If you find some interesting videos, post their link in the comments.
Rabu, 06 Mei 2009
Sort YouTube Results by Oldest
How to find the first video uploaded to YouTube? Just search for "YouTube" and sort the results by oldest. The new sorting option is a great way to find old videos and to see how YouTube evolved over the years.
If you find some interesting videos, post their link in the comments.
If you find some interesting videos, post their link in the comments.
Sites that Require Registration? Use Google
Some web sites show different content depending on the referrer. News sites like the New York Times, which display many of the articles only if you are a subscriber, make an exception if visitors click on results from Google and other popular search engines.
Google has a feature called "first click free" for sites that require subscription. "First Click Free is designed to protect your content while allowing you to include it Google's search index. To implement First Click Free, you must allow all users who find your page through Google search to see the full text of the document that the user found in Google's search results and that Google's crawler found on the web without requiring them to register or subscribe to see that content. The user's first click to your content is free and does not require logging in."
While the first click is free, when you click on a link from the page, it's likely that the site will ask you to register. This is especially annoying for sites like nytimes.com, which use article pagination to increase the number of page views.
One workaround is to copy the URL of the page you can't access directly in Google's search box and click on the first result. If Google didn't index the page, you can use SearchWiki to add the page in the list of search results: make sure you are logged in using your Google account and click on "Add a result" at the bottom of Google's search results page.
Another option would be to use the credentials collected by BugMeNot.
Google has a feature called "first click free" for sites that require subscription. "First Click Free is designed to protect your content while allowing you to include it Google's search index. To implement First Click Free, you must allow all users who find your page through Google search to see the full text of the document that the user found in Google's search results and that Google's crawler found on the web without requiring them to register or subscribe to see that content. The user's first click to your content is free and does not require logging in."
While the first click is free, when you click on a link from the page, it's likely that the site will ask you to register. This is especially annoying for sites like nytimes.com, which use article pagination to increase the number of page views.
One workaround is to copy the URL of the page you can't access directly in Google's search box and click on the first result. If Google didn't index the page, you can use SearchWiki to add the page in the list of search results: make sure you are logged in using your Google account and click on "Add a result" at the bottom of Google's search results page.
Another option would be to use the credentials collected by BugMeNot.
Googleplex in 200 Seconds
The video below shows some interesting facts about Googleplex, Google's headquarters from Mountain View. Googleplex is a vivid mix of technology, fun activities, healthy food, eco-friendly materials and college campus atmosphere.
Wikipedia's article has a detailed description of the Plex.
"The four core buildings, totaling (47,038 m²), were built for and originally occupied by Silicon Graphics (SGI). (...) Since the buildings are of relatively low height, the complex covers a large area. The interior of the headquarters is furnished with items like shade lamps and giant rubber balls. The lobby contains a piano and a projection of current live Google search queries. The facilities include a gym (Building 40), free laundry rooms (Buildings 40 and 42), two small swimming pools, a sand volleyball court, and eleven cafeterias of diverse selection. Google has also installed replicas of SpaceShipOne and a dinosaur skeleton. In late 2006 and early 2007 the company installed a series of solar panels, capable of producing 1.6 megawatts of electricity. At the time, it was believed to be the largest corporate installation in the United States."
{ via Blogoscoped Forum }
Wikipedia's article has a detailed description of the Plex.
"The four core buildings, totaling (47,038 m²), were built for and originally occupied by Silicon Graphics (SGI). (...) Since the buildings are of relatively low height, the complex covers a large area. The interior of the headquarters is furnished with items like shade lamps and giant rubber balls. The lobby contains a piano and a projection of current live Google search queries. The facilities include a gym (Building 40), free laundry rooms (Buildings 40 and 42), two small swimming pools, a sand volleyball court, and eleven cafeterias of diverse selection. Google has also installed replicas of SpaceShipOne and a dinosaur skeleton. In late 2006 and early 2007 the company installed a series of solar panels, capable of producing 1.6 megawatts of electricity. At the time, it was believed to be the largest corporate installation in the United States."
