Similar Images from Google

Google labs have unveiled another new and exciting features called Similar Images. This is tagged as "Redefine your image search with Visual Similarity". What it does is that it allows you to redefine what you are exactly looking for by clicking on a similar images link below the search result (which is an image).

For example if you are searching for Paris, the initial result would give you images of Paris France, Eiffel Tower, Paris Hilton etc. But if your intention was to look for Eiffel Tower you can click similar images below an images and wow you got rid of unwanted images. The matching that Google does has not much to do with actual image matching, which could be really resource intensive, but on meta tags associated with images. This some times dilutes the filtered results but nonetheless you get one step closer to your intended results.

So its time to get along with http://similar-images.googlelabs.com/

Adobe, Facebook partner to create Flash developer tools

Adobe has partnered with one of the most popular social networking Web sites, Facebook, to give developers a new set of tools to create applications.

The applications will use Adobe's Flash platform and the new ActionScript 3 Client Library for Facebook the two companies developed together. The client library is a free open source programming language that supports Facebook application programming interfaces (APIs) including Facebook Connect.

Adrian Ludwig, Adobe's group manager for platforms, told Macworld that the companies will release the library and then gather feedback from developers. The libraries will be updated, adding functionality based on that feedback, allowing developers to make better applications.

The number and types of developers using Flash is increasing all the time. Some of the developers are focused on Flash, while others are coming from more traditional segments of the market.

"We are seeing that it's becoming quite easy for traditional developers to start using Flash," said Ludwig. "That's quite a change from where it was five to eight years ago when Flash was focused on animation."

Adobe said that Flash Player 9 has 98 percent penetration, meaning that 98 percent of all Internet connected computers have the application installed. The company did a study two months after the release of Flash Player 10 and found 55 percent penetration. While not released yet, Ludwig said he expects the latest adoption rate for Flash Player 10 to top 80 percent.

Those numbers give Flash Player 10 the fastest adoption rate of any version of Flash Player, according to Adobe.

Writing Facebook applications in Flash is not new. In fact, 12 of top 20 apps on Facebook use Flash. However, the new tools should make it easier for developers in the future.

Adobe is making documentation, example applications and code available for download from its Web site.

Google Eyes Rival Skype with VoIP Service

Google has launched a VoIP service for mobile phone users that looks set to rival apps from Skype and Truphone.

The service offers the ability to make free local and cheap international calls that are routed through the internet and providing you with one number that receives any calls, whether they are to your home, work, or mobile number

The service also automatically transcribes a voicemail into text and then send it your Gmail inbox or via SMS to your handset, so you read rather than listen to the voicemail. It will also offers the same function for any text messages you receive to you mobile phone.

"We will transcribe voicemails and convert it into text and put it in your inbox so that it's searchable and you will always have a record of that voicemail," said Craig Walker, now group product manager for real time communications at Google and co-founder of GrandCentral - the telephone company Google acquired in 2007.

"They [the transcribed voicemails] may include mistakes but we plan to make accuracy improvements over time," said Google in a blog.

"This is about allowing your existing phone to work better. It's not that we are replacing your phone, we are giving [it] the ability to work better," added Walker.

Google Voice is currently only available to US residents and will initially only be available to subscribers to telephone company GrandCentral.

Google Voice offer similar benefits to a service recently launched by VoIP company Skype and Spinvox. The service allows Skype users to have voicemails sent to their Skype number converted into SMS and sent to their mobile phone. The service costs 17p plus the initial cost of sending a text message.

Can all that Twitters turn to gold

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter Inc. has spawned a new way to communicate by limiting messages to 140 keystrokes. So here's a way to describe the Internet's latest craze within Twitter's space restrictions:

It's a potluck of pithy self-expression simmering with whimsy, narcissism, voyeurism, hucksterism, tedium and sometimes useful information.

