GeoLocal: The Rise of Consumer Location-based Services

GeoLocal: The Rise of Consumer Location-based Services: "

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Location: The Epicenter of Mobile Innovation

Infographic by Column Five Media

Little Dog Robot is Big Dog’s Nimble Little Brother

Little Dog Robot is Big Dog’s Nimble Little Brother: "

Remember Big Dog, that amazing 4-legged robotic mule we posted about a while ago? Well Big Dog has a little brother folks, and this guy really knows how to handle bumpy terrain. I’ll let you check him out:

Now just imagine yourself trying to run away from that thing (for whatever reason) in a not so distant future, where little dog would be the size of a large dog and about 1000 times faster. Terrifying thought, isn’t it?

[Via Dvice]

Related posts:

1. Dog Tongue Science
2. Introducing the Dog-o-Matic – An Automated Washing Machine for Dogs
3. Israeli city to build dog poop DNA database

New Google Phone Service Whispers Ads Directly Into Users’ Ears

New Google Phone Service Whispers Ads Directly Into Users’ Ears: "

Apparently, the new feature will reduce Google phone users’ cell phone costs while providing them with unobtrusive, personalized “whispered” ads. Hit the play button for the full video report form our friends at the Onion News Network.

Please note that ANYTHING coming from the ONN should NEVER be taken seriously! ;)

Related posts:

1. Cellphone Users Trading Phone Wires for Booze
2. Landline phone use falling in favor of mobile phones
3. Google Confirms Mobile Phone “in Development”

URL removal explained, Part IV: Tracking your requests & what not to remove

URL removal explained, Part IV: Tracking your requests & what not to remove: "Webmaster Level: All

In this final installation in our URL removal series, let's talk about following up on your removal requests, as well as when not to use Google's URL removal tool. If you haven't already, I recommend reading the previous posts in this series:
Part I: Removing URLs & directories
Part II: Removing & updating cached content
Part III: Removing content you don't own
Companion post: Managing what information is available about you online

Understanding the status of your requests

Once you've submitted a removal request, it will appear in your list of requests. You can check the status of your requests at any time to see whether the content has been removed, or whether the request is still or pending or was denied.



If a request was denied, you should see a 'Learn more' link next to it explaining why that particular request was denied. Since different types of removals have different requirements, the reason why a particular request was denied can vary. The 'Learn more' link should help you figure out what you need to change in order to make your request successful. For example, you may need to change the URL in question so that it meets the requirements for the type of removal you requested; or, if you can't do that, you may need to request a different type of removal (one whose requirements your URL currently meets).

If a request has been marked 'Removed' but you still see that content in search results, check the following:

• Is the URL that's appearing in search results the exact same URL that you submitted for removal? It's fairly common for the same, or similar, content to appear on multiple URLs on a site. You may have successfully removed one URL, but still see others containing that same content.
  Solution: Request removal of the other URL(s) in question. See this article for help.


• Keep in mind that URLs are case sensitive, so requesting removal of http://www.example.com/embarrassingstuff.html is not the same as requesting removal of http://www.example.com/EmbarrassingStuff.html
  Solution: Request removal of the exact URL(s) that appear in search results, including the same capitalization. See this article for help.


• When a request is marked 'Removed,' that can mean different things depending on what type of request you submitted. If you requested removal of an entire URL, then 'Removed' should mean that that entire URL no longer appears in our search results. If you requested removal of the cached copy of a URL, 'Removed' means that the cached copy has been removed and will no longer appear in search results; but the URL itself may still appear.
  Solution: Double-check what type of removal you requested by looking at the 'Removal Type' column. If you requested a cache removal but you want the entire URL gone, make sure the URL meets the requirements for complete removal and then file a new request for complete removal of the URL.

When not to use the URL removal tool

• To clean up cruft, like old pages that 404.
  The tool is intended for URLs that urgently need to be removed, such as confidential data that was accidentally exposed. If you recently made changes to your site and just have some outdated URLs in the index, Google's crawlers will see this as we recrawl your URLs, and those pages will naturally drop out of our search results over time. There's no need to request an urgent removal through this tool.