{ via Blogoscoped Forum }
Senin, 04 Mei 2009
Gmail Gadget Incompatible with Secure Setting
Gmail's iGoogle gadget stopped working if you've enabled "always use HTTPS" in Gmail, a setting that redirects any Gmail URL to the secure version. "The Gmail gadget does not support the Always use https setting that you chose in full Gmail. If you would like to use https, please open full Gmail," mentions the error message.
It's worth mentioning that Google didn't enforce the option in iGoogle until now, even if the setting to force the secure connection was added last year. There are many incompatibilities between the HTTPS setting and Google applications like Google Toolbar, Gmail Notifier and the mobile Gmail application, which weren't design to support this option.
Here's Google's explanation:
I think it's great that Gmail supports secure connections, a feature that's not available in other popular webmail services like Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. The option to always use HTTPS is just an added bonus, since you can easily bookmark https://mail.google.com/mail/ and use that URL. To prevent the incompatibilities, Google could add independent HTTPS settings for all the applications and services that use Gmail, so that the gadget or the notifier work even if you've enabled "always use HTTPS" in the desktop version of Gmail.
{ Thanks, Simon and Michael. }
It's worth mentioning that Google didn't enforce the option in iGoogle until now, even if the setting to force the secure connection was added last year. There are many incompatibilities between the HTTPS setting and Google applications like Google Toolbar, Gmail Notifier and the mobile Gmail application, which weren't design to support this option.
Here's Google's explanation:
As several of you have noticed, we made a change in iGoogle to the way that iGoogle's Gmail gadget works. If you previously set Gmail to only access your mail using https by selecting "Always use https" in Gmail's settings, you will now see a message in iGoogle's Gmail gadget asking you to open the full version of Gmail. We made this change in iGoogle for those users who want to ensure that their Gmail is transmitted using https.
We know that many of you would like to access your mail from iGoogle with https, and we're investigating ways to provide https support for iGoogle's Gmail gadget. In the meantime, you have a couple of choices:
- If you'd prefer to access your mail with https, please visit Gmail directly at https://mail.google.com/mail.
- If you'd rather get your Gmail on iGoogle with the Gmail gadget, visit Gmail's Settings page and select "Don't always use https."
I think it's great that Gmail supports secure connections, a feature that's not available in other popular webmail services like Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. The option to always use HTTPS is just an added bonus, since you can easily bookmark https://mail.google.com/mail/ and use that URL. To prevent the incompatibilities, Google could add independent HTTPS settings for all the applications and services that use Gmail, so that the gadget or the notifier work even if you've enabled "always use HTTPS" in the desktop version of Gmail.
{ Thanks, Simon and Michael. }
First Google Latitude Applications
Google Latitude started as a service that managed to obtain your location and shared it with a group of people, who also revealed their locations. The service was available as part of the mobile Google Maps application or as an iGoogle gadget.
To make the information stored in Google Latitude more useful, you can now display it on a web page, in a feed or add it as a constantly-updated Google Talk status. The location can be added to a badge and embedded on any web page, but there's also an option to get a list of the most recent locations as a KML or JSON feed. Since you may not want to share your precise location, Google Latitude has an option to display the city-level location.
If you only want to share your location with the Google Talk contacts, enable the new location status. The feature "automatically updates your status message with your current city's name as you move".
It's interesting to notice that the two new features are actually applications and it's likely that Google Latitude will implement an API that could be used by other location-based services, much like Yahoo's Fire Eagle. "They are two separate apps, so you can select which one(s) you'd like to use and customize exactly how you'd like to share your Latitude location. (...) Both apps adhere to the same terms and conditions -- you must explicitly opt in to the application and of course, you can always disable an app by going back to the app's page," explains Google.
"Apps use the same location as the Google Latitude location tied to your Google Account. While Latitude is enabled and updating your location from your mobile phone or iGoogle where available, your apps will show your most recently updated location. If you simply stop updating your location from your phone or computer by closing iGoogle, letting your phone run out of battery, turn your phone off, etc., your last updated or manually set location will still be visible in your other apps, even if it's old," informs the help center.
The location from Google Latitude, which is obtained from a variety of sources (GPS, cell towers, WiFi location), could be used in many applications: better local results in Google Search, easier to use GOOG-411, viewing your routes in Google Maps, customized geo-alerts and probably other useful-but-somewhat-creepy services.