One vital ingredient has been missing from the mix so far — revenue. That raises questions about whether the nearly 3-year-old service can make the leap from intriguing fad to sustainable business.

Twitter intends to start testing ways to make money this spring. And co-founder Evan Williams promises it won't drive away the more than 6 million people who have set up accounts on the unconventional communications network.

"We don't see any reason why this can't be a very large and profitable entity," said Williams, the San Francisco-based company's chief executive. "We have enough traffic on our Web site that we could put ads on there and maybe we could make enough to pay our bills, but that's not the most interesting thing we can do."

Williams, 36, won't say what he has in mind besides selling ads, but he and the handful of other people who own privately held Twitter seem confident the mystery strategy will pay off — even as a devastating recession destroys much-larger companies.

Just three months ago, Twitter rejected a $500 million takeover offer from an even bigger phenomenon, Facebook Inc., the owner of the world's largest online hangout.
Although shooing away Facebook was risky, Twitter still isn't under immense pressure to generate revenue. The 29-employee company has already raised $55 million, including a $35 million round recently completed with Benchmark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners.

Like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other communal Web sites that have become Internet sensations, Twitter gives people a stage where they can express themselves and connect with kindred spirits.

Twitter's twist is a more succinct approach, which has been likened to the 21st-century version of a telegraph.

Here's how Twitter works: After setting up a free account, people are encouraged to post frequent updates about what they are doing, seeing and feeling. The messages, known as "tweets," must be limited to 140 characters and can be sent from a mobile phone or a computer.

Although the updates are available for anyone to see, Twitter users usually set up their accounts to monitor the tweets of people they know or admire. These "followers" are automatically fed tweets from the people they are shadowing.
With more than 265,000 people tracking his messages, President Barack Obama has the most Twitter followers even though neither he nor his staff have tweeted since he moved into the White House last month.

Many other politicians and celebrities, such as basketball star Shaquille O'Neal (more than 72,000 followers) and former rap music sensation MC Hammer (more than 55,000) regularly share tweets.

Twitter also has become a way to peek at dramas unfolding behind closed doors.
When Yahoo Inc. laid off hundreds of workers last year, some of the casualties used Twitter to provide a blow-by-blow account of their final day at the office. Surgeons at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit recently gave a rare glimpse inside an operating room by tweeting about the removal of a tumor from a patient's kidney.

Twitter also has proven to be a valuable source for breaking news, sometimes even beating long-established media outlets to the punch.

When US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing on the Hudson River last month, a picture of the accident scene was quickly posted on Twitter by Janis Krums, a Sarasota, Fla., entrepreneur who was on one of the ferries that rescued passengers from the water. In November, Twitter provided harrowing, first-person accounts of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 164 people.

But Twitter mostly amplifies the humdrum of ordinary folks with apparently nothing better to do but share their monotony. There's plenty of posts along these lines: "Sitting at Corner Bakery in Frisco, Texas. Lunch was good." Or, "Another boring day at work, ugh." Or even, "I really do enjoy picking my nose." (A widely practiced pastime, based on recent tweets).

Finding out what's happening on Twitter is getting easier through a search engine called Summize that the company snapped up for an undisclosed amount last summer.
Both Williams and another Twitter founder, Biz Stone, suggested the search technology could emerge as their company's crown jewel. Its value lies in its ability to quickly sift through a steady stream of tweets to provide almost instantaneous insights about what's going on around the corner or around the world. Not even Google's Internet-leading search engine can match that now.

Stone relates how he used Twitter's search engine to ease his anxiety after he recently heard loud noises around his neighborhood. A quick search on Twitter informed him it was just a local celebration down the road.

The search engine will become even more valuable if people keep flocking to Twitter.
The site attracted 2.7 million U.S. visitors in December, a nearly eight-fold rise from the end of 2007, according to Nielsen Online. But Twitter's traffic increasingly is coming through mobile phones, making its usage more difficult to monitor. Nielsen estimates 666,000 U.S. users accessed Twitter on mobile devices in December.