• To remove crawl errors from your Webmaster Tools account.
  The removal tool removes URLs from Google's search results, not from your Webmaster Tools account. There's currently no way for you to manually remove URLs from this report; they will drop out naturally over time as we stop crawling URLs that repeatedly 404.


• To 'start from scratch' with your site.
  If you're worried that your site may have a penalty, or you want to 'start from scratch' after purchasing a domain from someone else, we don't recommend trying to use the URL removal tool to remove your entire site and then 'start over.' Search engines gather a lot of information from other sites (such as who links to you, or what words they use to describe your site) and use this to help understand your site. Even if we could remove everything we currently know about your site, a lot of it would come back exactly the same once we'd recrawled all the other sites that help us understand your site and put it in context. If you're worried that your domain has some bad history, we recommend filing a reconsideration request letting us know what you're worried about and what has changed (such as that you've acquired the domain from someone else, or that you've changed certain aspects of your site).


• To take your site 'offline' after hacking.
  If your site was hacked and you want to get rid of bad URLs that got indexed, you can use the URL removal tool to remove any new URLs that the hacker created, e.g., http://www.example.com/buy-cheap-cialis-skq3w598.html. But we don't recommend removing your entire site, or removing URLs that you'll eventually want indexed; instead, simply clean up the hacking and let us recrawl your site so that we can reindex the new, cleaned-up content as soon as possible. This article contains more details on how to deal with hacking.


• To get the right 'version' of your site indexed.
  When a request to remove https://www.example.com/tattoo.html is accepted, http://www.example.com/tattoo.html is also removed. The same is true of the www and non-www versions of your URL or site. This is because the same content is often available at each of these URLs and we realize that most webmasters and searchers don't want these duplicates appearing in search results. In short, the URL removal tool should not be used as a canonicalization tool. It won't keep your favorite version, it'll remove all versions (http/https and www/non-www) of a URL.

We hope this series has answered your questions about removing content from Google's search results, and helped you troubleshoot any issues that may arise. Join us in our Help Forum if you still have questions.

Posted by Susan Moskwa, Webmaster Trends Analyst

U-Socket: Outlets with USB 3.0 and iPad Charge Support

U-Socket: Outlets with USB 3.0 and iPad Charge Support: "

FastMac is introducing quite an interesting gadget for those geek homes: The first outlet with USB 3.0 included as well as 10watts charger for iPads.

U-Socket provides two 10watts outlets, thinking mainly for iPad devices and others with similar capabilities; but also gives us the possibility for USB 3.0 support. USB ports are indeed universal connections and charger for thousands of devices, going from game controllers to shaving machines; so having USB outlets in our homes does sound like a great idea.

But even more, since the U-Socket use USB 3.0 we could use it also to create our own USB network.

The availability of the U-Socket is just around the corner since almost all the tests are practically done; Energy Star already approved this outlet for home use. The cost? $19.95.

• iPads for Everyone, says the European Parliament


• iPad DODOcase Protective, Functional Case


• iPad and Velcro Get Along Just Fine


• ImTOO the iPad Video Converter


• Geek Gadget Pouches from Saddleback

"

Changes to Yahoo! Mail Options: Disposable Email Addresses

Changes to Yahoo! Mail Options: Disposable Email Addresses: "

Disposable Email Addresses in Yahoo! Mail (you might also know them as Addressguard) are a great way to help keep your Inbox free from spam. They are email addresses that you create and give out if you don’t want to give out your primary email address. Messages to your disposable email addresses are delivered to your Inbox or a folder you choose, and you can simply delete them if they start to receive spam.

