Google Chrome is a "must have"

There's no getting away from it. Google Chrome is the browser of choice.

A beautifully simple and bug-free browser that's just dying to get onto every single desktop on the planet.

I'm certainly using it already as my browser of choice. Partly because I'm admittedly a bit of a Google addict. In the sense that I loved Google from the moment they found exactly what I was looking for (no, not that) back in 2001 or something. And partly because I just can't wait for another browser to gain market share over Internet Explorer, and give Microsoft another reason to make Windows truly user friendlier.

If you haven't tried Google Chrome yet, go and get it :) Here it is:

http://www.google.com/chrome/index.html?hl=en

Even if you don't have administrator rights on your PC chances are you can still install it. I could.

Now if you've already installed it and just happen to be thinking, like I did, that it would be nice to be able to make it look a tiddly bit different. And if you're not afraid of a bit of simple tweaking, go and download the Google Chrome theme manager XChrome here:

http://chromespot.com/index.php/topic,745.0.html

And here is a nice pack of 23 themes:

http://chromespot.com/index.php/topic,746.0.html

Enjoy the buzz of using a fast browser!

Google Chrome is a "must have"

There's no getting away from it. Google Chrome is the browser of choice.

A beautifully simple and bug-free browser that's just dying to get onto every single desktop on the planet.

I'm certainly using it already as my browser of choice. Partly because I'm admittedly a bit of a Google addict. In the sense that I loved Google from the moment they found exactly what I was looking for (no, not that) back in 2001 or something. And partly because I just can't wait for another browser to gain market share over Internet Explorer, and give Microsoft another reason to make Windows truly user friendlier.

If you haven't tried Google Chrome yet, go and get it :) Here it is:

http://www.google.com/chrome/index.html?hl=en

Even if you don't have administrator rights on your PC chances are you can still install it. I could.

Now if you've already installed it and just happen to be thinking, like I did, that it would be nice to be able to make it look a tiddly bit different. And if you're not afraid of a bit of simple tweaking, go and download the Google Chrome theme manager XChrome here:

http://chromespot.com/index.php/topic,745.0.html

And here is a nice pack of 23 themes:

http://chromespot.com/index.php/topic,746.0.html

Enjoy the buzz of using a fast browser!

Google Maps Mobile 2 Beta

Here's a tiny bit more information on the My Location feature in Google Maps Mobile 2.
http://www.google.com/gmm/mylocation.html?hl=en

At the moment it can't seem to pinpoint my location (without GPS). I'm in Amsterdam....
Let's see if it finds me during the course of today!

Well, I'm impressed :) The My Location feature did indeed kick in later in the day when I was on my way home. It told me (and showed me) that it had pinpointed my position to within "1700m". There was the familiar little blue dot, but this time with a faded blue circle around it. The position of the solid blue dot was in fact a fair bit closer than 1700m. It was about 900m away from my exact location.

So, this is pretty impressive. Not so great for door to door navigation. I mean, if you were in a car you'd be pretty screwed, driving through parking lots and over the edge of cliffs. No, "to within 1700m accuracy" doesn't cut the mustard. But for location-based news, weather, alerts it's perfect. I really really hope to see Google quickly allow users to sign-up for third party localised info via this technology.

For me this would have to work in such a way that the third parties were not able to access my location data (I'm obviously not too keen on random IT support guys knowing where I'm hanging out!) Only Google would know that (ok, ok, ok, Google, CIA, etc, etc!)

But it really would be very cool to get a spontaneous alert if I came within walking distance of a Chinese restaurant, and I had a particular weakness for Chinese food. Or telling me that it was about to rain!!! I mean, we can do pretty accurate weather these days right? I mean, a day or so in advance may still be iffy, but I reckon a weather prediction an hour or so in advance is going to be pretty good. The same goes for speed cameras, cinema's showing my requested film.. etc etc.

I think though that Google first needs to launch a mobile application a bit like Yahoo's nearly-there Yahoo! Go application. Yahoo! Go is a bit.. lumpy somehow. I still can't quite say what I don't like about it, but it's stuff like not being able to add attachments to emails - I mean I've got 3G for goodness sake! And I can only see my Inbox - when I've got a bunch of custom folders fed via custom filters. Then the Flickr part doesn't let you display images via keywords, and what about something simple like a feature that let you automatically update your background picture with a new Flickr photo on a schedule. Come on guys, let's see some meat! :)

So I've had my mobile moan. Till next time!

