Google Experimental Labs has a few impressive techniques which could enhance your search experience in Google. The experiments are intended to refine your search results which I think will be added to the Google Advanced Search techniques. The experiments which I liked were:

Timeline Search

If you want to search the chronology of certain events then you can add the attribute “view:timeline” to your query following a space. For example, you can find the timeline invention of television which dates back to the 20’s when John Logie Baird had invented it. I found out that the first laptop came about in the 80’s which was GRiD Compass. It’s strange that I could not find computer.

You can click on the timeline to find out the details of the searched query pertaining to that period. Its a nice useful feature which Read the rest of this entry »

If I asked you “What were the first few things you did when you purchased your first computer?”. I bet a majority of the answers would be open up the Programs menu and scramble for Games list. Then enjoy the most loved and sweet games such as Solitaire, Minesweeper, Spider, Pinball or Hearts. I have loved them and still do. They relieve your tension without any hassles of the big bad world of 3D games and work on the weakest of the configuration.

If I picked a favorite of the lot, it would be Minesweeper. It is a single game which employs strategy over luck. But I miss it at my office since none of the computers come installed with it. But in the current age of web 2.0 who searches the program menu any way? Its all out there open on the web. And if you think that games are blocked as well you are pretty right. But when the provider itself is Google, who can Read the rest of this entry »

The new Android SDK from Google is all set to make new standards for mobile application development. Android SDK in Google’s own words is,

A software stack for mobile devices including an operating system, middleware and key applications. Developers can create applications for the platform using the Android SDK. Applications are written using the Java programming language and run on Dalvik, a custom virtual machine designed for embedded use which runs on top of a Linux kernel.

Apart from the platform, the UI looks promising. It can be even slated to compete with the UI of Apple iPhone. The features are worth drooling over. Check this video presentation made by Sergey Brin and his associate, Steve Horowitz. Read the rest of this entry »

You must be well aware of the Google doodle’s to mark an occasion or to celebrate something important. Now it seems to do something similar in Orkut. Orkut is sporting a brand new theme, especially for Diwali. This will surely bring the large numbers of Indians who mostly are Orkut users, a new kind of enthusiasm igniting the spirit of Diwali even more. Looking more closely, the Diwali theme displays the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar. I could not however, make out what the other buildings represented.

To load the new theme, Read the rest of this entry »

I was quite surprised to see the news in the headlines today about the deal of Microsoft with the social networking site Facebook. Facebook is a 3 and a half year old social network for friendship and a community hub. Microsoft’s entry into the social networking venue has raised quite a many eyebrows over the fact that,

Microsoft paid $240 million price for 1.6% stake in Facebook. This clears the view , world’s largest software maker, crudely wanted to deepen its relationship with a startup that didn’t have $200 million in annual revenue

This deal was the only thing which made me to open an account with Facebook. The only other friendship community I am associated till now was Orkut which in my opinion definitely gives a far more friendly user experience than FaceBook, especially now after having registered with Facebook.

I did look around for the reason as to why users prefer FaceBook over Orkut and was surprised to see that Facebook users are more than the number of Orkut users. Read the rest of this entry »

Some bloggers often get confronted by the question which is, “If a blog already has written a custom search function then what is the need to replace it with a Google Search?”. Well, now that TechTracer is replacing the default wordpress search with Google Search, I am ready to answer the question. The answer is simple. Google Custom Search not only benefits bloggers but also readers of the blog. The only thing required to understand is how does it actually benefits both.

For the Blog Owner

It is very easy to setup Google Custom Search either through the Adsense Program itself or by using Google Co-op which provides Customized external search engine which can be used either by an individual or by a collaboration. I personally like the second option than the Adsense customized search. Of course you can make money with both the counterparts.

For hosted Wordpress users, the Google Custom Search can be easily Read the rest of this entry »

Google seems to read people’s minds and to truly show how it cares for the ones seeking online information, it makes striking revelations in its new avatar of Google Reader. The new features include the stunning new and much awaited feature - Feed Search and a collapsible sidebar separator. On a personal note I had craved for searching some of my feed archives and failing to find the much needed information right away.

The official Google Reader Blog announces the delightful news,

That’s right, search is finally in Google Reader. Now you can find that that apricot recipe you came across a few months ago and now have a craving for. Or perhaps you’d like to search for “ipod” so that you can read at once all the posts in your subscriptions that mention today’s announcements.

I have almost above 100 sites listed in my feeds and saving the URL’s whenever I found exciting information was a thing out of reach. It was also time consuming to add each of the links into my del.icio.us account. The craving has finally ended and the lord has showered glory on my online wealth. The Google Reader Search is here. And mind you it is not simple as Google sometimes appears to be. On the contrary it is stunning and leaves a striking impression if you too craved for it from a long time.

This time its not a single search box as the Google homepage has. There are Read the rest of this entry »