The service is especially appealing to people between 18 and 34. About one in every five people with Internet access in that age group used Twitter or a similar service to update their status at least once, according to a survey of more than 2,200 adults in November and December by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Meanwhile, usage of Twitter and rivals such as Jaiku, Pownce, FriendFeed and Plurk was seen in just 5 percent of respondents between 45 and 54. Only 2 percent of people older than 65 had tweeted, according to Pew.

This matters for Twitter's financial future because most younger people don't make a lot of money, which could make it more difficult for the company to appeal to advertisers.

Even so, corporate America is paying attention.

Several major companies, including JetBlue Airways Corp., have set up Twitter accounts to monitor what people are saying about their brands. The companies sometimes send out tweets offering to address a complaint.

All that chatter could yield a huge moneymaking opportunity if Twitter chooses to mine the data and sell the insights to marketers, said Marita Scarfi, chief operating officer for Organic Inc., an Internet advertising agency. "It could be rich vein for brand analysis," she said.

And though Twitter hasn't sold any ads yet, it is being used as a marketing tool. Computer maker Dell Inc., for instance, is offering exclusive discounts to its more than 18,000 followers on Twitter after holiday promotions broadcast on the service produced more than $1 million in sales.

Both Williams and Stone hinted the company is exploring ways to charge for expanded commercial access to Twitter, but emphasized that all personal accounts will remain free.

Online retailer Zappos.com is a big fan of Twitter, using it for promotions and customer feedback. But the Las Vegas-based company won't necessarily stay on board if Twitter starts imposing fees on businesses, said CEO Tony Hsieh.

"It would depend on what they're charging for," said Hsieh, who has attracted more than 58,000 followers since opening his Twitter account about a year ago. "We don't see it as a marketing channel, but as a relationship channel."

Comments like that feed the doubts about Twitter's future. Its prospects are clouded even further by the resistance that Facebook and MySpace have faced as they have tried to inject ads into forums where people primarily goof off or fraternize.

"It's the same kind of challenge for these sites," said Peter Daboll, who has studied consumer behavior on the Internet for years, including in his latest job as CEO of Bunchball Inc. "How do they build on their great audiences and keep them engaged, without alienating them with a bunch of crap?"
source

Gmail offline: A guided tour

Wondering how Gmail offline works? Here, we walk you through it.

In short, people familiar with Gmail already are mostly familiar with its offline incarnation, which Google said it's releasing gradually to its users in coming days. The biggest difference is of course that you can't see new messages, and e-mails that you send are merely queued up until they can be delivered when a network connection is re-established.

Gmail uses Google's Gears technology, which among other things lets browsers store data on a computer in what's called a local cache. I'm using Firefox 3.1 beta 2, with which Gears isn't compatible, so to access Gmail offline I used Google Chrome instead, which has Gears built in. Since Gears is a relative rarity, though, most folks will have to install it first, which Google walks you through.

There are some limitations to offline Gmail: Only about 10,000 messages will be downloaded--the newest and most recently used. You can't use the contacts tab to manage your connections, though e-mail address autocomplete works so you won't need to worry about remembering e-mail addresses. You can't include attachments on new messages. It's only available in Gmail for English speakers.

But overall, it's certainly worth it if you're ever on a plane, taxi, train, vacation retreat, or coffee shop with an overstressed connection.

How do you use it? First things first. In the Gmail settings section, go to the "Labs" tab, click the "enable" button next to Offline Gmail. Then go all the way to the bottom of the page and click "Save Changes." This is an experimental feature, and Google warns they've occasionally seen issues keeping the local cache in sync.

There's more to be done to set it up, though. Go back to your in-box, then click the "Offline 0.1" link in the upper right corner. That'll walk you through the next stage of setup, including the setup of Gears if you don't have it running yet.

Next comes the explanation of what you're doing and the warning not to install offline Gears on a public machine.