If you’re like me and you use Disposable Email Addresses in the fight against spam, then I want to let you know about some upcoming changes to your Disposable Email Addresses. First of all, you probably know to look for the Disposable Email Addresses in the Spam section of Yahoo! Mail Options (click the ‘Options’ link in the top of your Inbox and then click ‘More Options’ or ‘Mail Options’). Soon, we are giving ‘Disposable Email Addresses’ its very own place on the Mail Options Screen. Let’s have a look:



(Please note: If you don’t see ‘Disposable Email Addresses’ as an option in the left-hand menu, you will need to sign up from the ‘Spam’ section of Mail Options.) Creating a Disposable Email Address is really very easy. Just click the ‘Add Address’ button at the top of the screen and an easy to follow wizard will walk you through creating your Disposable Email Addresses.

There are a few other changes as well. So let’s walk through each of them:

1. Changes to ‘Spamguard’ settings: In the current version of Disposable Email Addresses – I’m going to abbreviate them to DEA’s now – you have the option of choosing whether you want to turn the ‘Spamguard’ setting on for each individual DEA. With the upcoming changes, all DEA’s will take the Spamguard setting that you have set up in the Spam section of your Yahoo! Mail Options. That means you have will have one global Spamguard setting for your entire Mailbox and you can control it from one central location. How’s that for easy?


2. Changes to the delivery options: Now, when you set up a DEA, you have an option to move messages addressed to your DEA to your Inbox or any personal folder that you’ve created. With the new DEA’s you can still do that, but now you will have to use a filter. After you create your DEA, just click the link ‘Manage Filters for Disposable Addresses’. That link will take you to the ‘Filters’ section of Yahoo! Mail Options. Create a new filter, then just put your newly created DEA in the ‘recipient’ field and select the folder you want it delivered to. (Please note: as a consequence of this change you will have to set up new filters for your current Disposable Email Addresses.)


3. Changes to the ‘Sending Mail’ option: Our current DEA creation lets you pick an option to send email from a DEA. With the new version of Disposable Email Addresses you will now have the option of sending mail from all of the DEA’s you create. When you compose a new mail, you can find all your DEA’s in the ‘From:’ pick-list.

These changes to your have already begun to roll-out to Yahoo! Mail Users. If you don’t see these changes in your Yahoo! Mail Options right now, they should be showing up soon. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Customer Care team.

"

Sony DVP-FX950 Portable DVD Player, released

Sony DVP-FX950 Portable DVD Player, released: "

Sony has recently released its latest DVD Player that offer long battery life, called Sony DVP-FX950. It offers up to 7.5 hours of battery life (up 25% from previous models).

The Sony DVP-FX950 features a 9-inch LED-backlit LCD screen with 800 x 480 resolution, a viewing angle of 180 degrees, an internal speaker, and a USB port so users can view JPEGs or listen to MP3s. It will be availbale in Japan on June 16 for an equivalent of US$390.

VIA: GADGET

"

Billabong x Sony VAIO Special Edition Netbook in Australia

Billabong x Sony VAIO Special Edition Netbook in Australia: "

Australia’s Billabong and Sony has announced their new edition of Sony VAIO netbook, called Billabong x Sony VAIO Special Edition. It packs a 250GB hard drive, Intel Atom N450 processor, a web camera, two USB ports, microphone, and Ethernet port.

Billabong x Sony VAIO Special Edition has released primarily painted lid and pre-loaded with photos and video clips, which is to be a favorite with school kids and university students the world over. It is available for AUD$750.

VIA: GADGET FOLDER

"

DYK Thursday – First “Human” to be Infected by a Computer Virus

DYK Thursday – First “Human” to be Infected by a Computer Virus: "

BBC News website reported on Wednesday that a British scientist, claims he is the first man in the world to be infected by a computer virus.

Dr. Mark Gasson, a scientist from the University of Reading, claims he has been infected by a computer virus after he deliberately inserted a contaminated chip into his hand to carry out experiment.

The integrated chip was programmed in such a way that it would contaminate the other devices which are associated with this chip. This chip, which helped Gasson to open the security doors and also activate mobile phones, is a sophisticated version of the chips which are used to track pets.

