Google's Future

Google Wins! Government Down By 1

2006-03-17T21:05:00.000-08:00

That's right, Google has beat the Department of Justice (DoJ) and does not need to hand over search records.

A post at the official Google Blog explains it in detail. From it, I quote:

The government's original request demanded billions of URLs and two month's worth of users' search queries. Google resisted the subpoena, prompting the judge's order today. In addition to excluding search queries from the subpoena, Judge James Ware also required the government to limit its demand for URLs to 50,000. We will fully comply with the judge's order.

Clearly a great vctory for Google. Shows you that the good guys always win. I'm not saying the government is evil, but this isn't a political blog either. So, I'll leave it up to you for comments.

Also, it's interesting to note that this is the first blog post here for... several months. Google slowed down a few months ago and I lost interest in upkeeping a blog that fewer and fewer people read. Turns out that the counter I had on the blog was inaccurate. Now, it's tracked by Google Analytics and I'm watching your every move (anonymously, of course) - so if the blog picks up traffic, you can expect new posts all the time. Hence the design upgrade.

Gmail Users Aren't Happy About Antivirus - And what software is it?

2005-12-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

Recently, Google added an antivirus service to their popular Gmail web-based client. Already, a filetype blocking system was implemented to prevent .exe's and .com's (etc) from being sent, which are potentially harmful files that users may be (no offense...) too stupid to actually run.

Since Google added the antivirus service, users have been complaining that they have very little control over their incoming email: Many users of Gmail are web or application developers, and even just friends, that send programs back and forth. Supposedly, with antivirus in place, why do they need to block certain filetypes? And what system are they using to detect viruses?

While I agree you all have good points, I must say that why can you not trust Google on their choice of backbone software? They've always used some, if not the best: Urchin site stats, Jabber for Talk, a highly customized version of Linux for their search, and others.

Well, I read an article on Digg the other day that talked about someone who tested the virus blocking service against several virus databases by various antivirus companies. His test returned results: Brightmail is powering Gmail. Brightmail was recently acquired by Symantec: So, essentially, Symantec powers Gmail's antivirus.

Perhaps someday they'll disable the filetype blocking - I must admit I find it rather annoying myself.

Is Google Base the Google Grid-to-be?

2005-11-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, Google released a new service called Google Base. It allows any users to submit their content to Google - and Google locally stores it on their own servers, for quick indexing and reliable information.

If you've watched the EPIC 2015, which I hope you have since it is the basis of this blog, Robin Sloan mentions the Google Grid, which eventually turns into the EPIC. The Google Grid functionality that is depicted is similar to what Google Base beta already allows us to do - did anybody think it would be this soon?

With the recent, sad news that Google was not offering free WiFi access to the world, I don't want to raise my hopes OR yours too much, but this innovation early on in the market is giving Google the lead it needs. Already, millions of articles and content have been published to the Base. While it is not fully compatable to what Sloan says the Grid is, it's similar enough, and will continue to evolve and improve as time goes on... one only has to wait.

(By the way, Google's stock shares have just passed $423 per share. Will they split sometime soon?)

Google Announces: No Worldwide WiFi Access

2005-11-28T13:34:00.000-08:00

Turns out that Google WiFi popularity boom was all a big mistake - Google has published in their official blog that they are only providing free WiFi to the city of Mountain View, CA.

But still, I am wondering, they want to make information easily accessable. How else could they do this better?

Google Analytics - Website Statistics, And Google Space

2005-11-27T13:45:00.000-08:00

I've been quietly wondering when Google would create a web statistics platform, or buy one out. Urchin is a nice service, and since Google bought it, now even better.

I'm personally impressed with it, but since this isn't the point of my blog I will stop reviewing it and tell you what I think they're up to.

Free web statistics is a big deal. Alternatively you could pay hundreds per month for Omniture's professional services (they're the industry leader), but already Google has had to disable new registrations because Analytics is so popular.

