Wow – this could be a great help to a lot of people struggling with email overload! It looks like Google is just rolling this out and it’s not active on all accounts yet (including mine) but I can’t wait to see it in action. For a sneak peak, check out the video below or read more about it here.
Tag Archive - Google
In Case You Missed It – Jun 4
Here are a few posts and other sites I found noteworthy this week that you might want to check out.
- A good article regarding the 4 Myths About Using Technology in the Church. Do you think you know what they are?
- Google announced 2 weeks ago their concept of Google TV. Tim Stevens is asking us to ponder if that may now actually bring church to our living rooms.
- With much new coverage about the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, you may not have heard about the bad storms in Central America or the enormous sink hole that was created in Guatemala. This think is scary!
- Need a Friday chuckle? Check out this visual Twitter Parade. Just put in your Twitter username and watch how your followers create a parade with you in the lead!
- So, AT&T has finally made plans for 4G service and true tethering (using your iPhone to give your laptop internet access), but has also taken away the unlimited data plan option for new customers. Guess that’s one way to solve your network problems!
- In an interesting move, Amazon has now gotten into the wireless phone market. No longer to you have to buy your mobile phone at carrier’s store. The prices look incredible as well!
In Case You Missed It – May 23
Here are some noteworthy things from this past week.
- New look for Google Calendar – Nothing radical but some good improvements for sure.
- Looks like the tablet wars will be getting hot very soon. With the success of the iPad, everyone wants in the game. The most interesting could be the Google / Verizon version.
- You will also be able to read your Amazon e-books on your Android phone as Kindle app will be available this summer.
- Google Wave is now broadly available to everyone – no special invite required.
- How has technology innovations effected the church workplace? Here are 5 radical concepts that should be considered.
- Continuos improvement can be hard concept to get your arms around. Here is how Dan Cathy is getting practical with it.
- Church Creatives is a new fresh (free) resource to help you brainstorm as well has find new material.
- Mozy 2.0 has been released with faster back-up power and the ability to also back-up locally.
- Look for Google to possible start competing with Skype in video conferencing as they recently made some strategic purchases.
Do any of these catch your attention or interest?
Google TV
Google announced today their latest innovation – Google TV. The idea and concept is hard to deny. I wonder if the term “television” will even have any unique meaning in another 10-15 years. The convergence of the web and traditional technologies continues to blur the distinct boundaries that used to give identity to each.
What do you think? Is this a good idea? [RSS or email readers click here]
In Case You Missed It – May 14
Here are some things I found interesting from the past week or so that you might want to check out. I would love to hear any thoughts or comments about any of them. Enjoy!
- Ever wish you had a personal assistant to run down things you just don’t seem to have time for? Check out Fancy Hands – your personal assistants in the cloud. Send them an email with what you need and they’ll get it done! I think this is going to catch on and could be very helpful for some individuals and start-ups. Here is a review by a someone who tried it and loved it.
- E-books are getting more and more popular. Look for the battle to get even more intense as Google prepares to jump in with their own digital bookstore – Google Editions later this summer.
- Ever find a tweet you liked and wanted to quote it on your blog or website? Now you can embed tweets directly and preserve any links in them.
- Did you know you can “tweet” via email? Might be a good idea for those that are really wed to email and reluctant to try separate apps to engage in the Twitterverse.
- Facebook check-in appears to be in the works. The location-based services seem to be of high interest as of late but really haven’t become mainstream. If Facebook jumps in that could change.
- Craigslist has been in the news recently and taking some heat for allowing very questionable content in their ‘adult services’ ads. It caught the attention of the Christian community and surprise, surprise generated new petitions to boycott Craigslist. However, not everyone agrees with this approach – here’s why.
- The battle between Google and Apple in the mobile phone market is getting serious as Android-based phones are now outselling the iPhone.
- It looks like the Apple / Google battlefield will also be extended to the tablet market as well as Google announces plans to partner with Verizon on a new device. Verizon CEO even confirmed it.
- Looks like these rumored 4G iPhones keep showing up in strange places.
- Speaking of the iPhone… the rumors of being able to get one on Verizon are really heating up. I think we will see this happen later this summer and AT&T will really suffer.
- Folks who go on mission and volunteer trips could benefit from this cool idea – the Volunteer Card.
- Gmail users can now drag and drop images directly into the body of the message.
- Looks like you’ll be able to use your Android 2.2 phone to connect your laptop to the internet.