Then comes the permission phase. You're granting Gmail access to Gears, which means the software is granted access to your hard drive.

Do you feel you don't have enough icons in your life? Is your desktop just not cluttered enough? If so, now's the time to let Gmail sprinkle some more icons around. I actually don't mind this for valued applications: on Windows I assign a keyboard shortcut to the icon so I can launch it with a Ctrl-Alt-G combination. When you launch Gmail off the icon using Chrome, it fires up the application with no tab and navigation bar, so you get maximum screen real estate for the application; clicking links opens them in a new browser window.

Next comes the synchronization process. Depending on your in-box size and network connection, this could take awhile. And unfortunately, if you enable offline mode on a separate browser--Internet Explorer, for example--Gmail has to download the whole shebang again.

Happily, Gmail still can be used while you're creating the cache, because Gears is multithreaded--in other words, it can walk and chew gum at the same time.

The synchronization process is interruptible. Gmail tells you how far back into your archive it's delved and how many messages have been downloaded so far. The database is optimized for about 10,000 messages, and searching them is swift, even if it returns incomplete results compared to Gmail's performance while connected to your full archive.

Once the messages are done, Gmail tackles the attachments. You can view attachments when offline, but you can't include attachments in new e-mail you create while offline, at least for now.

The control panel in Gmail settings shows how far back Gmail's offline archive goes. It also tells you which tags it includes, which is handy--if you want all messages from your folks in the archive, label them "family" (I have my account set up to apply that label when the messages arrive from various e-mail addresses). Any label you've clicked on will be archived offline. (In this image, my labels have been blurred. No peeking!)

If you're offline, Gmail detects it automatically. Clicking the gray circle-with-a-bar icon that indicates no network will produce this pop-up that lets you manually try to reconnect. The status bar--whether online or offline--also lets you enter the intermediate "flaky connection mode," which is designed for times when your network access is intermittent. With it, Gmail will try to retrieve new messages and deliver the ones you've instructed be sent, but won't get too ruffled if the network isn't up.

After this, you're set up for offline Gmail. All the rest of the interface is the same as online: messages can be read, starred, labeled, and archived; search and conversation view work with the messages in your archive; and new messages can be written. I'd like contacts management, but overall, the experience is good and a big improvement for the application. source

Google Suggest - A to Z keywords listing

Once surfing the Internet, I thought about exploring what Google Suggest offers when each of the alphabet from A to Z is entered. The listing below shows the results for just that. The first column shows the keyword and second column is the number of approximate results for this keyword. Google suggestions are not based on your search history but on the general popularity of the keyword. This listing is also not static and what I have compiled here could change since the popularity of search keywords changes with time. Google offers at most 10 suggestions for your input. Note that result is not based on approximate results count but on many other factors. Here is what is on Google Suggest FAQ

That's pretty cool. How does it do that?

Our algorithms use a wide range of information to predict the queries users are most likely to want to see. For example, Google Suggest uses data about the overall popularity of various searches to help rank the refinements it offers. An example of this type of popularity information can be found in the Google Zeitgeist. Google Suggest does not base its suggestions on your personal search history.

Here is the listing for you. The first suggestion for each alphabet is turned bold to give you visual cue of new alphabet listing. These are really popular keywords (companies, products, or even people-see Barack Obama) as they appear on the first key press.