I'll post some more on this later, I hope... as for Google Space, looks like Google is going to support free Internet terminals at airports for passengers to check their email, browse the web, etc. London Heathrow Intl already has this implemented. So far, over 90% of passengers questioned say they are interested in using it.

Adsense Referral Program - For Firefox Too?

2005-11-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Google just released a referral program for their Adsense program (website advertisements), which allows users that get referrals to earn extra money.

Surprisingly enough, Google is offering $1 for a Firefox referral - when somebody downloads and runs Firefox for the first time, you get $1. The difference? This Firefox has Google Toolbar built in.

It's very cool that Google is supporting Firefox like this. Hopefully this will give Google a boost from the Yahoo! Publisher Network, which recently has been challenging Google Adsense. (Adsense referrals give $100 once the new user gets $100 in his/her account.)

Also, an update to Google Base: Google has retracted the pages they let slip publically and now is offline again, I guess we'll have to wait to find out more.

Taking on eBay with Classifieds

2005-10-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Google leaked, probably accidently, a new feature they are adding to their hoarde of excellent services: Google Base.

(I'll post an update tomorrow, getting late right now but I thought you should know.)

Google Announces Insight to a Project

2005-10-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Google has announced in their official blog, one of the major current projects. Apparently it's a product that will allow content owners to submit their content to Google faster and more efficiently than the standard web crawl and SiteMaps.

Some suspect different things. I personally suspect this could be a downloadable, 100% automatic and non-intrusive app that monitors all the sites you visit. It obviously wouldn't be spyware, but it would just submit things like the URL's, date you visited the site, and other webpage statistics anonymously. I could and am probably wrong but what better way to get the popularity of a site than by the users themselves?

Your thoughts on this are welcomed via comments!

Google's Fiercest Enemy Will Probably Be Law

2005-10-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Google's most threatening enemy is probably going to be law. Another lawsuit may be coming up against them by some Arab organization to ban Google Image search. The Indian government and some other asian embassies are also threatening action for Google Earth since it can pinpoint secret locations that can be used by terrorists.

The mounting legal actions against Google could threaten the speed, if not the destiny, of some of its most popular features.

As mentioned in Robin Sloan's EPIC 2015 (link above), various companies would sue Google - but did he expect this many?

Also, the UK has interfered with Google's Gmail. Apparently there's a TM in the UK for Gmail - and UK users need to sign up at GoogleMail.com, starting October 19, 2005. Their official page on this is here. Google has, sadly, lost these negotiations and is forced to require UK users to sign up elsewhere.

We'll definately be watching the future with great interest...

Google makes "Google Foundation"

2005-10-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Google is now about a 7 billion-dollar company. With that in mind, here's this: They just launched "Google Foundation".

Google is going to donate at least 1% of its annual income to the Google Foundation to help with particular organizations that deal with social issues. The Acumen Fund is one of them.

Their official "announcement" can be found here.

Oh, and want to know where to find it? Google.org.

So before some of you anti-Google folk go thinking that they are becoming an evil monopoly, consider this post.

Google Begins Revolutionizing the World

2005-10-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

Google has leased a huge 270,000 square feet of space in the former Port Authority Commerce Building in Chelsea, in New York. It is one of New York's most important telecom-carrier hotels, home to thousands of web servers and other critical technology infrastructure.

Google is beginning to build a network of, so far, free world-wide (at least Nation-wide right now) Internet access - which, if Google follows through to the end, would probably be the largest corporate undertaking in the history of the Internet. But, they have over 7 billion dollars to spend - why not?

If you haven't already, watch the EPIC 2015 (link above in intro) - by Robin Sloan, this is so far an accurate prediction. Google may be preparing for providing not just free WiFi and Internet, but also free web hosting. This is one of the most saturated markets on the web, and would put most (estimated about 95%) of the web hosting companies out of business. While it may kill the Internet economy, some sites will have their own servers while others will be too lazy to move.

