google

Way to go, Google

July 24, 2011

Inconceivable what Google is doing to their users; this whole Google Apps transition to “full” Google Accounts is a real mess.

I have never been a fan of Google, but when they launched Google Apps I thought it was a great idea: Leveraging Gmail (the king of web-based email at the time) for your own domain. So I opened a Google Apps account for my main personal domain, and later opened several Google Apps accounts for my current job, friends, etc. I even considered Android as an alternative for it’s great integration with “cloud” email and calendaring services (that was, of course, before the release of iOS 4).

But now that they’re “granting” incomplete Google Accounts features to every Google Apps domain, they have this Conflicting Accounts concept, and using a Google Apps user with the same email address as your personal Google Account it’s becoming a headache.

I noticed it because I use Google Reader, but I’ve read that YouTube, Blogger, Picassa and Checkout users have worst problems than mine. What can you do when the landlord of half-internet sends you a new contract and you don’t agree?

I found this thread some months ago, and I was particularly impressed with this post:

I’ve been a Google fangirl since Google debuted. I’m a loyal Android user, plus use Google Apps for two domains’ email. This move to the new infrastructure is not just painful, it’s excruciating. Why on earth would you make things so difficult for apps users? We’re your most loyal crowd, aren’t we? YouTube’s new incompatibility with my apps account causes my Android phone not to work right unless I constantly log out and back in under different accounts. I depend on my phone to work well, and it can’t now.

-Gardenwife

So I decided it was time to move on. My personal email and calendaring solution has been Google free for a while now, and I’m looking for alternatives to Reader.

Is Google becoming Buy n’ Large?

September 9, 2008

From Gizmodo:

Built by General Dynamics, the GeoEye-1 (satellite) is equipped with a next-generation camera made by ITT. This camera can easily distinguish objects 16 inches long, with 11-bits per pixel color. In other words: this thing can see the color of your shorts. It will be up there, looking at your pants every single day, the time it takes for it to complete one orbit. And it will keep doing that for more than ten years, its expected life.

And Google is the only non-gubernamental entity with the rights to use this information. Now let’s talk about books; how about Nineteen Eighty-Four?

Read the full note about the GeoEye-1.

Be careful with that promising “Synchronize with Google” new option

May 28, 2008

Hold on, this can be tricky if you use Google’s Jabber service (aka Google Talk) and don’t want to corrupt your Google Talk buddy list and complete address book in one single step.

Apparently, both lists are linked very closely in Google, so the first sync can be disappointing (and more than just that).

If you aren’t an address book freak, you are already on the safe side (not my case).

Via Håvard Sørbø.

Update: Mac OS X Hints has published a hint on this theme.

Address Book in Leopard now can sync contacts with Gmail

Address Book preferences dialog

Sweet. You will need the 10.5.3 update.

Via Official Google Mac Blog

Update: Be careful; read on.