Add GBookmarks, GTranslate, etc. in GReader's Send-to option

Google Reader has got an option to Send to under a feed, in August, 2009. With this, one can share a particular post on any of the popular sites which many of the Sharing buttons give. A good thing is that they have provided an option to add custom Send-to options under Settings.

One can add Google Bookmarks to these sets of options by adding the following code:
Name: Google Bookmarks (or anything of your choice)
URL: http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=edit&output=popup&b
Icon URL: http://www.google.com/favicon.ico

To add Google Translate:
Name: Autotranslate
URL: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=${url}
Icon URL: http://translate.google.com/favicon.ico

To add Add-to-any:
Name: Add to any
URL: http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=${url}&linkname=${title}
Icon URL: http://www.addtoany.com/favicon.ico

It would be fun to get / add as many links to Send-to as needed.

Auto System Log Manager

We all know how our bosses keep on asking us to log our activities for the day. There are days when you are so occupied with activities that logging our activities itself becomes a huge over-head. Plus, we do feel at the back of our mind that our precious time is getting wasted in doing something which is undoubtedly good, but if only we had someone to log our activities!

Well, if not every activity of ours, atleast there should be a way to auto-log the activities which we do on system, right? Atleast some things which are very generic in nature. Fascinated I am to have found one such app on this website. This person is amazing, gets one (new) app a day and they are all simple ones. One of them is this Time Management app. One can download the app and also the Source Code!!! So that way one can customize it to their needs. What it does? From the website,

Time Management allows you to keep track of what you are doing on your PC. I plan on using it to help me fill out my timesheet at the office. The application resides in the systray, and writes to a CSV file each time you switch applications, or the title bar of the current app changes.

File format:
[date],[time],[process name],[window title],[duration used]

Find the total list of Apps Download page here.

I am sure, many of us would like it. Currently, using it on my system. I am damn impressed! :) Thanks Dana.

List of connected users in Oracle

To know the list of connected users to the Oracle Database, run the below sql

select distinct username, osuser, terminal, utl_inaddr.get_host_address(terminal) ip_address, status, logon_time
from v$session
where username is not null
order by username, osuser;

GChat tips

A word in GChat can be emphasized in many ways, most common being Bold, Italics & Underline.
Knew that adding * on either side of the word (eg. *word* = word) would make it bold, but learnt from the 10tip of Gmail NInja tips page that we can even italicize by adding _ on either side of the word (eg. _word_ = word) and with - on either side, it strikes the word (eg. -word- = word).[SOURCE]

Site Identity Button

We observe favicon for a site and with new firefox, even some text next to it. Firefox calls it Site Identity Button. It has three levels each with a different color:

• Grey: No information from site
• Blue: The connection is secure
• Green: Not only the connection is secure but it also comes with the owners information

Creating Sitemap in Dreamweaver

There was a need to create a Sitemap and submit it to Google Webmaster Tools. Surprisingly, I did not find an option of creating Sitemap in Dreamweaver 8. So, downloaded an extension Google Sitemap Generator and added it to Dreamweaver which created Sitemap very easily.

Update: I did get to see a way to view Sitemap in DMW. Can save it as an image. But, yet to know if Dreamweaver has an option inbuilt, to save it as .xml

META tags for improved search

Came across this webpage on why we need not use META Tags in our Webpages. Truly, no search engine will completely depend on META Tags for their indexing else, by now Search Results would have shown only spammed results.

Never use META tag in html, syntax.

Surprisingly, Google claims to be considering META tags (a bit strongly too!) for a webpage. Google talks about it here.

Update 25th Sept, 2009: Thanks to the comment posted by Vitaly, came to know of the latest blogspot made by Google on their Google Webmaster Central blog on 21st Sept, 2009 where they very clearly mention that Google does not use "keywords"  meta tag for their Web search. Occasionally, when needed, they use "description" meta tag. Their Custom Search Engine does consider meta tags though.

Thin Clients

My new fascination is Thin Client Systems. Read about it only today and tell you, the number and kind of advantages it gives are numerous, specifically so in the area of maintenance. The below pps gives very precise and to-the-point FAQs.

Need to study the traffic that it will generate on the network. If that goes fine and 1GBps of network bandwidth safices the need, then we are on a go! :)



If you wish to download this pps as ppt or pdf, click on the Open in a new window icon in the menubar of the presentation. It will open up in a new window where you will be able to do multiple things with the presentation. In any case, this is the direct link to new window

Screens of Death

Screens of death are of different color, like Yellow, Red, Black, Green, Purple, Blue, etc.

Some of the applications have improved. They display images like Sad Mac, Google Chrome Sad tab, etc.

OpenID

Now a days, we see OpenID on so many websites. Wanted to know what this concept was about.