amazon	877,000,000 results
aol	277,000,000 results
addicting games	1,890,000 results
apple	483,000,000 results
american airlines	15,100,000 results
at&t	60,900,000 results
att wireless	2,140,000 results
abc	225,000,000 results
ask.com	63,900,000 results
american express	158,000,000 results
best buy	90,400,000 results
bank of america	39,900,000 results
bebo	90,600,000 results
barack obama	80,800,000 results
bbc	210,000,000 results
bed bath and beyond	1,300,000 results
barnes and noble	5,210,000 results
blackberry storm	10,600,000 results
bbc news	40,600,000 results
blockbuster	26,300,000 results
craigslist	45,300,000 results
cnn	93,700,000 results
circuit city	20,600,000 results
costco	9,180,000 results
currency converter	13,100,000 results
club penguin	3,890,000 results
comcast	32,800,000 results
capital one	55,700,000 results
comcast.net	12,200,000 results
chase	103,000,000 results
dictionary	235,000,000 results
dell	548,000,000 results
dancing with the stars	7,600,000 results
disney channel	8,540,000 results
direct tv	34,400,000 results
delta	201,000,000 results
disney	202,000,000 results
dominos	5,300,000 results
dillards	1,880,000 results
drudge	4,350,000 results
ebay	847,000,000 results
espn	49,300,000 results
expedia	50,200,000 results
exchange rates	26,900,000 results
election results	16,700,000 results
earth	473,000,000 results
ebuddy	1,370,000 results
express	647,000,000 results
ebay motors	19,200,000 results
ebay uk	4,480,000 results
facebook	598,000,000 results
facebook login	78,700,000 results
fox news	42,200,000 results
firefox	324,000,000 results
food network	56,800,000 results
friendster	60,600,000 results
free online games	46,400,000 results
free games	87,200,000 results
flickr	254,000,000 results
fedex	35,300,000 results
google	2,730,000,000 results
gmail	226,000,000 results
google maps	65,500,000 results
google earth	83,100,000 results
games	1,230,000,000 results
gamestop	5,650,000 results
gap	131,000,000 results
google chrome	40,100,000 results
gossip girl	14,500,000 results
google translate	8,820,000 results
hotmail	392,000,000 results
home depot	27,500,000 results
halloween costumes	9,310,000 results
hi5	62,600,000 results
hulu	10,400,000 results
hp	599,000,000 results
hollister	12,300,000 results
heroes	180,000,000 results
halloween	157,000,000 results
honda	200,000,000 results
imdb	158,000,000 results
itunes	118,000,000 results
ikea	34,600,000 results
iphone	302,000,000 results
images	1,010,000,000 results
indian railways	1,010,000 results
isohunt	14,300,000 results
ipod touch	76,500,000 results
irctc	141,000 results
ign	27,000,000 results
jcpenney	11,200,000 results
john mccain	69,800,000 results
jennifer hudson	7,710,000 results
jobs	892,000,000 results
java	406,000,000 results
jokes	81,900,000 results
jet blue	6,050,000 results
jonas brothers	19,600,000 results
jetstar	1,830,000 results
job search	168,000,000 results
kohls	4,330,000 results
kmart	7,350,000 results
kelly blue book	5,690,000 results
kijiji	168,000,000 results
kim kardashian	7,400,000 results
katy perry	57,000,000 results
kayak	39,400,000 results
kanye west	23,200,000 results
kings of leon	8,800,000 results
kfc	15,800,000 results
lowes	11,700,000 results
limewire	16,200,000 results
lyrics	297,000,000 results
lil wayne	25,300,000 results
linens and things	443,000 results
love quotes	4,560,000 results
line rider	3,100,000 results
lands end	10,000,000 results
ll bean	5,980,000 results
love	2,040,000,000 results
myspace	730,000,000 results
mapquest	29,300,000 results
msn	990,000,000 results
maps	419,000,000 results
myspace layouts	40,100,000 results
macys	9,210,000 results
miniclip	5,800,000 results
msnbc	24,700,000 results
mapquest driving directions	439,000 results
movies	796,000,000 results
nfl	131,000,000 results
