Después de años de abandono, retomaré este Blog para hablar continuar hablando sobre Google. Ahora en español.
2013/08/28
2008/09/27
Happy Birthday Google!
Google turns 10. That's a life time on Internet years.
Google has managed to greatly impact the Internet and the way we interact with it. Personally: I don't know how many web searches I perform daily, and I can't think of using another mail service.
And there's a long list of other little (and not so little) things that free Google services help me with.
Indeed, I wish thee a happy birthday!
Google has managed to greatly impact the Internet and the way we interact with it. Personally: I don't know how many web searches I perform daily, and I can't think of using another mail service.
And there's a long list of other little (and not so little) things that free Google services help me with.
Indeed, I wish thee a happy birthday!
2008/09/23
When will Android land in México?
As we know, the first Android based mobile phone is here, sold in a two year contract with T-Mobile in the US.
How long will it take to arrive to México? Will it come unlocked and free of exclusive contracts?
Anyway, I've said it before: I still think there's a not so minor Personal Information Manager application missing in Google's Apps: a task list manager. I know there are quite a few third parties, like Remember the Milk, or Ta-da Lists, but I'd like to see an official, Google-account-linked, app coming from the Big G.
I've read once in a Google Apps group (miss the link! Sorry) gossip of an in house app in the works, but can't confirm it. Evenmore: some say that Google will sooner or later drink up acquire Remember the Milk, or any of the other independent startups.
2008/09/17
What verification number (in gMail signup)?
Google has posted a post about What to do if you can't access your gMail and I think all advices are great, but I have one question though...
If you read that post, and probably if you created your account recently, you'll notice that there's anew verification number thing going on for your account, but, when I created my account back in 2004, I don't remember I got any verification number sent anywhere. So how do I get one?
I believe this verification number is supposed to act kind of like a secret question / answer for recovering your account / resetting your password.
If you read that post, and probably if you created your account recently, you'll notice that there's a
I believe this verification number is supposed to act kind of like a secret question / answer for recovering your account / resetting your password.
2008/09/11
More on Chrome
Well, now that a few days have gone and while the hype is still on, I'll share some rants on my Chrome experience.
First of all, I need to admit that Google's browser has become my default browser for RSS reading (and yes, actually with Google Reader). You don't really notice all the available space in a big screen (17+ inches), but when you are in a small screen'd laptop, it becomes evident. And the fact is, that in my current screen resolution (which is not that small either, only the height: 1280 x 800 px) the folders I have just exactly fit into a maximized Chrome's window.
But besides that, it still has a long way to go before it replaces Firefox in my daily needs. One of my main complains is that, when you search for a keyword in Chrome, (control or command + F) you are not taken immediately to that keyword, after you remove focus from the search (pressing escape). In Firefox, when I perform an inline search (or whatever that is called) , after I press escape in the keyboard, focus is automatically passed to the current keyword result, and if its a link, I just have to press enter to follow that link, (or control/command + enter to open it in a new tab). I do love keyboard shortcuts, they can really make a difference.
In other complaints: I just discovered that Chrome does not play nice with a CSS layout I designed a few weeks ago (Fiery Cosmic beta theme, used on LozBlog). This is really beginning to become a bigger issue: if a lot of people start using Chrome (which I wouldn't dare to assure now, a few weeks more, past the hype and we'll see), and when IE8 comes out, how many important browsers we'll be needing to hack up for the sake of our beloved standard compliant projects?
About the drag-out-tab-to-new-window, I think it's cool, but (always a but)... I'm usually dragging and dropping all kinds of things into new tabs (or into address bar, or search bar) in Firefox. Just dragging an image and releasing it on the tab bar will open it in a new window. I'm also used to do this with links, or selected text. And I'm also used to do this with tabs, between windows and even between browsers (right now I only remember it working between Firefox and Flock), I would drag a tab, move the cursor to the windows task bar (still dragging the tab), place the cursor on top of the desired window name (in the windows task bar) for a few seconds, switch focus to this other window (which would be obviously a browser), and release the tab into the tab bar. It also works if you go alt/command + tab while holding the dragged tab, but I usually do this dragging procedure when I'm holding a beer with the left hand. All this crazy thing is not currently supported by Chrome.
And that lack of functionality thing with the middle mouse click is really annoying.
A not really important rant: in Windows, sometimes I use to switch windows by clicking on the title bar of an application, which if maximized, should be at the top of the screen, so I move the pointer all the way up (no need to loose time with precision pointing here) and click (also: the desired window should be on top of other maximized windows for this to work). But in Chrome, which lacks said bar, most times I end up switching to another tab.
