Industry guru Dave Taylor answers free tech support questions about a wide variety of business and technical topics, including blogging, Google AdSense, MySpace, Sony PSP, Apple iPod, Mp3 players, management, Linux, SEO, Mac OS X, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Microsoft Windows.

What's new at Google?

Dave, you're plugged in, can you tell me what's new at Google? I try to keep track of everything they're doing, but it's just about impossible what with all the news about Google the company out there...


Dave's Answer:

I'm not much more plugged in than you are, actually. I just have some good information sources, one of the best of which is the amusingly named Google Friends Newsletter. Yes, you can sign up for this informative - and sporadically sent - missive straight from Google central and find out about what they're touting too.

If you were a subscriber, you'd know about the following:

Personalized Homepage
We've added some new features to the way you can personalize your Google homepage. Now there's a section for bookmarks, as well as a way to add custom sections with the content you want from across the web. Note that you must be signed in to your Google Account to create and use your personalized homepage.
http://www.google.com/ig

Google Toolbar for Firefox
The Toolbar is kind of the "Swiss Army knife" for computing, making it easy to search and do other tasks directly from your browser. You can check spelling, autofill web forms, translate English words into other languages, and lots more. Now the Google Toolbar is available for the Firefox browser. (It's already out for Internet Explorer.)
http://toolbar.google.com

Google Maps Hybrid Mode
We've got Maps, we've got Earth, and now we've got a way to view satellite images with map data. It's the "Hybrid" mode. Very handy for seeing the lay of the land with, for example, street names on top. Look in the upper right hand corner of the map image to switch your view from Map to Satellite to Hybrid (and back again).
http://maps.google.com/

Google Groups Alerts
"Alerts" are a great way to inform you when keywords you have selected appear in news stories, web search results, and now, are mentioned within Google Groups topics. If you're tracking several subjects, this is far easier than reading through a (possible) boatload of messages. Just sign up to track Alerts of interest to you. There's a pull-down menu under "Type" where you choose among News, Web, or Groups notifications. And you can choose to receive Alerts daily, weekly, or as they happen.
http://www.google.com/alerts

Become a Google Friend today, sign up for the newsletter!



Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Simpy.

Subscribe!

Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader.

Comments

I think its also worth mentioning that Google has a Blog as well at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/ .
Here you can get some interesting information straight from Google employee, such as tips and tricks about new products, interesting info about their campus, etc.

Posted by: David Hergert at August 11, 2005 1:27 PM

Although my home system meets or exceeds all of the system requirements for Google Earth, I can not get the program to load.
During the load process I get message "Google Earth"DiretX not supported. Try open GL" It wont let me open "GL"
and In Login Status Window the screen reads "Finishing GE server login......"
I have this program installed on an OLDER desktp computer and a Laptop, without any problems.

Please help
Nico

Posted by: Nico at September 18, 2005 10:49 PM

To whom ever:
I also got the same message as posted by Nico on Sept. 18th. I would like to get Google Earth loaded correctly.. Can you help, Please?

Sandra

Nico's message posted below:


Although my home system meets or exceeds all of the system requirements for Google Earth, I can not get the program to load.
During the load process I get message "Google Earth"DiretX not supported. Try open GL" It wont let me open "GL"
and In Login Status Window the screen reads "Finishing GE server
login......"

Posted by: Sandra at April 3, 2006 9:33 PM

Dave

I am unable to open Google Earth in Direct X or GL mode. The application gets stuck at the initializing screen. My Google Pack download was limited only to Google Earth, is another component required?

Thanks in advance for your help.

TJ

Posted by: TJ at May 10, 2007 8:15 AM

Dave

I am unable to open Google Earth in Direct X or GL mode. The application gets stuck at the initializing screen. My Google Pack download was limited only to Google Earth, is another component required?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Posted by: Terry Brown at September 26, 2007 5:16 PM

I have a lot to say, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!









Remember personal info?


Please note that I will never send you any unsolicited commercial email. Ever.

While I'm at it, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site.









Uniblue: Free Virus Scan

Search
Find just the answers you seek from among our 1700+ free tech support articles by using our Lijit search engine.


Help!





Subscribe to
Ask Dave Taylor!

Add to Google Reader
Add to My Yahoo!
Subscribe in NewsGator Online

RDF   XML

Free Updates!
Sign up and get free weekly updates and special offers on books, seminars, workshops and more.


Recent Entries
Join the List!
Join my author info mailing list, where you'll learn about my upcoming books, speaking gigs, and more!


Book Links
© 2002 - 2008 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site.

[whiteboard marker tray]