Google Freak

Google Chrome Themes Extensions Download CRX

2009-08-07T05:55:00.001-07:00

Google Chrome Beta now has themes to add a more personal touch to Google Chrome.

Skin your Google Chrome Beta by downloading the themes in the form of .CRX files aka Chrome Extensions.

Download & try the latest version of Google Chrome (BETA)
Download Themes from Google Chrome Theme Gallery.

Google Chrome - Chrome Experiments in V8 Javascript

2009-03-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog and Chrome Blog reports Chrome Experiments for us to play with and help improve the Google Chrome web browser.

Google 'Chrome Experiments Collection' video.

Google Chrome Channel Changer and Update Guide

2009-01-12T23:06:00.001-08:00

Image via WikipediaGoogle Chrome has weekly and monthly builds namely the Beta and Dev channel where users can get early access to features that they can test out and help with the bug fixes or the project itself.

I recently tested out the latest Dev channel and there are some very noteworthy features to explore and play with.

For you to enjoy the latest updates, follow these simple steps as found at:
The Chromium Blog: Google Chrome Release Channels
Chromium Developer Documentation: Early Access Release Channels

Matt Cutts on Preventing Virtual Blight

2009-01-12T15:23:00.000-08:00

What is virtual blight and how do webmasters prevent it from happening?

If you missed the Web 2.0 summit, like I did, then you can checkout the YouTube video and Google Docs slides that Matt Cutts has done very nicely for us, a second time around,

See
Google Docs: Preventing Blight by Matt Cutts.
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Preventing Virtual Blight: my presentation from Web 2.0 Summit

Google Reader for Beginners YouTube Video

2009-01-11T08:09:00.001-08:00

Via CrunchBaseMost South African bloggers and blog readers have probably heard of or used Google Reader by now. Google Reader allows you to read consolidated RSS, atom and other valid feeds in one page instead of sifting through all your favorite sites.

Via WikipediaGoogle encourages users to share the YouTube video called Google Reader for Beginners as well as the Getting started with Google Reader help page with friends, family and fellow web-users.

Check out these other useful videos on YouTube for more Google Reader Help:

Follow Blogger on Twitter by Adding @Blogger

2009-01-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

At last, Blogger has joined Twitter to bring you the latest official buzz from Blogger at Google.Image via CrunchBase
Follow @Blogger on Twitter to get the latest buzzwords from the Blogger team in real-time.

See Blogger Buzz: Blogger in 140 characters or less

Google's New Favicon Inspired by André Resende

2009-01-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

According to the Official Google Blog: Google's New Favicon post, André Resende is a computer science undergraduate student at the University of Campinas in Brazil.

His design inspired the new favicon.

Google says that "His placement of a white 'g' on a color-blocked background was highly recognizable and attractive, while seeming to capture the essence of Google."

The icon has depth and color, love it!
Thank you André Resende and Google!

How To Add Google Friend Connect Social Gadgets to a Blogger Blogspot Blog

2009-01-08T01:38:00.000-08:00

Earlier, I thought that Blogger or Blogspot blogs could not have Google Friend Connect Social Gadgets added in because of the uploading restriction. Little had I known that the html files contain the required code that simply needs to be pasted into my blogger / blogspot template for verification and Google Friend Connect support.

Here is the guide on how to Add Google Friend Connect Social Gadgets to a Blogger Blogspot Blog!

For website owners all you need to do is upload the relay and canvas files to your web directory and "Voila!".

To get started you need these two accounts.

Blogspot/Blogger Blog Setup:

Login to Blogger
Click on Settings
Click on Layout
Click on Edit HTML
Find </body> (end of template)
Paste this: <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/script/rpc_relay.js"></script> before the </body> tag.

Friend Connect Setup

Click on Setup a New Site link.
Step 1: Enter your sites Title and URL
Step 2: Skip this step as we have already added the code into our template. (above)
Step 3: Click the Test to finalize setup button!
Step 4: Click on Get code to add the Members gadget to your site.
Follow the page to setup your gadget canvas styles and copy it to your blog
Click on finalize and you're ready to embed some social gadgets!

Thats it! Now you can go add these cool social gadgets and membership gadgets to allow users with a Google account to signup and login to your blogspot blog.

There is more!