In simple terms, OpenID is a Universal ID (specifically a URL) which once created, can be used on an OpenID complaint website for a specific activity. For eg. on Blogger (OpenID compliant website), one can comment (specific activity) using an OpenID. One need not create a separate OpenID if one already has a Gmail id (or Google Accounts ID), Yahoo id, a blog on Blogger, etc. Best part about OpenID is that it is not dependent on any single OpenID provider. One can switch to any OpenID provider as one wishes, without monopoly of any specific company. It is an open standard with decentralized server.

So, next thing to know is which all are the OpenID providers. The list is here as well as here.

I wanted to use Gmail as an OpenID. To create an OpenID URL for Google Account ID or Gmail ID go here [SOURCE]. To use your Blog URL as an OpenID, details are given here.

Know how to run your own OpenID here.

Go here to get to know about having your own OpenID.

More on OpenID:

Spread OpenID

OpenID Foundation

Information on Diseases

Google Health, happens to be a place where one can enter medical health care data so that it can be accessed across the globe, avoiding our carrying health records physically alongwith us during our journeys.

With added features like Import Medical Records (from selected hospitals, as yet), Graph test results, Share profile, Upload images, print wallet-size Health Profile, etc. it is doing more than just giving us an option to enter data like what Excel gives :). One thing among all these that is striking is the More Info option next to each Diagnosis Condition which one can link to their profile.

Here is one example on Acne

Very impressive. It contains all the information that one (as a patient) needs to know on Acne. They are adding for other conditions too! The complete list appears here. I doubt anywhere else it is given in such a complete fashion. I checked on Wiki for information on Acne. The info given on Google's Reference page is more comprehensive, clean and informative.

Interestingly, there is a post on Google blog saying SNOMED-CT is a better way of coding diseases than International Classificaton of Diseases (ICD-9) (New versions: ICD-10 CM / PCS). When Google makes such statement, its implications can be huge especially when whole of USA uses ICD coding!

Lets wait and see, if in any way, this influences the type of diseases coding system adopted by the hospitals across the globe.

Chrome Malware detection

I had clicked to go to http://www.gmail-backup.com/gmail-backup-0-105 to download a freeware for Gmail backup. Chrome threw this screen up warning against malware from site my-dom.info on this webpage

It provides one link to know more about my-dom.info. On clicking Google gives this information

Cool! I mean, I am impressed by the amount of useful information they are providing.

I tried the same site with Firefox and it took me straight to the webpage without any warning :)

Dumb Microsoft!

Cant imagine that Microsoft can go so dumb. [Source]

QR Code & Microsoft Tags

Heard about QR codes (QR stands for Quick Response) today at this post on Google Docs Blog. QR Code is another way of storing information, like Bar Code, through 2-D images developed and popularly used in Japan.

One can create an image like the one shown aside. This image is for this very blog.There are QR Readers available (most of the phones now a days are coming with QR Reader embedded). When the reader scans this QR Code on their cell phone (with GPRS enabled), it will get one to this blog.





The fields & patterns correspond and convey a particular information. The image beside gives some insight into it.

Wiki has got all the information in short and crisp fashion, worth a read.

One can create this code by using Google API.

URL for creating code for this blog was: http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chs=250x250&cht=qr&chl=http://robadilavoro.blogspot.com/

Change the url and have yours! :)

This template is the QR Code Gadget template available in Google docs. They say

Make a QR code of your data. Just put in the data and instantly a QR code is created matching a comma separated list of your data.

Surely worth a try.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft has got a similar one called Microsoft Tags


Signup, Create Tags and share them. Need not worry if you dont have a Windows Live login id. One can Signup with Gmail Id as Windows Live ID and use it for all future purposes.

The Tag created for this blog by Microsoft Tag looks like the one shown aside





If these were not enough, Wiki gives a list of other types of codes existing. The list is as below:

• Aztec Code
• Barcode
• Data Matrix
• E-Reader
• CueCat
• High Capacity Color Barcode
• PDF417
• Semacode
• ShotCode

Friend Feed's SSP

This is what I find today when I log into FriendFeed to add My Library notifications to its feeds.
It is an advertisement of FriendFeed itself amidst feeds that were displaying the latest happenings (Click on the image to see it as it is).
The best part is what is written in light grey to the right-side-top of the advertisement. It reads

Shameless self-promotion

 Wow! Atleast someone knows it is! ;)

Google insisted for secure Gmail & Docs

This piece of article from Security Watch on Google is intriguing. Google has been asked to secure the complete Gmail and GDocs sessions. Though Gmail already has a feature to optionally choose it but not defaulted, these security safeguarders and law makers felt it is not safe to leave it without HTTPS and have urged Google to secure it completely.

These people have not questioned Yahoo, Rediff or for that matter any other mail provider. Gmail was the first one to introduce HTTPS into free mailing environment and they only are questioned for not having it mandatorily put up throughout! Its ridiculous.

