Did you use Wave? What did you like or not like about it? Do you think it could have survived if it was not an invite only release for so long? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
August 4, 2010
RIP Google Wave: 2009-2010
Did you use Wave? What did you like or not like about it? Do you think it could have survived if it was not an invite only release for so long? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
May 6, 2010
Google Updates Search Results
You may have noticed some recent changes at Google. They have updated some minor things, such as their logo. More importantly, they have updated the way search results are displayed. For more information, watch the video below.
April 1, 2010
Fun Thursday: April Fool's Day 2010
Happy April Fool's Day. As we mentioned last year, many companies on the web love to play pranks on April Fool's Day. As usual, some are better than others. This year's Google logo prank (changing the logo to say Topeka to capitalize on that city's bid to get Google Fiber) is rather lame, however You Tube's TEXTp format videos are fun.
For an extensive list of website pranks today, check out this list from TechCrunch.
If you find anything else good, let us know in the comments!
For an extensive list of website pranks today, check out this list from TechCrunch.
If you find anything else good, let us know in the comments!
December 31, 2009
Some End-of-the-Year Reading
As a public service alternative to football games, here are a few end-of-the-year items of interest:
The 100 Essential Websites from the Guardian of London
How Google Changed the Game in 2009 from Smartware
Newspapers and Technology: Network Effects from The Economist
What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century? a video from bibliosmartgirl
Happy new year to all!
The 100 Essential Websites from the Guardian of London
How Google Changed the Game in 2009 from Smartware
Newspapers and Technology: Network Effects from The Economist
What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century? a video from bibliosmartgirl
Happy new year to all!
Technology in '10
What do the experts say we can we expect for technology in 2010?
According to Nuri Djavit and Paul Newnes, writing on the blog Digital Media Buzz, the coming year will be one where Facebook replaces email, mobile commerce becomes a reality, we will register only once for many different sites, and crowd sourcing becomes a common idea.
Meanwhile, the technology staff at the Guardian (of London) predicts a year of more Google, green technology, apps and Apple.
What do you think?
According to Nuri Djavit and Paul Newnes, writing on the blog Digital Media Buzz, the coming year will be one where Facebook replaces email, mobile commerce becomes a reality, we will register only once for many different sites, and crowd sourcing becomes a common idea.
Meanwhile, the technology staff at the Guardian (of London) predicts a year of more Google, green technology, apps and Apple.
What do you think?
October 6, 2009
Microsoft Confirms Hotmail Phishing Attack
According to PCMag.com, several thousand Hotmail usernames and passwords were exposed over the weekend via a phishing attack, which Microsoft confirmed on October 5.
In a phishing scheme, users are tricked into divulging confidential information, often account password and usernames. In this case, users could have used Hotmail to communicate with banks and other institutions, storing confidential information in their accounts. Users who believe they have fallen prey to a phishing scheme should change their passwords immediately, Microsoft advises.
PCMag.com reports that on October 6, Gmail, Google's email product, also fell prey to the phishing attack. As soon as Google learned of the attack, they forced password resets on the affected accounts. They will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when they become aware of them.
In a phishing scheme, users are tricked into divulging confidential information, often account password and usernames. In this case, users could have used Hotmail to communicate with banks and other institutions, storing confidential information in their accounts. Users who believe they have fallen prey to a phishing scheme should change their passwords immediately, Microsoft advises.
PCMag.com reports that on October 6, Gmail, Google's email product, also fell prey to the phishing attack. As soon as Google learned of the attack, they forced password resets on the affected accounts. They will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when they become aware of them.
These attacks are a good reminder to exercise extreme caution when opening unsolicited email attachments and links from both known and unknown sources. All email users, regardless of what product they use, should install and regularly update their anti-virus software.
August 3, 2009
Bing Gains (a Little) Ground on Google
Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, is gaining ground on its chief rival, search engine giant Google, reports Art Technica.
Bing was launched in June and quickly picked up 8% of the search engine market share, mostly from Yahoo.com. Google held 78% of the search engine market that month. In July, however, while Bing’s share of the market increased 1%, Google’s dropped by the same amount.
Bing has several interesting features that have prompted people to take a look. Many of them appear to be staying with the Microsoft product.
Along with Yahoo’s 10% market share, and last week’s announcement of a deal between Yahoo and Microsoft that would make Bing the search engine for all of Yahoo's sites, Google’s search engine dominance looks like it might be in for a challenge.
Stay tuned.
(Never tried Bing? Take a blind search test.)
Bing was launched in June and quickly picked up 8% of the search engine market share, mostly from Yahoo.com. Google held 78% of the search engine market that month. In July, however, while Bing’s share of the market increased 1%, Google’s dropped by the same amount.
Bing has several interesting features that have prompted people to take a look. Many of them appear to be staying with the Microsoft product.