Just like Disqus, etc, you can add Google Friend Connect comments for blogger posts!
A Ratings and Reviews Social gadget is also available for a site and for individual posts.
A Wall gadget can be added to your site for discussions and wall posts. (like Facebook without the video, audio and pics... for now!)

Many thanks to Frederic Fleche, who runs http://www.bioinformatics.fr/ and who helped me clean up this redundant code that you can remove at will.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/script/friendconnect.js"></script>

Each Gadget canvas template comes with this line of code even though the first canvas code you added already has it, in this case we added the code itself in the steps (see above). Keep the original one and remove the duplicates from your extra Google Friend Connect gadgets' canvasses.

Be sure to checkout the ratings and reviews gadgets as well as a general wall gadget, similar to a Facebook wall, for your site!

If you enjoyed this post or found it interesting please join my site using Google Friend Connect for more. You can also rate, review and comment on individual posts. Also, be sure to share this post with all your friends who have a Google / Gmail account and who might be interested in all things Google.

CrunchBase Information

Google Friend Connect

Information provided by CrunchBase

Picasa for Mac at Google's MacWorld Booth, Google Labs, YouTube

2009-01-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

Mac owners can get Picasa for Mac from Google Labs whilst others can head on over to Google's MacWorld booth to get a demonstration of how it runs on the Mac.
Image via CrunchBase
What Picasa for Mac means to Mac users is that millions of online Picasa Web Albums users will now have the pleasure of syncing from their desktop using the Picasa for Mac desktop software.

Picasa Web Album Uploader is no longer just an uploader, it also allows users to now sync those uploaded files on another PC!

Introducing Picasa for Mac (beta)...

So are you a Mac, Linux or WIndows user and have not yet changed to Picasa for photo management, for your camera and web activity needs?

Picasa for Mac runs on Mac OS X v10.4+ and supports iPhoto 4,5,6 and iPhoto '08 (version 7). Get Picasa now!

Picasa for Mac
Picasa for Linux
Picasa for Windows

See Official Google Blog: Introducing Picasa for Mac (at Macworld!)

Google Earth's New San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge

2009-01-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

Image via CrunchBaseGoogle Earth has opened up the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for users to play with and commit crimes so to speak. The project is set to be completed by 2013 and is said to be the largest construction of it's kind in history of California.

To get cracking at the model, turn on the 3D Buildings layer in your Google Earth.

See Google LatLong: Building a bridge in Google Earth

How To Use Google Image Search to Find Faces, Clip Art, Line Drawings and Photo Content

2009-01-05T08:38:00.001-08:00

Google Image Search is new and improved with different types of image searches like Faces, Clip Art, Line Drawings and Photo content. News content and general web search of Google Images can are still prevalent.

Image via Wikipedia

I tested out the Google Image Search categories by searching the keyword 'Google' to see what eye-candy I can find.

Here is my findings for How To Use Google Image Search to Find Faces, Clip Art, Line Drawings and Photo Content...

News content: Gives me some relevant images about Google in the news world.

Faces: Gives me photos of individuals with Google logos mixed in the image or on the individuals' T-shirts.

Clip Art: Graphical representations of Google in the form of clips art images are prominent, as expected!

Line drawings: Architectures, patents, flow-charts and algorithms are depcited as line drawings when searching for 'Google' in the 'Line drawings' category.

Photo content: Photos of people, Google Maps

Any content: Gives an aggregated output of all the above image content types and are prioritized by relevance to the search term, query or keywords used.

I hope you contribute to this wonderful system called Google Image Search by using the Google Image Labeler as discussed in my previous post. This way we can enjoy a service as well as contribute to it's integrity for future generations of web-users to enjoy fully!

How To Use Google Image Labeler to Improve Google Image Search

2009-01-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

Google Image Labeler was made for Google Image Search.

If you want to help Google Image Search improve the relevance of image searches then take a look at Google Image Labeler!

Google Image Labeler takes random pictures from websites and gives guests a labeling game to play against other guests. The more accurate your labels are, the more points you score. A very fun way to improve the Google Image Search.

Image via Wikipedia

From now on, I will be tagging, tweeting and submitting my friends' useful articles that I will be coming across daily, ASAP! This way I can imitate the way the general public uses Google Image Labeler to help improve Google Image Search and hopefully you would to!

How To Submit A Sitemap To Google Using Google Webmaster Tools

2009-01-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

Image by dannysullivan via FlickrGoogle Webmaster Tools helps you increase your site's visibility in Google Search.