- So many people are upset about the recent changes in Facebook’s privacy settings – there is a new movement to create a new alternative - and it’s not MySpace. They have already raised $115K!
- Apple announced las month that it is shutting down the popular Lala.com streaming service at the end of May. There are strong rumors that Apple is getting ready to announce a cloud-based iTunes in early June.
“In Case You Missed It” Friday
I thought I’d try something new this week, which if I like it enough, I may continue in future weeks as well. Since it’s the end of the week and information seems to flow faster and faster around the interwebs these days, I thought I’d try to summarize and share a quick list of some things I found interesting this week which you may have missed.
So, here are this weeks links in no particular order.
- Facebook Chat can now be integrated with your AIM or Tokbox chat clients. I don’t know about you, but I have always thought the idea of Facebook Chat was a solid one and made sense, but the interface was clunky and tied to the Facebook webpage. Now you can still chat with your FB friends and not have to worry about having to keep you FB website visible to do so.
- Google Maps Goes 3D – A feature that was previously available in the downloadable Google Earth app is now available on online users as well. Very cool. (Note: Google Chrome Browser & Google Earth Plugin are required)
- Do you work on multiple computers? Looking for an easy way to keep track of synchronize your home & office and not mess with USB thumb drives to move files areoun? Three great solutions include Evernote, Dropbox, and Google Docs. Check out this overview.
- The floppy disk is officially dead – RIP – I’m starting to feel even older now. I can remember when the 3.5 floppy replaced the 5 1/4 disks.
- How to Get Confidence from God – A great post from Donald Miller this week. How do you get yours?
- Noah’s Ark (possibly) Found – If this turns out to be true it is the biggest story of our life time. Do you think it will matter or cause anyone to suddenly find faith in God?
- More and more schools are turning to Google Apps for their collaboration solutions. Why would any non-profit not take advantage of this robust free tool set?
- If you know me, you know I am an avid user of social media, but here are 6 good reasons why you should avoid it!
- There has been a lot of news this past week about the announcements and changes Facebook made at the F8 conference. What you may not have heard is this report on how Facebook CEO doesn’t really believe in privacy anyway.
- If you have tried YouVersion, you’ll be happy to hear they now have a Reading Plan Calendar to help you read through Bible. Earlier this year they released a major upgrade to the reading plans and now you can track your progress more visibly.
- Carlos Whittaker released is first full length CD “Ragamuffin Soul“. This is a great worship set that I’m sure that we will be singing in churches for years to come.
- Lala is shutting down – The online streaming music service will be shut down on May 31. I think this stinks as I’m a big fan of lala but apparently Apple (who bought them a few months ago), has other plans. There is talk and rumor of an iTunes.com site that will be based on the technology that Apple acquired through their purchase. I can only hope so.
That’s my highlights for this week. Let me know what you think!
The Future of Printing
via mashable.com
I love this concept! One of the biggest headaches in an IT persons life is having to update or install device drivers to be able to print correctly. While Apple computers are generally easier and simpler than PC’s in this area, they are not 100% support-free.
I believe we will continue to see the Internet (a.k.a. “The Cloud”) continue to take more and more of the role of the traditional local area network both at home and in the work place. I think that is a great thing! I’m looking forward to the day when we can look back and say, “Remember when we used to have to worry about printer drivers?” and the new young IT folk respond “printer driver? What’s that?”
See the post from Mashable about this new concept from Google.
Ever wonder how much of your web site people see?
This is a quick easy way to get a feel if you website (and associated graphics) are visible on most everyone’s browsers. There are many different screen resolutions and if you make your sight too big, it may look okay to you, but what about the other 80% of the people out there?
This utility from Google Labs (http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/) allows you to apply & see what your site would look like by generating an overlay that graphs the statistics of various browsers captured by Google. For example, the “90%” contour means that 90% of people visiting Google have their browser window open to at least this size or larger.
If you have a “donate now” button which falls within the 80% contour, meaning that 20% of users cannot see this button when they first visit the page. 20% is a significant number; knowing this fact would encourage the designer to move the button much higher in the page so it can be seen without scrolling.
Now Anyone Can Have This Experience!
I’ve been amazed over the past year or so at what Google has done with Street View on its Google Maps, but now this is really awesome! Wanna know what it looks like to walk through the tunnel of the most awesome college football stadium on earth? Check it out below and just walk through right to the field! (email readers – click here)
If you listen, you might be able to hear the crowd cheering: WE ARE…. PENN STATE!