The device, which is of the size of a rice grain, is a RFID chip, allowed him to have secure access over University buildings. Once you insert this microchip into a device, it contaminates the complete surroundings.

Dr. Gasson, with a belief that “Trial is a proof of principle” deliberately inserted a computer virus into the microchip which was later inserted into his left hand last year, to study its effects.

With the results, after a year, this is what Dr. Gasson said,

“With the benefits of this type of technology come risks. We may improve ourselves in some way but much like the improvements with other technologies, mobile phones for example, they become vulnerable to risks, such as security problems and computer viruses.”

However, this technology can be widely used to improve and devise new medical devices. Dr. Gasson says,

“This type of technology has been commercialised in the United States as a type of medical alert bracelet, so that if you’re found unconscious you can be scanned and your medical history brought up.”

However, Professor Rafael Capurro of the Steinbeis-Transfer-Institute of Information Ethics in Germany, says that these kind of “digital device implants” can have both positive and negative consequences. He says,

“If someone can get online access to your implant, it could be serious,” he said.

“From an ethical point of view, the surveillance of implants can be both positive and negative,” he said.

“Surveillance can be part of medical care, but if someone wants to do harm to you, it could be a problem.”

However, if these devices could somehow make your IQ and memory level increase, then there would be a great demand, says Dr. Gasson

Check this video clip

So, what do you think about this? Do you want a microchip instead of your natural brain in your body? Do you want your body to be “hacked” by hackers? I certainly don’t! Discuss your views in the comment section.

DYK Thursday – First “Human” to be Infected by a Computer Virus originally appeared on Techie Buzz written by Pramodh KP on Thursday 27th May 2010 03:00:35 PM. Please read the Terms of Use for fair usage guidance.

"

Hardware Specs For Google TV

Hardware Specs For Google TV: "

At Google I/O there were three major announcements. Froyo, WebM and Google TV have got their fair share of media coverage. Now that the dust has settled some technical details about Google TV have surfaced.

What Google TV is not?

• A television channel


• A Google branded television set

What Google TV is?

It is a software platform. Television equipment manufacturers can install Google TV on their products like TV sets or peripherals like set-top boxes. In simplest terms, Google TV will allow you to surf the web on your television.

Technical details: Google TV is based on Google’s Android platform. The only difference as of now is that unlike on Android phones, the browser in Google TV is Chrome and supports Flash. Google has also laid out some basic hardware specifications for manufacturers that want to bundle Google TV on their products:

• Intel Atom CE4100 (can decode dual 1080p video stream)


• MPEG-4 support


• 3D graphics


• HDMI


• WiFi and Bluetooth

Google says that you can use any Android phone as the television control. LG and Sony have announced plans for their Google TV based products. one of the interesting Google TV implementation comes from Logitech with Companion Box.

Hardware Specs For Google TV originally appeared on Techie Buzz written by Manan Kakkar on Thursday 27th May 2010 03:13:31 PM. Please read the Terms of Use for fair usage guidance.

"

Facebook News Feed Now Available In Yahoo Mail

Facebook News Feed Now Available In Yahoo Mail: "

The Yahoo team has been integrating with Facebook for sometime now, with the availability of Facebook contacts in Yahoo and more. To take the integration a step further, the Yahoo Mail team announced the integration of Facebook feed in Yahoo Mail.

Facebook Feed will be available as part of your contact updates and can be viewed whenever you login to your Yahoo Mail account. Facebook activity from your friends will now appear in your Updates section, alongside your friends’ activity on Yahoo!, Twitter, Flickr and so on.

In addition to being able to view Facebook updates, users will also be able to comment or like a news feed item without having to leave Yahoo Mail, those comments will also be reflected on Facebook.

To view Facebook Feed in your Yahoo Mail account, you will need to link your Facebook account to Yahoo, instructions for the same can be found on this page. For more information and details visit the Yahoo Mail Blog.