It allows Google's spiders to crawl your pages and index your sitemap. Submitting a sitemap to crawl your content for errors.

Here is How To Submit A Sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools.

Enter your Blog or Site address.

Add your site URL into the textbox.

Click the Add Site button.

Verify your site by simply adding a meta tag or by uploading an HTML file to it .

Click the verify button.

You should now have successfully submitted your site or blog sitemap to Google, using Google Webmaster Tools.

In a few days you should see some statistics like the 'Top Search Queries', Crawl Errors and Subscriber Stats in your Google Webmaster Tools dashboard.

How To Get The New Google Toolbar 5 BETA Add-On For Firefox

2009-01-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

Image via CrunchBase
The new, improved Google Toolbar 5 (BETA) for Firefox comes as an add-on (.xpi). It has search suggestions as well as a history as you type in the search box. I also love using the Bookmarks button to easily save a page in my Google Bookmarks.

The Google Toolbar for Firefox allows me to set Gmail as default mail handler for 'mailto:' links which is super-handy!

Google PageRank is visible on the toolbar at every page you visit, which gives you a heads-up as to where the real activity is taking place.

You can add more buttons to the Google Toolbar, like a Google Blog Search, a Gmail and a Google Calendar button.

Furthermore, there is a send to button which allows you to send the page you're on, to Google Blogger, Gmail or by Google SMS.

Many more options like Google Docs, Google Image Search, Google Maps and Google Toolbar Layout settings are available via the Google Toolbar Settings and Options area.

Google has updated the PageRank of sites for the New Year so be sure to get the Google Toolbar and check if your favorite site's PR has increased or decreased.

"Take the power of Google with you anywhere on the Web"

Google Toolbar for Firefox
Download Firefox^® with Google Toolbar
Download Google Toolbar 5 BETA

How To Add Your Blog to Google Blog Search Ping Service

2009-01-02T00:43:00.000-08:00

Image via CrunchBaseGoogle Blog Search Ping Service is a blog search engine pinging service made specifically for blogs that want to be indexed by Google's Blog Search. The fastest way to have Google index your site feed and posts is by submitting or pinging your blog feed using the Google Blog Ping Service.

Here is How To Add Your Blog to Google Blog Search Ping Service

Go to Google BlogSearch

Add Your blog's address in textbox e.g.

google-freak.blogspot.com or

Click on the Submit Blog button.

Wait whilst Google does it's best to add it to the index ASAP!

Now you have another way to get your blog indexed and listed by Google in the Google Blog Search! Always check the Blog Search results for search terms, queries and topics that are rising in amount of posts. This way you can latch onto good topics and trendy titles to rise up with the popular Google Blog Search listings.

How To Add RSS Feeds To Gmail Web Clips

2009-01-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

Image via CrunchBaseGmail Web Clips can be modified to remove existing feeds that cycle through it, and you can also add your own RSS feeds to it!

Here is How To Add RSS Feeds To Gmail Web Clips

Click on Settings

Click on Web Clips

Click in the Search by topic or URL searchbox

Add RSS Feed URL or Search topic

Click the Search button / Press Enter

Click the Add button to Add the required feed

To Remove RSS Feeds from Gmail Web Clips just click on My Clips and click remove next to the one that you do not require anymore.

Now you can view your favorite feeds whilst reading your Gmail, thanks to Gmail Web Clips!

Happy New Year 2009 From Google-Freak!

2009-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaImage via CrunchBaseIt was a good night with lots of drinks, food and hugs.

Here are a ton of links that I found using Google to search for "Happy New Year" posts.

Google Happy New Year
Zemanta Happy New Year
Twitter Happy New Year

How To Add and Submit Your URL to Google

2008-12-26T05:31:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaHi all Google Freak here! I'm back after xmas celebrations, to show South African people How To Add Your URL to Google.

This is the simplest way to add your URL to Google and share it with us all!

Here is How To: Add Your URL to Google

Go to Google AddURL

Add Your URL to Google textbox

Add comments and keywords

Verify if human or bot (optional)

Click Add URL button

That is (it!) all! Hope you had as good a xmas as I did! Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a post from this Google Freak!