I realize that most of this issues are not used by everybody, but hey, nowadays PC's, OS's and gadgets are all about personal user customization, right? Anyway, maybe you'll find these rants useless but then again, maybe you just learned something new.
First of all, I need to admit that Google's browser has become my default browser for RSS reading (and yes, actually with Google Reader). You don't really notice all the available space in a big screen (17+ inches), but when you are in a small screen'd laptop, it becomes evident. And the fact is, that in my current screen resolution (which is not that small either, only the height: 1280 x 800 px) the folders I have just exactly fit into a maximized Chrome's window.
But besides that, it still has a long way to go before it replaces Firefox in my daily needs. One of my main complains is that, when you search for a keyword in Chrome, (control or command + F) you are not taken immediately to that keyword, after you remove focus from the search (pressing escape). In Firefox, when I perform an inline search (or whatever that is called) , after I press escape in the keyboard, focus is automatically passed to the current keyword result, and if its a link, I just have to press enter to follow that link, (or control/command + enter to open it in a new tab). I do love keyboard shortcuts, they can really make a difference.
In other complaints: I just discovered that Chrome does not play nice with a CSS layout I designed a few weeks ago (Fiery Cosmic beta theme, used on LozBlog). This is really beginning to become a bigger issue: if a lot of people start using Chrome (which I wouldn't dare to assure now, a few weeks more, past the hype and we'll see), and when IE8 comes out, how many important browsers we'll be needing to hack up for the sake of our beloved standard compliant projects?
About the drag-out-tab-to-new-window, I think it's cool, but (always a but)... I'm usually dragging and dropping all kinds of things into new tabs (or into address bar, or search bar) in Firefox. Just dragging an image and releasing it on the tab bar will open it in a new window. I'm also used to do this with links, or selected text. And I'm also used to do this with tabs, between windows and even between browsers (right now I only remember it working between Firefox and Flock), I would drag a tab, move the cursor to the windows task bar (still dragging the tab), place the cursor on top of the desired window name (in the windows task bar) for a few seconds, switch focus to this other window (which would be obviously a browser), and release the tab into the tab bar. It also works if you go alt/command + tab while holding the dragged tab, but I usually do this dragging procedure when I'm holding a beer with the left hand. All this crazy thing is not currently supported by Chrome.
And that lack of functionality thing with the middle mouse click is really annoying.
A not really important rant: in Windows, sometimes I use to switch windows by clicking on the title bar of an application, which if maximized, should be at the top of the screen, so I move the pointer all the way up (no need to loose time with precision pointing here) and click (also: the desired window should be on top of other maximized windows for this to work). But in Chrome, which lacks said bar, most times I end up switching to another tab.
I realize that most of this issues are not used by everybody, but hey, nowadays PC's, OS's and gadgets are all about personal user customization, right? Anyway, maybe you'll find these rants useless but then again, maybe you just learned something new.
2008/09/04
Chrome
Well, everybody is talking about the new Google browser. Here´s my experience so far.
Yesterday I gave it a try and at first I thought it was a bit strange, having so much room for the content, it felt like something was missing.
One of the first things I noticed was the lack of status bar, which I then realized that appears magically when you hover a link, for example.
I´m used to middle click (with the mouse scroll button) and glide up or down with the mouse, and this is not currently supported.
But it convinced me when I started browsing Google Reader with my small laptop screen, and saw all this additional and beloved space for content.
And the program startup does feel faster (than FF3, IE6), and also (though not that much) in overall browsing.
Anyway, I don´t think it will be replacing Firefox as my main browser, at least not anytime soon, and not even Flock as my second browser, but I'll be using it when I need to do quick surfing.
Yesterday I gave it a try and at first I thought it was a bit strange, having so much room for the content, it felt like something was missing.
One of the first things I noticed was the lack of status bar, which I then realized that appears magically when you hover a link, for example.
I´m used to middle click (with the mouse scroll button) and glide up or down with the mouse, and this is not currently supported.
But it convinced me when I started browsing Google Reader with my small laptop screen, and saw all this additional and beloved space for content.
And the program startup does feel faster (than FF3, IE6), and also (though not that much) in overall browsing.
Anyway, I don´t think it will be replacing Firefox as my main browser, at least not anytime soon, and not even Flock as my second browser, but I'll be using it when I need to do quick surfing.