Along with Yahoo’s 10% market share, and last week’s announcement of a deal between Yahoo and Microsoft that would make Bing the search engine for all of Yahoo's sites, Google’s search engine dominance looks like it might be in for a challenge.
Stay tuned.
(Never tried Bing? Take a blind search test.)
July 12, 2009
Google's Microsoft Moment?
Has Google reached its "Microsoft Moment?" That is the point when the difference between the company's internal conception of itself starts to diverge just a bit too far from the public perception of the company, and even starts to diverge from reality.
Blogger Anil Dash argues that it has: "There are notable trends going on across Google today that could cause the company to compromise its stated values and that will certainly cause people to think Google is being evil, if not corrected."
Read Google's Microsoft Moment. Very interesting.
[via @zephoria on Twitter]
Blogger Anil Dash argues that it has: "There are notable trends going on across Google today that could cause the company to compromise its stated values and that will certainly cause people to think Google is being evil, if not corrected."
Read Google's Microsoft Moment. Very interesting.
[via @zephoria on Twitter]
July 9, 2009
See Which Search Engine You Really Prefer With Blind Search
I have been playing around with Microsoft's new search engine, Bing. I wanted to give Bing a fair shot at being my go-to search engine, but I also wanted to make sure that I was getting the most accurate results.
This led me to a great site, Blind Search, which allows the user to do a simultaneous search of Bing, Google, and Yahoo. The results are displayed blindly (with no identifying label) in three columns. After you vote for the column that best matches your preferred results, the name of the search engine that you chose will appear. You can see which search engine most frequently presents your preferred results without the bias of knowing the site you are on.
Here is a screenshot of the search before you vote for the search engine of your choosing:
Here is a screenshot of the search after you vote.
After using Blind Search for awhile, I quickly noticed that Bing and Google produced the best results for me. The great results that Bing produced were quite surprising as I have always been a die-hard Google-r.
I definitely encourage everyone to check out "Blind Search," and see which search engine works best for you.
This led me to a great site, Blind Search, which allows the user to do a simultaneous search of Bing, Google, and Yahoo. The results are displayed blindly (with no identifying label) in three columns. After you vote for the column that best matches your preferred results, the name of the search engine that you chose will appear. You can see which search engine most frequently presents your preferred results without the bias of knowing the site you are on.
Here is a screenshot of the search before you vote for the search engine of your choosing:
Here is a screenshot of the search after you vote.
After using Blind Search for awhile, I quickly noticed that Bing and Google produced the best results for me. The great results that Bing produced were quite surprising as I have always been a die-hard Google-r.
I definitely encourage everyone to check out "Blind Search," and see which search engine works best for you.
July 8, 2009
Google Announces Its Own Operating System
The blogging world has been abuzz with Google's announcement that it was launching an operating system -- Chrome OS -- to take on Microsoft's market-dominating Windows systems. From the official Google Blog:
Google will be relying on help from the open-source community to develop this project.
Will it work and erode the Microsoft monolith? Or is just a slap by Google at its main computer competitor?
Here are some opinions from around the web:
All Roads Lead to Chrome OS
Google Plans a PC Operating System
Google's Operating System Escalates Microsoft Duel
Google Chrome: Redefining the Operating System
Five Questions About Google Chrome OS
Why We Need to Chill About ChromeOS
Why Google's Chrome OS Bomb Has Minimal Fallout on Apple
"Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve."
Google will be relying on help from the open-source community to develop this project.
Will it work and erode the Microsoft monolith? Or is just a slap by Google at its main computer competitor?
Here are some opinions from around the web:
All Roads Lead to Chrome OS
Google Plans a PC Operating System
Google's Operating System Escalates Microsoft Duel
Google Chrome: Redefining the Operating System
Five Questions About Google Chrome OS
Why We Need to Chill About ChromeOS
Why Google's Chrome OS Bomb Has Minimal Fallout on Apple
June 28, 2009
Internet Smackdown: Google v. Facebook
Fascinating article about the battle between Google and Facebook for Web domination from Fred Vogelstein, in Wired. Vogelstein writes:
Google is my search engine of choice. I also use Reader, Docs, and other services. From my limited use of Facebook, I cannot imagine it replacing Google for me anytime soon.
Read the full story, Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network Network's Plan to Dominate the INternet -- And Keep Google Out.
"Today, the Google-Facebook rivalry isn't just going strong, it has evolved into a full-blown battle over the future of the Internet — its structure, design, and utility. For the last decade or so, the Web has been defined by Google's algorithms — rigorous and efficient equations that parse practically every byte of online activity to build a dispassionate atlas of the online world. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions a more personalized, humanized Web, where our network of friends, colleagues, peers, and family is our primary source of information, just as it is offline. In Zuckerberg's vision, users will query this "social graph" to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire — rather than tapping the cold mathematics of a Google search. It is a complete rethinking of how we navigate the online world, one that places Facebook right at the center. In other words, right where Google is now."