How To Enable Blogger Comment Moderation and Email Notifications

2008-12-24T04:16:00.000-08:00

Image via CrunchBaseComment moderation and notification by email for blogger blogs are off by default.
By enabling this option in Blogger, I will be notified of comments, or I can keep comments pending for moderation. It all depends on how much I want to be in control of the imminent GIGO system.

Here is How-To: Enable Blogger Comment Moderation and Email Notifications

Go to your blog at blogger.com (blogspot.com)

Click Settings

Click Comments

Click Edit at the Blog Posts layout element

Find Comment moderation

Click Edit to add or edit the default reactions.

Enter Your Email Address into the textbox for email notifications of new comments.

Now you will get an email to notify you about pending or posted comments, when selected. Very useful to prevent unwanted spammers and bots.

How To Auto Forward Gmail Messages to Another Email Account

2008-12-23T17:25:00.001-08:00

Image via CrunchBaseAutomatically forwarding your Gmail accounts can save you lots of login time that is often wasted when it comes to using aliases and email addresses.

Why not get all your other Gmail accounts' messages in one Gmail account?

Well... here's my How-To: Auto Forward Gmail Messages to Another Email Account

Open Gmail

Click Settings

Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP

Select Forward a copy of incoming mail to

Enter the email address in the box

Click the Save Changes button

Be sure to add a recognizable label to those incoming messages in the account you are forwarding to!

How To Enable Gmail Themes

2008-12-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Image by Chris1051 via FlickrEnabling themes in Gmail can be done by going to the settings menu and clicking on the themes tab. Here you will find a selection of funky new themes to pimp your Gmail with.

If you still cannot find it, here is how-to:

Open Gmail

Click Settings

Click Themes

Click a theme and you're done!

NB: Some Gmail themes change their looks according to the time of day. This requires a timezone setting to be added.

Personally, I am in love with the Planets Gmail theme. This theme changes according to the time as described above.

Enjoy your pimped up Gmail with themes!

How To Add Reactions To Blogger Blog Posts

2008-12-23T16:16:00.001-08:00

Reactions are basically an emotional response to the article, similar to voting up with emotional semantics being the weighting. Reactions are defaulted to 'Funny', 'Interesting', 'Cool' and are not restricted. This means we can add more specific reactions by choice. 'Brilliant!' don't you think?

Adding reactions to a Blogger blog post is very simple. There is no HTML or JavaScript code to add or edit, just a simple checkbox to enable it.

Here is How-To:Add Reactions To Blogger Blog Posts

Go to your blog at blogger.com (blogspot.com)

Click Layout

Click Page Elements (if not there already)

Click Edit at the Blog Posts layout element

Click Reactions checkbox in the Configure Blog Posts pop-up.

Click Edit to add or edit the default reactions.

That is that and it's now time for users to react!

How To Make A Blogger Blog Load Faster

2008-12-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

Optimizing a Blogger blog to load faster can be achieved by following some of the hints, tips and tricks given to us by Blogger.

Here is how-to: make your Blogger blog load faster!

Posts
Blogger recommends 10 (or less) posts per page.

Widgets
Third-party Javascript and links in custom HTML widgets should go to the bottom of your sidebar!

Media
Use lower resolution images and hot-link to the original to decrease loading time.

CSS
Custom CSS code should go right at the top of the page. Alternatively, link it to a cascading style sheet.

To absorb every little detail about these methods, and more, read the Blogger How-to: How can I make my blog load faster?

How To Enable IMAP Access in Gmail

2008-12-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

Enabling IMAP is also very simple in Gmail and can be found in the same area where we enabled POP, in the settings!

If you still cannot find it, here is how-to:

Open: Gmail

Click on: Settings

Click on: Forwarding and POP/IMAP

Select: Enable IMAP

Click: Save Changes

Done! Now go add your IMAP settings to your IMAP client and enjoy accessing your email with IMAP.

If you need recommended IMAP settings for specific Mail Clients or Wireless Devices, they can be found at the Supported IMAP client list.

How To Enable POP/POP3 Access for GMail

2008-12-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Enabling POP for Gmail is as simple as selecting one option in the settings area.

If you can't find it, try this quick how-to:

Open: Gmail

Click: Settings

Click: Forwarding and POP/IMAP

Select: Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on

Click: Save Changes

All done! Now you're ready to load up your favorite mail client or wireless device, and download your emails using POP/POP3 access!

If you need recommended settings for specific Mail Clients or Wireless Devices, they can be found at the Supported POP client list.