Surprisingly, Google is going to work on securing the whole session from next tuesday onwards, on a selected user's base

IEAK

We needed an option to customize IE on over 160 systems in our institution which has standard settings, to let our applications run. Everytime a system crashes, we re-install WinXP and we have to manually change settings to achieve its compatibility with our application. This becomes tedious as we grow by years, still doing the same stuff.

Thanks to Channa, IEAK - Internet Explorer Administration Kit made its appearance and now we dont struggle manually making custom settings changes in IE.

• Firstly, download the package from this site depending on whether you want to deploy on IE6 or IE7 or IE8. We downloaded for IE6 (soon we will for IE7 too!)
  
• Once downloaded, install it.
• Go to Internet Explorer Customization Wizard from All Program. It is here that all the settings are changed and profiles are created. Only place where one can get stuck in the process is at Automatic Version Synchronization (AVS) where it shows the current version of IE on system and asks for updating it through Internet. We will need Internet Connection only during this time of the configuration. It stores these downloaded files in \IEAK-Program-Folder\IEAK6\Downloads\EN\
• Once, all the components are up-to-date, then one can proceed step-by-step and customize the standard values which one wants on each system in the organization.
• In the end, it creates the profile build in the Build folder of the IEAK Program Folder. One has to click on the IE Setup file in the FLAT folder of this Build folder on the client system. On this, it will restart the client system and while startup, it customizes the IE settings.

Quite useful.

ATI Catalyst (CCC)

ATI Catalyst alias Catalyst Control Center (CCC) is a front end to tweak the hardware functions like monitor settings, 3D settings, etc.
Similarly, Intel too has Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) Driver [FROM INTEL] which gives options to tweak the settings thru a GUI.

Google Waves Web Elements & Showcases Fusion

New announcements from Google:

• Google Web Elements: http://www.google.com/webelements/ 
• Google Showcase: http://www.google.com/help/ig/showcase/ 
• Google Fusion: http://tables.googlelabs.com/ Manage Online Database with collaborative tools of chatting, sharing, tracking changes, etc. FAQs 
• Google Translation Toolkit: http://translate.google.com/toolkit/ FAQs 
• The Next Big Thing from Google - Google Wave: http://wave.google.com/ 

Password encryption: Salt & Nonce

Salt Cryptography and Cryptography Nonce (Nonce: number used once) are added layers of security while storing passwords (Salt) and transacting passwords to-&-fro between the client and server (Nonce). A good read at Wiki.

GTasks in GCal

Google Tasks have been integrated with Google Calendar (finally! Expected this to be the first step than following its integration with Gmail). Features are awesome.

• Once a Task is added to GTasks with a due date, it becomes a day's event in GCalendar.
• One can create a Tasks from Calendar (only in All Day and Month views only).
• Using Sort option in Actions of Tasks, one can finish in the order of due date
  

Things expected in future:

• Assigning Priorities to Tasks (Its available in standalone GTasks app).
  
• Adding Time aspect to the due date. Currently, its only at the Date level and not at Date & Time level
• Default Calendar Notifications to get applicable to the Task (as in a Calendar event).

Access Calendar events through SMS:

Similar to SMS events usage in Google SMS Channels, one can create an event, know which is the next event for the day, total agenda for the day, next day's schedule - all through sms! Number: 48368 (GVENT). Its currently available only for US citizens. How to create using SMS? They give an example (Source):

"Send a message with something like "Shopping with Sarah at Monterey Market 5pm Saturday," Google Calendar can figure out what you mean and pop the new event into your calendar."

Horoscope Calendar:

 I personally liked the Horoscope Public Calendar. So, if one is interested, just click on the links below and get the respective zodiac sign's calendar added to your list of calendars (Source)

"For some cosmic direction, get your daily horoscope directly in Google Calendar. Just click the icon showing your sign in the upper-left corner of the day to read your overview, courtesy of tarot.com.
To subscribe to your horoscope calendar, click the appropriate link in the following table:

Horoscope Calendars
	Aries		Libra
	Taurus		Scorpio
	Gemini		Sagittarius
	Cancer		Capricorn
	Leo		Aquarius
	Virgo		Pisces

 "

Google Contacts

This thought had been there for quite a while that there should be a Birthday field in GContacts. And when we enter it, it should automatically create an event in GCal [or give a choice whether we want to create or not] with Recurring type, Repeating Annually and stuff like that. Who doesnt have! Even a simple 14 field contacts manager in a Sony Ericsson mobile phone has it [including setting a custom ringtone for each user! :)] which at the end of adding a birthday prompts whether we want to add reminder to the calendar. This reminder in SE automatically reminds every year!

Well, GContacts has come out as a separate service from Google. It does contain the Birthday field, an Anniversary too, plus Other option [good news! :)]. Though integration with GCal is yet a feature to look at [bad news:(]. Now, one can maintain quite good amount of data here. It is better managed than Gmail Contacts. Though some fields here are duplicated from GProfile. The service is available even in GApps [after admin enables it. Steps given here].