To make the information stored in Google Latitude more useful, you can now display it on a web page, in a feed or add it as a constantly-updated Google Talk status. The location can be added to a badge and embedded on any web page, but there's also an option to get a list of the most recent locations as a KML or JSON feed. Since you may not want to share your precise location, Google Latitude has an option to display the city-level location.
If you only want to share your location with the Google Talk contacts, enable the new location status. The feature "automatically updates your status message with your current city's name as you move".
It's interesting to notice that the two new features are actually applications and it's likely that Google Latitude will implement an API that could be used by other location-based services, much like Yahoo's Fire Eagle. "They are two separate apps, so you can select which one(s) you'd like to use and customize exactly how you'd like to share your Latitude location. (...) Both apps adhere to the same terms and conditions -- you must explicitly opt in to the application and of course, you can always disable an app by going back to the app's page," explains Google.
"Apps use the same location as the Google Latitude location tied to your Google Account. While Latitude is enabled and updating your location from your mobile phone or iGoogle where available, your apps will show your most recently updated location. If you simply stop updating your location from your phone or computer by closing iGoogle, letting your phone run out of battery, turn your phone off, etc., your last updated or manually set location will still be visible in your other apps, even if it's old," informs the help center.
The location from Google Latitude, which is obtained from a variety of sources (GPS, cell towers, WiFi location), could be used in many applications: better local results in Google Search, easier to use GOOG-411, viewing your routes in Google Maps, customized geo-alerts and probably other useful-but-somewhat-creepy services.
Sabtu, 02 Mei 2009
Styling Google Docs Forms
Google Docs doesn't offer an option to customize forms and you can only choose from 70 predefined themes. Gill Smith managed to find a list of parameters that let you style any Google Docs form by adjusting its address.
For example, you can remove the title of a form by adding "&ttl=0" to the URL, you can change the font by adding "&f=FONT_NAME", the text color by appending "&tc=HEX_VALUE" and the background color using "&bc=HEX_VALUE".
Note that this works only for the embedded forms, which have a special URL. Here's the address of the customized form displayed below:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?key=rwP1POieyAS3nnI7OqD7sHQ&ttl=0&f=Verdana&tc=0022ff&bc=f9fff9
Another option is to copy the HTML code generated by Google and to style it using CSS.
{ Thanks, ahab. }
For example, you can remove the title of a form by adding "&ttl=0" to the URL, you can change the font by adding "&f=FONT_NAME", the text color by appending "&tc=HEX_VALUE" and the background color using "&bc=HEX_VALUE".
Note that this works only for the embedded forms, which have a special URL. Here's the address of the customized form displayed below:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?key=rwP1POieyAS3nnI7OqD7sHQ&ttl=0&f=Verdana&tc=0022ff&bc=f9fff9
Another option is to copy the HTML code generated by Google and to style it using CSS.
{ Thanks, ahab. }
Jumat, 01 Mei 2009
Google Business Cards
To promote the public profile pages, Google started to offer 250,000 free business cards in the US (the link only works in the US). "We are giving away 10,000 sets of 25 Google profile business cards totally free. Have a little fun and show off your profile," suggests Google.
Google's business cards are less conventional, since they only include a search box pre-filled with your name and a link to your profile page. If you have a public profile that's searchable, Google will include it at the bottom of the search results page for your name.
Search Engine Land reports that Google uses iPrint's technology to print the business cards. "The offer is only available in the continental U.S., and Google says the cards should arrive within 10-12 days."
The idea is far from new, but the addition of an OneBox for profile search is a big incentive to create a profile and to manage your online reputation.
{ Image licensed as Creative Commons by Bruno Pedro. }
Google's business cards are less conventional, since they only include a search box pre-filled with your name and a link to your profile page. If you have a public profile that's searchable, Google will include it at the bottom of the search results page for your name.
Search Engine Land reports that Google uses iPrint's technology to print the business cards. "The offer is only available in the continental U.S., and Google says the cards should arrive within 10-12 days."
The idea is far from new, but the addition of an OneBox for profile search is a big incentive to create a profile and to manage your online reputation.
{ Image licensed as Creative Commons by Bruno Pedro. }
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