Google is my search engine of choice. I also use Reader, Docs, and other services. From my limited use of Facebook, I cannot imagine it replacing Google for me anytime soon.
Read the full story, Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network Network's Plan to Dominate the INternet -- And Keep Google Out.
May 18, 2009
Google Calendar Gets "Tasks" Integration
One of the most used tools in Google is the Tasks feature that was previously only enabled in Gmail and iGoogle. (See this post which talked about some of the great features of this service.)
Good news: Google has just begun branching out its Tasks feature to some of its other services, beginning with Google Calendar. The integration between Tasks and Google Calendar is simple and straight-forward. If you add a task in Gmail, it goes over to Google Calendar. And if you associate a due date with the task, then the task will not only show up in your Tasks list, but also in your Google Calendar!
To see a screenshot of how this integration works, look below.
Good news: Google has just begun branching out its Tasks feature to some of its other services, beginning with Google Calendar. The integration between Tasks and Google Calendar is simple and straight-forward. If you add a task in Gmail, it goes over to Google Calendar. And if you associate a due date with the task, then the task will not only show up in your Tasks list, but also in your Google Calendar!
To see a screenshot of how this integration works, look below.
As you can see, the tasks are now shown in the calendar as well as the list. As the tasks are completed, check marks and strike-throughs are used.
This clean integration among Google products shows the potential that Google Tasks has in the future and why it continues to be my to-do manager of choice.
May 14, 2009
Search Options Makes Google Search More Useful
The Google Blog has announced a new set of tools, called Search Options, which allow you to slice and dice your search results to find what you need faster and easier.
Once you have searched Google and have a list of results, click on Show Options, under the search box. This will open Search Options, where you can limit your results by videos, forums, or review; or limit by date, so that you can see results from the past day, week or year. You can change your view, too, so that so that you can see more or less text or more or fewer images in your results. Search Options also includes Wonder Wheel, which gives you related terms for your search topics.
Watch this video from Google to learn more:
Once you have searched Google and have a list of results, click on Show Options, under the search box. This will open Search Options, where you can limit your results by videos, forums, or review; or limit by date, so that you can see results from the past day, week or year. You can change your view, too, so that so that you can see more or less text or more or fewer images in your results. Search Options also includes Wonder Wheel, which gives you related terms for your search topics.
Watch this video from Google to learn more:
May 8, 2009
Google Continues to Be the Most Popular Search Engine and Video Site in U.S.
comScore, a marketing company that surveys the behavior of digital consumers for businesses looking to expand electronically, has just released the results of several surveys. Two show the dominance of Google on the Internet:
In January 2009, Americans conducted 13.5 billion core searches, a 7% increase over December 2008. Google Sites handled 8.5 billion searches, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.8 billion and Microsoft Sites with 1.1 billion. For Google, that amounted to 63% of the market, down slightly from 63.5% in December. The other search engines market shares were equally flat.
December 2008 saw U.S. online video viewing surge 13% in a record-setting month, as Americans viewed 14.3 billion videos as the year closed. Google Sites again ranked as the top U.S. video property with 5.9 billion videos viewed (41% online video market share), with YouTube.com accounting for more than 99% of all videos viewed at the property. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 445 million videos (3.1%), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 330 million (2.3%) Viacom Digital with 291 million (2%), and Hulu with to 241 million (1.5%).
In January 2009, Americans conducted 13.5 billion core searches, a 7% increase over December 2008. Google Sites handled 8.5 billion searches, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.8 billion and Microsoft Sites with 1.1 billion. For Google, that amounted to 63% of the market, down slightly from 63.5% in December. The other search engines market shares were equally flat.
December 2008 saw U.S. online video viewing surge 13% in a record-setting month, as Americans viewed 14.3 billion videos as the year closed. Google Sites again ranked as the top U.S. video property with 5.9 billion videos viewed (41% online video market share), with YouTube.com accounting for more than 99% of all videos viewed at the property. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 445 million videos (3.1%), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 330 million (2.3%) Viacom Digital with 291 million (2%), and Hulu with to 241 million (1.5%).
April 29, 2009
Population and Unemployment Data Charts Now Available through Google Searches
Google has announced the addition of public data comparison charts through Google searches. Currently, only data for unemployment rates and population is available, but Google does promise additional data in the future. Data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Division.
