Posts tagged google

Encountering the future over an omelette

A strange thing happened when I was eating an omelette in the Workers Café on Upper Street. I thought I saw the future, but it turned to be nothing but a bizarre coincidence.

The long countdown to Android 2.1

They keep saying it’s about to arrive, but it never does. Android 2.1 is long overdue on the HTC Hero and my initial patience has turned into something approaching rage. After weeks of annoyance and frustration waiting for the fabled upgrade, my HTC Hero has been put on notice – “endgame” has begun.

Google Buzz: a serious new fixture in the social web?

Google Buzz is only two days old and it already has its fair share of critics. But the way my contacts are taking to it so far makes me suspect that Buzz will succeed where Google Wave (arguably) failed.

UK unemployment drops… unexpectedly?

Unemployment in the UK has fallen for the first time in 18 months, surprising many analysts. But these analysts clearly haven’t been looking at search trends for unemployment-related keywords.

An open assault on the walled garden

Mobile telcos charge us for the texts, minutes and megabytes we use. They buy our loyalty by heavily subsidising our increasingly expensive phones. And they’re terrified of becoming like the people who supply our electricity or gas. They’re terrified that one day they’ll be nothing but interchangeable providers of a commodity, irrelevant logos printed on [...]

Using Google Spreadsheets to extract Twitter data

Instructions for setting up Google Spreadsheets as a Twitter search engine, allowing you to search for tweets containing links or text using the BackTweets and Twitter Search APIs.

Googlewatch – updated

Before Christmas I suggested that Google may have reached its apex during 2008, especially as it had, for the first time, allowed a dubious new feature – SearchWiki – to infiltrate the product that sits at its core – search. And over the weekend, Google spent an hour saying that every site in its index [...]

2008 – the year Google jumped the shark?

As the year draws to an end and I retreat home to wrap presents and eat mince pies, I find myself wondering if 2008 will go down as the year in which Google’s fall from grace began. Don’t get me wrong – there’s no way I’m forecasting doom for Google. It’s not Woolworths. But a [...]

Gmail’s new Labs feature – Mail Goggles

Ever sent an email you later regretted? Well you might like the new Gmail Labs feature, Mail Goggles. It’s activated whenever you try to send an email late at night, when you’re most likely to be under the influence of alcohol. How does it stop you sending indiscreet, inarticulate or embarrassing emails? It forces you [...]