Hoping a day comes when we will have to enter our information only once, and it will get reflected in all possible places.

Sharing Content

RSS feeds is the most common way of sharing content on web. Almost all the blogs and relevant websites have this enabled. With RSS feed agregators, one can subscribe and be upto date.

With the popularization of Socializing websites, one wants to share what one reads or likes with his/her friends on social networks (like facebook, stumble, digg, tweet, etc.) or email it to them. Thats when the concept of sharing using button came up and became popular.

One can give these options to the readers as text (using FeedBurner), or as button (using Tell-A-Friend or Add-this). They add themselves up at the bottom of each post (in blogs) or can be placed according to one's own wish.

These utilities give added features of multiple ways of subscribing, sharing and analysing the traffic/crowd that is visiting the site.

Print Odd and Even pages in Excel

In Microsoft Word, we have an option of printing Even and Odd pages which helps in saving paper by printing on both sides. But the same option does not exist in Excel.

One can add the following VBScript in Macros of the Excel workboook and print Odd or Even pages.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub printalterantepages()
    Dim Totalpages As Long
    Dim StartPage As Long
    Dim Page As Integer

    StartPage = 1  '1 = Odd and 2 = Even

    'Or use the InputBox suggestion from Gord Dibben
    'StartPage = InputBox("Enter 1 for Odd, 2 for Even")

    Totalpages = Application.ExecuteExcel4Macro("GET.DOCUMENT(50)")
    For Page = StartPage To Totalpages Step 2
        ActiveSheet.PrintOut from:=Page, To:=Page, _
                             Copies:=1, Collate:=True
    Next
End Sub
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As stated in the code, one has to change the StartPage value from 1 to 2 to print Odd and then Even pages.

IM commands for FriendFeed

@me text - post to your feed
@room text - post to room
@room - list entries in room
@N text - comment on entry N
@user - list entries in user's feed
like N - like entry N
pause - Pause notifications
resume - Resume notifications
list - List recent entries

These are some of the commands that we can use in GTalk / GChat to post to FriendFeed.


Here is the complete list

IMEI - International Mobile Equipment Identity

With announcement against all mobiles carrying invalid or no IMEI numbers (an article by Techtree), there was a need to know if we were owning a cell phone with correct IMEI number or not. So, here is the site where one can verify if a particular IMEI is valid or not: http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=analysis&sub=imeinr

From this page, one can analyse Phone, IMSI, IMEI, SIM, ISPC

More on IMSI

EMR - Electromagnetic Radiation

We all have heard about the hazards of radiations coming out of cell phones and other electronic devices and that we have to guard ourselves against them by reducing our exposure to them, or completely eliminating them from our life-styles.

Here is a website where they present products, specific to the items that we use in our daily life, which will remove / reduce radiation effects on our body.

http://cogentemr.com/

Price of a Cell phone chip is about $19 on average and of a cell phone pouch ranges from $15 to 65$. Pick your choice!

HTML Signatures in Gmail

Now one can create HTML signatures in Gmail and insert them using a Greasemonkey script: User Script 


In Gmail, it creates a box (shown aside) where one can create a signature.





Firefox Add-on: Black Canvas Gmail Signatures

In their own words,
Automatically inserts HTML signatures into your Gmail messages based on which address you are sending from. Supports up to four signatures for each address you have set up. Works for Compose Message and Reply/Forward.

SMS Notification for a mail in Gmail

Now one can get an sms notification for

• any mail that appears into Gmail / Yahoo
  
• a specific mail that appears into Gmail / Yahoo
  

How? Answer is Way2SMS.com

Way2SMS has come long way from its preliminary old. Their UI resembles the AJAX technology and has its similarities with Gmail UI. As in 160by2, one will get the 'A message from Recipient's Name' instead of 'A message from WAY2SMS.COM' which is common for all the free web sms websites.

It provides with 110 characters as against 90 of 160by2.com and Indyarocks.com

One can set a mail alerts for Gmail and Yahoo. The funda is: Whenever a mail appears in the inbox of Way2SMS.com, one can activate an alert, which will send an sms for every mail that appears in way2sms.com. So, to get an alert for all mails that appear in Gmail or Yahoo, create a filter (to suit the needs) and say Forward to your Way2SMS.com mail id and Woah! You get an sms whenever a mail meeting those conditions appears in Gmail or Yahoo! Help of Way2SMS for Gmail Configuration and Yahoo Configuration.

Chat with both Yahoo and Gmail users simultaneously.

For other features, sign up for Way2SMS.com and check out.

gaiald in Gmail

Today, as I was updated contacts in Gmail, there was some value appearing against a legend gaiald. I initially tried finding out from where it was picking, but could not make out. It was part of More Information -> Other -> Drop-down (Home, Work, Custom, gaiald)
Tried googling, nothing worth showed what it was.