netflix	10,800,000 results
news	3,500,000,000 results
nbc	50,600,000 results
new york times	165,000,000 results
nordstrom	14,800,000 results
nokia	377,000,000 results
nissan	162,000,000 results
nike	127,000,000 results
nba	150,000,000 results
obama	243,000,000 results
orkut	49,300,000 results
old navy	9,320,000 results
office depot	12,800,000 results
orbitz	19,400,000 results
online games	106,000,000 results
overstock	23,300,000 results
oprah	26,600,000 results
office max	33,900,000 results
online dictionary	33,300,000 results
photobucket	123,000,000 results
paypal	629,000,000 results
pizza hut	11,200,000 results
pandora	33,000,000 results
pirate bay	6,860,000 results
people	2,590,000,000 results
party city	41,500,000 results
pottery barn	5,220,000 results
papa johns	2,930,000 results
people search	269,000,000 results
quotes	256,000,000 results
qvc	9,770,000 results
qantas	8,170,000 results
quantum of solace	15,500,000 results
quicktime	40,600,000 results
quiznos	1,470,000 results
quest diagnostics	1,330,000 results
qwest	14,900,000 results
quarantine	11,300,000 results
quizzes	54,400,000 results
runescape	18,100,000 results
radio shack	9,560,000 results
recipes	167,000,000 results
robert pattinson	3,930,000 results
rediff	11,100,000 results
real estate	527,000,000 results
reverse phone lookup	3,540,000 results
ryanair	8,950,000 results
rei	50,000,000 results
realtor.com	5,290,000 results
sears	36,800,000 results
southwest airlines	4,790,000 results
sarah palin	34,100,000 results
skype	199,000,000 results
staples	27,300,000 results
snl	16,000,000 results
sams club	4,990,000 results
sprint	74,000,000 results
sony	627,000,000 results
spanish translation	7,120,000 results
target	428,000,000 results
twilight	70,700,000 results
toys r us	9,860,000 results
ticketmaster	9,180,000 results
thesaurus	38,000,000 results
travelocity	18,500,000 results
tv guide	96,900,000 results
translator	49,100,000 results
tmobile	75,900,000 results
toyota	198,000,000 results
utube	4,830,000 results
usps	60,500,000 results
ups	267,000,000 results
united airlines	9,670,000 results
utorrent	9,560,000 results
urban dictionary	7,930,000 results
ups tracking	1,100,000 results
us airways	7,610,000 results
ufc	20,700,000 results
usaa	1,940,000 results
verizon wireless	22,000,000 results
verizon	68,900,000 results
victoria secret	13,000,000 results
vlc	13,100,000 results
vodafone	67,900,000 results
video	3,320,000,000 results
virgin mobile	12,300,000 results
veoh	25,400,000 results
virgin	124,000,000 results
vanguard	28,000,000 results
walmart	28,500,000 results
wikipedia	255,000,000 results
weather	426,000,000 results
white pages	82,900,000 results
www.yahoo.com	51,500,000 results
webkinz	4,940,000 results
wiki	340,000,000 results
wells fargo	11,300,000 results
www.youtube.com	461,000,000 results
web md	36,300,000 results
xbox 360	170,000,000 results
xm radio	3,430,000 results
xe	76,900,000 results
xbox live	36,700,000 results
x factor	31,000,000 results
xkcd	2,070,000 results
xanax	25,700,000 results
xbox 360 games	9,900,000 results
xboard	3,560,000 results
xvid	77,600,000 results
youtube	933,000,000 results
yahoo	2,500,000,000 results
yahoo mail	68,200,000 results
yellow pages	326,000,000 results
yahoo finance	24,400,000 results
yahoo answers	59,900,000 results
yahoo messenger	113,000,000 results
yahoo maps	11,200,000 results
y8	10,000,000 results
yahoo games	20,600,000 results
zappos	19,900,000 results
zip codes	21,400,000 results
zillow	5,400,000 results
zune	29,700,000 results
zellers	1,130,000 results
zero punctuation	1,960,000 results
zeitgeist	12,900,000 results
zip codes by city	7,350,000 results
zac efron	12,500,000 results
zales	4,130,000 results

Now check out yourself what you get. Should be pretty similar or in fact same for the time being :)