Via techie-buzz

"

Where Have I Been? Get Your Answer with the Google Location History Dashboard

Where Have I Been? Get Your Answer with the Google Location History Dashboard: "When I was young, I used to imagine that there was a string attached to me, and that one day I’d be able to see my whole life’s travels laid out on a globe. Thanks to my phone, Google Latitude, and Google Location History, I’ve been able to pull a virtual string behind me for a few months. Alas, I can’t entertain myself for too long with just a piece of string. Today we’re launching an experimental new view in Beta for Google Location History to visualize your location history in a different -- and hopefully more interesting -- way than just a string of locations.

If you’ve already chosen to enable Location History, the new dashboard view will try to highlight interesting trends from your existing location history, such as trips you’ve taken, places you’ve visited, time spent at home vs. out, and more. Ever wonder how much time you’ve spent at work recently compared to six months ago, or where it was that you stopped on your last road trip? Just check out Location History for some of the answers.

For example, I took a look at my dashboard, and it reminded me that my brother and I watched the Oakland A’s win on the final at-bat on April 17th.



If you’re a road warrior like me, the dashboard can help you remember your trips and where you stopped along the way. Here’s an example of a trip I took to New York to get a little work done and visit some friends just west of Central Park.


Speaking of being a road warrior, sometimes I do wonder how long my string is. I at least know how long it is since I started using Latitude and Location History -- about 21,000 miles or 10% of the distance to the moon!


We’re really excited to make Latitude and your location more useful to you, but we definitely understand that your privacy is important. Just as before, Google Location History is entirely opt-in only and your location history is available privately to you and nobody else. Additionally, you may be asked to periodically re-enter your password when opening any Location History page, even if you’re signed in to your Google Account already (just to make sure you’re really you). Of course, you may always delete any or all of your location history in the Manage History tab or disable Location History at any time.

To try out the new dashboard yourself, enable Google Latitude in the background on your phone, turn on Google Location History, and wait a few days (up to a week) to build up enough history for the dashboard to begin showing information. This is just one interesting way you can do more with your location, but we don’t expect it to be the last. With last week’s launch of the Google Latitude API, we hope to soon see people create even more cool ways for you to choose how to use your location and location history.

The Location History dashboard’s information is still experimental and in Beta so you may notice some initial issues with accuracy around its estimates. We’re working on improving the Location History dashboard and Latitude location updating overall, so you’ll notice improvements for both over time. You may also want to try turning on WiFi or GPS on your phone to improve location history accuracy. Visit our Help Center to learn more or tell us your feedback and questions in our Help Forum. Give us suggestions and vote on other people’s on the Mobile Product Ideas page!

Posted by Andrew Kirmse and Kenny Leftin, Software Engineers, Google Mobile Team

"

Nokia N8 hits Germany

Nokia N8 hits Germany: "

The latest smartphone from Nokia that runs Symbian 3 OS is now available in Germany, known as Nokia N8. This smartphone adopts a 3.5-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with resolution of 640 x 360 pixel and comes with many adorable features like a 12MP autofocus camera with Xenon flash, a microUSB port, 720p HD video recording (30fps) and GPS.

The Nokia N8 also equipped with an HDMI output, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi connectivity. It is powered by a 680MHz processor, a 256MB RAM, a 512MB ROM, and a microSD card slot with enabling up to 32GB. It is available now for pre-order in Germany, the at Amazon with 469.50 Euro (around $587).

VIA: GADGET FOLDER

"

Google Translate now speaks Hindi

Google Translate now speaks Hindi: "India is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world, having more than hundred languages with Hindi as the most widely spoken language. To make it easier to read, learn and communicate in Hindi, we are excited to announce recent addition of automated text-to-speech capability for Hindi translations on Google Translate.

Now while visiting a Hindi speaking area, you'll be able to communicate easily in local language. You can learn Hindi by listening to the translation by clicking speaker icon next to the translated text. For example, if you want to say ‘Hello, how are you?’ in Hindi, just translate it and listen to Hindi equivalent to speak.