And now that you've read this, I don't want you complaining about Google becoming a money-hungry empire (that reminds me of Microsoft) that is out to take over the world and become a monopoly. First, Google does not charge for, I'd say, 85% of their services. Microsoft? Around 5%-10%. Also, Google is going to fulfil their mission statement to the max (their mission statement is above) at this rate. Free web hosting with nearly unlimited bandwidth and space would be the Google Grid, as explained in the flash presentation. Then, after combining all of their services, you will end up with, what else, but the EPIC: The Evolving Personalized Information Construct.

Comments on this are welcome.
And, on a side-note, Google has released their Google RSS Reader: here.

Yahoo! Takes on Google Print

2005-10-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! is now developing a competitor to Google Print, which may also be a violation of several copyright laws. I think I mentioned in one of my last posts that if Google continued to index the libraries and the courts were in favor of the Authors Guild, it would be the largest copyright violation in world history. Well now, double that.

However, Yahoo! says it will ask permission for each work before it is indexed, instead of after.

Yahoo! will call it the "Open Content Alliance", joining with Alexa's Internet Archive project and Adobe Systems, Inc. The OCA plans to release their content with more than just the Yahoo! Search, but details are a bit vague...

Google Offers 95% of San Francisco Free Wi-Fi

2005-10-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

That's right - as long as the mayor approves this, about 95% of San Francisco, CA will have free WiFi access in local shops & stores.

This compliments their mission statement (above) in a great way: Making free Internet access is definately helping to make the world's information more accessible and useful. I'm envying the day when Internet will be free.

On a side-note, the speed of their WiFi is 300 kbps. They plan to branch out to more large cities as time moves on, and as funds allow, to smaller cities.

An Official Google Blog Entry - Hinting at Something?

2005-09-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Google just published a post in their official blog about traveling and blood clots. What the...!? How does this relate to technology? Good question - I don't know. It's possible that Google just wishes us all well, which I'm sure they do, but this is an unusual post.

My conclusion? I think they're trying to subtly hint the usefulness and prove the effectiveness of their Library Indexing feature, which is what the Authors Guild is suing them over. This is clever tactic... congratulations Google! :) Yeah!

Google's 7th Birthday - The gift? A larger index

2005-09-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

Google's 7th birthday is today! It opened its door in September 1998, and now has a search index 1,000 times larger than before. This makes Google's index 3x larger than any other search engine.

Google's come a long way since Backrub started in a garage as a school project... Google deserves much more credit than they've been given. You can read their blog entry here.

Google Web Hosting

2005-09-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

Web hosting is a demanding yet well-saturated market. Keywords for web hosting in advertising programs are sky-high and good hosts can still be difficult to find.

In the EPIC 2015 (link above), Robin Sloan depicts Google's possible future with the Google Grid. If you didn't catch it, the Google Grid would basically just be web hosting. Robin mentions "unlimited storage space and bandwidth." - No web host that I have heard of offers this for free. Even most hosts that you pay a high amount for, without getting your own server, would let you have BOTH unlimited/unmetered. And even your own entire server has limits.

I think Google should someday get into the business of web hosting. They already sell servers at their Google Store, and think of how much information they could assist in organizing ... a fairly good amount. This is a thought to ponder while they continue their brave entry into different industries.

I Sense a Mounting Increase in Anti-Google Supporters

2005-09-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

Recently, Google has branched off into different industries that is making some people very upset!

This post is to open your eyes, if you are Anti-Google (whether now or maybe later), to change your opinion about Google.

Google's mission statement is: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." - Find just 1 feature or program they have released that does NOT comply with that mission.

Why is that when a company or corporation gets large, people automatically hate it? Now, this may have something to do with local political views... as we Republicans in the USA are for large corporations because it helps the economy. Democrats are generally against them, since the rich people get richer. (Of course - they want the government to give them everything. Sound anything like communism to you?)

I'm not too sure about other countries, but I would guess most people are also against large businesses. Is it because you think the rich people are getting richer? While this may be true, it opens new job opportunities for poorer people.

