Googleholic for June 17, 2008

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Googleholic for June 17, 2008

by Christina Warren Jun 17th 2008

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this edition:

Get the Google Toolbar for Firefox 3
Improve efficiency with Google Docs
Google Code Jam '08
Googolopoly, the game
Gmail and Google Reader tips

Get the Google Toolbar for Firefox 3

Happy Firefox Download Day! Just in time for the official release, Google Toolbar has been updated to work with Firefox 3. We missed our toolbar during the long beta and RC process. Welcome back Googlebar!

[via Google Blogoscoped]

Improve efficiency with Google Docs

Lynette Chandler has written a great article about how to use Google Docs to improve team efficiency. The article, written in Google Docs -- natch -- does a great job of outlining Google Docs collaboration features and six ways those features can be used to increase efficiency and productivity.

Our favorite tip? Using the chat feature in Presentations to hold a teleseminar. Brilliant!

[via Official Google Docs Blog]

Google Code Jam '08

It's back! Google Code Jam will be revving up in just 30 days. Google Code Jam is a coding competition designed test your skillz, in the coding language and development environment of your choice.

Contestants have two hours to solve algorithmic challenges, download the test cases and enter in the correct answer. If you are right, you move to a new problem. The top 500 players will advance to the semifinals round and compete a local Google office, competing against those in their region (Asia Pacific, Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa). The top 100 players will be flown to Google HQ in Mountain View in November to compete in the final round.

If you are a coding monkey and want to compete against the best, sign-up between June 17, 2008 and July 17, 2008 for Code Jam '08.

[via Official Google Blog]

Googolopoly, the game

Box.net has just launched Googolopoly, an internet board game that takes-on Monopoly, Google style. The goal of the game is to use Google shares to buy up as many properties on the board without landing in the deadpool (Googolopoly's version of jail).

While we're not sure if Box.net got permission from Hasbro/Parker Bros. to use the likeness for their mock-up, we LOVE the detail Box.net put into the game board, pieces, money, community chest cards, etc.

Viva la board game!

[via Google Blogoscoped]

Gmail and Google Reader tips

Gmail labs launched a couple of weeks ago and introduced lots of new goodies for our favorite web-based mail service. This week, the Official Gmail Blog has highlighted some of the most popular new features. Check out their article for a quick-overview of "superstars," "pictures in chat" and "quick links."

[via Official Gmail Blog]

Over at Google Operating System, they've compiled some great tips on how to better search read items in Google Reader. Instead of simply visiting your page of read articles, you can actually subscribe to a feed for your read items. We love the meat-ness of using Google Reader to subscribe to a feed of your read Google Reader items. Google Operating System has all the instructions for finding your Google ID and using it to create the RSS link for your read items history.

[via Google Operating System]

Tags: gmail, google, google code jam, google docs, google reader, GoogleCodeJam, GoogleDocs, googleholic, GoogleReader, googolopoly

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters