Google offered up to $1 million in prizes to hackers who could uncover dangerous vulnerabilites in the Windows 7 version of Chrome. That wasn’t just a one time deal; Google also has ongoing awards for people who can find vulnerabilities in anything of theirs, and they just upped the ante from around $3,000 to $20,000.

If you’re jonesing for some retro in your newfangled “Internet,” on your “portable computers,” Masswerk is here with a heartwarming retro version of Google. Hearkening back to the days of bulletin boards, Masswerk’s GoogleBBS is just that — a functioning Google search, complete with “I’m feeling lucky” mode, that allows you to search Google through an old ASCII, BBS-style interface. Get ready for some “PRESS A KEY TO VIEW THE NEXT PAGE,” especially considering Google generally returns millions of search results.

To those who haven’t been following along, Google’s “Wi-Spy” shenanigans back in 2010 landed them in some hot water when it was discovered that they were “accidentally” collecting personal data with their street view cars. However, the Federal Communications Commission ultimately decided that there was a lack of evidence to conclude that Google had committed any wrongdoing. That is to say, any wrongdoing up until the point where the FCC started asking questions.

So far we’ve seen Google’s vision of what their Project Glass will look like, as well as a more realistic — nay, cynical — imagining. But let’s assume for a minute that Google’s idea catches on, and other big name software makers get in on the act. This video imagines such a world with Windows Project Glass. Prepare for the inevitable BSOD, and the Macintosh follow up. 

Google’s new smart glasses initiative “Project Glass” was revealed to some pretty genuine excitement, and even though the concept is a bit different from anything we’ve seen so far, their little video made it seem awesome and frankly inevitable. Of course, it glossed over some other things that might be less awesome but just as inevitable, things like running into telephone poles and accidentally sending speech texts. Tom Scott decided to make Project Glass a second video highlighting those “features” to hilarious effect. I think Tom might have a point, but I also trust Google, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.

There have been rumors for a while, but now it’s official: Google is working on a real-life heads-up display in the form of Internet-enabled smart glasses and calling the endeavor “Project Glass.” Just as you’d imagine, the glasses aim to bring the web to you by overlaying an interface on your daily life and allowing you to interact with it via voice and eye movement. Aside from the confirmation that this is a project in development and a optimistic little “look how awesome this will be” video, there’s not much more information available. Of course, that really just means there is plenty of room for your imagination to run wild.

A Japanese court has ordered Google to shut down its autocomplete feature in Japan after a man took a complaint to court that said autocomplete feature was casting him in a negative light. The mans’ name was not revealed, though the complaint said autocomplete coupled his named with over 10,000 negative words, and it is negatively affecting his career.

Back in August of 2011, Google began mapping the Amazon Rainforest for their ever-growing Street View feature within Google Maps. Now, Google has released the fruits of their rainforest labor, as the bits of the rainforest they explored are available for you to explore on Google Street View.

The FBI secured a pimp’s Samsung Android phone as part of a case following a former pimp released on parole who seemed to be partaking in pimping activities once again. The pimp previously signed a Fourth Amendment search rights waiver, which allowed the FBI to search his home and property at any time without a court order. When he turned over his phone, he didn’t unlock the device, even though his parole conditions prevented him from hiding or locking digital files, but claimed the phone belonged to his sister. Amusingly, the FBI couldn’t crack the phone’s unlock pattern, and then served a warrant to Google, Android’s developer, to help them unlock the phone.

While Google+ hasn’t quite become the social networking powerhouse to rival Facebook, it has refused to be idle and continues to pump out a steady stream of new features. Yesterday, Google’s product manager for their video chatting Hangouts Amit Fulay announced the latest update: Digital masks. So next time you’re video chatting with your friends, you can be a cat.