Since Google is a software company, they probably do not have many openings for poor people, so maybe you hate large corps or think they're evil because they add competition for other, smaller corporations? Well welcome to the business world. Competition exists. There's nothing you can do about it. You know the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Or, if you are feeling really rich... "If you can't beat 'em, acquire 'em." - lol, don't buy Google ;)

Or perhaps it is because you think it leaves no space for you in the software world... actually, I am not quite sure why you would hate them.

I would LOVE to hear your reasons in a comment :) Please reply via comment and we can discuss this issue further.

Google Wi-Fi - "Secure Access" - An under-cover development

2005-09-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

This is VERY interesting information. No announcement or even rumors have gone around about this, but it appears that Google is going to become a Wi-Fi service provider!

Don't believe me? Check this out: http://wifi.google.com/faq.html and http://wifi.google.com/download.html.

Oh yeah, it's free too.

Google refused to comment on this discovery, but have launched a promotional/sponsored hotspot in San Francisco's Union Square district in April with a startup called Feeva. Business 2.0 magazine has written an article on this in August, but Google declined to discuss plans.

Their services is supposed to provide secure, wireless Internet access after noticing that only about 20% of all WiFi hotspots have secure connections.

Anylists worry that Google is branching out too far, and trying to provide too many services at once, making them less-capable to upkeep their current programs, like Google Talk for instance, which needs some updates. I, personally, think that they can handle this. They have billions of dollars to back them, plus public stocks, etc. It also complies with their mission statement.

Another plus to Google's entry to this industry is this: Previously, finding a user's exact location on a WiFi connection was advanced technology that costs a LOT of money, and was very sparce. Now, here comes Google, making it easier than ever before. Using Google AdSense and/or AdWords, Google will support the free service (with these ads) and not just any NORMAL ads... they will be ads pertinent to your location. If you're in a Panera Bread and get a coupon offer, then just print it and use it in that store. Why not? You're right there.

Source article is here.

Google to Risk Copyright Law Violation with Library Indexing

2005-09-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

Despite threats for copyright law violation, Google is continuing to index the world's libraries and allow some of their contents to be put online.

Critics say that indexing libraries and books that could have possibly been on shelves for many years would take away business from libraries and some companies. Other publishers and authors that are for the idea claim extra publicity isn't a bad thing.

Judges remain wary that it would be too easy for users to print illegal copies of the books using Google's service. Google re-affirms that the indexes would be limited to a certain number of pages and difficult to print.

You can read a nice, long article on it at Wired News.
ANOTHER NEWS ARTICLE: HERE. This article presents more information on both sides of the lawsuit dispute: 8,000 angry authors vs. Google's billion-dollar corporation.

Now for my commentary:

Do you even have a concept on how much information all the books in the world's libraries CONTAIN? LOTS. In fact, more than Google is probably indexing right now... it may just not be as current.

Google's small print at the bottom of their homepage, which currently reads: "Searching 8,168,684,336 web pages". This text could change to "pages" and go up to almost 100,000,000,000 pages if it indexed all of the worlds' books pages. That is a LOT of information! Google would THRIVE on it. But... legal issues could throw the project back into the water...

Google's Blogsearch - And, NO Google Browser

2005-09-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Google released their BlogSearch beta, at blogsearch.google.com. It's not too bad so far, but maybe just a few things could be fixed up :) This is a wonderful feature, as I've often been wanting to search just blogs sometimes. If you type a blog's name and it happens to be at Blogger (as of now, I think BlogSpace too), it comes up as a "Related Blog". Type in "Google's Future", and you'll see what I mean. :)

Also, I've been informed thanks to a helpful comment that Google has stated that they are NOT working on a web browser. This was back in October 2004, which may be too old to go by, but Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced they were not working on a web browser. Full story. The info might be just a tad old, but this will be enough to go by for at least another 6 months in my honest opinion.

Google Wins Lawsuits - Dr. Kai-Fu Lee now a Googler

2005-09-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Dr. Kai-Fu Lee used to work at Microsoft, and after quitting, went to join Google right away.

Well, Microsoft didn't like this too much, so they sued Google and Dr. Lee for violating their standard contract.