But it does raise some concern as a Web Designer (mostly CSS related), I don´t think that we need yet another browser to test and hack for.
2008/08/22
Experimental search under experiments?
Google's shortcut search experiment seems to be under maintenance or something, 'cause it ain't working as it is supposed to.
A few weeks ago, I released a Firefox search plugin to trigger it from the search bar, and today I discovered that the shortcuts are not working as expected: keyboard keys J and K are used to navigate forth and back in a search result page, but now it seems that pressing these keys will go forward a complete result page, and not browsing through individual results.
Does anybody know what is happening?
Update! (23/08/2008, 16:04) Looks like it's fixed, don't know for how long.
A few weeks ago, I released a Firefox search plugin to trigger it from the search bar, and today I discovered that the shortcuts are not working as expected: keyboard keys J and K are used to navigate forth and back in a search result page, but now it seems that pressing these keys will go forward a complete result page, and not browsing through individual results.
Does anybody know what is happening?
Update! (23/08/2008, 16:04) Looks like it's fixed, don't know for how long.
2008/08/18
(Google's) Free the airwaves (what about other countries?)
I've heard about freeing the airwaves, a Google initiative (with it's own dedicated website) that will help achieve wireless broadband nationwide Internet, taking advantage of unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels. The Federal Communication Commission in the US has a pending decision concerning new rules on aforementioned radio spectrum broadcast channels.
I have no doubt that this will surely benefit the US, and that it will pave down the way for other countries to follow this example, but the first question that comes into my mind is: what is the real short term benefit (if any) for other countries in supporting this initiative? Guess it's up to each country and each country's laws (and law-makers), and of course, each country's current radio spectrum set.
I certainly support it, and I believe it is a good first step, just wondering...
I have no doubt that this will surely benefit the US, and that it will pave down the way for other countries to follow this example, but the first question that comes into my mind is: what is the real short term benefit (if any) for other countries in supporting this initiative? Guess it's up to each country and each country's laws (and law-makers), and of course, each country's current radio spectrum set.
I certainly support it, and I believe it is a good first step, just wondering...
2008/08/14
Personalized Google top bar
I like the way Google links to more of their services at the top, but I think it will be more useful if it was personalized and linked to what each user uses the most, based on clicks or user logins to each particular service.
For example: if the services I use the most are gMail, Calendar and Reader, I want those to be displayed in the top bar, and if I hardly ever use Picasa, I want it out of it. I actually use all of these, and more (like Notebook, Analytics, Web Master Tools, Adsense, to name a few), but I think each user has different needs.
Actually, I think I will finally be able to switch from Outlook to Google completely when Android (an open source Mobile Operative System, well for cell phones, or something like that) comes out, and when Google goes live with a "to do list" service, which I've heard it's in the works now.
For example: if the services I use the most are gMail, Calendar and Reader, I want those to be displayed in the top bar, and if I hardly ever use Picasa, I want it out of it. I actually use all of these, and more (like Notebook, Analytics, Web Master Tools, Adsense, to name a few), but I think each user has different needs.
Actually, I think I will finally be able to switch from Outlook to Google completely when Android (an open source Mobile Operative System, well for cell phones, or something like that) comes out, and when Google goes live with a "to do list" service, which I've heard it's in the works now.
2008/08/07
gMail's 7
I don't know exactly when, but a few days ago, I noticed Google Mail (as it is called in Germany) had reached a new Integer: 7 GB. That is seven thousand mega bytes. I remember when we only had 2 MB in hotmail...
What will happen to the the additional storage Google is currently offering once gMail reaches 10 GB? They now charge 20 USD per year if you want to upgrade your account to 10 GB, but it enables both gMail and Picasa Web Albums to share the storage. Currently Picasa offers a very small single GB. And if you want to get heavy, you can pack in 400 GB for 500 USD. That's bigger than my Hard Drive.
Anyway, me: I never go beyond 30% of gMail's storage capacity, guess my mail and attachments grow at the same pace as gMail's.
What will happen to the the additional storage Google is currently offering once gMail reaches 10 GB? They now charge 20 USD per year if you want to upgrade your account to 10 GB, but it enables both gMail and Picasa Web Albums to share the storage. Currently Picasa offers a very small single GB. And if you want to get heavy, you can pack in 400 GB for 500 USD. That's bigger than my Hard Drive.
Anyway, me: I never go beyond 30% of gMail's storage capacity, guess my mail and attachments grow at the same pace as gMail's.
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