Well, for a normal contact, this option does not appear at all. Only Home, Work, Custom appears. But it was appearing for mail ids to which mails were sent for the first time from mobile phone. As I was getting convinced that the mail ids which were sent for the first from mobile phone were getting that particular id added, I checked for one more person for whom a mail was sent through mobile phone. This contact was under Suggested Contacts and that value did not exist! Added this contact to My Contacts group. Yet it did not appear.

Though for most part of it, it seems to be due to automatic addition of mail id when a mail was sent through mobile phone, this one exception is still a mystery.

Greasemonkey

I am sure many of us heard a lot about the terminology Greasemonkey but did not understand what it is all about.

Greasemonkey is an add-on onto Firefox. There are reports of it working even on Opera, Safari, IE to limited extent though. This is the master add-on which is like a container for all the 'User-scripts' which gets installed into Greasemonkey.
User-scripts are javascripts (extended-AJAX too) created to customize look, feel and functionalities of a webpage.
There are thousands of existing User-scripts available at the official website of User-scripts
Greasespot is Greasemonkey's homepage

Popular list of user-scripts:
by online-tech-tips
by Firefox facts
by Life-hacker

Extract Day, Hour, Time from Date Datatype in Oracle

There was a need to write a query which would give output for data which took place between two specific hours in a day, in a particular a month, for a set of departments.

Set of departments - group by function
for a month - simple between and to_date conversion

for specific hours, day, time - Extract function

Extract(year from to_timestamp(to_char(column_name,'dd-Mon-yyyy HH:MI:SS AM')))
Extract(month from to_timestamp(to_char(column_name,'dd-Mon-yyyy HH:MI:SS AM')))
Extract(day from to_timestamp(to_char(column_name,'dd-Mon-yyyy HH:MI:SS AM')))

Extract(hour from to_timestamp(to_char(column_name,'dd-Mon-yyyy HH:MI:SS AM')))
Extract(minute from to_timestamp(to_char(column_name,'dd-Mon-yyyy HH:MI:SS AM')))
Extract(sec from to_timestamp(to_char(column_name,'dd-Mon-yyyy HH:MI:SS AM'))) 

There was some bit of struggle in finding the correct format. If column is of the datatype DATE then, one has to to_char it. Without to_charing it, it invariably returns only 0 (zero)

Download Flash in Firefox, without any software

One can download Flash or for that matter any media element in a webpage when viewed in Firefox, without any additional tool, or software or add-on to Firefox. How?

Well, say there is a flash file (Shockwave File with extension .swf) on a webpage and you want to download it. Then,

• Open that particular webpage
• Click on Tools in the top Menu bar
• Then, from the list of options, click on Page Info. This option is one of the least explored option in Firefox. It gives all the information about the current web page that is open in Firefox.
  
• Go to the second tab - Media
• Under Address heading, it will show the location of the flash media object
• Below, on the same screen, there would be an option as Save As..., using which one can save the flash as it is from the webpage!

Ofcourse, this is useful when one wants to download only one Flash file from a webpage. Plus, one has to open the webpage where this Flash would be 'active'. If there are only links to Flash objects on a webpage, one cannot download them. Media info does not show them as part of flash objects, but as image objects.

If one needs to download multiple flash objects from a webpage, then one can download softwares which do this work for us.

P.S: Interestingly, found a site which details multiple ways of tweaking FF and IE to download flash objects.

Firefox Add-ons

Finally, this post has become a reality. I had mentioned in an earlier post that soon there would be a post on my favourite add-ons from firefox. There would surely be more than these, but currently these Add-ons are actively decorating my Firefox. In Firefox's own words:

"You spend more time online than on the road, but you probably think more about avoiding traffic than enjoying the best of the Web.

So, why not customize your Firefox for the things you really love to do? Take your browser from simple to spectacular.

Firefox add-ons are little extras that allow you to add a personal touch to your browser. Select your favorites from the categories to accessorize your Web!"

So, here is the list of 9 add-ons for firefox:

• Lock the Fox - password protect Firefox window
• Server Spy - know which brand of HTTP server runs a particular site
• Tamper Data - view and modify http/https headers and post parameters
• TestGen4Web - Record/Store/Play Firefox sessions
• FormFox - Displays the Form action
• Event Spy - can watch Javascript events as they occur
• Add n Edit Cookies - name conveys all
• Cache Status - Easy cache management
• Cookie Swap - Swap Cookies to log into multiple Gmail accounts
  

Hope you would find them useful, as much as I enjoyed in finding them and trying them out.

Update: Forgot to add one more add-on - PDF Convertor - convert any webpage into a pdf then and there.

Card holder travels with me

Card holder
All cards get held there, at one shot. Other green notes find a corner enough within this holder to exist or go straight to my open pocket. Apart from these, my specs cleaning cloth, bike-pass, a memstick and maybe a to-do list...