Long story short, Google countersued, then Microsoft countersued, then Google countersued. The judge has decided in favor of Google, and Dr. Lee is now a Google employee. (Hey, that rhymes!)

Google's blog entry on this subject can be found here.

Google vs. Microsoft vs. eBay - Game On

2005-09-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today, eBay has agreed to buy VoIP company Skype, Google Talk's main competitor.

It's an unusual move for eBay - they are not in the VoIP or communication industry. Google's reason is understandable. (Their mission statement is in compliance with their Talk program.) Also, we can't forget that Microsoft bought Teleo. Now, it's eBay vs. Google vs. Microsoft in the voice communication market.

Let the VoIP wars of 2005 begin. And, obviously, I'm rooting for Google ;)

Vint Cerf a Googler - And, Google Browser

2005-09-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

Official press release is here. Vint is one of the founding fathers of the Internet, having formerly worked for MCI and developing the concepts of several e-commerce methods used today. This is allowing Google to undertake new ideas, projects, and move up in the world of software.

Also, more and more speculation has gone into Google's possible web browser. GBrowser.com is taken, and by Google, yet no public announcements have been made. I read an interview with Chris Hofmann earlier today, and one of the questions was, "Many people speculate that Google is developing a browser with Mozilla’s help. Inquiring minds want to know; can we expect to see a Google browser based on Firefox?" The reply was simply, "You'll have to talk to Google about that one."

At first read, this does not seem informative and probably scrapable. But, think about the logistics of this simple answer. If they weren't letting Google use the Firefox framework/Mozilla's help in general to build their own browser, why wouldn't he just say no? Obviously, if we ask Google, they will either not respond or say they cannot reveal information about their unreleased projects, yada yada yada. We know that. But why would denying it be a violation of confidentiality? It doesn't make sense to me. I would have just said no if we weren't.

The domain, this simple interview question, and all the other speculation going around is making me more and more suspicious that Google will soon release all of their services into a single web browser.

Oh, and as a side-note, Robin Sloan himself has granted me permission to host a copy of the EPIC 2015 on my server ^_^ Now, I can be sure that the reliability of the link above is near 100% (not that I don't trust other hosts, but I have control over the reliability of this one).

I've also requested an interview with him, so you may see that pop up soon if he accepts.

Microsoft CEO: 'I'm going to f***ing kill Google'

2005-09-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

While maybe a bit off-subject for what the future holds, this does affect the future, so I call it acceptable for this blog.

Actually this is part of a news entry at Tech Arena. It follows:

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer [not owner, who is, in fact, Bill Gates] vowed to "kill" internet search leader Google Inc. in an obscenity-laced tirade, and Google chased a prized Microsoft executive "like wolves," according to documents filed in an increasingly bitter legal battle between the rivals.

The allegations, filed in a Washington state court, represent the latest salvos in a showdown triggered by Google's July hiring of former Microsoft executive Kai Fu-Lee to oversee a research and development centre that Google plans to open in China. Lee started at Google the day after he resigned from Microsoft.

The tug-of-war over Lee - known for his work on computer recognition of language - has exposed the behind-the-scenes animosity that has been brewing between two of high-tech's best-known companies. Ballmer's threat last November was recounted in a sworn declaration by a former Microsoft engineer, Mark Lucovsky, who said he met with Microsoft's chief executive 10 months ago to discuss his decision to leave the company after six years.

After learning Lucovsky was leaving to take a job at Google, Ballmer picked up his chair and hurled it across his office, according to the declaration.

Ballmer then pejoratively berated Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Lucovsky recalled.

"I'm going to f---ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again," the declaration quotes Ballmer. "I'm going to f---ing kill Google."

Before joining Google, Schmidt was a top executive at Sun Microsystems Inc. and Novell Inc., a pair of tech companies that Microsoft has previously battled.

In a statement, Ballmer described Lucovsky's recollection as a "gross exaggeration. Mark's decision to leave was disappointing and I urged him strongly to change his mind. But his characterization of that meeting is not accurate."