Google Maps Mobile 2 Beta

Here's a tiny bit more information on the My Location feature in Google Maps Mobile 2.
http://www.google.com/gmm/mylocation.html?hl=en

At the moment it can't seem to pinpoint my location (without GPS). I'm in Amsterdam....
Let's see if it finds me during the course of today!

Well, I'm impressed :) The My Location feature did indeed kick in later in the day when I was on my way home. It told me (and showed me) that it had pinpointed my position to within "1700m". There was the familiar little blue dot, but this time with a faded blue circle around it. The position of the solid blue dot was in fact a fair bit closer than 1700m. It was about 900m away from my exact location.

So, this is pretty impressive. Not so great for door to door navigation. I mean, if you were in a car you'd be pretty screwed, driving through parking lots and over the edge of cliffs. No, "to within 1700m accuracy" doesn't cut the mustard. But for location-based news, weather, alerts it's perfect. I really really hope to see Google quickly allow users to sign-up for third party localised info via this technology.

For me this would have to work in such a way that the third parties were not able to access my location data (I'm obviously not too keen on random IT support guys knowing where I'm hanging out!) Only Google would know that (ok, ok, ok, Google, CIA, etc, etc!)

But it really would be very cool to get a spontaneous alert if I came within walking distance of a Chinese restaurant, and I had a particular weakness for Chinese food. Or telling me that it was about to rain!!! I mean, we can do pretty accurate weather these days right? I mean, a day or so in advance may still be iffy, but I reckon a weather prediction an hour or so in advance is going to be pretty good. The same goes for speed cameras, cinema's showing my requested film.. etc etc.

I think though that Google first needs to launch a mobile application a bit like Yahoo's nearly-there Yahoo! Go application. Yahoo! Go is a bit.. lumpy somehow. I still can't quite say what I don't like about it, but it's stuff like not being able to add attachments to emails - I mean I've got 3G for goodness sake! And I can only see my Inbox - when I've got a bunch of custom folders fed via custom filters. Then the Flickr part doesn't let you display images via keywords, and what about something simple like a feature that let you automatically update your background picture with a new Flickr photo on a schedule. Come on guys, let's see some meat! :)

So I've had my mobile moan. Till next time!

Google SafeSearch

Here's an example of searching for the term "sex" on Google Image Search with SafeSeach switched on.
sex safesearch: - Google Image Search

I was looking into this for my new custom Google search engine "Google4Life" that let's you search for content that's been uploaded to various archive sites.

Google SafeSearch

Here's an example of searching for the term "sex" on Google Image Search with SafeSeach switched on.
sex safesearch: - Google Image Search

I was looking into this for my new custom Google search engine "Google4Life" that let's you search for content that's been uploaded to various archive sites.

Google4Life

I'd like to announce my new little Google-powered customised search.
It's called (very appropriately) Google4Life!
I've been a Google fan for ages, and the recent surge in handy sites where others have uploaded files, which Google is indexing has provided me a great alternative to p2p programs.
So try out Google4Life today and see what you can find :)))

The direct link for Google4Life is:
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=004424456071348148938%3Ah9c31h8hajm

Google4Life

I'd like to announce my new little Google-powered customised search.
It's called (very appropriately) Google4Life!
I've been a Google fan for ages, and the recent surge in handy sites where others have uploaded files, which Google is indexing has provided me a great alternative to p2p programs.
So try out Google4Life today and see what you can find :)))

The direct link for Google4Life is:
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=004424456071348148938%3Ah9c31h8hajm

LinkaGoGo to Yahoo bookmarks migration (including tags!)

I'm pleased with Yahoo My Web BETA

I just imported my LinkaGoGo bookmarks successfully with tags!

• I exported the LinkaGoGo bookmarks using the Delicious export option. This gives you a file called delicious.xml
• I then imported this file into my Yahoo! My Web BETA bookmarks
• It bloody worked with tags an' all!
• I'm now going to use this chap's tool (hmm, that sounded..) to convert from Yahoo to Google... (will update post with result)
  

Right, didn't quite go as planned getting the bookamrks into Google. The tool only grabs your public bookmarks, it doesn't let you log on and grap all your bookmarks,

Gwen Stefani fans

For those of you that like Gwen Stefani, Google is offering you the opportunity to have a listen to her new album, The Sweet Escape.

Click here to do the Google search!

It’ll be for a limited period only I don’t doubt, so hurry hurry hurry :)

Gwen Stefani fans

For those of you that like Gwen Stefani, Google is offering you the opportunity to have a listen to her new album, The Sweet Escape.

Click here to do the Google search!

It’ll be for a limited period only I don’t doubt, so hurry hurry hurry :)