Gmail Access & Plinky

If one forgets Gmail password, one can get it reset either by answering the security question or by requesting a reset password link to the secondary mail id. But, if these do not work. Say, the account has been taken over and security question & secondary mail id are changed to something else, then how to recover? Well Gmail has an Account Recovery Form where they ask for some information so that the account is made available only to the correct person.

Blogger through SMS: Now, one can enable posting through mobile phone, currently available only to USian's

Plinky: Well, its another website where one can add up blogs, or Facebook, Twitter accounts and by answering the prompts, automatically all the linked services would get updated! Its surely good. This is created by one the original blogger team-members - Jason Shellen. Anyone wanna follow me there, here is the URL (First time I got a profile URL without a need for additional numerals or surname initials... that shows no other Rampy has yet signed up there :) )

Doodles for Google

Google has announced a Doodle competition for US Schools with the theme:

Interesting part of that is the Doodle History. A good simple read.

Animated Favicons

Now a days, many sites are displaying animated favicons (like this site on Email trace). How do they do that? Its simple. Create an animated gif file but with the size of Favicon (i.e. 16px by 16px). Then rename this favicon.gif to favicon.ico (.ico is the extension for favicons). Firefox renders these animated favicons, but not IE. IE displays only the first frame

Google Language

Anyone around feeling like they can help Google in translating web pages from regional languages to English, then one can sign in here. (Google Language style guide)

Found this interesting listing of popular blogs, category-wise.

A knol on importing contacts from excel to Gmail / Hotmail Contacts

A security flaw in Google Apps discovered last year, now fixed.

Google's Privacy Policy

Google has recently updated its privacy policy:

Before (see Google Cache):
When you access Google services, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.

After (see current version)
When you access Google services, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser. Also, in order to protect you from fraud, phishing, and other misconduct, we may collect information about your interaction with our services. Any such information we collect will only be used to detect and prevent fraud or other misconduct.

*The content in italics was added today [SOURCE]

• An interesting read on why Google does not want to put up 'Privacy Policy' link on their Google Homepage.
  
• This read is on how to not allow search engines gather the user's information and their online activity.
• Data privacy day celebrated on 28th of Jan 2009.
  

Browsers powered by user choice?

As one may wonder how does this question exist, there is this interesting post on Google Public Policy Blog: Browsers powered by user choice where they have come out with some interesting statements... Dont miss reading the comments following it... Google got a run for its hypocrisy!

Google Web Servers

Google has got its own web servers which are currently running the web for Google ranked 3rd by Netcraft Web Server Survey. Heard its a modified version of Apache Web Server. The whole list of web servers running each of the Google product is given below:

(*) - denotes encrypted page

• (GWS: Google Web Server)
• Main Search: GWS/2.1
• Google Accounts: GFE/1.3*
• Google AdSense: GFE/1.3*
• Google AdWords: GFE/1.3*
• Google Hosted(mail for your domain) : GWS/2.1
• Google Analytics (Login Page): GWS/2.1
• Google Analytics (Auth Page): GFE/1.3*
• Google Analytics (Other Pages): ucfe*
• Google Analytics (Analysis Image and JS): ucfe
• Google Analytics (Images/JS/CSS/Flash): ga-reporting-fe
• Google Answers: GFE/1.3
• Google Base: asfe
• Blogger: Apache
• Google Book Search: OFE/0.1
• Google Calendar: GFE/1.3
• Google Catalogs: OFE/0.1
• Google Checkout: GFE/1.3*
• Google Code: codesite/2750796
• Google Co-Op: pfe
• Google Desktop: GFE/1.3
• Google Directory: DFE/1.0
• Google Downloads: GWS/2.1
• Google Finance: SFE/0.8
• Google Finance Stock Charts (Images): FTS (C)1997-2006 IS.Teledata AG
• Froogle: cffe
• Google Groups: GWS-GRFE/0.50
• Hello: Apache/2.0.53
• Google Help Pages: TrakhelpServer/1.0a
• Google Images: GWS/2.1
• Google Labs: Apache
• Google Local / Maps: mfe
• Google Local/Maps (Images): Keyhole Server 2.4
• Google Mail: GFE/1.3
• Google Mobile: GWS/2.1
• Google Moon: mfe
• Google Moon (Images): Keyhole Server 2.4
• Google Music Search: mws
• Google News: NFE/1.0
• Google Notebook GFE/1.3
• Orkut: GFE/1.3*
• Google Pack: COMINST/1.0
• Picasa (.com): Apache/2.0.53
• Picasa (.google.com): GWS/2.1
• Picasa Web Album: GFE/1.3
• Picasa Web Album (Static Images): staticfe
• Picasa Web Album (Uploaded Images): cachefe:image
• Google Page Creator (Sign-up page): GFE/1.3*
• Google Page Creator (User pages): GFE/1.3
• Google Personalized Homepage: igfe
• Google Scholar: GWS/2.1
• Google Search History: Search-History HTTP Server
• Google Sets: Apache
• Google Site-Flavored: GWS/2.1
• Google Sitemaps: GFE/1.3
• Google SMS: GWS/2.1
• Google SMS Search Requests: SMPP server 1.0
• Google SMS (GMail Registration): GFE/1.3*
• Google SMS (Page Viewer): GFE/1.3
• Google Spreadsheet: GFE/1.3
• Google Suggest: Auto-Completion Server
• Google Transit: mfe
• Google Translate: TWS/0.9
• Google Trends: Google Trends
• Google Video: GFE/1.3
• Google Video (Thumbnails): thumbnail_server.cc version 1.0
• Google Reader: GFE/1.3
• Google Ride Finder: Apache
• Google Talk: GWS/2.1
• Google Toolbar: GFE/1.3
• Google Toolbar (PR Lookup): GWS/2.1
• Google Web Accelerator: GFE/1.3
• Google Web Alerts: PSFE/4.0
• Writely: GFE/1.3