Microsoft is suing to prevent Lee from leading Google's China expansion, maintaining those duties would violate the terms of a noncompete agreement that he signed as part of his employment contract.

Google has depicted Microsoft's lawsuit as a form of intimidation designed to thwart a fast-growing rival that has emerged as a formidable threat to the software maker.

Obviously, after reading this, we realize that Microsoft is rather upset with Google - and its new and probably most deadly enemy is the court system.

I'm trying very hard to resist ranting about Microsoft, and not spelling Microsoft as "Micro$oft".

I've referred to it before and I will again... the EPIC 2014 shows that Google would face legal issues, concerning mostly copyrights, but the agressiveness of Microsoft against Google is making me wonder... does Microsoft know that Google is catching up fast and they won't be able to keep up? Unless they get their hands on Google's search algorithm, Microsoft is going to lose the edge fast.

... That is, if they can't pull Google under using clever lawsuits. I am almost agressively against this form of competition, and hope that Google can keep a legal lead.

Katrina Pics on Google Earth

2005-09-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

Google has focused satellites on the Gulf Coast to update the photos for that region, and to stay updated semidaily or so for the next few months.

http://Earth.Google.com

Download it if you haven't. It's free.

To get the updated pictures, download the .KMZ files, as these are manual downloads instead of server streaming live while you use the program.

Google Quietly Releases Print Ads

2005-09-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today, Google has quietly expanded its advertising service to printed pages.

This is a major change in their strategy, from Internet-only to printed advertisements. Their plan is to buy whole pages of particular magazines (PC Magazine, MacAddict, etc.) then divide them into subsections visually to seperate each ad.

And of course keeping to virtual tradition, beneath the ads will be a small bar saying "Ads by Google" in it.

Oh, and a whole page near the cover will only cost you about $33,000! Yeah, so this may only be for large corporations or well-established businesses, soon Google will be able to spread it from these magazines to TV marquees on sides of buildings in large cities (Las Vegas, New York City, etc.) - and that's just in the US.

Google's going fast - but needs to go faster to beat Microsoft, who is competing with Google more and more each day. (Though losing in most cases, except for the purchase of the VoIP company, Teleo. Google should improve its Google Talk program as fast as they can.)

Microsoft Jumps in VoIP Market

2005-08-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

Just this week, Microsoft bought company, Teleo (I believe that is the name of it) that produces VoIP (Voice over IP) applications, which is a competitor to Google Talk.

One thing that drives me mad is that Microsoft is so lazy that they actually just buy out other companies, increasing their monopolism, say the product is theirs, and yet STILL get the millions of dollars they unjustly earned.

Google best release an update to Google Talk soon before they lose their already unfortunate market. Good luck, Google!

(Btw, I have just recieved my Google Backpack! ^_^)

Google Takes on Skype

2005-08-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today, Google has released their new Google Talk feature!

UPDATE: Google Talk is now available here: http://talk.google.com. It's a free download, but you need a GMail account. If you need one, ask me for one.

I've just downloaded it. Not only can you do standard instant messenging, but it also supports voice conversation, or "computer-to-computer phone calls".

Add me to your buddy list: Farm.Techie

Be sure to download it. It's currently in Beta, so if you notice some things you don't like, then just be patient. Don't be too hard on Google.

Right now, Google has a lot to catch up on. Over 40 million AIM & ICQ users, 20 million YIM users, and 14 million MSN users total ... that's a lot to beat. Then, when it comes to VoIP (Voice over IP, similar to a phone call), Skype, the leader in that market, has a whopping 50 million users.

Google, with its booming popularity just needs to put a small text link on their homepage when it is released publically to get a jump start. There's about 500 million page views per day at Google, and all it takes is for about 10 or 20 percent of those users to download it. That's 1 day. The chances? Maybe slim. Those 500 million views aren't necessarily unique visitors. That may be about 10 per different person.

So, yeah, there's a bit of catching up to do, but I have no doubt in my mind that Google can pull it off. Using their powerful search, mail, blogs, and other features, they can connect users around the world like nobody has ever known before.