As we continue to improve the precision of our automatic translation and text-to-speech system, let us know if you have any feedback in our discussion group.

Posted by Vishnu Sharma, Arun Nair

"

Advanced sorting rules in spreadsheets

Advanced sorting rules in spreadsheets: "In the new version of Google spreadsheets, you can now sort a range of cells according to rules set for one column or across multiple columns. To sort your data, go to Tools > Sort... and then add your sorting rules. You should check Data has header row if your columns have titles and choose ascending or descending depending on how you want your data sorted. Click +Add another to add additional rules:

Let us know if you have more feedback and ideas for improvements.

Posted by: Michael Schidlowsky, Software Engineer

"

Fully-Rugged Notebook, Panasonic Toughbook 31 gets official

Fully-Rugged Notebook, Panasonic Toughbook 31 gets official: "

The latest powerful fully-rugged notebook has been announced by Panasonic, the Toughbook 31. It has a 13.1-inch LED-backlit touchscreen display with 1024×768 pixels resolution and 1,100 nits maximum brightness and built with a full magnesium alloy case in accordance with MIL-STD-810G US military standard.

This $3,799 Panasonic Toughbook 31 offers drop (up to 6 feet), dust and water protection. It is powered by an Intel Core i3/i5 dual core CPU with clock speeds ranging from 2.26GB to 2.53GHz and up to 8GB of RAM as well as 160GB/250GB hard drive. It also has an integrated or discrete (ATI Radeon HD 5650) graphics, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and optional 3G/WiMAX module as well as fingerprint reader, webcam, and GPS.

VIA: GADGET FOLDER

"

Sharp 3D HD Camera Module, the first ever

Sharp 3D HD Camera Module, the first ever: "

Sharp has introduced the world’s first 3D camera module that can be attached in mobile devices such as cellphones, digital cameras, tablet computers, or hand-held gaming systems. It will be able to shoot 3D photos and videos in HD quality using such attached devices. As expected, it will be available in July.

VIA: GADGET

"

Garmin Nuvi 295W GPS, Wi-Fi and 3MP camera Ready

Garmin Nuvi 295W GPS, Wi-Fi and 3MP camera Ready: "

Garmin has announced its latest GPS navigation device that supports Wi-Fi connectivity and 3MP autofocus camera, named Garmin nüvi 295W.

Adopting a 3.5-inch touchscreen display with automatically reorients for portrait or landscape use, this device can play MP3 file, a picture viewer, weather forecasts, currency converter, PDF and Microsoft Office documents. This $280 Garmin Nuvi 295W GPS navigation device will be released on May 16 and offered at Amazon.com.

VIA: GADGET FOLDER

"

Dell Mini 5 coming soon

Dell Mini 5 coming soon: "

There’s an information that Dell will officially launch its latest tablet, the Dell Mini 5 in June. This device also said will run Citrix Receiver software to remotely control desktop apps. There’s no word if this will be bundled with the Mini 5, but it will come toting Android apps. The information about pricing has not been reported.

VIA: FIVEFWD

"

Go green with ViewSonic VX2250wm-LED Monitor

Go green with ViewSonic VX2250wm-LED Monitor: "

A new LED monitor that offers up to 40% energy savings has been introduced by ViewSonic, called ViewSonic VX2250wm-LED. Adopting a 22-inch widescreen display, this monitor provides Full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.

Consuming no more than 26W, this $189 ViewSonic VX2250wm-LED monitor has feature 1000:1 contrast ratio (10000000:1 DCR), 250 cd/m2 brightness ratio, 5ms response time, DVI-D, VGA, and two 2W speakers. It is now available for pre-order at Amazon.Com.

