Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0
Googleholic for October 17, 2008
by Christina Warren Oct 17th 2008 at 4:00PM
Welcome to Googleholic, your often weekly fix of everything Google!
In this edition:
- iGoogle gets canvas views
- Google Webmaster Tools adds tons of new features
- Presidential debate search findings
- How often do you use Google?
- Android Madness at Download Squad
iGoogle gets canvas views
iGoogle, Google's personalized portal, just got a little bit nicer. Now, select gadgets feature canvas views, meaning you can view contents full screen at a click of the button. The iGoogle gadgets are really nice, what with the ability to add in various news sites, your feed reader, Sudoku or crossword puzzles in one centralized space. The problem has always been, that the more gadgets you add, the more cluttered and hard to manage the whole iGoogle page becomes, kind of defeating the purpose. Now, you can just click on a button (please add a keyboard shortcut) to view an expanded version of a gadget.
A full list of expandable iGoogle gadgets is available here
[via Official Google Blog]
Google Webmaster Tools adds tons of new features
Lots and lots of cool stuff has been added to Google Webmaster Tools and the Google Webmaster Tool GData API over the last few weeks that really make things easier for new and experienced webmasters alike. One of the BEST new additions is the addition of crawl error sources. In the past, Google would let you know that a certain page had an error, but not what links were reporting those problems That made tracking down the source of those problems a pain. Now you can just click on the "linked from" column to see what addresses are trying to access incorrect or out-dated information.
Likewise, the updated Webmaster Tools API control crawl rate and preferred domain, all within the API. Cool stuff!
[via [Official Google Webmaster Central Blog(http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com)]]
Presidential debate searching
Google posted its search data from the third US presidential debate. Unsurprisingly, Roe v. Wade was the most popular search query. "Joe the plumber" was a popular reference too, both in the debate in in Google's search results.
[via Official Google Blog]
How often do you use Google?
One of the more interesting features of Google Web History is that it keeps track of how often you search Google (the results of those searches can also be archived, but that is opt-in). Over at Google Operating System, they have data going back to December 2005. The number of searches? 38,866. Wow. I put my Search History thing on "pause" a couple of years ago, so my data is unavailable. I'm OK with that, as I'm sure the result would confirm I spend far too much time online.
[via Google Operating System]
Android Madness at Download Squad
Next week, the very first mobile phone using Android, Google's new mobile platform. At Download Squad, we're really excited about the potential Android brings to the mobile computing space. I also write for TUAW and just seeing the effect the iPhone has had on the Mac community, I'm really excited to see how Android is received by the broader tech-heads.
In that vein, we'll be doing lots of Android coverage in the next few weeks. Grant Robertson and I will be getting our hands on a T-Mobile G1 on Wednesday and posting our impressions of the OS, must-have programs, tips and tricks, you name it. For developers, I'm also working on a SDK shoot-out between the iPhone, Android and the latest BlackBerry SDK -- sorting out what each platform has to offer to developers or would-be developers
So stay tuned to Download Squad and our Android feed!
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
collin said 7:12PM on 10-17-2008
Despite the polite spin that DownloadSquad offers here regarding iGoogle's "canvas view," there has been a notable revolt from the vast majority of iGoogle users in the US.
The common complaint (other than it was forced on all users without offering an "opt-out" option) was that the canvas view takes/wastes the entire left column, while smashing the existing columns over. If you don't use it, you are stuck with the "Home" tab taking up the left column all by itself.
As of this writing, there was no comment from Google... but there were a lot of vicious comments from users. Another poorly thought-out concept forced upon us by Google.
Reply
Bob said 5:05AM on 10-18-2008
Oh boy am i a googleholic? Big time, i use google at least 20 times a day, plus gmail + its stats... cant live without it now!
Greetz Bob - http://www.torrentbug.com
Reply
guteen said 10:06AM on 10-18-2008
I admit that I am a Googleholic (proxy) Anonymous! =P
Rick wilson said 8:43PM on 10-20-2008
I hate this new google update. I use the Japanese iGoogle now, it doens't have it implemented yet. You can't hide/reveal your gmail, or compose new messages from the igoogle page with this new change. its the suck1
Reply