Orkut's Affiliation

2005-08-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

Just found out that Orkut.com is in affiliation with Google. Hmm.

It's similar to Friendster and MySpace, offers similar "find-interests-like-yours" features, and find other people, chat, etc.

This is also NOT surprising, but interesting nonetheless. Again, it complies to Google's mission statement:

"Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

This is a type of information - that being social info. Google's definately on the right track...

Why, Hello! ... .com...

2005-08-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hey, did you ever know that Google owns a site called Hello.com? It's kind of a stretch, but - Hello.com is brought to you by Picasa - which is brought to you by Google. It's also powered by PHP, which is unusual for Google's norm of using these wierd extentions, like ".g" when I go to post this blog.

Hello is a downloadable program, and this info was taken from their site:

"Hello is a new program that lets you connect directly with your friends to share your digital pictures. If you’ve used an instant messenger program before, you’ve already got the idea—Hello is special because it lets you share your pictures along with your messages.

With Hello, you just pick what pictures you want to show off, and click “Send.” That’s it. Hello takes care of all the hard work. And you and your friends can download full resolution, print-quality pictures from each other, while you’re doing more important things, like talking about your pictures."

Interesting, but I can see now why Google bought it. Buying Picasa also probably got them this Hello site, which is useful for sharing information. I mean, geez, I never knew about this.

Google Forums?

2005-08-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

I've been doing that wierd pondering thing again. Why doesn't Google invest in buying or creating forums?

There's a HUGE archive in each active forum, promoting THOUSANDS of bits of information and data. They bought Blogger - great move. Now make some forums that people will use! Forums... there are so many. So much useful information. Granted, Google indexes forums and their archives, but if they wrote forum software, think of how they could directly implement other Google features into it! Millions would use their forums!

Just my thoughts...

Google goes RSS & Atom

2005-08-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

Now, Google News is available via RSS and Atom feeds! That's a great jump forward in progress.

Also, Yahoo! has just "announced" (whether truthful or not, they've said this) that their search engine now indexes 20 billion pages, images, and other files on the web - almost double Google's current indexes or 11.6 billion.

I doubt this is much of a competition booster for Yahoo! (unless what they say is true), since most searchers don't go past the first 10 or 20 results. I mean, geez, 20 billion...

Firefox Extentions

2005-08-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

3rd post today! It's a lot, but there's so much to update.

In Google Labs, google has released a few Firefox extentions. These include the Google Toolbar for Firefox, Google "Send to Phone" to send text messages to a phone via web browser, and Google Suggest for the search bar in the top corner of Firefox.

I love how Google sticks to their mission statement: "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

I do not know of another company that sticks to its mission statement so carefully and enthusiastically - good job, Google! Keep up the good work!

Wikid, er, Wiki Server Space

2005-08-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Google's on the run again with 2 new announcements: They're donating servers and bandwidth to Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia (all user-edited), because again, their mission statement is to make information more manageable in a more confusing world. This move is logical and I don't see any need to ponder it or discuss it much.

Now - Google is planning a competitor to eBay's Paypal service - a way to easily make online payments via bank, credit card, and other methods. This will, they say, "give eBay a headache." Personally, I think they'll do a very good job.

On another note, and different subject, Google states on their website in the corporate info pages,

"What's next from Google? Hard to say. We don't talk much about what lies ahead, because we believe one of our chief competitive advantages is surprise. Surprise and innovation. Our two chief competitive advantages are surprise, innovation and an almost fanatical devotion to our users."

It's getting quite late, I must rest now, but will add more posts later.

Google Browser

2005-08-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been nagging me lately, so I figure I better post my thoughts about Google, Mozilla, and the fact that www.Gbrowser.com is taken by Google.

Recently, Mozilla announced their reorganization to branch off into the Mozilla Corporation to assist in the marketing and further accomplishment of Mozilla's products. (Thankfully, though, Mozilla Foundation still exists so their products will remain free.)

The fact that they branched into a corporation allows more opportunity for their marketing to extend more to other e-commerce sites and services, particularly Google. So what's my new wierd theory now? I don't know how "wierd" it is, but I think Mozilla and Google may merge services.