 How did I come to know of this? Well. There is a add-on in Firefox which displays the web server that rendered the current web page. Its name is Server Spy. Await for yet another list of useful add-ons to Firefox in the next post.

Source 1

Source 2

Customized Inbox in gmail

Multiple Inboxes and query strings, together can become a powerful tool for one to have a customized inbox in gmail. For example, one wants the secondary inbox to show all the unread mails from userid xyz@gmail.com, then go to Settings->Multiple Inboxes->Panel 1 (or whichever panel one wants to add it to) type in:

is:unread from:xyz@gmail.com

Whoa! Check your secondary inbox, you have your customized view! If one wants all unread mails from label For Fun, then type in:

is:unread is:For-Fun ('-' is the replacement for a space in label)

and you have all desired results. Go through all the remaining boolean operators and you will be on your way to a better managed gmail power-user.

Reinstall Internet Explorer 6 by using the Ie.inf file

If you already have Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed, and you do not want to install Internet Explorer 7, you may be able to resolve problems with Internet Explorer 6 by using the Ie.inf file to reinstall Internet Explorer 6. 

To do this, follow these steps:  

• Click Start, click Run, type %systemroot%\inf, and then press Enter. 
• Find the Ie.inf file that is located in Windows\Inf folder. 
• Right-click the Ie.inf file, and then click Install. 
• Restart the computer when the file copy process is complete.

Source

YM Emoticarolers & Power User

How much ever Google has captured the market in Search, Mail, OnlineDocs, they could never reach Yahoo Messenger in terms of the features, functionalities and grace of emoticons. GTalk could, to some extent, improve one's voice experience, but otherwise, enough are there who still prefer Yahoo Messenger when it comes to standalone client application. Integration of Chat into Gmail is a separate run-away success of Google.

Yahoo Messenger has got this concept of Power Users who, they say, will be identified depending on the end-users use of YM. More the use, sooner they will be crowned as 'Power User'. The link mentions other benefits like earlier use of new features, exclusive online indicators, enhanced customer care, custom avtaar accessories, etc. Once a Power User (or even otherwise), one can join the Messenger All-Stars group to be up-to-date with the latest in YM.

PingBox: We all know about adding GTalk badge to our websites, blogs. Now even YM gives that option. They call it Pingbox. Not bad.

Emoticarolers: Now this is interesting. With the classy yahoo emoticons (which go on improving with added age), one can send a jingle, carol to their friends!!! The look, feel is awesome. One can add their custom lyrics to the chosen tunes, currently only four. Worth a try and definitely a good way to wish :)

Disable Recent Documents in Windows

 Through Registry tweaking:
(Take a backup of your registry since incorrectly editing it, might damage windows)

• Click Start > Run > and type “regedit” 
• Find and go to HEKY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
• In right panel create a new Binary Value and name it “NoRecentDocsHistory”
• Give it value of 00 00 00 01
• Close registry editor and restart your computer

Through UI:

• Click on Start 
• Right click on the picture or your name.
• Click Customize.
• Select the Advanced Tab
• UnTick at bottom: List my most recently opened documents

Gears in full winamped gears

Continuing with its trends, Google has integrated Gears into Gmail. A much expected step with Gmail being their crown service, gears had to come in soon. This thought of existence to ease our work did pass the mind while trying out Gears on GDocs and GReader.

Winamp 5.541:
Tried this new version of Winamp, and its a lot impressive. Its no more a cylinder holding our playlists, its grown massively to hold a lot under the sun. It includes, SHOUTcast, Radio FM, AOL radio, AOL music, impressive Winamp Remote, etc. etc. (complete list of features). One can upload their favourite playlists, songs online and listen to them through Winamp from anywhere in the world. It has got its own toolbar which can be installed in the browser. The personalized data is stored against a free login ID and a password. Worth a try (download from here).