VIA: GADGET FOLDER

"

EB710 eReader, unveiled

EB710 eReader, unveiled: "

There is an information about new eReader that will be stored in US, known as the EB710 eReader. With adopts a a 7-inch TFT LCD with a resolution of 800 x 480, this eReader supports several text format including ASCII/UNICODE TXT/DOC/PDB/HTML/PDF/FB2 formats.

The EB710 comes with a touch key along with five other keys for navigation, an optional FM tuner, recordings, a calendar, an integrated Li-Poly battery with 2100mAh, support for MP3/WMA/APE/FLAC/AAC music files as well as supports Video files RM/RMVB/AVI/FLV/3GP/H.263/H.264 along with JPEG/BMP/PNG/GIF images.

VIA: SLASHGEAR

"

Samsung EX1 flagship compact camera with articulating AMOLED display, released

Samsung EX1 flagship compact camera with articulating AMOLED display, released: "

Samsung has released its latest digital camera with 3-inch articulating AMOLED display, the 10 megapixel Samsung EX1 (aka, TL500) in Korean market. It packs a F1.8 24mm ultra-wide lens, 1/1.7-inch CCD, refined DRIMeIII imaging processor and dual image stabilization.

Additionally, this Samsung EX1 flagship compact camera also supports RAW with shutter-priority, aperture-priority and full-manual shooting modes as well as ISO 3200 max sensitivity (at full resolution) that should combine to deliver decent shots (for a compact) in low-light conditions without using a flash. It is available for 599,000KRW or about $400.

VIA: ENGADGET

"

Google Secure Search

Google Secure Search: "Google launched a new version of Google Search that uses an encrypted connection to Google's servers. 'With Google search over SSL, you can have an end-to-end encrypted search solution between your computer and Google. This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party. This provides you with a more secure and private search experience,' explains Google.

Google search over SSL works for web search, but since Google has an unified interface for search, it also works for video search, book search, blog search, news search. You won't be able to use image search, product search and Google Maps, which aren't yet properly integrated with the new Google interface.

The main benefit of using the SSL version of Google search is that the communication between your computer and Google's servers is encrypted. This is especially useful if you're using a public computer, an open WiFi network or you're using Google for sensitive searches. An interesting side-effect is that browsers no longer send referrals when you're clicking on search results that don't use SSL.

Google Secure Search has a special logo, which never changes for special occasions, and the URL is https://www.google.com.


I used WireShark, a free packet sniffer, to compare the standard HTTP interface with the new HTTPS version. As you can see, if you use Google Search over SSL, even the URL is encrypted, so your query is a secret for everyone, except Google:


If you'd like to use Google SSL as the default search engine in Chrome, go to the Settings dialog, click on the 'Manage' button next to the list of search engines, add 'Google SSL' and make it the default search engine. The downside is that Google Chrome will no longer show suggestions when you type your query. Google Chrome should use this in the incognito mode.


For Firefox, try this search plug-in, while for Internet Explorer, you can create a search provider using the URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=TEST.

{ via Google Blog }

"

Celebrating PAC-MAN’s 30th birthday

Celebrating PAC-MAN’s 30th birthday: "When I was growing up, my dad had the best job I could possibly imagine: he was an arcade game and pinball technician. For me, that meant summer trips through Poland’s coastal cities with their seasonal arcade parlors; peeking inside cabinets to learn programming and engineering secrets; and—of course—free games!

One of my favorites was PAC-MAN, whose popularity transcended the geopolitical barriers of that time. During the heyday of space shooters, Tōru Iwatani’s creation stood out as one of the first video games aimed at a broader audience, with a cute story of pizza-shaped character gobbling dots in a maze, colorful (literally!) characters, friendly design, very little violence and everlasting fun.

Today, on PAC-MAN’s 30th birthday, you can rediscover some of your 8-bit memories—or meet PAC-MAN for the first time—through our first-ever playable Google doodle. To play the game, go to google.com during the next 48 hours (because it’s too cool to keep for just one day) and either press the “Insert Coin” button or just wait for a few seconds.