To use this feature, go to Google and type either "population" or "unemployment rate" (remove the quotes), followed by a state or county. Click on the first search result, and a graph will appear showing that data. You will also have the opportunity to add additional states and counties to the graph. For example, here is a graph showing the populations for Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties:
April 16, 2009
Google Announces Scholarship for Students with Disabilities
The Google Blog has announced the Google Lime Scholarship for Students with Disabilities. The company is partnering with Lime to offer scholarships to students with disabilities who are pursuing university degrees in the field of computer science in Canada or the U.S. Lime is a not-for-profit organization that brings together global corporations and people with disabilities, bringing to light an untapped source of talent.
Scholarships will be granted for the 2009–2010 academic year, and recipients will be invited to attend an all-expenses-paid retreat at the Googleplex in Mountain View in 2010. The deadline to apply is June 1.
For details.
Scholarships will be granted for the 2009–2010 academic year, and recipients will be invited to attend an all-expenses-paid retreat at the Googleplex in Mountain View in 2010. The deadline to apply is June 1.
For details.
April 15, 2009
Google Leads U.S. Search Engines with 9.1 Billion Searches
comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its latest analysis of the U.S. Internet search marketplace.
In March 2009, Americans conducted 14.3 billion searches, 9% more than in February. Over 9.1 billion searches were conducted on Google, increasing the site's share of U.S. search market from 63.3% in February to 63.7% in March. Google was followed by Yahoo! (20.5%), Microsoft (8.3%), Ask Network (3.8%) and AOL (3.7%).
In March 2009, Americans conducted 14.3 billion searches, 9% more than in February. Over 9.1 billion searches were conducted on Google, increasing the site's share of U.S. search market from 63.3% in February to 63.7% in March. Google was followed by Yahoo! (20.5%), Microsoft (8.3%), Ask Network (3.8%) and AOL (3.7%).
April 1, 2009
Fun Wednesday: April Fools' Edition
Happy April Fools' Day! Many companies, especially Google (remember Gmail Paper?) and NPR, love to add fake features and news to their content during this holiday. Have fun looking around for these today, and if you find anything very funny, let everyone know in the comments section!
One of my all time favorites was on NPR's All Things Considered in 2003:
In real news, it appears that the Conficker worm has failed to cause major computer problems today.
March 29, 2009
Google Offers Summer Stipends to College Students to Work on Open Source Projecs
Google has just announced its fifth annual Summer of Code. The company will hand out $4,500 stipends to 1,000 college students, to encourage them to spend this summer contributing to open-source projects.
Among the projects that Google has included in the program is NetSurf, a Web browser which is competing with Google’s own browser, Chrome.
Google developed a new open-source scheduling system, called Melange, to help the students manage their open-source work. The company is making that software available to others who want to sponsor similar projects to support open-source development.
Applications for the Summer of Code are due April 3.
[via Chronicle of Higher Education]
Among the projects that Google has included in the program is NetSurf, a Web browser which is competing with Google’s own browser, Chrome.
Google developed a new open-source scheduling system, called Melange, to help the students manage their open-source work. The company is making that software available to others who want to sponsor similar projects to support open-source development.
Applications for the Summer of Code are due April 3.
[via Chronicle of Higher Education]
March 24, 2009
Google Voice - The Future of Voicemail?
Over the next couple of weeks, Google plans to unveil an all new service called Google Voice, which hopes to be your voicemail of the future and a central hub of all of your calls. The features of Google Voice are many, especially when compared to regular voicemail.
Here is a quick rundown, courtesy of Google:
Google number -- One number for all your calls and SMS
Google voicemail -- Voicemail as easy as email, with transcripts
This new service from Google seems quite exciting but may be a bit scary for the privacy concerned.
For more information, as well as a great review, check out Gina Trapani's post at her new blog, Smarterware.org.
Here is a quick rundown, courtesy of Google:
- Call screening -- Announce and screen callers
- Listen in -- Listen before taking a call
- Block calls -- Keep unwanted callers at bay
- SMS -- Send, receive, and store SMS
- Place calls -- Call US numbers for free
- Taking calls -- Answer on any of your phones
- Phone routing -- Phones ring based on who calls
- Forwarding phones -- Add phones and decide which ring.
Google voicemail -- Voicemail as easy as email, with transcripts- Voicemail transcripts -- Read what your voicemail says
- Listen to voicemail -- Check online or from your phone
- Notifications -- Receive voicemails via email or SMS
- Personalize greeting -- Vary greetings by caller
- Share voicemail -- Forward or download voicemails
- Conference calling -- Join people into a single call
- Call record -- Record calls and store them online
- Call switch -- Switch phones during a call
- Mobile site -- View your inbox from your mobile
- GOOG-411 -- Check directory assistance
- Manage groups -- Set preferences by group
This new service from Google seems quite exciting but may be a bit scary for the privacy concerned.
For more information, as well as a great review, check out Gina Trapani's post at her new blog, Smarterware.org.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)