If you have started seeing a little red padlock in your Gmail email, don’t freak out, even if the red padlock is open. All that it means is that the sender didn’t use transport layer security (TLS) when sending it – in other words, it simply means that the email was not encrypted when it was sent.

You know that old adage, that something is only as strong as its weakest link? Well, private Facebook groups are only as private as the admins keep them. Which means that all it takes is for one admin to accidentally (or intentionally) make the group public for a period of time, during which people who aren’t members of the closed Facebook group can see both the members, and what they posted. So how safe is it to rely on the private, closed status of a Facebook group? Not very, it turns out.

Lavabit, the secure email service that offered an encrypted email service, says it was forced to close rather than “commit crimes against the American people.” Lavabit was Edward Snowden’s email provider of choice, and many are convinced that this is no coincidence, and that the crimes against the people (violations of the constitution and free speech are also cited) have to do with demands by the Feds. And, mere hours after Lavabit shut down, another encrypted email provider, Silent Circle, also folded, citing “legal battles”.

Countless people ran to their local supermarkets and convenience stores today, to corner the market on Twinkies, Hostess cupcakes, Snoballs, and Ho Hos, as the news of American fixture Hostess Bakery announced that it would be closing after being unable to resolve a contract negotiation dispute with the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM, or, simply, “the Bakers Union”). Pictures of empty Twinkie shelves at grocery stores started showing up on the Internet, and, at just about the same time, Twinkie’s started showing up on eBay, and through Amazon, at prices of as much as $1000 or more for a single box of Twinkies.

For those of you who follow email deliverability, whitelisting, etc., you may be surprised to learn that Goodmail is closing up shop. This means that there are just two main email deliverability services out there now – Return Path, and SuretyMail email accreditation and deliverability services (the latter of which is provided by our parent company, ISIPP).

You win some, you lose some. Put Google Wave in the latter category. Today Google announced that it was officially pulling the plug on Google Wave, its wiki-like service that was created to offer “real time communication and collaboration” to the masses.

Geocities is shutting down. Love it or hate it – use it or villify it for all the spammers that at various times infested it – when Geocities closes its doors, it will mark the passing of a long-time resident of the Internet web scene.