Google doodler Ryan Germick and I made sure to include PAC-MAN’s original game logic, graphics and sounds, bring back ghosts’ individual personalities, and even recreate original bugs from this 1980’s masterpiece. We also added a little easter egg: if you throw in another coin, Ms. PAC-MAN joins the party and you can play together with someone else (PAC-MAN is controlled with arrow keys or by clicking on the maze, Ms. PAC-MAN using the WASD keys).

PAC-MAN™ & ©1980 NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.

PAC-MAN seems like a natural fit for the Google homepage. They’re both deceptively straightforward, carefully hiding their complexity under the hood. There’s a light-hearted, human touch to both of them. And we can only hope you find using Google at least a quarter as enjoyable as eating dots and chasing ghosts. You know, without actually needing any quarters.

Posted by Marcin Wichary, senior UX designer and developer

"

Google Font Directory and API

Google Font Directory and API: "

Google released a font directory and accompanying API for web developers to easily add special fonts to their pages. The idea is that Google handles the browser specific inclusion and font hosting, and you just use a single line for inclusion, plus a CSS definition, like this:

<head>

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Tangerine">

<style>

body { font-family: 'Tangerine', serif; font-size: 48px; }

</style>

...

<head>

One benefit of a single hosting domain is that chances increase that your visitors already cached this file from visiting another site before, meaning there won't be a delay displaying that font on your own page. If the font is not cached yet, different browsers show different loading behavior (and keep in mind Google's font server may go down).

What's in it for Google? As a guess, generally, whenever they help make the web better, they strengthen their main platform. Besides, they may also want to use this technology for their own apps, and if other sites use it too then their own apps could load faster (because the font may already be cached). I think it's a nice new choice for webmasters.

[Thanks Adam and WebSonic!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Font Directory and API | Comments]

Google WebM Video Format

Google WebM Video Format: "

CNet writes:

Google unveiled an open-source, royalty-free video format called WebM on Wednesday, lining up commitments from Mozilla and Opera to support the encoding technology in their browsers and pledging to support it on its YouTube site.

“The WebM project is dedicated to developing a high-quality, open video format for the Web that is freely available to everyone,” the WebM Web page states. As expected, Google made the move in conjunction with its Google I/O conference Wednesday.

It’s not yet clear how much success Google will have spreading WebM (...)

The format is based on the VP8 technology that Google acquired from On2 Technologies in February. It also uses the Ogg Vorbis audio technology that also has its origins with On2.

For more info, check out the WebM Project FAQ. Roger Browne in the forum comments:

This is really fantastic news for video on the web and on portable devices. Google is adopting it; so are Mozilla and Opera; Microsoft is accommodating it on IE9...

What’s apple going to do? If they accommodate it, even as grudgingly as Microsoft is doing, then the video format wars are over (at least until we need a resolution greater than 16384x16384 pixels, and that’s a while away).

[Thanks Mbegin, DPic and Roger!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google WebM Video Format | Comments]

Google Chrome Web Store

Google Chrome Web Store: "

Google preannounced a Web Store project for their Chrome browser/ OS. Perhaps it’s meant to be a kind of Apple App Store for websites, i.e. more closed, more casual to choose from, perhaps more streamlined. Google writes “Google Chrome users who find web apps in the store will be able to create convenient shortcuts in Chrome for easy access. Also, developers will have the option to easily sell their apps through the store using a convenient and secure payment system.”

Google adds, “Web apps listed in the Chrome Web Store are regular web applications that are built with standard web tools and technologies. The same web applications will run in other modern browsers that support these technologies.” If Google moderates the directory, perhaps these apps could be a safer environment than the web at large, though on the other hand, apps may also request special extended permissions, which might mean less security. If such a directory takes off and would become the de facto way for developers to distribute web software (not to say that’s likely, just hypothetically speaking), it would mean incredible control for the app directory moderator... Google.

The site will be available to users “later this year”, Google promises.

[Thanks WebSonic! Image by Google.]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Chrome Web Store | Comments]