Google Friend Connect with Blogger

"Google Friend Connect means more people engaging more deeply with your website -- and with each other."
Its like one's own little forum, and in Google's words, these are socializing features which one can add to their websites. If one wants to add these gadgets to their sites, there are clear instructions at Google Friend Connect site. One has to first request for access and then one will be able to add these gadgets and use on their personal websites. When access is given, one is asked to download two files, which have to located at a particular location on your website. Then, copy the gadget code into your website code, and publish it. Your site is ready with Google Friend Connect!

Trouble is there are no clear cut instructions if one wants to add these to a Blogger account. The trick is, Blogger is readymade with these files. So, one need not download these files and try adding it to Blogger. Its already there. Just directly add the Google Friend Connect code to the 'HTML/Javascript' gadget. And your Blogger is ready for use.

Thanks to this site.

This seems to have emerged from Open Social project of Google which was a long-lost dream. They seem to be adding their work here now.

Inside Google's New-Product Process

"The philosophy is, try a bunch of ideas, refine them, and see what survives, says Marissa Mayer, the search giant's product-launch czar". An interesting article here.

Thanks to Naams, an article on Why Google Employees Quit. These are open thoughts of ex-Google employees on their stance of quitting followed by a plethora of comments.

GVid within GChat

Google has done it again. Following the trend that we see in the developments of Google services, we can guess the direction in which they are heading. Integration of all services into all of it, is the visible aim of Google. But, auto-generation of video preview within the chat window and an option to view it then and there when one sends a Youtube or Google Video links, is another out-of-the-box, least expected addition. Nevertheless, it is one of the useful addition. Gmail Blogpost.

Just yesterday, I was going through GDocs and was happy to see some of the developments there. Now one can publish a Doc (Excel, Word, Powerpoint) with Google Analytics working on it for tracking the developments. One can enable RSS feeds feature to these Docs which enables a person, who has subscribed to these feeds, know and track changes to the subscribed Doc.

Last night, tried Google Gears on Google Reader, it worked fine and well. When tried with GDocs, it gave an error on interruption. Have to check again.

Blogger seems to have made their pop-up boxes (Preview, Hyperlink) transparent. It creates a distraction since it merges of with the background.

Hacking site

It happens...Yes, it really happens for all of us. We want to Hack! Hack! Hack! and Hack! But there are no easy resources or its too complex for us to understand. But at the same time, we will never leave the fanciness to believe in ourselves in becoming a hacker one day!. So, here is one site, which under the pretext of 'Education and Knowledge sharing' concept to protect one's system, reveals some of the classic and, in some cases, advanced stuff. Sure, it would be interesting...once you start reading, you will be hooked. Enjoy.

http://www.hungry-hackers.com/

Spreeder

Wanna learn to read fast and quick? Here is the site which can help one in this endeavor:

http://www.spreeder.com/

One can decide what is the speed at which the reader can be made to read words, like 300wpm, etc. Plus, how many words should appear at a time, one or two. There are a few more basic settings which might be handy.

UnChrome

All of us have heard about this and this is one of the reasons why Chrome is not popularly used by many - it does not guarantee anonymity. It is known that Chrome collects lot of information from the user system and stores it. But now with the use of a software called UnChrome, this can be avoided. Apparently, Google Chrome identifies its users by their IDs. This is a unique ID generated with every installation of Google Chrome.  UnChrome 'Nulls' this value, effectively removing this link. It has to be used only once. Steps are as below:

 

1. First, click here to download UnChrome (make sure Google Chrome is closed first).

2. Next, click Run (Internet Explorer) or click Save File and run the application by double clicking on it (Firefox).

3. This screen will then pop up:

4. Click Remove Unique ID Now and then click OK to confirm you’ve already closed out the Chrome browser.

5. Success! The screen will then change to look like this:

Tab cloning in Firefox

Now with Firefox 3.x versions, one can clone the tab. No more copying the URL and pasting them in a new tab. One can just 'center' click on the Refresh button of the Web-browser and it will clone the tab, viz. create one more tab with the same website/webpage.
Ways of do it: 

• Center click on Refresh button (history is lost)
  
• Ctrl + Refresh (history is lost)
  
• Drag (favicon onto the tab bar) (history is lost)
• Ctrl + Drag (tab into the tab bar) (history is not lost :) )
  

Tab tearing in Firefox 3.1

Mimicking Google Chrome, one can now drag a tab out of Firefox into a new window. But vice-versa doesnt seem to be existing as of now. It needs its own time to stabilize, nevertheless, finally it has taken shape after multiple earlier attempts.

More here

Imp & Exp between Outlook and Gmail

Important information

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102220481033.aspx

G G G

Found few things:

Gmail help has improved with a different UI, and better feedback. Every help page trails with

Groups to GApps
Groups, though not full-fledged, but customized for use in organizations by access rights and permissions control, has been added to GApps, starting from free edition. More here

Mailing limits for Gmail and GApps

Known list of issues in Gmail