Notice, also, that Mozilla Firefox's slogan (one of them) is "Take back the web" - with proper extentions, and the default search bar in the top-right corner, making information more accessable and organized, ... is similar to Google's mission statement.

Google Search is already the default Mozilla Start Page (upon user consent), and what's to keep them from merging what may soon be something called "G-Browser" into Firefox? If Google makes a web browser, and are already the default Mozilla start page (notice the page is directly embedded in Google's servers), I sense a akward situation. Besides, why would they compete with Mozilla if they are supporting them now?

So here's the conclusion to my hypothosis: Google will create a major component OF or WITH a web browser, (either make their own or build it for Mozilla) and somehow merge Firefox and what may someday be the G-Browser, making one super-browser.

I know this is a long post, so I will end it for tonight, as I've lost my train of thought.

MSN a Major Competitor

2005-07-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Today, Microsoft released MSN Virtual Earth, a competitor to Google Maps.

Well, I've learned all I need to know about their biased stupidity - Apple's campus is a blank lot on MSN Virtual Earth.

Why can't Microsoft just wise up to the fact that there IS competition out there for them and stop acting like a child against it.

Google is unbiased in this matter. Way to go, Google!

Windows Vista & Google

2005-07-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Looks like Microsoft is jumping in the world of Google and competing against them with, "What!?" their new operating system!

That's right, Microsoft has announced Windows Longhorn's real name. It's "Windows Vista". Its main purpose, apparently, is to make information more manageable, suspiciously similar to Google's mission statement. More inforamtion here: www.WindowsVista.us

What should probably concern Google, a little bit I think, is the fact that this new OS will be a default choice for millions of computer users around the world. Google is not built into computers by default. You have to choose to go to their website to search. Now, Vista is going to be right at your fingertips, a possible loss of Google users possible upon its release and (hopefully not too much) growing popularity.

I'm wondering what Google is going to do to conquer this threat. Fortunately, Google Start is the default homepage (yet at the user's consent) for Mozilla Firefox. That raises another interesting point, which I will bring up in my next post.

I hope Google is able to stay on top of the software giant, in the respect of staying the #1 search engine, and practically the second-most-visted website on the Internet (I'm not sure which, but eBay, Amazon, Google, MSN and Yahoo! all hold the top hit counters in the web).

The Beginning and End - EPIC 2015

2005-07-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

After seeing the EPIC (www.broom.org/epic), I've been inspired to start this blog as I feel Google is going to take over the Internet someday. Well, that's not a bad thing in my honest opinion. Google would be a MASSIVE source of information, yet in a non-monopolistic way.

Recently, I've thought about their Gmail. If they put a G in front of every service they made, then if they made a web browser (which seems likely), Google'd probably call it Gbrowser. Note that the domain name gbrowser.com is already taken - and by Google.

Google is certainly doing what their mission statement says - to make information more manageable (not quoting) in this growing concept of the Internet as data becomes far too densely populated for humans to sort through. Now, quoting:

"To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

When Google bought Blogger, I knew before I saw the EPIC what Google was up to. Blogs contain, oh gosh, a large amount of information. This way, Google can do a people search so viewers can find who they're looking for and their blog. Plus, a profile and more information about them. Have you noticed the recently-added profile features to Blogger?

Google's striking popularity started as a project called Backrub, way back when. After this project "graduated" from the academy, it became Google. As you all know (I hope), a "googol" is 1 followed by 100 zeros, or 1.0 × 10¹⁰⁰

The spelling was altered to "Google" and then this new search engine was born. Behind its surprisingly simple homepage (yet obviously effective), lies a depth and entire cyberspace of information.

Now, knowing that, let me continue.

I believe that someday Google is going to want access to as much information as they can get on their servers (over 20,000 servers they have currently I think?) to present to the general public.

Someday, Google will be a teeming metropolis of information, using new algorithms and artificial intelligence to organize and arrange the data accordingly. Go Google!